YOU'VE got to admit it - Sandy White has class. He's the programmer who wrote the magnificent classic Ant Attack for Quicksilva, and he's back again with his old boss Rod Cousens. I Of the Mask is the result, and Sandy is obviously pursuing his own style as independently as ever.

The game is a maze quest in which you have to collect the parts of a robot - 17 in all - in order to win the Space Trials of Newgama III. The parts have to be collected in the right order, and are contained within 32 universes located throughout the maze. Each universe has three crystals, one containing the part, one taking you to another universe, and the third dumping you in another part of the maze. Your score is increased each time you collect a part, and decreases with time. If you get the wrong part, you lose a life.

Your tiny spaceman is dwarfed by the towering walls and, when you turn, instead of the usual switch between two frames, the whole scene turns with you, lurching wildly until it reaches what passes for balance again. It's the stuff of nightmares.

The robot parts are extremely difficult to recognise at first, and you must use a combination of sensible guessing and simple trial and error to work out which you should go for first. That makes the first few games fairly arbitrary, but as you recognise the first few collectable parts, the rest becomes easier through elimination. In general, the crystals form an efficient means of travelling swiftly through the maze, but do not put you where you expect. It can be very hard indeed to reach the appropriate universe - and if you have run out of ammunition you will not be able to shoot down the part.

Although there's obviously much strategy and skill involved in the game, it does become a little repetitive. Luckily, the power of the graphics save it from becoming totally boring, but we should have preferred to see rather more variety all the same.

ROBOT MESSIAH makes a welcome change from the usual theme of free the humanoids. Instead, you are asked to free the robots.

As SID, a semi-intelligent droid, you must descend to an underground world beneath the planet's surface and search for three envelopes, which when fed into the master computer will free the droids.

The game is divided into three stages. The first, the caves, is simple but colourful and well illustrated. It consists of levels connected by rocky ledges and strewn with gnomes, bears, objects and flying nasties.

As only three objects can be carried, trips back to the start where the master computer lies will be necessary. Don't worry though, the caves are easy to memorise.

Two objects must be collected to gain entrance to the second stage - the buggy. This is hardly relevant to the game and consists of you sitting in a car trundling along at minus two miles per hour. It is neither strenuous nor exciting. Push the joystick down to pick up energy pills as you roll over them and push the joystick up to raise a shield for protection from nasties.

The test centre is another maze, full of differing levels, and as in the caves there is much scope for your jumping skills. SID is a bit slow off the mark and takes ages to leap, but his jumps are amusing and realistic. When you have found all the envelopes, pick up the PSU units and find the transporter pad. That will take you to the caves where you can begin your long climb back to the master computer.

Robot Messiah demands a degree of skill to complete the game with three lives. Arcade adventure experts will probably have the game whipped within a fairly short period, but if you are new to this type of maze mania it is challenging material.

PREVIEW

IF YOU are into khaki and fancy being a soldier, join the commandos.

Capcom, Japanese coin-op manufacturer released the arcade game Commando in the UK early this year. It has not taken Elite long to sniff it out, buy the rights an produce a computer counterpart.

Your brief - to storm into enemy territory and kill, kill, kill until you reach the opposition army's fortress. With machine gun swinging at hip level the game starts. However, the macho image is rather lost as you seem to be wearing a pink pyjama suit - perhaps that's what commandos wear while out on patrol.

The game is surprisingly difficult, one man against an army - and they have a whole arsenal at their disposal. You do have a supply of bombs to lob into bunkers and over sand bags, but while you're lobbing you are likely to be splattered by a bazooka, or mown down by machine gun fire.

As you continue your headlong charge the hazards increase, bunkers, trenches, cannons, narrow bridges to negotiate, and lorries and motor cyclists to avoid. Stores of ammunition can be picked up en route by running over them, although they are tricky to collect as they tend to be situated near gun emplacements and so on.

We saw a pre-production copy of Commando and Elite assures us that minor bugs such as colour clash will be corrected before the game is sent out for distribution.

The graphics are basic and it is not always clear what they are meant to depict. For instance, giant green and white mushroom-like objects seem to have sprouted at random - some type of building, - I suppose.

The action is chaotic and the animation smooth. Commando is very similar to the original, but in terms of the Spectrum's graphics, colour and sound, it can't compete.

Clare Edgeley

DEATH is only a footstep away as your black-clad saboteur, expertly trained in the martial arts, flits through dingy warehouse corridors in search of the secret information disc.

