At first look this appears to be a bland and lacklustre conversion.. However if there is ever a game that begs the player to persist, this is it..

Look beyond the highly frustrating door locks and fiddly teleporters and find a game that offers an awesome challenge to those few tenacious players out there..

Playing the lead character, Mike Donovan, you must detonate the computer rooms and retrieve the code for Red Dust from the mothership’s main computer terminal and then release it into the atmosphere of the ship.. Only when your mission is complete can you return to the docking bay and escape the mothership in a shuttle..

Contrary to some comments I have read here, this game does indeed have a plot, but once again it’s simply a case of whether you want to persist and follow it through to its conclusion..

As a fan of ther series I was disappointed to find the signature tune absent from this game.. If anything could have bolstered the atmosphere, that would have been it.. Also the lack of humanoid enemies was a peculiar choice of the programmer but after a few plays the robots do serve their purpose, and boy do the sentry robots kick some tail!

Scattered thoughout the ship are power doors that can recharge your laser and also a door that allows you to take a transport from one quadrant of the ship to another..

Completing this game is an immense challenge.. I have gotten so close, only to have one of the bombs detonate a few floors from making good my escape! If my memory serves me Diana also makes an appearance in the last minutes of this game too..

Overall this is an accomplished and underrated title from Ocean.. If you have the means, give it a go and see how far you can get.. The resistance is always in need of new recruits!

GRAPHICS – 8/10

Excellent animation on the main sprite.. Smooth scrolling and impressive backdrops..

SOUND – 5/10

No signature tune! However some atmospheric spot effects and the ever present power hum of the mothership..

PLAYABILITY – 8/10

If at first you don’t succeed try and try again.. If you do you’ll find a worthy challenge awaits you..

OVERALL – 7.5/10

Take out the mothership and free Earth from the vistors.. An accomplished piece of software that holds as much appeal today as it did at the time of its release..