Producer: Melbourne House
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £7.95
Language: Machine code
Author: David Webb

Melbourne House have become established as one of the more innovative of software houses. Starion, their latest game introduces concepts and ideas that are both new and complex.

The story takes place in the year 2010 and you play the role of Starion, fresh from the space academy. You have been trusted with the one and only timeship, your mission, to rectify the devastation wrought in the space-time continuum by evil aliens. The aliens have wrought this evil by removing items of historical significance from important events. Consider this; suppose that some time in the future an alien comes back into the past and abducts Starion, then he won't be around to undo the evil work of the aliens and the universe will indeed be a rotten place in which to live. The letters that go to make up Starion's name could form an alien cargo as they are transported away from their correct time zone - if you can collect those letters and re-arrange them to form the correct word, Starion, you will be allowed access to the next stage of the game.

So the first part of the task is to patrol the outer regions of space intercepting and destroying the alien ships. As you attack and destroy each enemy ship it will re-assemble and form a letter, this must be collected and stowed aboard your ship. Later, when you have collected the required number of letters, you will be asked to unscramble them, rearranging them to make a well known word that fits some period in time. So far so good. Now you must locate the entrance to a time warp and fly into it, whereupon a time grid will be displayed. Each grid has nine time zones and you must decide which of the time zones contains the historical event that your cargo will fit (were it V-I-C-T-O-R-Y you might think of Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar - get the picture)?

When you land you will be told the problem, if the cargo you recovered solves it then you will be rewarded with fresh oxygen and fuel to enable you to fly off and solve the next zone. However, should your cargo not fit the current problem then you will need to attack the other enemy ships found within that zone, this will enable you to gain enough energy to escape and find the correct zone.

To give you some idea of the task ahead here's the nature of the space-time continuum. In all there are 3 time blocks, within each block there are 9 time grids, each time grid has 9 time zones and space has 3 dimensions. Big isn't it? in fact altogether Starion has 243 time zones to be solved. After correcting history in the 9 zones of a grid you will gain access to the next one by solving the anagram made from the first letter of each of the zone words. Access to the next block requires the first letter of each of the grid words to be solved. To reach 'event zero' and the ultimate rank of 'creator' the player must form the pass-word from the first and last letters of each of the three grid words.

If this begins to sound like an educational program, don't panic. The screen display shows instantly that this is a 3D space arcade game. The machine provided for Starion makes the space shuttle look like a hot air balloon. The cockpit view uses wire frame 3D to describe the enemy ships and letters. Below, the instrument panel indicates details on speed, hull temperature, enemy location, pitch, role, yaw, fuel and oxygen levels. The bi-planar scanners show the location of other objects, horizontally and vertically, be they ships, mines, missiles or just debris. Above the scanners the year of the current time zone is shown, vital when trying to solve the time zone problems. The hull temperature is also vital because the outside temperature will increase with speed and excessive lazer fire. The hull can also be destroyed by direct hits from enemy weapons or collision with space rubbish. The general debris cannot be destroyed so you will be forced to steer around it.

Points are awarded in accordance with the speed with which the player completes each stage of the game, as well as for the destruction of enemy targets. The player will be promoted depending on the number of zones, grids and blocks that have been solved. Finally, despite the loneliness of outer space, Starion is a two-player game.

COMMENTS

Control keys: all definable, 4 directions and fire, plus accelerate and deccelerate
Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair 2, Cursor type
Keyboard play: very responsive but complicated without a joystick
Use of colour: simple in space, but excellent generally
Graphics: excellent wire frame, very fast and extremely smooth, good instruments
Sound: continuous, not over exciting, toggles on/off
Skill levels: 1
Lives: 5
Screens: scrolling action set in infinity!
Special features: 1 or 2-player games

Somebody is bound to say it so I want to be the first. Starion is Melbourne's answer to Elite. A CBM expert was seen openly weeping when he saw the quality of the graphics compared to the CBM Elite, and with very good reason. Words cannot adequately describe the immense realism that the graphics manage to portray - to say that they are astonishing, astounding, phenomenal and... well startling, doesn't even begin to say it. The task set by the game, collecting letters by shooting the enemy ships, may seem a little uninteresting but when you have played the game for a while you quickly realise just how clever the idea is. Not only does the game test an arcade gamer's skills to the limit but the word and historical puzzles force the grey matter into overdrive. I am very impressed. Congratulations to David Webb and Melbourne House, this one is special.

