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Glancing around the computer room shelves in Dunhackin, your reviewer's palatial hovel, I noticed that something was missing. While they strained, nay groaned, under the weight of various Breakouts, Space Invaders, Gauntlets and other arcade conversions, there was no Scramble. A sad omission for one who cut his lasers on the game.

In Scramble a rocket was guided down a labyrinthine cave system. There were, of course, lots of defenders launching rockets, bombs and other hindrances to dissipate your molecules, but it was a fun game that ate more florins than it had any right to. And it is undoubtedly the ancestor of Zynaps.

Zynaps also has a rocket whizzing down a convoluted passageway, but this time it's in an alien space station. There's a degree or two of difference in the weapon systems as well - the original Scramble had just lasers and bombs. The Zynaps craft has pulse lasers, plasma bombs, homing missiles and seekers.

This array of armaments is controlled by the fuel scoop, which picks blobs of energy from the wrecks of alien defenders and feeds it to the weapon of your choice. The lasers and bombs are standard issue, but get more effective the more energy you feed them. The missiles are a bit odder.

Homers are guided by a crosshair on the screen, and once locked on to a target guarantee its annihilation. Seekers are a little bit smarter; they wander through the screen pulverising every alien construct that might conceivably turn nasty.

Armed with these little toys, all you have to do to pass the first stage is zap a few flying hazelnuts. Klingons and assorted aliens to hang around at the end until the ship's doors open. It's not easy, especially with the little red space mines and the FEN waiting for you (FEN = Fairly Enormous Nasty). But you will look back on those moments of fear with positive nostalgia when you get to the Asteroid Belt.

Floating rocks were a feature of Scramble, but they were never like this. Huge chunks of gently ambling geological obliteration, they wander in dense formation through the space you're trying to occupy simultaneously. Guess who wins.

Pass that stage, and it's time to go collecting. No, not stamps - hyperspace engines, alien planet-busters, little things like that. Beats chasing after a 1932 Mongolian Magenta 2 Blogga in lightly franked condition any sidereal day of the week. It's a pity that the owners of the bits which your heart desires aren't too keen to part with them, but that's why Zarquan gave you pulse lasers.

And what do you do with this junkyard of xenomechanical marvels? You go into battle, of course. Which is where stamp freaks would be at, a bit of a loss.

As the TEN (Truly Enormous Nasty) heaves into view you might reconsider that point of view. Very few philatelists end their days as a few specks of glowing gas, but you seem to be making a habit of it... Ah well, back to the Stanley Gibbons.

Hewson seems to be on the ascendant at the moment, even if it eschews the hype and hullabaloo of certain other labels. Zynaps seems set fair to continue this trend.

A nice evolution of a standard idea, it keeps the game simple and fast so that simpletons like me can concentrate on mashing things rather than controlling umpteen icons and deciphering messy screen layouts.

Against? The weapons control needed a lot of practice to get right, and the joystick seemed a bit sensitive, with the occasional burst of sluggishness. But this is another Hewson game that'll be making me miss deadlines a month from now. I'm keeping the tape.

Once I'd got the tape off the other two - they are holding my Konix as security - I found out what all the fuss and noise was about.

The psychedelic colour rotation is just the start. Zynaps is a bit like Nemesis, albeit easier. I failed to get to grips with the homer [Always thought that Iliad was a kind of cough sweet - Ed] but liked the bouncy bomb.

There were times when I felt that the collision detection was unfair, but that didn't stop me playing till 3am. The best game this month.

Bit of a problem at first with this game. The idea of selecting weapons by scooping up the right number of lumps of fuel took a while to sink in, but by the time I'd mastered it I was sold.

For the first time in aeons I'm going to say it - this game is addictive with a capital H. The music at the beginning is worth listening to all the way through. Twice. Even though the high score name entry is a bit naff. I'm keeping the tape.