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Brainstorm, a new release from Virgin Games, supposedly combines the tactics of chess with the carnage of Defender. It's for two players and the idea is to frazzle your opponent's brains by reflecting high-energy laser beams at him or her. This is done by depositing 'Electro-prisms' in relevant positions on the board shown on the screen. When you're positioning a prism, you must also set the 'Deflection Factor' which determines the angle at which the laser beam will bounce off it. The player's laser is at one side and can be raised or lowered instead of laying a prism.

Before the game begins, the players must agree how awkward the screen will be. The time that the laser beam remains on can also be varied - the longer it's on, the more time your opponent has to plot against you!

Now for my criticisms, in particular the instructions. Though they are long, they are far from comprehensive. The basics of the game are hardly covered, whilst the trivia is given the fine toothcomb treatment. Let's hope the life-jacket instructions for Virgin Airlines weren't written by the same chap!

But on the plus side there is a screen picture in the cassette inlay (along with the life history of the author) which is a great idea so you know exactly what you'll get for your precious money! The screen display is nice and clear with good use of colour. Once you've figured out what to do, the input is quite logical. It loaded with no problems and there is a copy of the program on the 'flip side' of the tape (Virgin said that, not me!).

My verdict is that it's a good one for those who want to cut their teeth on something mild before going for full-blown alien zapping and at £7.95 it's not going to burn a hole in the proverbial pocket either!