Starion - this must be a new concept in 3D graphics. Everything is drawn with extreme precision very quickly and very smoothly. I'm surprised by how complex shapes can be spun, rotated and whizzed towards you - I must say, the effect is amazing. You may have thought that Darkstar was fast - yes it was, but all the shapes were simple ones. This one isn't quite that fast, but you couldn't play Darkstar on the fastest speed anyway. You can mindlessly blast your way through space and collect various letters to nake up an anagram. These anagrams aren't too long, but they still take a considerable time to work out, all of them being obvious - once you know what they are! One thing that confused me was the X, Y, Z axes scanner, I just couldn't figure out how best to use it but I'm sure it will come eventually. This is a fun-packed, all-action, thinking game where the player requires a little more skill than just fast responses to progress throughout the game.

My initial reaction to this superb game is that it's a little like Code Name Mat - at least in scope, and certainly in ship handling. The bi-planar scanners work very similarly, and take a little getting used to. The speed and movement of the 3D wire frame objects is marvellous. I also like the front end, where controls are defined while a white bar loops throuqh the options - perhaps a trifle fast however. Beware the effect of entering the space-time continuum because the effect looks as though the program is crashing - rather spectacular! Starion has a lot of playability, and due to its size, I think its addictive qualities are likely to be high. Absolutely worth the money.

SPACE ACE
Welcome to the YS Space Academy. Here you'll receive full in-flight training from Space Commander, Ross Holman. Master the techniques of time travelling in Starion, the stunning new 3D space game from Melbourne House. Time waits for no man, so go for it now!

Long, long ago on another computer, space was opened up for exploration. Now Starion leads the way into time travel on the Spectrum. It's a fast 3D game that takes you into the 4th dimension - time.

You play the part of Starion, the pilot of the SS Stardate, the first spaceship capable of time travel. Your mission is to rectify the discontinuities in the spacetime continuum that've been caused by a bunch of anarchist aliens running amok. They've been taking objects of historical significance from their true time periods and placing them in another time zone. You must set about undoing the damage caused by these renegade time bandits.

Time in Starion is split into 243 separate zones arranged in groups of nine. Nine zones from a time grid, nine grids a time block and there are three of those! To complete the game you've got to trek round all of the zones patching up the holes in history. Ranged against you are the aliens in a fleet of different sized and shaped spaceships. They're lugging around with them the stolen objects that should form our heritage, but being a brainy bunch they've split each object into the different letters that spell it. Each ship then carries one letter. To sort out the shambles, you've got to blast the aliens, retrieve the letters, reform the word and then take it back to its rightful date in history. And with 243 different objects to be collected, this is not the work of an afternoon.

Starions a very fast, very playable shoot 'em up. The wire frame graphics are easily the smoothest and most realistic I've ever seen on the Spectrum. But it has to be said that it won't be everyone's galactic gargle. Solving the anagrams to form the objects slows the flow of the game down and if you're not into puzzles and word-games you'll soon get cheesed off with those bits. And, yes, it does look a bit too close to Elite for it to be a coincidence. Still, the arcade sections seem to me to be a lot faster on Starion even if it hasn't got quite the same in-depth game content. And after all, Elite's not out on the Spectrum yet so you could always get a bit of training in, while you wait.

For all that it's a very playable arcade game - you'll soon find that reading the scanners, accelerating and decelerating and judging hull temperature is second nature to you. If you're a budding time traveller or space cadet, go for it!

