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Any resemblance between X-15 Alpha Mission, programmed by John Van Ryzin, and X-29 Fighter Mission, programmed by Rene Van Goethem, is, of course, entirely coincidental. Makes you think, though; is the market about to be flooded by sub-standard flight sims all written by people called 'van'? I think we should be told.

Any why X-15, rather than X-16 or X-200? Well, the legendary, rocket-propelled X-15 was, back in 1967, the first aircraft capable of reaching altitudes of 50 miles or more and speeds of over 4000mph. Its test pilot was even awarded astronaut's wings.

Translate that into computer game terms, and you've got an excellent excuse for grafting a spae shoot-'em-up onto an air combat simulation.

But before you zip up your pressurised suit and don your helmet, you're presented with a secret access code and a memo from the Pentagon, ranting about global terrorists who've hijacked a fully-armed orbital space station. 'Terminate with extreme prejudice' it advises, just in case you're thinking of terminating with only an ill-disguised dislike.

And then you're in the cockpit, confronted by the usual bewildering display of dials and gauges some functional, some purely decorative, giving data about altitude, speed, fuel, etc, etc. Take off involves matching your thrust to that of the computer display, using the fire button and pulling back on the joystick, to prevent the engines from stalling. During this sequence the screen juggers impressively.

Once the X-15 is airborne, you're back in familiar territory: the ever-distant mountain range, the rolling green desert below, the wireframe helicopters and spiky things which are meant to be missiles...

Air-to-air combat with the X-15 would offer no surprises at all if it wasn't for the peculiar joystick control that's required. The joystick only moves your gunsights (the crosshair, centre-screen) allowing you to aim at the various enemy craft, but once the crosshair moves towards the edges of the combat window, then the joystick controls the X-15's course and altitude. So if you want to gain altitude in order to avoid an oncoming missile, you've got to first move the crosshair to the left or right of the screen, and only then push the joystick forward to climb. Takes a bit of getting used to.

After a minute or two of this, your radio instructs you to climb into the cloud for some dogfights with the enemy jets, and if you survive this (pretty easy) phase, then you climb once more until at last you're in orbit, with killer satellites coming at you from out of the starry void.

It's essential that during these first three stages of the mission you keep on course as much as possible, guiding the X-15 towards the red box on the navigational grid. Fuel is so limited that even slight evasive action is going to make it unlikely that you'll ever reach the space station.

But if you do get there, you'll be prompted for that secret access code given at the beginning of the game and which you've long since forgotten. Once it's keyed in, there's a hazardous asteroid belt to navigate before the craft can touch down on the station's hull.

After all this aerial manoeuvring, the final stage comes as a bit of a surprise. The cockpit controls alter radically, and now you're guiding a fleet of remote-controlled robots around the base, seeking weapons systems to detonate until, at last, the space station self-destructs.

X-15 Alpha Mission has some nice touches, like the fuzzed screen and sudden nosedive when you get shot down, and the peculiar robot scenario at the end prevents it from being just another fighter plane shoot-'em-up.

But you've probably already got quite a few games on your shelves which are similar to this, and if you haven't, then it's possible because you can't stand the things anyway. It's reasonably entertaining, not particularly challenging, and at 10 quid is definitely over the top. Wait a few months and you'll find it in the bargain bins.