In the fast lane

At last, a game that begins to use the power of the 32-bit ARM processor. E-Type, as the name probably suggests, is a road racing game where you are at the controls of that beautiful machine: The Jaguar E-Type open top with V12 engine. I had the opportunity to drive a real one a few years back and the power of the game matches the real thing.

Double-clicking the game icon loads a beautiful 256 colour title screen while other parts of the program are loaded. Eventually you are prompted to insert the tracks disc and press the spacebar. The program then checks the new disc and moves to the game options screen.

Here you can alter the track to use, skill level and whether you're using a manual or automatic gearbox: An E-type automatic? Sacrilege. There's a mouse sensitivity option in three grades, sound volume and you can also enter your name. Finally click the play game icon to start.

You're presented with a view of the back end of your car with driver and passenger in the center of a road with fields and trees on either side. In the distance are a couple of snowcapped mountains and tree covered hills.

At the bottom of the screen is your console with glove compartment on the left, various oil pressure and temperature gauges - standard issue for an E-type - ignition keys, heater control, rev. counter and speedometer; there's also a section of the steering wheel.

As you sit there other cars rush past you, several Minis, a couple of Porsches, a Lotus Esprit and, I think, an Alfa Romeo.

Obviously you want to race them so it's foot down on the clutch, into first, clutch in and hard on the accelerator - well, each of the mouse buttons corresponds to a foot pedal - clutch, brake and accelerator - up arrow is change up a gear and down arrow for go down - you can change these.

So you're away with a screech of wheels. Moving the mouse controls the steering and your hands appear on screen as you steer left and right. You change up rapidly through the gears- racing past a long line of warning cones - hitting fourth gear just as the first bend appears, along with two policemen and some roadworks which force you and the rest of the cars over to the right-hand side.

It's here you'll most likely come a cropper - or copper - first. You'll either come to a staggering halt by hitting the roadworks, at which point you and your passenger will fly into the air only to land back in your seats. Or you'll hit another car. The bump results in a dramatic loss of speed which, if you're unlucky, will mean that you are hit by the car behind with the loss of yet more speed. So it's a fast change down in gears, then build up speed again.

If you hit the policemen they let out a pitiful cry and disappear. Past the first hurdle you shoot off down hill overtaking the cars that are now mostly on the right after the chicane. However the next barrier is some oil - or water - on the road. Hit it and you're all over the road for the next couple of hundred yards. It's all right here but there's a later one that's guaranteed tobe fatal if you hit it atmore than 150mph.

And so it goes on there are time bonuses for each lap - about three miles each on my preview copy, but due to be much longer in the final version - so you just keep going round faster and faster trying to make the next lap before the time bonus runs out.

You and your car can take a certain number of bumps and knocks before becoming completely defunct - an event signalled by the driver and passenger slipping down out of sight and the back bumper falling off with an effective clang. A trip computer display gives elapsed time, distance covered, average speed, skill level and adjusted score. My fastest to date has been 196mph average.

I can't comment on the documentation as I didn't get any with my version but the final disc will come with several tracks, each with different scenery. The samples on my disc included the Lakes (which seems complete), the Broads, Antarctica, Egypt and Moonlighting, which composes a night time drive in the country near an American metropolis.

The author of this excellent product is Gordon Key, who's last product was Holed Out and before that Clogger. He's currently working on a E-Type track designer which should beavailable as you read this.

There are lots more things in E-Type that I haven't mentioned because it's more fun to find out for yourself, but there's just one word to describe E-Type: Fantastic.