Publisher: Melbourne House
Price: £7.95
Memory: 48K
Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair

Battling with aliens in space to gain a jumble of alphabetical letters is an odd but original theme. Melbourne House has come up trumps with Starion where your powers at sorting out anagrams will be called to the fore.

Starion constitutes a series of word puzzles and anagrams and is a fine mixture of arcade style graphics combined with strategy and superb 3D effects. A good general knowledge of history and spelling is essential.

The idea is to re-write 243 events in earth's history over the last few hundred years. Killing off enemy space craft causes them to drop letters which when collected form a word - though you have to unscramble it first to make sense. That word will change one event in history but it is up to you to choose the correct era.

The game is divided into time grids and time zones grouped in blocks of nine. In each zone, the letters have to be collected and a word formed to enable you to fly through the time warp - very tricky as its centre never remains still. Once through you reach the time grid, which allows you to choose the year to which your wordy cargo belongs and to head straight for Earth. If the word fits, you will then have to repeat the process in the remaining eight zones.

After re-writing history in all nine zones battle recommences taking you to a further eight time grids in the next block.

The screen shows the view outside the cockpit with your laser guns' cross hairs firmly centred in the middle. Aliens and flying debris hurtle towards you at great speeds giving the impression of flying forwards. It is no mean feat to hit the aliens due to their speed and erratic movement. Debris should be dodged to avoid damage to the craft.

At the bottom of the screen is the instrument panel displaying speed, the letters collected and two radar scanners which scan both horizontal and vertical fields.

When picking up the letters, lock them into the centre of the cross-hairs and fly forwards. One gripe is the length of time it takes for the letter to travel towards you, although it can be appreciated that the letter has to be redrawn continuously at it gets larger.

Starion can be viewed either as a light educational adventure in time or purely as an arcade game. Whatever view, it's well worth buying if only for the pleasure of turning history upside down.

MACHINE: Spectrum
SUPPLIER: Melbourne House
PRICE: £7.95

Calling all Spectrum owners! Don't wait about waiting for Elite to appear for your micro - rush out now and grab a copy of Starion from Melbourne House!

The company which has made its name with mega-adventures like The Hobbit and Sherlock takes a bold step forward in arcade-style game technology with a innovative and addictive game.

The scenario goes like this. The year is 2010 - but there's no sign of a star-child anywhere! You are Starion, fresh out of the space academy and rated as one of the top new pilots. Your mission is to fly the first ever Timeship, the S.S. Stardate and to boldly go back in time to correct the devastation created by - you guessed it - an evil race of aliens.

The game is big - 243 screens of space-time filled with exciting wire graphic ships and other dangers.

To save the universe from collapse, Starion has to engage and destroy enemy ships in each the time-zones. But it doesn't stop there. Each ship is carrying a cargo which materialises in space as a giant letter of the earth alphabet.

You must collect all the letters from each time zone until your on-board computer asks you to unscramble them to identify the original cargo dislodged in time by the enemy.

Once you've done this, you must find a time warp and fly into it. Then the time grid is displayed. Now you have to decide in which of the eight neighbouring time zones your unscrambled cargo belongs.

You then jump to the selected time zone, land on the planet you find and then see if your cargo can solve the particular problem being experienced on the planet.

Get it right and your fuel and oxygen supplies will be replenished and it's off into battle again. Get it wrong and you have to destroy enough enemy ships, mines and missiles to create a new time warp in order to make good your escape.

Once you have corrected history in all nine zones of the first time grid, you'll be asked to take the first letters of each particular bit of cargo you've used to save planets in this bit of time - and work out a password to get into the next time grid... Sounds a bit complicated - but once you get into the game you'll be hooked.

You get a ranking as you progress through the game. The ultimate award is Creator - as at the very end of the game and by the odd logic of time travel you've ended up at the beginning of time and, well, you're all there is!

Programmer David Webb, a 19-year old student, spent nine months working on Starion - and if there's any justice in the world he will be rewarded with a number one hit!

