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Does time really exist? Do events flow through a spatial continuum at a constant rate, or is it nothing more than a concept that man dreamed up to make life seem more orderly? If you travelled faster than the speed of light, would you arrive at your destination before you left? Does time stop inside Black Holes? Is it possible to travel through time?

Professor Potts is about to find out. For years he's been developing and building a Time Machine, with the intent of travelling back through history and into the future. And at last, it's finished. The only problem is that there are some less-than-friendly terrorist-types who would like to have the scientific marvel for themselves. And the result... Professor Potts stranded somewhere in time without his machine and no means of getting back. What's worse, the Earth of the past is in trouble, and unless he does something quickly, not only him but the whole of time itself could be in grave danger.

First impressions of Time Machine are that it's little more than an average arcade adventure. Further investigation reveals that it runs a lot deeper than that. The time travel element isn't just a story idea - it's the most integral aspect, and very cleverly handled, too. The way in which you have to hop back and forth through history to solve problems adds an extra dimension to the proceedings (literally!). Even though the puzzles aren't so hard as to be off-putting, you do need to think laterally to solve them. You often have three or more simultaneous serious problems requiring attention at different points in time and space, which means it can get pretty hectic.

Apart from the scenery's obvious colourful qualities, the little historical changes that are made to the five screens as you progress through time all enhance the overall effect. Time Machine's iantly-conceived puzzle element sets it apart from the pack and makes it one of the most unusual but entertaining arcade adventures around. Timeless!

Apart from a few colour changes in the backdrops, Atari Time Machine is identical to its Commodore counterpart. The price and release date are the same, too.

Sorry IBM owners, but there are no plans for an IBM-compatible conversion.