OC HIGH: STUDENT NEWS AND VIEWS : Total Eclipse: <i> For 3DO from Crystal Dynamics, $59.99</i>

Uh, oh. We’re really in trouble this time, space-shooter fans.

The Drak-sai have used their super-weapon, the Sun Dagger, to put out the lights in the Omega Quadrant. Now Lord Zodak, high mucky-muck of the Drak-sai (and a seriously ugly individual who looks like he’s wearing a squid for a hat), plans the same thing for our own beloved sun. It’s gonna get mighty cold down here if we can’t punch his ticket. Permanently.

So guess who has to handle the dirty work? You again. Ah well, you know what they say about idle hands.

So take the controls of the FireWing and head for Omega Quadrant with the help of Total Eclipse.

If you love rocketing through space, toasting aliens left and right, you’re going to love this game. I guarantee it.

First, there are the incredible graphics: dazzling, crystal-clear images, brilliant explosions, sharp details. Firing your weapons is so much fun, you’ll keep the trigger down even when there’s nothing to shoot at, just to watch the stream of blue, green and yellow trail across space.

Yes, Virginia, CD video game graphics can be fantastic, and Total Eclipse is proof.

Then there are game play and control. Your ship answers the helm quickly and goes right where you send it. Aiming your weapons isn’t an exact science, but with a bit of practice you’ll be wasting Draks in no time.

Options are limited to changing control settings and turning the music and sound effects on or off.

So get started. You must clear a number of worlds with a variety of obstacles and enemy attackers. A neat feature is the tractor beam that shows up from time to time to suck you into a Drak tunnel. The tunnel is a real test of skill; you need to fly a fine line, avoiding dozens of barriers and enemy gizmos before moving back out into space.

You are not without defenses. Your ship is protected by an armor shield, indicated by a green band at the right of your heads-up display at the top of the screen. As you get hit, it gradually fades to red. When it’s gone, so are you.

But you can recharge it by destroying enemy ships and land bases and picking up shield power-ups.

Weapons include the basic Stellar Guard, which fires three streams of lovely, pea-green projectiles. Upgrade by flying through icons to get a scatter gun, photon strafer, ion whip gun and rotary gun. You can also carry three plasma bombs, which clear the screen of enemies.

You have a total of 15 lives: five to start and two five-ship continues. You can add to that by flying through occasional one-ups; you get an additional fighter for each million points and a continue (five ships) for 5 million points.

That’s it: a basic, simple, entertaining game that looks great and plays great.