Producer: MC Lothlorien
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £7.95
Language: Basic
Author: R. T. Smith

This game comes excellently pacakaged in a plastic snap shut case, but the cover picture is a little misleading, or rather odd anyway, a montage of Napolean, Montgomery and Rommel, yet the game is a modern scenario - Napoleon never saw tanks, Monty and Rommel weren't all to familiar with jet fighter aircraft either! 14 pages of instructions accompany the tape and are essential reading before play.

In most respects, this game follows the usual pattern of Lothlorien war games where two players (in this case, rather than one against the computer) are each given 12 various units to move about the battlefield until they encounter an enemy unit. This scenario is made more complex by the addition of various air forces, however units may only move one square per turn, so having aircraft doesn't mean zipping about the place any faster.

Units include; tanks, mechanised infantry, flak, anti-tank guns, scouts, infantry, artillery, paratroopers, fighter planes, ground attack planes and transport planes onto which paratroopers may be embarked, and from which they may jump. Other elements are; airfields, bridges, cities, forts, hills, mountains, marshes, towns and woods.

There is a master program on the tape which offers you the opportunity of then loading an already saved scenario. You may also redesign the terrain and alter the content of the units. After the master programme comes a preprogrammed scenario called 'Twin River'.

COMMENTS

Control keys: many keys
Keyboard play: Input commands taken rapidly, but general processing of commands takes time
Colour: quite well used
Graphics: generally poor
Sound: very rare

This is a very complex game compared to many that Lothlorien have done in the past, and it takes some getting into. Unfortunately there is so much to do that it takes ages to get through a phase or turn. I see from the instructions that Lothlorien are intending to release various scenarios that will go with this master program in much the same way that the preprogrammed 'Twin River' on this tape is used. In theory it makes this a very flexible wargamers' program - indeed you can create a scenario which is not modern or 20th century by deleting modern ordnance from the scenario - but I wonder whether the program here is really good enough for that. It is quite slow, virtually everything being in BASIC, and, as usual with these types of game, the graphics are quite small.

In my opinion, this type of game is only suitable for people who like war games/strategy games, and apart from its new feature (design your own battlefield) it's fairly typical of the rest of Lothlorien's programs. If you like those, you'll undoubtedly enjoy this one. I think a drawback is that it is for two players without a single player versus the computer option.

There are lots of keys and functions to master and most of the instructions appear to be written for experienced wargamers. For the general buyer of games the program has serious drawbacks; the graphics are small, one character size, the BASIC is slow and you have to keep looking up the graphic symbols in the instructions to interpret them. After this time and this number of war games, I would have thought programmers could have made greater strides towards better looking games than this.

Producer: Lothlorien, 48K
£7.95 (3)

This is a wargame for two players versus each other, you can't play against the computer. There is a master program to which various scenarios may be added, one is includded with the game, but the others will become available later. Each player is given 12 various units which he may move across the map and which include many modern equivalents that may be omitted if playing a game set in an earlier period. Like most other Lothlorien war games, each player must move all his units in turn and by one square. This makes it a long and involved game unlikely to appeal to anyone except wargame addicts. The screen is very crowded and the symbols are hard to read without practice, the graphics are slow because of the BASIC in which the program is written. Overall CRASH rating 45%

FRONTLINES

From our correspondent at the front Angus Ryall.

We have been conscious for some time that CRASH has had two weaknesses and these have been in the areas of adventure games and war/strategy games. The former problem was solved when Derek Brewster kindly agreed to write an adventure column and review the games. We are now able to overcome the second weakness - and this issue sees the start of our wargamers column put together for us by ANGUS RYALL. Angus is the Software Marketing Manager for Games Workshop Ltd. As such he brings with him his experience not only of software but also the over view of strategy games in general.

