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"Games for adults" here take a slightly retrograde step back to your basic, "blast everything that has pointy ears or green skin" xenophobia. The game, which shows as much understanding for aliens as Space Invaders, originated as a three-player Bally/Midway coin-op.

The plot traces Mankind's progress from failed forays into space during the 2030's (one presumes) to biological warfare in the 2050s. In 2062, strange transmissions are picked up by a probe orbiting Neptune. Obviously of alien origin, the transmissions cause a wave of fear, nay, a tsunami of xenophobia!

In short order, a group of space marines are assembled and blasted off into space. Upon arriving at the devastated, and alien-infested 015 space station it turns out only two men can be beamed in. The game starts with each player selecting his character.

Your mission objective is to wipe out the aliens and pick up all the hardware left scattered about. To complete a base you have to destroy a set number of aliens, or 'xenos', before they overrun it. Succeed and you're beamed back to your ship ready for the next base. If it looks like you're going to fail, you can order a 'fast destruct'. The bases are composed of rooms which flick-scroll as you move about. Most bases have several levels to them, accessed by lifts.

The monsters all seem to be fairly close relations of HR Giger's Alien, and range from hatching pods to spidery things to tentacles reaching down to grab you by the neck. There's also a leaping snotterpillar (which spits acid) and a big alien which has an energy-draining stare. You must also be careful of the base's own defence systems, which may attack you unless you have the right access cards.

Of course, there's quite a variety of weapons lying around which can be picked up. When you find one, text flashes up in an action window on the score strip; pull back and you pick it up. Similarly you can push buttons, break glass, fix gizmos, and perform several other interesting actions.

First impressions are very confusing; there seems to be so much happening. After a bit I got the hang of how the aliens attacked and so on, while items such as seeds and a knife promised a good adventure element.

Unfortunately, while many of the items are useful (the knife can help cut tentacle aliens) there isn't enough to break up the basic blasting action. With only limited variety in backgrounds, I ended up a bit disappointed with a game that seemed to promise a lot.

Although I've seen this odd little coin-op gathering dust in the corners of arcades I've never got round to playing it, probably because it looks a lot more complex than it actually is.

That's one fault; the other is that the gameplay is far too similar from level to level although the action is frantic enough.

Excellent pre-game presentation raises expectations only to see them fall down upon sight of the style of game and its limitations. Although well converted, Xenophobe isn't the best of coin-ops to begin with.

Presentation 90%
Great title music, music tape, speech, loading screen and difficulty levels.

Graphics 76%
Attractive aliens and backdrops, but nothing spectacular.

Sound 94%
Choice of good FX or excellent soundtrack.

Hookability 74%
A bit confusing to start with, but you soon get the hang of it.

Lastability 64%
There isn't that much depth.

Overall 68%
A brilliantly presented, but not especially well structured shoot-'em-up.

Presentation 82%
Same as the C64, but less impressive for machine.

Graphics 59%
Bright and cheerful, but nothing special.

Sound 76%
Good in-game tune and FX.

Hookability 63%
Initially confusing.

Lastability 58%
Unlike the C64 game, you can't go on forever in two-player mode, but this added toughness just emphasises repetitiveness.

Overall 62%
A competent conversion of a mediocre coin-op.