Spectrum 48K
Melbourne House
Shoot-em-up
£7.95

This game should have been subtitled "Crossword Solvers From Outer Space - They Came, They Saw, They Filled in Five Down!" The baddies invented time travel before you did, and have done their best to mess up space/time using anagrams (gasp) But don't let this faintly absurd plot you off, beneath all this lies a superb space shoot-em-up.

In a bid to forestall the conversion of Elite to the Spectrum, Melbourne House have come out of their well-worn adventure rut and shown us what vector graphics on the Spectrum are all about. What the aliens lack in tactical gumption, they make up for in firepower. Hurtling towards enemy snips laser blazing, dodging the missiles whistling past your ship, and then pulverising them into oblivion. When you blow a ship away, it drops a letter, which you have to pick up by driving into it.

When you've destroyed all the ships in that you zone, you get a break from the frantic action when you try to unscramble the letters to form a word getting a clue from one of the time zones in the block. You then have to fly through a time gate, which looks suspiciously like an Elite spacestation, to the correct time zone. Do this 243 times (only) and you earn the ultimate accolade of becoming the Creator. It would take some game to make me do anything 243 times, but this just might be the one.

The various objects, ships, planets, missiles and letters ail spin round, move toward, away and around your ship. The controls are comprehensive and responsive, the display moves very rapidly and smoothly. You haw an instrument panel which shows the relationship to you of the various objects in the zone as well as speed, fuel, and "lives" left.

Although it might not have the depth that Elite promises, the graphics are going to be difficult to top. So if you really can't wait for vector graphics, or you like anagrams and crosswords then you could do far worse for the modest price.

Melbourne House
£7.95

Starion just missed the last issue by the skin of its teeth but as it was so good we thought we'd include it in this issue, even if it is now a couple of months old.

In the year 2010 you are sent back in time to correct the disturbances caused by a race of time traveling aliens. There are 243 time zones to visit and in each one you have to battle with an enemy fleet.

On destroying an alien ship a letter of the alphabet is released and you have to collect it. When you have collected nine letters you have an anagram to solve in order to answer a historical question from another time zone. Once you've worked through all 243 zones you arrive at Event Zero and earn the title of 'Creator'.

Melbourne House have obviously decided to produce a program to compete with Elite on the BBC and in many ways they have done just that. The graphics are perspective vector type but the movement is truly superb, it takes a lot to make an impression on us battle hardened reviewers but we were impressed!

Flying and fighting is a skill in its own right, the techniques are nearly as complicated as in full flight simulation programs - often I spent time locating and chasing an enemy only to see him zoom past as I failed to slow down and match speeds in time.

Two scanners are provided to assist you and sound is up to the Spectrum's usual standard. A Classic!

ARCADE

Clare Edgeley blasts her way through a wealth of challenging software.

Get fit quick just about sums up the last 12 months. 1985 has seen enough sports games to put you off doing anything more strenuous than lifting a pint glass, at least for the next year.

Since the 1984 Olympics, we have competed in every imaginable sport: played footie with Bobby Charlton, run rings round Daley Thompson and been KO'd by big Frank... There is hardly an action sport left which has not been turned into a money spinner, with a Sportsman's name attached. What is wrong with Tessa Sanderson's Javelin anyway?

Daley Thompson's Decathlon was first to the tape back in November '84 and notched up a gold for Ocean when it jumped to number one in the charts for a few weeks. You have to compete in all ten events of the decathlon, taking part in the high jump, long jump and pole vault as well as track events. The 400m is the most gruelling and to keep up speed you must pump the joystick back and forth, which may result in a touch of cramp. The graphics are colourful and the game does give a taste of the real thing.