OVERVIEW OF STRATEGY GAMES

Everyone knows that wargamers thrive on 'complexity', and this is what has kept the hobby so elitist for so long. Traditional wargames/strategy games have been virtually impossible for mere mortals such as you or I to crack, and the small number of people playing them has also kept their prices ridiculously high. The arrival of home computers should have changed all that, by getting rid of the number-crunching and all those fiddly little card counters that always end up down the back of the settee. There should by now be as many decent strategy games available as adventures - but there aren't. Having just gone through a pile of strategy games I think I'm beginning to understand why. The people writing them for the Spectrum are giving the sector a bad name - it's the same old idea, of making the players bust a gut to play the game, that has kept traditional wargaming such a minority pastime. Most of these games have abominable graphics, laughable points systems, and unintelligible instructions. They tend to be long winded and very slow, and one or two are just plain idiotic. Only a couple here were actually enjoyable to play.

DIEHARDS

Slightly better but still terrible.

CONFRONTATION (MC LOTHLORIEN)

A couple of months ago we ran a feature on Lothlorien, who produce this turkey; in the piece they
complained bitterly about the fact that they always had bad reviews. Frankly, looking at this, I'm
not surprised. Confrontation is supposedly their classic wargame, and is the master program for a
whole series of wargame scenarios. The game is above the Argus level at any rate: but it suffers
from a problem which typifies virtually all strategy games - the presentation of the map and units
is diabolical. In the Lothlorien interview, one of the directors, Roger Lees, said “you have to
make sure that the graphics don't get in the way of playing the game”. Or lack of them, Roger? The
only way to gain any kind of overall view of what's happening is to make a note of where
everything is each turn, because an enemy unit only appears as itself once you've moved right up
next to it - which can be a little bit late, Otherwise it's all guesswork, which doesn't sound
much like strategy to me. Despite a fair variety of unit types, a reasonable terrain system, and a
generous scenario-builder program, the game still fails because of this 'guesswork or paperwork'
problem.

CONQUER KENT, CRUSH KABUL

CONFRONTATION MASTER PROGRAM
Memory: 48K
Price: £7.95

CONFRONTATION SCENARIOS VOLUME 1
Memory: 48K
Price: £5.95

Although there have been many attempts to produce wargames on the Spectrum of comparable quality to the boardgames of the mid-seventies, few have managed to match their ancestors.

Lothlorien has attempted to rectify that with Confrontation, a system which allows players to define their own maps and forces for play.

The system suffers from being a two-player game, relegating the computer to the role of the umpire.

Battles are modern in style, with armoured and foot infantry, aircraft and artillery. The mechanics are of the move-fire type, with mobile units moving first and each player moving in turn.

The graphics are attractive and easy to follow. There are no confusing figures to interpret.

The Confrontation package includes a simple scenario to start you off. Lothlorien has also released a cassette of scenarios based on 'real' events, which cannot be used without the original program.

The scenarios are bold in conception; Egypt vs Israel across the Sinai desert is an exercise in chess-like precision of communication lines.

An Angolan scenario in which Unita defends coastal strongpoints against Cuban-trained forces introduces the possibility of South African reinforcements.

Operation Sea Lion enters the world of alternative history with the German invasion of Kent, while the fourth scenario has a Soviet column attempting to force a passage through the mountain passes of Afghanistan.

All of the scenarios, as well as the main program, are well-constructed and represent challenging problems for keen wargamers. They will welcome the series with en- thusiasm. But those who cannot claim to be avid armchair generals are less likely to find a sometimes frustrating business enthralling enough to justify the investment.

SALT-CELLAR SOFTWARE

The ladies have retired to the drawing-room, the subtle aroma of brandy and cigar smoke wafts through the air and Carruthers is energetically manouevring the salt-cellar, which he strangely refers to as the 21st Panzer Division, across the desert of the tablecloth. Now is the perfect time introduce our imaginative guest to Lothlorien's Confrontation.

It's a clever concept. It's not just a war-game but a whole system for recreating any modern warfare scenario you choose. The Master Tape allows you to design your own map, select your own units and set your own objectives. Your selection is made from a comprehensive range of terrain features and unit types, including air squadrons and paras as well as conventional ground units, so that virtually any land battle of the 20th century can be simulated.

Three of the tapes of player tapes. The fourth is the umpires tape, and this is the key to the game. Imperial Software has created a play-by-mail system which uses cassette tapes as the medium for passing information and orders back and forth.

