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A new multi-event sports simulation from Gremlin is Alternative World Games, a parody of the Epyx Games series. There are eight national pastimes featured from all around the world.

The action starts when up to six players input their names and nationalities. Each country has an 'alternative' anthem - Rule Britannia, for the UK, and the Can-Can for France, for example. Next, up to eight events are selected, and the players choose whether to practice or compete.

The first event is a sack race set in Naples in which two players race a manhole-littered course.

Next is a plate-balancing act where the player attempts to take the most number of plates down a fixed course in the shortest possible time. Accelerating too quickly, or moving around too much sends a wave of disturbance through the plates, causing some to fall off. At the end, a score is awarded on both time and plates remaining.

Third on the agenda is boot throwing. The player swings either an empty or full welly around himself as fast as possible and hurls it as far as he can. Distance is more dependent on the timing and angle of release, than the boot's speed.

The fourth event is river jumping. The player sprites towards the water's edge carrying a long pole, plants it firmly in the middle of the river, and vaults as far as he can onto the other side. Speed varies according to the angle the pole is carried during the approach, but the jumper tires rapidly if the pole is held low for too long.

The somewhat tricky art of pole climbing is next. Two people race head-to-head to reach the top of their respective poles, and retrieve the champagne bottle there. When the top is reached, the bottle is brought down gently.

Running up a wall is the next task facing the player. It's not quite as gravity-defying as it sounds, and involves running at a wall, grabbing a small cap on the way, and trying to pin it as high as possible.

The penultimate event is a pillow fight on board a gondola. Two antagonists face each other, and bash away with a variety of moves until one falls in the water.

The last event is a bounce round an obstacle course aboard a pogo stick, bursting balloons along the way. Points are earned for bursting all the balloons in the shortest time.

In a month of multi-events, from Combat School to Track & Field, this must be vying for Oddest Collection award. It makes a pleasant change to have someone making a game that's tongue-in-cheek, as far too many games take themselves seriously, forgetting that they're supposed to be fun.

This one features some lovely graphics, not only the picturesque backgrounds, but also the humorously animated characters. The sound is good on the title screen, where a selection of horribly accurate alternative national anthems are played, but is rather samey in many of the events.

The big drawback, and one which has made me hold back on further praise, if that some of the events have "all or nothing" results - once you're worked out the control, you always finish with the same time or points. This tends to make them very short-lived, as opposed to easier events in which scores are increased as skill is attained.

Although Alternative World Games echoes the classic Games series, the control methods certainly aren't as smooth as Epyx's efforts, and the gameplay suffers slightly because of it.

The level of difficulty between games is also a bit varied, some events being terribly fiddly to operate, such as the pogo-stick event, and others quite simple, such as the sack race.

The graphics and animation are outstanding, and the sprites have a definite style to them which is reminiscent of those 'cute' Hungarian cartoons.

Not an essential purchase, but if it's a multi-event simulation you're after, this is certainly the one to go for this month.

Gremlin set out to produce a parody on the Epyx Games series - and have succeeded in style! Alternative World Games is very humorous, but the gameplay hasn't been sacrificed for laughs, and the eight events are all very playable.

The animation is superb throughout, with smooth, cartoonesque movement on the participants, and some lovely touches, such as the dog that chases the sack racers.

The events are played over some very impressive backgrounds, and the pillow fight on the gondola is absolutely stunning - the canal looks almost real!

The events vary from good to very good, with my favourites being the pole climbing and river jumping. The only problem I can see is the multioad system, which holds up the action and gets a little frustrating.

Apart from this, Alternative World Games is superb, and sports fans should find it both challenging and fun.

Presentation 84%
Very humorous and well designed game layout, only marred by a slow loader.

Graphics 93%
Superbly animated characters and beautifully drawn, detailed backgrounds.

Sound 77%
Amusing anthems, and good spot effects.

Hookability 80%
Most of the events are fun, but have complicated controls which take time to learn.

Lastability 79%
Eight events should last a while, and with up to six competitors, there's much fun to be had.

Overall 86%
A high quality, well thought out game that gently pokes fun at the whole multi-event genre.