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Deep inside the human body, a war is raging. Germ Warfare, between the body's own radical defence system and an army of invading alien Virus cells that threaten to poison and pollute it. And the Virus is winning.

Now, through the wonder of modern medicine, you, and you alone, stand between the virus and the body's vital parts. As a free-floating entity armed with the only effective antibodies against the virus, you are the body's only hope of survival. Good luck...

While first impressions could lead you to believe you are in for a huge and sprawling dextral adventure experience, what Vaxine boils down to is a straight 3D shoot-'em-up with a slight tactical bent. It's possible to trace Vaxine's roots all the way back to Battlezone, although here the stylish gameplay is more sophisticated than Atari's ageing classic. The pace is fast and frenetic, and the tactical elements aren't so complicated that they overshadow the action.

The result is a game that's quick to pick up and great fun to play. The icing on the cake comes in the form of the off-beat atmosphere, courtesy of psychedelic colour schemes and wacky jingles and sound effects. And, as an added bonus, Atari STE owners can make use of their machine's advanced capabilities with a special option that gives the same amount of colour and sound as the Amiga version. Infectious!

Commodore Vaxine promises to be almost identical to its Atari counterpart. The most noticeable difference will be more colour than seen here.

If you have it, IBM-compatible Vaxine supports it - CGA, EGA, VGA, plus Roland and AdLib sound cards. It's due out shortly after the 16-bits, so hang on in there.