Your personal player tape enables you to load and scrutinize the latest turn's data which the umpire has sent you on a cassette. At your leisure, you check the status of your battle fleets, the profitability of your mining companies and ponder the significance of newly explored solar systems. It may take you hours to decide on your next moves - it may take you days! Eventually, you give a fresh set instructions to your computer which then records the data back onto the cassette the umpire sent you. Now you must return the tape to the umpire for processing.

Having received a fresh batch of tapes from all the players, it's the umpire's turn for some fun. Using his special umpire's tape, he first collates and processes the data that's been sent to him. Ships make landfall on new planets, battles rage in the starry blackness, great fortunes accrue in the interstellar treasuries but each event is handled impartially and automatically by the umpire's Spectrum which finally records the new turn's data to be dispatched to the players.

So where's the fun? Well, the umpire has access to a lot of information that the players don't. Whereas an individual player knows only the location of his own ships and mining operations plus the odd enemy force he has chanced upon, the umpire knows all. Imperial suggests that the umpire uses this knowledge creatively to leak facts selectively to individual players. The umpire's task, if he so chooses, is to add the spice of his imagination to the game.

The game itself is well presented on screen, all information about your race's galactic dispositions being routed through a convincing representation of a computer console and attention detail is good. Imperial has even designed a different character set for each interstellar race.

A pity, then, that this outstanding concept is not quite so outstanding in actual play. It is interesting and can be engaging but somehow it doesn't stimulate quite as well as it simulates.

The battle system which gave no clues as to damage inflicted, save a burp from the loudspeaker or the actual disappearance of a unit from the screen, was needlessly uninformative.

In particular, the on-screen map, which was very attractive to look at casually, was not quite as nice to look at when you were trying to decide if your unit was armoured, mechanized infantry, artillery or whatever. This is what comes of trying to cram a large map onto a small screen. If only Lothiorien had gone for a scrolling screen and units occupying four cells instead of one! Still, ours is not to reason why. It's an ideal simulation if you've got eyes like a hawk and an eidetic memory . Sometimes, I suspect all of my opponents have!

Full marks, Lothlorien, for originality but please spare a few thoughts for the poor old player next time. We aren't all perfect.

CONVENTIONAL WARRFARE

Confrontation is possibly one of the most popular games from this Stockport-based company. This is a two player game of conventional 20th century warfare. One player controls the Blue forces and the other player the Red. One nice feature of this game is the option to play on a black and white TV set. If you wish to play in black and white, the pieces of the player on the left hand side of the screen are shown in inverse to make them distinguishable from those of his opponent.

Each player takes control of a number of forces. The forces consist of mobile units made up of tanks, mechanised infantry and engineers. Each type of unit has its own particular use, for example it would be of very little use trying to destroy a plane with a paratrooper, but the flak guns can easily inflict damage on enemy aircraft.

The playing area is very clear with rivers, mountains, cities, bridges and other useful landmarks displayed. Pieces on the board belonging to each player are only displayed when they are actually being moved, which means that if the players agree not to look at the TV while the enemy is moving you will not know which piece is what type of unit before it is adjacent. All pieces are represented by a little picture when they are being controlled. The number of squares they can be moved and their type are displayed at the bottom of the screen.

One of the nicest and fairly original features this game offers is the option to design your own scenario. Once the program has loaded there is no map held in memory and you can load the one supplied by Lothlorien or design one of your own. Map design is very easy: the cursor keys are used to move a cursor around the playing area and the designer can place cities, rivers, mountains etc by pressing the appropriate key.

Because the map can be designed by the user there are no set victory conditions. You can play until all forces have been destroyed for a set number of moves, until a particular point is captured; in fact the list of possibilities is almost endless. Since the finishing conditions are left to the players a game could last five minutes, five hours, or until you wish to end.

Confrontation is an excellent game, available on a number of popular micros. Because the scenario is left up to the player it is an ideal program for both beginner and expert war gamer.

VARIETY IN WAR GAME SCENARIOS

MICRO: Spectrum 48K
PRICE: £7.95
FORMAT: Cassette
SUPPLIER: MC Lothlorien, 4 Granby Rd, Cheadle Hulme, Cheadle, Cheshire

Having already sampled Lothlorien's wares in the form of Johnny Reb I jumped at the chance of trying out one of their latest offerings, Confrontation.

This is basically a design-your-own-battle package and will do for wargaming what The Quill has done for text adventures.

