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With jaws snapping, the giant shark leapt out of the water. Only the quick thinking of the speedboat driver prevented yet another waterskier's death.

You are in control of a speedboat which is taking a waterskier out for a joyride. For a while all is plain sailing until you enter an area of uncharted water. Giant peces of driftwood surround you and to make matters worse - you have to guide both the baot and luckless skier round huge outcrops of rock looming out of the water in your direct path.

Breathing a sigh of relief you burst out of this hazardous area only to find worse ahead.

Firstly, a flotilla of yachts and then a series of motor cruisers piloted by thoughtless individuals bear down on you at collision speeds.

With a flick of the wrist, you send the wheel spinning and thinking of your hapless passenger weave and dodge through the yachts, cruisers and yet more rocks.

But you're not out of danger yet; fear wells in your throat when you recognise what can only be shark fins milling through the water towards the water skier.

Can you tow him safely through those snapping jaws?

you have three lives and will lose one if either you or the waterskier crashes.

I can understand the speedboat exploding when it hits a rock but it seems a little incongruous when the waterskier explodes as well!

The cruisers apparently have some special powers as it is possible for them to steam straight through the rocks and come to no harm at all.

There is a high score table at the end of each game and bonus points are scored if you manage to get through each phase without losing a life.

Keyboard controls are easy to master on the Spectrum with 6 and 7 controlling up and down movement and 0 featuring thrust. This is graphically very realistic as the boat will start to plane as it gathers speed. However, I did find the game very slow to play and found it was fairly easy to reach the fourth phase.

Aquaplane is available from Southampton-based Quicksilva for the Spectrum 48K at £6.95.