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Although Star Goose Is essentially a vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up, it actually has a three-dimensional element.

The terrain is comprised of hills and valleys which the Star Goose land vehicles negotiates. Since its forward-firing guns are static this means that when the craft drives up or down a hill its bullets either fire into the air or hit the ground. Consequently it's impossible to hit objects unless the Goose is either on the same level, or the intended target is on the brow or immediately at the bottom of a hill.

At the start of a game an excellent animated sequence shows the Goose being beamed down from a mothership (thankfully, the sequence can be skipped) and the action begins.

The objective is very straightforward: guide the Goose across eight wrap-around levels and collect six coloured crystals from each by running over them. This task is made more difficult with the presence of hostile enemy installations and craft which fire missiles, laser bursts and bombs at the ship, reducing its shield levels on contact.

Shield levels are also depleted by crashing into an enemy craft or emplacement, and are drained entirely as the Goose is driven into a hole in the landscape. Fuel and ammunition levels are similarly expended through use.

As well as bullets, the Goose is armed with a limited supply of rockets, which are primed and launched from the keyboard to send them roaring up the landscape to destroy the first thing they encounter. If a rocket doesn't hit anything before it goes off the top of the screen, it's wasted. In the midst of the action firing a missile can be awkward (the ALT and CAPS LOCK keys are used) - surely it would have be better to use a double press of the fire button instead?

When all the crystals have been collected, the Goose is driven to the exit point - a blue door in the landscape - and is transported to the next level.

The player starts a game with four lives, and extra ones are earned at regular 100,000 point intervals. When the last life is lost, a new game can be restarted on the current level by pressing the fire button. Pressing the ESC key, however, resets the game and play starts on Level One.

On each of the landscapes are three tunnels which may be entered to replenish shield, ammunition and fuel supplies. Inside, the ship is viewed in 3D from behind, and the player flies down the circular tunnel attempting to run over the eyes that lie on the floor, sides and ceiling.

The faster the ship is travelling, the higher it can climb up the sides of the tunnel. When maximum speed is attained it can actually loop-the-loop, collecting every eye it passes! However, due care and attention must be taken to ensure that the Goose doesn't leave the tunnel upside down (whereupon it explodes) or at too high a speed (it could crash into an installation or enemy ship outside the exit). In between levels a similar tunnel is endured, but eyes are picked up for a large points bonus. Be careful here, as some inter-level tunnels are deceptively short.

Quite surprisingly, the scrolling isn't particularly smooth - at high speeds the landscape strobes, ruining the otherwise pleasing bas-relief backdrop effect. A few of the sprites are pretty, but generally they're uninspired and unimpressive; they simply lack flair and character. The music is similarly dull, and grates after a few games; the sound effects are marginally better. However, the biggest fault of all is the lack of challenge and variety. Each of the eight levels is fundamentally the same, and only offer increased density of enemy installations and more mountainous terrain as the player progresses.

The difficulty level isn't particularly high, and the continue game option allows far too much progression. Indeed, a reasonably adept player should be able to go through all the levels in one sitting, which severely impairs lasting appeal. A year ago Star Goose would have undoubtedly been a hit, but compared with today's high standards it lacks the polish, playability and challenge of many similarly priced games.

Star Goose on the Amiga should hit the streets at the same time as the ST version. It's also been done by Graham and Steve, which is why it looks and plays exactly the same. That said, we won't provide any ratings until we've seen a 100%
finished version. Check out the news pages next month for an update .