Melbourne House also attempted a compilation of events with Sports Hero, although it was nowhere near as successful as Daley Thompson. Sports Hero has you competing in four events - 100m sprint, long jump, 110m hurdles and the pole vault, over three difficulty levels. To gain speed you must pummel the run button and press the jump button before takeoff. Aching fingers seem to be the norm in that type of game and in many cases you will end up with a sick keyboard as well. There is no sound and the graphics are not fantastic, although the scrolling background is interesting. A few more events should have been possible.

More recently, Brian Jacks' Superstar Challenge from Martech reached the top ten, although it came a poor second to Imagine's Hypersports. Both contain a weird hotch-potch of events - some interesting, others boring. Brian Jacks gives you a pretty raw deal. For £7.95 you can immerse yourself in such exciting events as squat thrusts and arm dips. Those may be thrilling to watch on TV but on computer they are about as much fun as a wet blanket.

Hypersports is a different ball game altogether. Licensed from the arcade game of the same name, the computer version is very like the original, although some events lack imagination. When swimming - or floundering, if you forget to breathe - instead of tearing down to the end of the pool, the end moves towards you. Clay pigeon shooting is certainly one of the better events, in which you must shoot the skeets through automatically moving sights. The vault is tricky and rather than vaulting as far as possible from the horse, you are likely to end up on your head beside it. The graphics are generally thought to be more professional than Daley Thompson's Decathlon, though whether the game is better is a moot point.

Jonah Barrington's Squash from New Generation is an interesting concept which seems to have fallen flat. Knock a miniscule black ball round the 3D court and try to beat Jonah at his own game. Jonah is one of Britain's leading squash players. Much was made of the fact that a taped recording of Jonah's voice calls out the scores. Unfortunately, all you get is an unintelligible gabble and it is easier to read them on the score board anyway.

We awarded imagine's World Series Baseball three stars in the June issue, which just goes to show that our forecasts are not always spot on. In June, July and August it remained at number three in the charts, only dropping to eleventh place in September.

The game opens with a traditional rendering of the tAmerican National Anthem. Then play starts, with one team pitching and the other batting. You can play with a friend or against the computer, adjusting the speed and direction of the ball when pitching and the strength and lift of your swing when batting. Loving attention has been paid to detail with a large scoreboard displaying genuine adverts between innings.

Last, but not least, boxing - the sport for ugly mugs. Cauliflower ears and battered brains are only half the fun - just think what you can do to your opponent. A few months ago three games were released simultaneously on the back of Punch Out!!, a highly successful arcade game.

Elite's Frank Bruno's Boxing knocks Rocco and Knockout for six, and is easily the most playable and realistic, offering more possible moves and a greater number of competitors than either of the other games. It is also the only boxing game featuring a sporting personality - Bruno helped in an advisory capacity during production which explains the close attention to detail.

Gremlin Graphic's Rocco squares up well in the ring, though you will find it is not as easy to dodge your opponent as it is in Frank Bruno, and there are only three competitors. The scoring system is simple and the graphics are the clearest of the three games. It is worth playing and annihilates Alligata's Knockout in the ring.

Knockout is appalling and lacks any addictive qualities. It is the only game which uses colour - the others being mono - although that could have been sacrificed for extra playability. Other than left and right punches to the body and head, there is no facility for ducking and dodging, but at least you can amble away if the going gets too rough. You tend to spend a great deal of time seeing stars after being KO'd. At least it lives up to its name.

The legendary success of Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy lives on. Platform and ladders games are still the rage and dozens of versions have landed in the Sinclair User offices over the last 12 months. Two years ago Manic Miner was a sure recipe for success, and because it was ahead of its time a lot of money was made. Programming techniques are now more sophisticated and with games like Alien 8 and Spy vs Spy around, who needs a Manic Miner spin-off?

However, they are here to stay and some at least are worth the money you pay for them. One of the more successful games is Strangeloop, released late in '84, which has gone a long way to repairing the damage done to Virgin by Sheepwalk - one of its earliest and most awful games.