The disc contains the names of rebel leaders who must be located and eliminated by government forces. Your mission is simply to enter the warehouse, avoid the rabid-looking dogs, kill the guards who get in your way and find the helicopter in which the information is stored.

When you arrive on the scene you have only one weapon - a Shuriken - a star-shaped metal device which you can throw. When that has been used you will have to discover more weapons. Those include hand grenades, knives, bricks and stones. On occasion you can use your fists and feet, although close combat is the most risky to your survival rating.

In the best traditions of mercenary achievement, your pay depends on how many dogs and guards you kill. The largest incentive is £10,000 if you manage to steal the disc and escape.

Time is also an important factor. It's no use having the muscle if you haven't got the sense to find the information disc.

The game is very realistic, the graphics are outstandingly smooth and there is no colour clash or flicker to speak of. There are nine levels of play, ranging from extremely easy to extremely difficult.

HOW CAN YOU possibly make your way round a maze when everything you touch sends you tumbling?

The aim is to find the master computer and blow yourself up to save the robot race - a slightly different variation on an age old story line. The computer is hidden in the third section of the maze. To exit a section you must first find the transporter key and then the transporter room.

You can leap into the air to jump on or over obstacles, and laser blast the aliens, many of which confront you in the form of a skull. There is a rather macabre flavour to Soul of a Robot - the sides of the screens are embellished with the skeletons of long forgotten monsters, and skulls are the main form of decoration throughout. There are five jump settings allowing you to leap short or long distances. Each time you touch an obstacle, or one of the aliens, you are sent flying and each move needs careful timing and a lot of patience.

Soul of a Robot is the sequel to Nonterraqueous which is easier and more enjoyable to play.

YES, it's another karate game. International Karate follows the same format as Melbourne House's Way of the Exploding Fist, and was set to be released at about the same time. Here, finally, is the much talked-of rival to the Fist - and it's pretty good.

The 16 actions are similar to those in Fist and controlled in the same way - eight with, and eight without, the fire button pressed down. They include somersaults, sweeps, a variety of kicks and punches, the spectacular flying kick, and the full Monte roundhouse routine.

Scoring is according to the standard system as well - 30-second bouts, with two full points determining the winner. Bonus points are scored depending on the speed with which you demolish your opponent.

The animation is excellent, and the fighters have a rather more sporting look about them, as opposed to the Melbourne House emphasis on oriental mystery. International Karate is a tournament-based game in which you travel the globe for each stage in the championships. Melbourne House may have the slight edge in animation design, but International Karate has the best backdrops - including a different set on each side of the tape.

We found International Karate about as tough to beat as Fist, but then again, we've had you lot writing in to complain that Fist was too easy. There is really so little to choose between the two programs that it all boils down to style and presentation. Melbourne House wins the laurels for elegance and simplicity of design, but you can't escape the fact that International Karate costs over £2 less.

On that basis, System 3 offers better value for money, and had it been released first we would have given it a Classic award. You may spot differences between the two which we regard as unimportant, but which you feel tip the balance. So try to see both games before you make up your mind - but one of the two ought to be on everybody's shopping list this Christmas.

THUNDERBIRDS are go! With a hiss the swimming pool slides back to reveal Thunderbird One. Meanwhile, Thunderbird Two makes a sudden exit from the face of a cliff.

"Virgil! I'm going in," screams Scott as he roars between the pyramids. "F.A.B. I'm right behind," yells Virgil and Thunderbirds One and Two disappear from sight as they enter the intricate maze of an ancient pharaoh's tomb.

Trapped in that crumbling monument are some eminent Egyptologists. The oxygen supply is almost exhausted. One rescue team has failed already. Scott and Virgil will have to use all their initiative to get them out alive. The pharaohs were a devious bunch and to prevent the tomb being ransacked, they erected a device whereby great stone blocks would fall in the paths of any who entered.

Thunderbird One can move the blue blocks, and Thunderbird Two, the green. Both can shift the red blocks. However, the passages are narrow, there are many that the bulkier Thunderbird Two cannot negotiate, and shifting blocks around without due forethought could leave Scott and Virgil in peril.

Artefacts and treasures can be picked up en route which will help your score, and fuel dumps can be utilised for a longer playing time. The famous Thunderbirds theme tune accompanies the rescue mission, but it can be turned off for some blessed silence.

