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Aliens never learn, do they? But then, if humans unfortunate enough to grow up in close proximity to Spaghetti Junction are expected to develop learning difficulties, it's no surprise that our spaced-out adversaries should suffer the same, considering how much flak they receive from us Earth-bound joystick-wielders. Still, the aliens of Alpha Centauri are back - out to avenge the beating they took in the battle of X-Out.

So do the Earth's defence leaders have a cunning plot to counter the dastardly threat? Nope - in their wisdom they decide that a one-man solo flight into the heart of their defences is the best means of attack. Ludicrous, short-sighted and unrealistic. But let's face it, we wouldn't want it any other way.

Shoot-'em-ups don't come more straightforward than this - but that's not necessarily a bad thing. If something's not broke, why fix it? So Rainbow Arts present Z-Out, an annihilate-'em-up stereotypical of the genre that has proved to be so popular. First, it's tough. SIx levels of probably the hardest horizontally-scrolling alien-infested landscape you'll ever see await the attention of you and your trusty ship. And as per the formula, before too long power-ups can transform your humble "popular plus" model ship into the XR3i of the spaceways. But that doesn't mean it gets any easier.

There are seven different weapon systems to collect, but you ship isn't entirely defenceless on its own. As well as using the standard forward-firing laser, you can hold down the Fire button for a couple of seconds and a bleep informs you that a devastating energy blast is ready to be released upon the lifting of your trigger finger. Keeping the (irreversibly-becoming-less-significant-but-I'll-soldier-on-regardless) car analogy, there are also a couple of "optional extras" for your craft that can be collected en route. Think of the drone that restores energy when coupled to your craft, or when released adds a firing wing-man to your ship, as a caravan. A "roof-rack" feature is provided in the form of satellites, which one-by-one surround your craft, giving you an impenetrable shield.

And so the baddies keep swarming their fiendish patterns over progressively different backdrops, but the action remains the same. It's a tough, sizeable challenge that requires tactics - but mainly because every new life starts you back at a "mile-post", so there's no crashing straight through the levels. Two-player simultaneous action provides an extra dimension to the otherwise repetitive gameplay, enabling you and your buddy to take on the alien hordes together.

Z-Out's graphics are okay - nothing spectacular but nothing dreadful - with the colourful backgrounds scrolling very smoothly in four directions. At times sprite collision detection is suspect, and your ship could do with moving quicker. But on the whole, visually Z-Out does the job all right. Sound consists of the usual blips and crashes, with a rousing up-tempo number accompanying the opening credits.

Here we have a bog-standard shoot-'em-up, but if you know what you like then there's no problem in that. The game design bears a remarkable resemblance to R-Type, and so can be relied upon to offer an entertaining challenge, even if Z-Out won't win any awards for originality.

The two-player mode is a worthwhile addition, but Z-Out remains purely for the shoot-'em-up addicts who are likely to appreciate the tough difficulty tuning. Actually, tough difficulty tuning. Actually, tough is an understatement - it's bloody difficult.

Will aliens ever learn? Who knows, but these ones seem to be getting the hang of it.

1. Bears a striking resemblance to R-Type - but this has smaller graphics, much poorer sound and none of the excitement.
2. Much tougher than R-Type - great for the shoot-'em-up junkie, but first time blasters could find themselves a much better introduction to the genre.
3. Even harder than Turrican - which means tough!
4. Where Frenetic was full of unexpected little touches, this has nothing original whatsoever.