A half-crazy computer is the source of all your troubles in Strangeloop and, playing the part of a metagalactic repairman, you must shut it down. There are over 240 rooms filled with lethal swarf which attacks and damages your space suit. A jetbike waits somewhere and will make your task easier but you have to locate and refuel it first. Objects picked up will help with various tasks and friendly robots will patch your torn suit. The graphics are colourful and simple. and there is even a facility for saving your position on tape, to be resumed later when you have recharged your batteries.

Jet Set Willy II is the biggest rip-off of them all as Software Projects has done little other than add about 70 extra screens to the original. Essentially it is the same as Jet Set Willy which was launched back in 1984. The plot is similar; clear up the house before going to bed and avoid the hundreds of lethal thingummies found in each room. Despite being little more than a re-release, Jet Set Willy II is currently doing very well in the charts.

Despite the lack of original thought, if you are still hooked on the challenge of platform and ladders, try The Edge's Brian Bloodaxe. A loopy game if ever there was one. Brian, a viking soldier has been trapped in a block of ice for centuries, and as it thaws, he leaps out shivering, but ready to conquer the British. Flapping 100 seats, deadly ducks and mad Scotsmen are a few of the dangers that lurk on each level. Objects to collect and chasms to be leapt add to his daunting task. Brian Bloodaxe is at least as good as Jet Set Willy, with much visual humour and bright, clear graphics.

Hewson, which has made a name for itself in recent months with arcade adventures such as Dragontorc and simulations like Heathrow ATC, must have had a brain storm late last year with Technician Ted, which is totally unlike the semi-serious games released since. Guide Ted around a silicon chip factory while looking for a plate of the real things. Pick up knives, forks and other necessary implements and avoid several nasty traps. Easy to play and reasonably addictive, Technician Ted is not one of Hewson's best games but has done quite well in the platform and ladders stakes.

Artic's Mutant Monty is more sophisticated than Technician Ted and includes some extremely tricky screens requiring split second timing - if you are slightly out, a lemon or some other incongruous object will squash you flat, and then where will the beautiful maiden be? it is a constant source of amusement that so much work goes into preparing intricate story lines bearing absolutely no resemblance to the game you are playing.

On the whole rip-offs are uniformly mediocre in standard and not the sort of game you would buy for lasting playability. Real fanatics will find Activision's Toy Bizarre and Micromega's Jasper a doddle, and probably have more fun playing blindfold with their hands tied behind their backs. Both games are average and employ run-of-the-mill graphics. In Toy Bizarre, the player leaps round the levels of a toy factory popping balloons while being chased by a gang of irate toys.

Meanwhile, in Jasper much the same thing is going on, only this time you are a furry rat collecting money bags and treasure chests while avoiding furry cats, rabbits and other hairy animals. Platform games are usually fast moving and it is generally easier to keep up with the pace using a joystick. Unless you have very strong fingers, Jasper is doomed as your only option is to use the Spectrum's sticky keyboard.

Arcade adventures have come into their own in recent months, some remaining for weeks at a time in the top ten. With the advent of games like Gyron, fewer people are willing to put up with games like Jet Pac - classics two years ago but now gathering dust in cupboards across the country.

Superior graphics is the name of the game and the Spectrum is being stretched to its limits in a constant effort to improve software. Some games combine excellent graphics with originality, though equally large numbers have been launched on the back of the successful few. Ultimate's Knight Lore, Underwurlde and Alien 8 are three successful examples and Nightshade is expected to do as well.

Underwurlde is rather like a vertical Atic Atac featuring the Sabre-man who must escape a series of chambers while avoiding hosts of nasties. The pace is fast, the screens colourful - a devious game.

Knight Lore and Alien 8 could, at first glance, be mistaken for the same game. Featuring superb 3D grahpics, Knight Lore's hero must search a maze of rooms and find the ingredients of a spell to lift a curse placed upon him. Each room presents a challenge and one wrong move spells instant death. The scenario in Alien 8 is different from its predecessor and the quality of graphics is even higher.

