Let me take you back in time... Way back to around 3 BD (Before Dragon), for in those long gone days the primeval British public were addicted to a simple game called Space Invaders. However they began to get bored and cried out for more, and in return new hybrids appeared, of which one had razor sharp graphics and was entitled Asteroids. Now, many years later, Orange Software have taken this aged idea and transformed it into the game Super Nova.

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Yes, that's right, asteroids - but before you say "Why have they done another version of that? I got a cartridge of it free when I bought the computer and that was no good!", let me intervene. Orange Software have not just thrown out another clone of the old game but have extracted its heart and built a more advanced program around it.

After an effective loading screen of several planets and stars, the joystick button is pressed to reveal your spherical space ship and a handful of stars whizzing around the screen . All you have to do is get rid of them by laying bombs (Proton Proximity Mines to be exact), being careful not to travel over the mines yourself and blowing yourself up. If one of the anti-matter stars moves over a stationary mine then it will explode into two, doubling your problems. This happens five times, if I have counted correctly, before you finally destroy it, although the screen gets so crowded and hectic that I'm not 100% sure despite the dozens of times I've played it.

Things are never so simple though; if you collide into one of the passing stars you lose some of your vital energy. Also, the mines are limited in the number you can lay, but both mines and energy are replenishable by way of a 'lunar landing' style docking procedure when you link up to the underside of the Space Quark Proton Pump, which sounds easy but results in losing all your energy (and patience) until the precise spot to land is found.

After refuelling you have full energy and mine stocks again, but you do have spare vessels in case you prematurely run out of energy or blow yourself to bits; and fortunately you live in a very small, odd galaxy because if you leave the screen, say at the top, you immediately reappear at the bottom.

That's the basis of the game; graphics are reasonable and have four choices of colour but music is sadly only a bit of a dripping tap concerto. Things get progressively more crowded until there's hardly room to breathe, let alone slyly lay a proton proximity mine! Eventually, despite gallant attempts, you run out of lives, although you will no doubt be awarded posthumously with a bravery medal of the high score.

A medal is certainly what Orange Software, a name new to me, deserve for breathing new fire into such an old and dated idea. I'm not saying this is an all-time classic by the way. It still has faults inherited in the genes, for one, after initial addictivenesss is metamorphosed into a credible level of aptitude and you can clear up a whole screen, there's no new challenge.

So apart from a slight shortage of variety and originality, this is a title with which to pass a few hours without really raising your blood pressure or getting you to the edge of your seat unless you are an ardent fan of the old arcade game. (You called? - Ed)