After loading, the screen displays the seven options available, which include all the necessary routines to enable you to set up and play almost any 20th century battle you can think of.

The final option allows you to load a pre-designed scenario from tape and they have, thoughtfully, included one. Entitled Two Rivers it is a land and air battle revolving around the sovereignty of six cities three of which, initially, are controlled by each side.

Most movement commands can be entered by the cursor keys, which is a welcome simplification.

This is not the type of game where you play against the computer. It is specifically designed for two humans (remember them? They used to live here before we got computers) to sit down and settle their differences on a battlefield.

The two armies are depicted as red and blue forces, along very similar lines to those used by the British Army on manoeuvres.

Unit types are only shown when typing in orders or when actually engaged in combat. Your opponent might know the position of your forces but cannot know what they are until he meets them in battle. This tends to resemble the secrecy one might find in real warfare, which lends itself to some highly tactical play.

For setting up your scenario the package caters for all types of terrain, dwelling and arms, except nuclear, which is understandable.

The cassette is value for money and comes in a sturdy case with clear instructions. My review copy had a couple of small bugs but I expect these will have been ironed out in the finished version.

Lothlorien
£9.95
Spectrum 128

By pure coincidence, two wargames specifically for the Spectrum 128 arrived on my desk on the same day. As both are by the same company and one is very good and the other very bad, it is useful to look at them side by side. The company is Lothlorien and the two games are Confrontation and Austerlitz.

Confrontation is a game for two players and attempts to cover scenarios from all over the twentieth century. Seven different scenarios are included in the package and there is also the facility to create your own mini games by first of all drawing up a map from various terrain types and then populating it with tanks, paratroops, flak guns and infantry etc. The seven scenarios included are Poland, Greece, Desert War, Crete, Afghanistan, Sinai and Angola.

The main problem with the game is that it was originally written back in 1983, in Basic, and is now showing its age in that it is extremely user unfriendly compared to similar products released today. Drawing your map is done by moving a cursor round the screen and positioning towns and hills etc. Unfortunately, the cursor keys (remember that they are separate keys on the 128) don't work as the instructions claim. Only keys 5-8 (the cursor keys on the original Spectrum) worked. Another problem was that when I loaded a scenario the instructions left me unsure as to what I was supposed to be doing and my first attempt caused an "Integer out of range" error message whilst my next key press reset the machine.

The only differences between the 48K and 128K versions appears to be that the scenarios sit in RAM in the larger model instead of having to be loaded in separately. If you already have the 48K version, don't bother with the update and if you don't have the earlier version, don't bother anyway.

CHRIS BOURNE TAKES A NOSTALGIC TRIP THROUGH THE BATTLE-STREWN FIELDS OF LAST YEAR'S STRATEGY GAMES

Before programmers discovered sprites, 3D graphics and continuous fire buttons, strategy games were regarded as a sort of ideal computer entertainment. That was partly based on the idea that computers were essentially souped-up calculators and partly because mainframe computers were very good at games like chess.

If you were into computers when the Spectrum was launched, you'll remember titles like Football Manager, and Flight Simulation being held up as examples of the finest programs around. These days it's more likely to be Alien 8, Shadowfire or Dun Darach, and their reputation depends in great part on graphics programming.

One of the reasons for that is financial. In their wisdom, retailers and distributors tend to see strategy games as having a narrow appeal. They are the classic sleepers which sell steadily but slowly. The trade wants the money now and lots of it. That means quick-selling arcade games, preferably with some spin-off celebrity theme attached, which hits number one in the charts in a couple of weeks and stiffs out a month later.

Many of the fine strategy/simulation games, produced in 1985, saw little exposure in the shops - certainly not in the big high street chains. That does not mean they were no good. In fact, there has been something of an upsurge in the quality of strategy games recently, and most spectacularly in the field of wargames.

Wargames have as long a tradition as any sort of computer entertainment. If you've ever read the hefty instruction books for classic wargames of the past - Avalon Hill's Afrika Korps you'll understand why. Those rules tended to read like a computer program with complicated look-up tables for cross-referencing dice throws, gridded maps and strict sequences of actions within a given turn of play. They also took hours to play.