Wizard's Lair from Bubble Bus is an Atic Atac lookalike with shades of Sabre Wulf and is an excellent game, even if you have seen the same sort of thing before. Bubble Bus has made some attempt to change the scenario which covers three levels, accessed via a magic wardrobe lift.

The programmers of Firebird's Cylu were influenced by Alien 8. Cylu is in the Silver range and at £2.50 represents very good value - it is almost as frustrating as the original but the graphics are a little patchy. Ultimate should be proud that so many companies want to copy their games, though it's a crying shame that those same software houses cannot put their combined programming expertise to good use, and produce something original of their own.

Games featuring film scenarios and famous names are often the subject of massive advertising campaigns, and Domark's A View to a Kill was no exception. Played in three parts you must guide the intrepid 007 through the streets of Paris, San Francisco and into Silicon Valley to stop the evil Max Zorin from tipping chip valley into the drink. The game received mixed reviews but, at the time of writing, it had just made it into the top ten - probably due to the James Bond name. It is an exciting game but lacks much visual detail.

The Rocky Horror Show from CRL is already sliding down the charts and does not live up to its namesakes, the film and play. Rescue Janet or Brad from the Medusa machine by finding 15 component parts of the de-Medusa machine. It sounds riveting. Your task seems enormous as you can carry only one part of the machine at a time and if you expect to meet normal sane characters in the castle, forget it. More could have been made of the graphics and the action is slow in places, but it is worth playing if only to meet Magenta who will strip you of your clothes. Wow!

Beyond's Spy vs Spy is unique and features simultaneous play between two players on a split screen. Take part in the zany humour of MAD magazine's two famous characters, the black spy and the white spy, each trying to stop the other finding secret documents in a foreign embassy. Set whacky traps as you ransack each room before escaping to the airport. It is fun, highly addictive and very amusing. Buying the licence to films, books and names is an expensive business, and at last one company has made the most of it with an excellent game.

It is interesting to note that when one unusual game is launched others of a similar nature swiftly follow. Perhaps all programmers follow the same thought waves. Last summer we had an unusual trio of games, reviewed in May, June and August issues. Two are based on the human body - not the most obvious subject for a game.

Quicksilva's Fantastic Voyage is a thrilling game based on the sixties film of the same name, in which Raquel Welch is injected into the body of a brain damaged scientist. Unfortunately, your mini-sub breaks up and you have only one hour to locate all the missing parts. Searching is a novel experience as you rush from atrium to stomach to lung and heart in a never ending circle. Finding your way to the brain is difficult as it is not signposted and the turning is easy to miss. Dine on red blood cells to keep up your energy and clear any infections which frequently break out - normally in the most inaccessible parts of the scientist's anatomy. A great way to learn about your bits, and where they are situated.

Icon's Frankenstien 2000 bears little resemblance to Fantastic Voyage, though it is played in a monster's body. Whoever heard of monsters smoking fags? This one obviously did and that is probably why it's dead. On reaching the lungs, battle with cigarette packets, avoid hopping frogs in the trachea, and fire at any oxygen molecules it is your misfortune to encounter. The graphics are uninspired and the game is simple.

Genesis' Bodyworks was reviewed in June and it is difficult to know what to make of it. It is hardly an arcade game - more of an illustrated, educational tour of the workings of a human body, describing the nervous, circulatory and respiratory systems.

Space Invaders was one of the first great games on the Spectrum and software houses have never tired of the theme. Space games crop up in all categories; simulations, adventures and arcade adventures. Activision has even brought out Ballblazer, a sports game played in space. Way out!

Moon Cresta from Incentive is a traditional game in which you shoot everything in sight, and then dock with another space ship before taking off to do exactly the same on the next level. With complex games like Starion around one would think that games of this calibre would flop. But no, there must be some people around whose brains are in their trigger fingers. Surprisingly, Moon Cresta is creeping up the charts. Long live the aliens.

