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If you thought your faithful old Spectrum has been looking a little lacklustre lately, that there was no sparkle to the games, then think again. Make way for Cybernoid: The Fighting Machine. It's a stunner.

So just in case you were planning to junk your faithful Speccy and upgrade to an Atari ST or Amiga, delay that momentous decision for a while and get Cybernoid.

The game is the creation of Raffaele Cecco, the brain behind CybernoidExolon. Cybernoid has a similar feel to Exolon but, for me, has the edge in playability and style.

Again, to be perfectly honest, the game idea isn't the most startlingly original concept and has cropped up again and again. But what game is truly original nowadays? Okay, I can hear you all shouting out Nebulus, another Hewson offering by strange chance.

The basic idea is to control a space battle fighter, collect weapons, explore, survive and destroy the aliens.

Federation storage depots have been raided by space pirates. They have stolen valuable minerals, jewels, ammunition and super-duper space weaponry. And, not surprisingly, the Federation wants them back. And that's your job. You must retrieve all these goodies and return them to the space depot before time runs out.

The opening screens on both the Spectrum and Amstrad versions are very impressive. The Cybernoid sits beside a volcano spewing molted rockets into the air. Surprisingly, I thought these would destroy me straight away. But no, I sailed safely through. It's as you descend into the second screen that the nasties come at you. And it's here that you begin to pick up bits and pieces, including the add-on weapons.

And it's not only the aliens you have to look out for. The pirates have activated a defence system which deals death to invaders. Once you start playing, you're hooked. And there's eight levels or so to keep you playing.

Cybernoid is one of the best Spectrum releases for ages and probably the best Amstrad game around at the moment.