This is different. It's not a game, just something to enjoy. As the instructions say, switch on and freak out.

The program does to the screen what a synthesiser does to sound. Essentially you can produce multi-coloured patterns on the screen by moving the joystick. But any description is inadequate for this; you have to see the effects to appreciate them.

You have numerous controls over the dynamics of the display. For example you can set the width of a line. When you move the cursor across the screen you leave a trail that ripples smoothly through a range of colours. You can create starburst effects, streamers, mirror images etc.

When first loaded sixteen different effects are preset into the top row of keys. Apart from using these you can define your own parameter settings and store the settings on one of these keys. You can record up to half an hour's worth of your own generated light show on tape. This can all be loaded back into the memory to provide a performance that automatically repeats. You can alter the parameters via the keyboard during playback to experiment further.

If you sit in the dark moving the joystick in time to your latest pop record you have a light show that beats any tame disco lights.

Jeff Minter has done it again.

It's mesmerising, different and good value for money.

L.C.