THE ORIGINS of karate are part of the history of the mystic Orient, or so we always thought. Melbourne House clearly reckons they go further back to Ancient Egypt, and has brought out Fighting Warrior to prove it.

Like the immensely successful Way of the Exploding Fist, it is an animated battle game, with you as an Egyptian warrior fighting a series of monstrous opponents by bashing them around the ribs with a large sword.

Similarities with Fist are obvious. The same style of combat is used, but with fewer options. There are essentially only three blows - duck, jump forwards and jump backwards. That makes it rather easier to play, but probably less satisfying in the long run.

The animations are terrific, with a variety of monsters - the winged demon which kicks you in the guts requires quite different tactics to the dog-headed creature whose main defence is to cower on the ground.

Magic bottles appear as you progress - assuming your energy levels last out long enough - which may contain hazards or give you invincible strength. Use them at your peril.

The point of all that is to liberate a princess from the tomb. If you get that far, watch enthralled as the screen displays a welter of spinning mummy bandages in the final scene. We won't spoil the surprise by revealing all, but it's well worth the effort of playing all the way through.

Fighting Warrior is karate for kicks and should appeal to a younger, or possibly less nifty set of fingers than Fist requires. It is good fun, and boasts one of the flashiest title sequences we've seen in a long time. Good solid entertainment, but liable to be eclipsed by its sister program in the charts.

REJUVENATED after its summer break, Automata celebrates its return with another compilation cassette of 10 games.

There are two illustrated text adventures. The first, Xtroth is difficult, but you can ask for help although the cryptic clues can be more mind boggling than the dilemma from which you seek rescue. Paradise in Microdot contains some zany humour with verses involving birds in trees, edible wriggly worms and little wriggly knees!

Then there are two maze games. Pi There has Rastapiman trapped in a cage being zapped by an evil eye. The Egg manages to drag the Tory Party into the story with Tory blue pills to collect and red ones to avoid.

Grab and dodge games make up another four programs. While some have interesting story lines, like hot air balloons, baked beans tins, or toilet cisterns where loo rolls must be collected, they are either slow in response or basic in graphics. Still, the humour seeps into the toilet scene - the text reads 'You can't beat the cistern.'

Nudgeit is a fruit machine simulation. The graphics are excellent, there are buttons to nudge, gamble, collect and hold. A further display has sums of money with arrows moving constantly between amounts during play. A large window allows a view of the slots themselves with the signs spinning realistically. You have 15 minutes to make your money.

Finally, Piman's Cocktail Cabinet is a list of nearly 200 cocktails complete with their ingredients. It is well laid out and contains some dubious names like Zombie.

The 10 Pack, is a pretty mixed selection to cater for all tastes. The cassette comes complete with a £3 money-off voucher against two games, and can be bought only through mail order from Automata.

IT'S WIZARD flying weather but we're in for a stormy ride. Goering has despatched the Luftwaffe and it looks as if the Battle of Britain is about to begin.

You must take on the task of organising Britain's air power. Churchill will be depending on you and will summon you to his bunker every evening expecting good results. If you lose the battle of the sky you will also lose your job.

Before the start of the game an icon driven menu is provided for the selection of joystick, keyboard and pulse rate. The pulse rate governs the speed at which the game plays and is entered as a number between one and 255. You must choose whether you want to play the one day option or a longer game. One day in the hot seat is best for the beginner who has to juggle with the duty rosters for all air bases in Britain, keep an eye on reports from radar stations and organise the positioning of flak guns.

Only then can you scramble air bases to take action against the enemy as they fly in over the coast.

A map of Britain is displayed and you can zoom in for a detailed look at any of the air bases under your control, by placing a cursor over the area in which it is located and pressing the fire button. An exploded view of the map will appear together with a status report which gives the type and number of aircraft at a base and the feelings of the pilots stationed there.

You can scramble a base by selecting the alarm bell icon. If aircraft are already flying you will be told so by the base commander but if not he will simply say: "Yes Sir!"

