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This was probably the first title to take the old Star Trek games a step further. As Mat you must defend the solar system against attack from the dreaded Myons. The usual Trekkie features of long and short range scanners are featured, but there are also some good 3D graphics which come into their own when you become tangled in bitter dogfights to defend mother Earth. There's plenty of strategy to the game too and although it may not look as good as the likes of Starstrike or even Elite, it offers a different kind of challenge to either of them and can hold its own as an important early space classic. There was a sequel, also written by Crash magazine's adventure reviewer, Derek Brewster but it was far too similar to the original.

CodeName Mat
Producer: Micromega
Memory required: all of 48K
Retail price: £6.95
Language: Machine code
Author: Derek Brewster




Now your mind is Mat’s mind...

‘Mission: Alien termination — the desperate plan to place in the mind of a teenager the combined tactical skills of all the planetary leaders in the solar system. MAT is mankind’s last hope...Now your mind is Mat’s mind. Take control of the Centurion and blast off on the greatest adventure of all...’

Inlay cards usually leave something to be desired when describing a computer game, but considering the scope of Code-Name Mat, Micromega’s is almost terse. For decades the Myons have sought to dominate the Solar system and they have launched an all-out attack, knowing that Earth has developed a revolutionary new space craft. Unfortunately there is only the prototype USS Centurion, and you as Mat are in command.

How to describe the game? As we said in our preview feature last issue, a starting point might be Star Trek games, but only as a convenient departure point, for Code-Name Mat has gone boldly further, resulting in a game of arcade action combined with real simulation which calls for a number of different skills. In brief: The Myons are attacking Earth, starting from the outermost planets of the solar system. This divides the game up effectively into sectors which equate with the planets Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter Mars and Earth. The Myons tend to attack a planet and attempt to reduce it to rubble which will be used to increase the numbers of their attacking fleet. In the last event, it is better to destroy a planet yourself than to let it fall into Myon claws. The solar system is seen on the Solar Chart.




The green hills of Earth thank you for saving mankind from the Myon threat.

The second chart is the Sector Scan, a 10 x 7 grid which shows the position of the main planet, any satellite bodies like moons, positions of Myon fleet units, your own defence units (more later) and positions of stargates (red — outer system/cyan — inner system). Travel between sectors within a planetary system is done by means of a warp gate. A cursor can be moved to the desired sector and then the Centurion must be piloted (using the view screen) at the gate which will appear in front of the craft. Failure to achieve the transition will result in the Centurion ending up in some other sector. Travel between planetary systems is done by navigating through one of the two stargates in much the same way.

Long Range Scan is a 3D global representation of your area of space. The Centurion is seen as a dot at the centre. This is one of the most amazing aspects of the game, and one of the hardest to get to grips with. A craft disappearing behind you will reappear ahead. If you loop the loop the display will rotate vertically as if you were looking down through a revolving cylinder. To play well, you must master your scanner.

Instrumentation and its use is very critical, flying by the seat of your pants alone will not suffice. Instruments provided at the base of the view screen are Energy (basically a strength factor — when it reaches zero — you’re dead), Velocity, Angles from a tracked object both vertical and horizontal, Object range, Object number, Shield Status, Tracking Computer Status. When the Tracking Computer is on, it will automatically switch between a forward and reverse view from the ship to face any object being tracked, such as an enemy fighter, and you always fire in the selected direction. You are up against three types of enemy craft: Fighters, which will attack as soon as you enter an area containing one, Cruisers, will only attack when within a range of 3,000; Base Stars (nicknamed hamburgers), which will attack immediately. If their shields are worn down, hamburgers run away for two minutes until the shields are regenerated.

The Myon attack continues once the game has started quite independently of your actions, unless you stop them, of course, and it takes a great deal of skill to contain their movement through the