Hotline is a quiz program, driven by sections of machine code, with some stunning graphics and sound effects.

The hotline from Washington to Moscow has broken down, and you mend it by answering twenty questions correctly. The phones and lines are graphically and sonically illustrated. The questions are set on words, geography, cowboys, pirates, food, monsters, two medleys and a Mastermind section.

There is a good supply of questions and an excellent set of instructions. What makes this program different is that you can add your own question sets, modify the number of correct questions needed, add extra questions to the current set and save the whole lot to tape for future use.

So you have a complete framework for checking knowledge of facts, at any level from junior school spelling lists to 'O' Level test questions. One of the big plusses of this program is that it runs quickly.

I found this far more impressive than other quiz programs I've seen, and of much easier lasting use. At this price, and with this structure, however, it should have been in Microdrive cartridge.

D.M.