When a confrontation is imminent you will be prompted to enter an Aggression Factor ranging from one to six. That determines the ferocity of the fighting and the lengths to which your pilots and gunners will go to drive off the Germans.

After the smoke clears you get a status report from the base commander showing the number of casualties on both sides. A local alert, to bases in the area, combined with a high Aggression Factor is likely to cause severe casualties. Luckily, you can alert all bases on the south coast to aid a beleaguered area. That action, coupled with good flak support and an Aggression Factor of four or five should give the enemy plenty of trouble while keeping allied losses low.

As air crews are likely to get physically and emotionally worn out you will have to keep a fairly strict duty roster to keep them happy. They can reach the end of their tethers in just one day so imagine what a prolonged campaign could do to them.

You do not have to annihilate the Germans in order to win the game. Churchill will commend you for your strategic measures even if you destroy just a few of the enemy but keep them at bay. Winning is difficult but the first time you defeat the German armada you will feel that you have done something worthwhile. You will also feel exhausted.

Their Finest Hour is a strategy simulation which uses the same icon techniques as The Fourth Protocol, also from the Century Hutchinson stable. The package contains a booklet describing the war in the air together with a large scale map - everything you require to take you back to 1940.

THE SEIDDABS have returned yet again - in a game which is a cross between Hewson's Dragontorc and that immortal classic Defender.

The experience of a team of crack pilots, soldiers and technicians has been distilled into a master image from which a series of clones is run off. Each warrior is a clone of its fellows, sharing the same thoughts, the same reactions and the same desire to defeat the Seiddab menace.

In order to defeat the aliens, who intend to take over the whole of the galaxy, the clones must gain control of all the Stargate sectors of space, dock at the Seiddab supply bases and destroy their main launch computers so that the base will be unable to launch new attack craft. The clones must then de-active the Stargates, through which ships are able to travel to other sectors of the galaxy, and trap all the Seiddabs.

The first phase of the game involves strategically placing your ships throughout the star sectors and purging them of aliens. A map of the sectors comes onto the screen and each sector is represented as a rectangle. Move as many of your ships as you require from the home sector - top left on the screen - across the grid.

Each rectangle displays the number of Seiddabs in that area. Some of those sectors also contain Star bases, but you must find them first.

When you have finished your deployment of forces you must choose a sector and do battle with the aliens in a Defender-style game, one of the best we have seen. Not only do you have to destroy the Seiddab battle cruisers but also dodge or destroy waves of asteroids. If a Starbase exists in the sector you must destroy all Seiddabs in the vicinity before docking with it.

After docking, a 3D representation of the interior of you ship - reminiscent of Dragontorc - appears and, when you have made sure that your oxygen level is at maximum, you can teleport to the Seiddab base. Once there you should locate more oxygen.

While exploring the labyrinths and rooms you will find objects. To pick those up, press the fire key and the direction icon at the bottom of the screen will display four options pick up an object, throw it down, put it in your pocket and activate laser weapon.

All objects have a purpose and some of them can be found in strange places. For instance, if you pick up one of the magnetic devices scattered around the base you can collect items which have dropped down shafts protected by grills.

If that was not enough you must also be wary of roving aliens of various shapes and sizes. The most common look like the Zeroids from Terrahawks. Many of them are created by the strange mechanical eyes which are placed on the walls of the stations. You must destroy those with your laser gun. After the main computers are destroyed in one station, the game continues with assaults on others.

Astroclone is a progression from Dragontorc and, naturally, Hewson has been keen to revive the legendary Seiddabs. The 3D graphics are handled well and the icon-driven control panel reacts in a similar way to the spells of Dragontorc.

NOPE, this game is not about Maxwell's attempts to gain control of Sinclair Research. It is not even a sequel, though it is billed as one.

According to US Gold, only those of you who are discerning enough to own an Atari computer are likely to have seen the first Bounty Bob game, called Miner 2049er. You might have seen one version of it, though, called Manic Miner.

Bounty Bob Strikes Back is a levels and ladders game which takes place in a mine full of traps, aliens and acid rain - the author obviously has an affinity with Matthew Smith.

