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It's a cultural idiosyncrasy that whenever there's a new threat to survival, a whole bundle of games are released based on the problem. We've gradually moved on from Cold War fever and nuclear destruction to environmental disaster scenarios. Venus is another of those games that uses the genuine ecological concerns of the present as the basis for a hell-raising trigger-happy B-movie epic.

In the not too distant future the over-use of pesticides and intensive farming causes a breakdown in the eco-system, killing off all the insects. This might sound like a good deal for picnickers, but the scientists disagree.

To restore the balance they use hastily-learned genetic engineering techniques to create new breeds of cyber-insects. Predictably, a DNA fault in the creatures causes them to go madder than a stirred-up hornets' nest and vast swarms of killer insects wreak havoc on the planet.

Total disaster can only be prevented by a single, special insect: Venus, the fly trap. You guide this insect equivalent of Robocop through ten areas of the game, including the Forbidden Forest, Wood World, Death Valley and the Stygian Creek.

Your task is to walk Venus along left-scroolling scenery, leaping chasms, dodging and killing insects, and picking up bonus items. There are loads of these to pick up, some of which give you multi-fire cannons, R-Type-style beam-up weapons, extra lives or flying power.

You can just get really close to a target and pump the Fire button like mad, but extra military potential certainly makes the job quicker and easier. With time limits imposed on each stage, speed is your need!

Venus would be a simple game, but for the cunningly placed pitfalls. The most obvious are the icons on the floor that make you lose time, bounce you into the path of gunfire and catapult you onto the ceiling.

Some bonus pods are not at all helpful. They can flip the joystick direction to cause confusion or turn into skulls which drain all your life away.

In between levels you're thrown into a bonus sub-game where you shoot and dodge insects like crazy and pick up energy and bonus pods as they're released. Run out of energy and the sub-game is over, so be quick!

Venus is a well-presented game with attractive colours and sprites. The scrolling and animation is smooth and the style changes every five stages so there's plenty of variety as you work your way through the game.

Sound effects are competent arcade-type noises, but the music is twee - fortunately it can be switched off if you don't like it.

Although Venus is an "original" game, it really isn't that original. It has a good plot and competent programming, but it follows the basic template of most other games in the shoot-'em-up genre. Fortunately, the right elements have been mixed in the right proportions, and assembled well. The end result is an addictive, playable game, with plenty of excitement - one to have if you enjoy a really good eco-bash!