Thunderbirds is brilliant, a gigantic puzzle which will tax your ingenuity and powers of logic. Blocks may have to be moved two or even three times until they are out of the way.

The game is nicely balanced with some arcade sequences - not that you have to shoot at anything. But you will have to negotiate a spider's web, patrolling guardians and mummies amongst others. A choice of weapons and equipment is given at the start and if you make the right choices, those will be implemented automatically when you reach the arcade screens, knocking out obstructions and affording you an easy path to the exit. I haven't enjoyed myself so much for a long time. The game is not particularly fast; the graphics are quite basic but more than adequate. But figuring out those puzzles has me hooked.

In the words of Scott, Virgil, Gordon and Co - F.A.B.

PREVIEW

TAKING ON the might of Ultimate's graphics system is not a task lightly undertaken. Turning the whole thing into an exercise in comic invention, and then flogging it for two quid less than your usual prices as if to say, 'it's just something we tossed off in a quiet moment,' is nerve of the first order.

Sweevo's World is Gargoyle at play. The brilliant writers of Dun Darach and Marsport have turned their attention to the world of 3D arcade adventure with what looks like excellent results. We've only seen a small section of the finished game - about eight rooms or so - but on the evidence thus far, it's going to be a wonderful romp.

Sweevo is a particularly dumb robot, an electronic Stan Laurel. His task is to clean up the mess left by mad Baron Knutz and his deranged genetic experiments. Those include the goose that laid the golden egg - creep up behind and say Boo!, then see what happens - and the horrible little girl.

The game is played across four floors interconnected by trap doors and air vents. The puzzles, involving the collection of various objects, including the notorious Knight Lore boot, use the layout of the map to good effect. At times for example, you'll have to send objects down trap doors to land in a specific place below, to help you solve the problem.

The graphics system is almost identical to look at as those in the Ultimate games, but the movement of Sweevo seems smoother and faster. The game is full of dreadful visual puns and jokes, and should prove as funny to play as it is difficult to finish.

Scoring is by the accumulation of Brownie points, but as the cassette insert says, that is very complex and largely irrelevant. Gargoyle still beats most other companies into the ground, even when they're just 'having fun'. Watch out for a full review of Sweevo's World in Sinclair User soon, and in the meantime start saving up your pennies.

Chris Bourne

FOLLOWING in the footsteps of all those kung-fu programs comes Domark's offering, Gladiator. None of your fancy footwork here, and none of your oriental inscrutability either. This one pitches straight into the gory arenas of ancient Rome, as you pit your strength and wits against other gladiators in an attempt to win the favour of the crowd, and your eventual freedom from slavery.

It has to be said that Gladiator is one of the most inaccessible combat games yet devised. There are 25 joystick movements, and 45 weapons to choose from. Controlling the stick is very difficult at first. The movements include lunges to various parts of the body, four-way movement, jumping and ducking, a couple of defensive moves, cuts, throwing, and turning.

Sixteen of those are accessed by moving your joystick in one of eight directions, with or without pressing the fire button. The remaining eight are obtained by pressing the fire button twice, and the final move is a secret one - Domark invites players who discover it to write in.

You fight with three weapons and can choose from shields, swords and spears, axes, flails, nets and tridents. The third weapon is a smaller piece such as a dagger, kept in the belt until you lose one of the original weapons.

At first it's hard to work out what's going on. However, once you realise that there's not much point slashing with a spear, or throwing your shield at the opponent, you can concentrate on a selection of the moves available. We found a shield and long spear very effective against gladiators armed with a short sword. Keep prodding long enough and down they go. However, the Spectrum soon produced net and trident men who posed different problems.

The graphics are excellent, with large gladiators in an arena surrounded by spectators. The emperor sits in his box and gives the thumbs up or down when the contest ends - a nice touch. The animation is very effective indeed.

There is a lack of documentation of the weaponry. It's difficult to work out precisely what you are carrying. Are all the swords much the same? If not, what's the difference?

Our other small gripe is that the double-fire set of movements is difficult to access. In the heat of battle it's very easy to get the timing wrong and find yourself throwing a weapon instead of moving backwards.

However, for the dexterous and the violent, Gladiator is a great game, well produced and certainly offering more in the way of options than any of its fellows. The play is not as fluid as those kung-fu contests, but you'll find it a hard slog to win your freedom and lay down the sword in peaceful retirement.