Once you have got over the inventive but not terribly relevant title screen you can guide Bob through a series of cunningly laid out screens. There are 25 in all and at least some attempt has been made to vary the components from which they are constructed.

Bob can move up and down screens in elevators, be pulled through suction tubes, and slip down slides in an attempt to collect objects and score points. You must clear each screen in 2500 seconds or lose a life.

Bounty Bob relies on screen layout to fox players rather than the aliens which are all important in Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy. It is unfortunate that the character has been introduced onto the Spectrum market so late. Most potential customers are likely to say "Oh no, not another levels and ladders game!" But if that's what you're into you'll enjoy Bounty Bob at least as much as Jet Set Willy.

PATIENCE, the solo card game, is usually classed as a non-competitive game. Against an opponent it becomes more a battle of wits. But playing against a computer has to be the ultimate challenge.

The rules involve taking a card from a face-down deck and placing it upon one of eight piles - four piles being filled in ascending order with cards of the same suit, four with descending cards in alternating colours. You can twist - take the next card from the face-down pack - once in a turn or each time you place the previous card. The game concludes when you have run out of cards, or moves.

Chinese Patience sets you against the computer. Players start with an equal number of cards; the winner is the first to get rid of all their cards. The rules are now extended to allow legal dumping of cards on each other's pile.

Taking turns, you progress through the game; both able to see each other's current card and the state of play on the piles. Your interest is maintained throughout the computer's turn as you watch it block your path and you plot revenge.

The graphics, though basic, are clear and well presented. There are a lot of instructions, but those can be quickly grasped while playing. The computer will catch you out on every point at first, but with practice your wits will sharpen and satisfaction is yours when you beat it.

You can choose to play in single games, but it is more fun if you play in matches; the computer keeps the scores, announcing the winner with great zeal.

It is an excellent low priced game which will fill a small gap in the market.

FLICK the flippers, flip the floats and tilt onto the triangles as PSS tries to do for computers what Bally and Sega did for pinball machines.

Not only can you play a sample game with three pairs of flippers but you can construct your own table using all the traditional components.

There are two construction modes. The first will alter the existing table and the second will allow you to start from scratch.

When you enter the design phase, the left side of the screen displays each type of component together with a letter of the alphabet. To position a piece on the board just move the cursor to the desired location and, press the appropriate letter.

Once you have finished your table, you can save it to tape. Alternatively, you can put a coin in the slot, for five balls, set the number of players and press both flipper controls to set the ball in motion.

As a pinball wizard in my youth the PSS game had much to prove to me. I was not, however, disappointed and quickly notched up a score of 59,660 - not to be sniffed at. The only thing missing is the dull thud and clack as the steel ball is bounced between wood, plastic and metal.

THE BRAT struts around the court, psyching himself up. The crowd cheers and the score board announces first service.

Tap! The ball thuds gently into the opposite court and you return it down the side lines, the players moving with all the grace and agility of tortoises.

Deuce. Two advantage points and you win the match. The crowd goes wild in a restrained fashion and your illustrious opponent hurtles his racket to the ground.

There are three championships to win - British, European and World - I wonder what the Brat does when he loses the world championship title to a total unknown? Unfortunately, I didn't have the energy to get that far.

Atlantis cannot be serious. This game is the pits of the world. Super Brat is a poor travesty of that wonderful summer sport.

The players only serve forehands, bad ones at that. They cannot move from the baseline and the game is one great struggle to get to the ball. To make matters worse. the Brat hardly gives you time to cross the court before he begins serving.

There is no need for joystick control as only three keys are used. Two to move left and right and one for hitting the ball. A short delay before hitting the ball will take it to the right hand side of the court, no delay takes it to the left. The player is slow to respond to your controls.

The court is probably the best thing in this tedious game. The screen is set out in a 3D representation of a tennis court. The score board, although small, scrolls well and the scoring is quite realistic.

If you want to play tennis, go for Psion's Match Point.