Of course, nearly everyone who has played a game on one of the well-established micros has probably played one version or another of Star Trek, a game inspired by the TV series.

Basically Star Trek (the game) consists of a network of sectors and quadrants which contain stars, planets, bases and klingons in varying quantities. Time is usually counted by each move the player makes, although there are real-time versions. Most often, the objective is to kill Klingons. Although never having achieved the highest accolade in the Lance Micklus version, I sometimes suspect that the unmentioned objective is the authentic one - To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before - using weapons only when necessary.

Be that as it may, this version of the game quite definitely tells you that 20 Klingons must be destroyed. I blundered into the game with the expertise of a Blake's 7 fan, and was somewhat peeved to find that my ship's computer had bombed out without having suffered a single attack. As I traversed the Galaxy (with difficulty) I found that the Klingons seemed to be diminishing in number without my having fired a single phaser or photon torpedo. Was this a two-player game on two computers, I wondered? I had heard such wonderful things about the BBC Micro! I looked for the tell-tale sign of leads disappearing under the door, but nothing! In frustration I pressed RETURN and found even fewer Klingons around. Having decided the computer was definitely on my side I tried releasing a photon torpedo towards the nearest star. Now in all the other versions I have played that would have meant at least a court-martial! But no, the star obligingly absorbed the energy. This is a game for sissies, I thought, and reached for the ON/OFF switch.

I cannot conceal my disappointment in this game. The BBC has much to offer in colour graphics and sound. A wealth of Star Trek versions exist to be enhanced. This game gave minimal sound 'blips', coarse graphics and very little colour. And as a version of Star Trek it is just not good enough! Rushed through to cash in on the BBC market? As yet, I've not seen a game that caused me to regret that I didn't rush out to buy a BBC machine - and this one serves to reinforce my view!