The computer is supposed to take all the argument of table-top gaming out of wargames. It quickly does all the adding up, it doesn't cheat, and it can handle secret moves easily.

Unfortunately, most wargames never turn out like that. Graphics tend to be based on unrealistic grids, the rules appear over-simple, and the computer generally takes a vast amount of time to think about the moves.

One such game, which in other respects might have deserved success, was ATRAM. The name stands for Advanced Tactical Reconnaissance and Attack Mission, which turns out to be a NATO exercise in which the RAF and USAF battle it out using Harrier jump jets. The idea neatly sidesteps the obvious problems involved in trying to flog a game based on bombing the daylights out of Port Stanley.

The game is a computer-moderated boardgame with a glossy magnetic board and stylized pieces that you slide about as if you were a real NATO general. Unfortunately, the computer part is less fun. The only excuse for the program is to handle the boring bits like keeping track of how much fuel each jet has consumed.

The author is clearly fixated on jargon, which makes the rules almost unreadable, and all moves are keyed-in in a jumble of letters and numbers. It is so easy to make a mistake that you'll never be entirely sure whether you're playing the game properly. Headbangers and retired Harrier pilots only.

A much better two-player wargame is Confrontation from Lothlorien. Confrontation is a wargame system which allows you to design your own maps and, within reason, choose the composition of your armies. That allows you to play at a tactical or strategic level. The flavour is essentially modern, with armour and mechanised infantry supported by footsloggers, artillery and air units.

To go with the system, Lothlorien has also released a set of four scenarios ranging from a fictional WWII invasion of Kent to guerilla warfare in Afghanistan and Angola. We found the Egypt-Israel scenario most interesting in that the open terrain left units extremely vulnerable without air support. The organisation of such support requires capturing and defending a chain of airstrips in order to reach Tel Aviv or Suez depending on which way you're going.

Nevertheless, Confrontation is still slow. The same cannot be said of Overlords, another two-player game from Lothlorien. Loosely based on an old boardgame favourite, Campaign, it is played across a large area of fairly basic terrain. The concept is abstract, involving footsoldiers, generals, and the Overlord. The objective is to capture strongpoints - ownership of which generates one piece per turn. The fighting is equally abstract, based on the number and strength of the pieces in contact with the enemy.

Both players play simultaneously, and the game is so fast that you'll almost certainly need joysticks - preferably one each. The pieces whizz about the screen and that leads to a magnificent confusion as both players simultaneously attempt to outflank their opponent.

By and large, it is the epic battles of WWII which command the keenest attention from programmers. Battle for Midway is a strange hybrid from PSS, and incorporates arcade sequences. The Battle of Midway was a crucial turning point in the war against Japan, when the US sent a force to smash the invasion fleet.

The PSS game falls into two parts. First, locate the course of the three arms of the Japanese forces. Having done that you must send out strike forces from your aircraft carriers to bomb them.

When battle is joined you get the chance to zap the Japs using a joystick, which rather spoils the point of a supposedly realistic wargame. The author claims it simulates the fog of war, or some such nonsense.

We found the game easy to beat - it's good to see the computer taking an active part in a solo game for once, but the graphics are primitive and not very clear. A year ago we might have had more praise, but there are better games around.

Much better, in fact, and the star of the bunch is undoubtedly Arnhem from CCS. CCS, like Lothlorien, specialises in strategy games. For years CCS games were worthy rather than exciting, and almost always written in super-slow Basic. With Arnhem the company has finally struck gold.

The game follows the thrust of the Allied armies across the Rhine against fierce German opposition. The main idea was simple enough. The British were supposed to hurtle down country roads to Arnhem while American paratroopers were dropped on the bridges ahead to hold them for the main advance.

Of course it wasn't as simple as that, and neither is the game. There are a number of levels at which you can play, until you get to the full battle. A time limit is set, and if you don't capture the bridges quickly enough you lose. The German task is therefore to hold up the advance.

The graphics are pleasant, and information about each unit's strength can be obtained by positioning the cursor. One of the best features is the movement system. You can choose to move in open or close order - open order means you are far less vulnerable to attack but cannot take proper advantage of the roads. The game can be played by up to three players - with three, one player gets the Germans and the other two play British and American forces.