Melbourne House's Starion takes space travel seriously and combines a number of features, including the traditional shoot 'em up, word puzzles and anagrams. Kill off enemy space ships and collect the letters they drop, then unscramble those to form a word. Fly down to earth and answer a puzzle to change the course of Earth's history. There are 243 events to rewrite - and that amounts to a lot of flying time. Starion is well up in the top ten.

System 3 has come up with the goods against all opposition with the dreadful Death Star Interceptor, which has proved surprisingly popular. If you are really into boring games, this is right up your alley. Played in three sections, first take off into outer space, next avoid assorted aliens and then, as in Star Wars, plant a bomb in the exhaust port of an enemy death star. It is all thrilling stuff.

Quicksilva's Glass is amazing to look at. Psychedelic colours make you want to blink in this repetitive but addictive game. There are hundreds of screens to blast through, and whole sections are spent dodging columns as you hurtle through a 3D spacescape. The rest of the time is spent shooting radar antennae off unsuspecting space ships. The graphics make up for any limitations in the game and demonstrates that a traditional shoot 'em up need not be boring.

This final section consists of a number of games which cannot be categorised. A strange mixture falls into this area - many are shoot 'em ups in some form or another, others require an element of cunning and strategy.

Gyron from Firebird, a Sinclair User classic, is a unique game in which you must travel through a complex maze, dodging massive rolling balls and keeping a watchful eye on the guardian towers to be round at each junction. Those shoot at you, but approaching from another angle may change the direction of their fire. As there are two mazes to get through, it should take months. Gyron is likely to deter arcade nuts, but for those with staying power, it is an attractive proposition. It did make a brief appearance in the top ten at the time of writing, but has since fallen away.

US Gold's Spy Hunter, based on the arcade game of the same name, is a faithful replica of the original. It all takes place on the road as you drive your souped-up sports car through a variety of traps laid down by the baddies. Equip your motor with a variety of weapons, obtainable from a weapons van which you drive into Italian Job style. Rockets, smoke screens and oil slicks are all strongly reminiscent of 007.

Elite's Airwolf is a game that we found so hard as to be almost impossible, and which everyone else seemed to find a cinch - and told us so in no uncertain terms! Try if you can, to fly your chopper down a long, narrow tunnel to rescue five scientists stuck at the end. Blast your way through walls, which rematerialise as fast as you can destroy them - a well nigh impossible task for those whose trigger fingers and joysticks have suffered from the likes of Daley Thomson's Decathlon. Airwolf has done better than we predicted. You can't win them all.

Ghostbusters, the mega box office hit last Christmas was a prime candidate for a computer game and Activision was first to the ghost. Featuring all the best parts of the film, it was an instant success and Activision did well to launch it simultaneously with the movie. Drive around the city coaxing ghouls into your ghost trap but listen out for a Marshmallow Alert. That giant sticky marshmallow man is quite capable of flattening whole streets unless halted. Greenbacks play an important part in the game as you have to buy your equipment to get started, and earn enough prize money for the number of ghosts caught, in order to take part in a final showdown with Zuul.

Finally Tapper from US Gold - another Sinclair User classic. Tapper is a simple but refreshing game centered round an all-American soda bar. You play a harassed barman, who must serve his customers with drinks. Easy at first as you slide them down the bar but wait until they have gulped down the fizzy stuff. Running backwards and forwards between four bars, make sure the customers have got a drink, and catch the empties as they come skidding back. There are three difficulty levels, each one faster and more hectic than the last. Tapper is moving up the charts and we are sure that it will go far towards refreshing the parts other games cannot reach.

The fierce competition over the last 12 months has chased many companies into liquidation. There have, however, been successes, particularly with a number of small software houses bringing new blood into the market. That can only be seen as a healthy sign.

The lack of QL games software is the only disappointment. Where is it? Other than a few basic programs such as Reversi, which cut its eye teeth on the ZX-81 years ago, there has been a dearth of games for this flagging micro. If games of the quality of Knight Lore can be produced for the Spectrum, why not for the QL?