Superbly packed, and with excellent instructions, Xaviour features your control of a lizard Silurian of the same name. A long and detailed story sets the scene of your recovery of DNA fragments to enable Xaviour, the sole survivor, to rebuild his race.

To do so requires energy, supplied by orbs strewn about the underground complex. Energy is required to repel aliens found in each of the 4,096 rooms. These are interlinked by hexagonal doors, each bearing a co-ordinate symbol, if only you can work out the code.

Featuring Currah Micro Speech, and joystick control, hi-score and demo mode in superb, large scale, smoothly animated graphics of the highest standard, Xavious is truly of genuine arcade standard.

Number One tester viewed the pack with anticipation, and was excited by the story. After I had my go, I left him to it. Ten minutes later he came in with a long face "It's just the same as Atic Atac," he said. When you strip away the trapping, he's right. Excellent if you don't object to the similarity.

D.M.