The feel of the game is tremendously realistic, with the onus placed on keeping the British moving down the roads. Arnhem is absolutely recommended and will hopefully encourage other software houses to pull their socks up and match the standard.

Less attractive, but equally fast, is Lothlorien's The Bulge - the German counter-attack on Antwerp and Hitler's last great offensive in Western Europe. It was always doomed to failure, what with narrow country lanes and terrain choked in snow. The computer plays so quickly and viciously that you'll be hard put to survive.

Although The Bulge scores over Arnhem for speed, the graphics are less clear and the strategy less easy to fathom. Lothlorien has opted for simultaneous movement, and one is frequently reduced to hurling forces willy-nilly into the fray without much regard for tactics.

A pleasing feature of both Arnhem and The Bulge is that you can issue general orders to units which they will continue to obey until you change them. That is a sensible and much more realistic alternative and saves having to move fifty pieces every turn, slowing the whole flow of play.

Moving away from wargames, another category of great antiquity in computer circles is what is known as the land-management game. An early example of the genre was Hamurabi which puts you in charge of an ancient kingdom. You are head of a population, and there is corn in the treasury.

The idea is to manage the economy - based entirely on corn - so that everybody gets enough to eat. There is enough corn to sow for next year with some in reserve in case of natural disaster.

Of course, the way the game is set up at the beginning, there is never enough, so you get to make decisions about how many people to starve to death for the greater good of the rest, and so on.

Such games are very easy to construct on computers, and if you want to write your own strategy game we suggest you try something along those lines. The secret is to construct a set of formulae governing the relationship between various factors - for example, how much food do people need? How many people are needed to sow an acre of land? How much corn?

There are very few business-type activities that cannot be simulated in that sort of way. Two famous games of this type are Football Manager from Addictive Games and Mugsy from Melbourne House, in which you play a gangster trying to run rackets with the aid of a none too loyal gang.

Sadly, Kevin Toms - Mr Football Manager himself - has not managed to follow that enormous success.

Addictive has brought out a number of games along similar lines in 1985, but none of them match the old classic.

Software Superstar casts you as a producer of games. You have to allocate time and money each month to releasing games, programming, advertising and the like. Nice touches include the decision to hype games or be honest about them, but the overall impression is dull, and we found it easy to get a hit program and reach the targets set.

Grand Prix Manager from the same outfit was equally tedious, with poor graphics to boot. Luckily CRL brought out the infinitely more entertaining Formula One - a Sinclair User classic - which we found totally compulsive.

Formula One is a full simulation of a grand prix season. Start off by hiring drivers and building cars - you have a million quid or so but it goes very fast. When the race starts choose your tyres and then watch the cars whizz past in convincing graphics. Messages inform you of the state of the track and incidents involving other cars, while a leader board keeps you in touch with the race positions.

Best of all, you can call pit stops for tyre changes, and the correct choice of timing may win or lose a race. The pit stop sequence is arcade based, and you have to manoeuvre a mechanic around the four wheels to complete it. Purists may have their doubts, but the speed of movement is linked to the amount of money you invested in the crew, and does not therefore make a mockery of the strategic element.

Formula One is a good game against the computer, but becomes really exciting when played with friends.

Almost as enthralling, although less well presented and rather more anarchic in play is The Biz, a simulation of the record industry from Virgin Games. You begin by choosing your social class - from stinking rich to unemployed - and then form a band. Hire a manager, go on the pub or college circuit and send endless demo tapes to bored record companies. If you have the money, you can cut your own discs, but beware - without the clout of the big boys behind you it may all go to nothing. The ultimate goal is, of course, to get a number one, but the road is full of pitfalls.

The game is full of subtle humour - you may reckon a dry ice machine is just right for your tacky rock band, but watch your credibility plummet. You may even get a chance to sample drugs during the game. Try it and see where it gets you.

On then to simulation proper, by which is meant those worthy and sometimes addictive attempts to portray accurately a real-life experience. The original impetus comes from the flight simulators used by airlines to train pilots, and for some time software houses only seemed to be interested in mimicking those.

