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Casteth back your mind to issue 29, and a game called Utopia. Good, wasn't it? Gremlin thought so too, and decided to make up some new worlds for it. And, wouldn't you know it, here they are. Just in case you don't know what Utopia is all about, here's a quick rundown. You're the commander of a colony somewhere on a barren planet, a colony that needs to grow and prosper to survive. In your hands is the organisation of food, work and defence. Structures such as hydroponics farms, shipyards, living quarters and laboratories need to be built by allocating your colonists to each. There has to be enough food (from the hydroponics) and enough living space for them before they can get to work. Research that leads to new and better inventions takes place in the laboratories.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the planet, another alien race is building up its colony. Sooner or later, this race is likely to attack you, and you need to be ready. That's what the ship and tankyards are fo. While you're stocking up the food, you need to be stocking up the weapons as well. They range from the not so good to the damn hot, but the better ones take an age to build.

The ultimate goal of each scenario is to achieve a Colonist Quality of Life rating of over 80% - that's assuming you survive the alien attack. Sending spies into the alien city before they attack can give you valuable information on how they may do so.

The New Worlds provide you with ten new scenarios: new planet graphics, new alien races and new problems to face. The basic shell of the game doesn't change at all.

There's not all that much to say about data disks. If you like the original game, they offer another three months of frantic obsessioon; if you don't, they're no more use than small blue square things.

Utopia is a very good game, but The New Worlds don't improve it much, they're just supplements. The new landscape graphics are interesting and all that, and it's good to have some different colony problems facing you, but that's all. They don't change the content of the gameplay, unlike, say, the PowerMonger data disk.

If you think a few more hours' play is worth £15, pay yer money and take yer choice. No one's going to hate you if you don't.

1. t very much to offer except a few new graphics and problems.