They all look more or less the same, with an array of instruments on the lower half of the screen and a view of the horizon with occasional crude landmarks. Some are better than others for speed and ease of use, and the best are still Psion's antique classic, Flight Simulation and Digital integration's Fighter Pilot, which is rather more difficult but does allow for aerial dogfights.

DACC specialises in those features, and recently brought out 747 Flight Simulator. We've taken a bit of stick at Sinclair User for giving it the thumbs down, but I still maintain it's an unexciting production, mainly because the Jumbo jet isn't a patch on a light aircraft for aerobatics.

Real enthusiasts will probably enjoy it, it is certainly a worthy and apparently highly accurate program. If you're looking for entertainment, though, try elsewhere.

You might try looking at Southern Belle from Hewson. The program simulates the old Pullman service from London to Brighton, and you have to handle the great steam engine all the way.

Initial levels involve handling only one or two controls while the computer does the rest, but you work up to a full schedule with stops, signals, hazards on the track, brakes and handling gradients, to name a few.

It is a surprisingly fulfilling program, and the wire-frame graphics of recognisable landmarks along the track are well executed. You are marked at the end according to your accuracy on the schedule and how economically you conserved fuel.

Another unusual simulation is Juggernaut from CRL, in which you have to drive a container truck around town picking up cargoes. The screen shows an overhead view of the lorry and road, with traffic lights, status, steering and gears. The movement is slow and there are no other vehicles around - presumably you're driving in the middle of the night, council bye-laws notwithstanding. The irrepressible John Gilbert reckons the lorry looks like a Gillette GII razor. He's quite right, and although Juggernaut isn't a bad idea, the end result is rather dull.

Finally, a look at a few odds and ends which don't really fit any categories. One such Minder, a much-hyped trading game based on the famous television series.

You play Arthur Daley, the dodgy entrepreneur, and the idea is to buy and sell an incredible range of weird goods such as gold acupuncture needles while steering clear of the law in the form of mean inspector Chisholm.

You do that by seeking out dealers and wide boys, either at their warehouses or in the Winchester Club. Terry, as ever, gets to do the fetching and carrying, and can also be hired to mind you - an important function when dealers discover goods are stolen.

In essence the game is simply trading, with a large text interpreter enabling you to bargain with characters in authentic Daley cockney - it understands words like bent, or pony. Once you get into it there's rather more strategy involved. You have to organise Terry's time so goods get collected and delivered on schedule, while you need sufficient cash to pay for the next lot.

Minder is a pleasant romp and deserved to do better in the charts than it did, but would have benefited from a greater variety of incidents. Memory taken up with slang during the bargaining is fun at first but since it is really only window dressing it leaves you with the feeling that the game lacks depth.

Alien on the other hand, from Argus, has plenty of depth but is difficult to get into. It follows the tense cult movie in which a devastating alien invades a spaceship and proceeds to exterminate the crew.

The game uses menus to pick characters, objects and locations in the spaceship Nostromo, while plans of the decks indicate your position. The idea is to destroy the alien either in a straight fight - fat chance - or by escaping from the ship and blowing it up by remote control.

You only see the alien when you are in control of a character in the same room. The rest of the time you can hear it as doors and ventilation grilles slide open, or your scanner picks up the presence of a living creature nearby. That makes for tremendous tension in the play, and the one drawback is the simplicity of the graphics which works against the otherwise strong illusion of involvement. Fans of the film will enjoy it. Others may find it tough going.

We have made no mention of some of the plethora of spin-off titles in the sports arena which might come under the umbrella of simulations. Those are generally disappointing, especially in comparison with the arcade based sports games. Two, which play quite well, are Steve Davis' Snooker and American Football from Argus - which has the added virtue of not involving a famous personality. Nick Faldo's Open is a lovingly programmed simulation of the course at Sandwhich which suffers from one horrible flaw. The closer your ball is to the flag on the green, the more difficult it is to judge the angle at which you should strike it. In fact, the reverse should happen.

It is heartening to see arcade games taking on more elements of strategy in their play. Arcade-adventures such as Knight Lore or Gyron - if you can categorise those masterpieces at all - have as much to do with logical thought and planning as they do with swift reactions. That argues a growing maturity, both among games publishers and also in public taste, as computer owners look for more than a quick joystick fix from their hobby.