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We've been bob, bob, bobbing along at C&VG since DI's latest game arrived in the office. The programmers, famed for their aircraft and bike racing simulations, have taken a step into the unknown and produced a truly excellent and original game based on this thrilling and dangerous sport.

It puts you in charge of a bobsleigh team out to compete in the Winter Olympics. You train your team, organise the finances, set up the bobsleigh and, finally, take part in races down awesome ice-tracks all around the world.

You can practise or race on individual runs or compete in a whole championship season. You begin each season with a certain amount of sponsorship cash - you win more if you do well in competition. But you're more than likely to end up crashing, damaging your bob and forcing a cash outlay on repairs.

You spend your cash on training your team, getting them into shape or purchasing a new customised team uniform - or even buying a new bobsleigh. You'll need to buy new bobs in order to progress through the skill levels.

Each level requires a different type of bob - ultimately an Olympic standard bob to enable you to compete for a coveted gold medal. You can't enter the Olympics unless you've done well in the World Championship season - proving your racing skills.

The game is menu-driven - with attractive info windows setting out the different options of presenting relevant information.

Control of the bob requires a delicate touch on the joystick - violent reactions resulting in a bruising, battering crash! Concentration is essential. You may think it looks easy after watching the built in demo - but it ain't!

Practice makes perfect though - and you get a genuine sense of achievement after completing a run - whatever time you cover the distance in.

The graphics and sound on both versions I've looked at are basic but very effective - you get a real sense of the speed and danger as you career down the calustrophobic ice-lined track, racing around slick ice walls, bumping around corners, speeding under bridges and enduring gut-wrenching high-speed crashes!

Two members of the British Bobsleigh team, Nick Phipps - who once beat Daley Thompson in the decathlon - and Alan Cearns, at present in training for the 1988 Winter Olympics, helped out with the design of the simulation - and it shows.

I've never been near a bob - and I reckon this game is about as close as I ever want to get! But DI's usual attention to detail, nice presentation and excellent packaging make Bobsleigh a real Christmas gold medal winner! Here's a few hints and tips on gameplay.

A fast push start is very important, and will have a large influence on the finish time. The push start depends on how fast you can rock the joystick up and down, and also on your computer level of fitness.

If your fitness level is given as poor or average it would be a good idea to spend some cash to improve your fitness rating, otherwise however hard you rock the joystick up and down you will never be able to achieve the best possible push start.

Smooth driving produces fast times, so gentle steering adjustments on the joystick will produce faster times than wild excessive steering.

Try to find the natural lines through the corners which require the least amount of corrective steering.

Avoid hitting the side walls because this slows down the bob down. The bob is most liekly to crash when coming out of a corner late and hitting the side wall hard.

Wrong runners on your sleigh will reduce the grip on the ice. This means you will have to hold over the joystick longer to achieve the same control.

If the air temperature is very cold (e.g. -8 degrees) the ice surface will be hard and bowed runners (type 4) are best because they cut into the ice for better grip. If the air temperature is warn (eg. +3 degrees) the ice surface may be melting slightly and a flatter runner (type 1) will provide better grip.

The brake is only to be used after crossing the finish line to bring the bob to a standstill. Use of the brake during the run is prohibited because it scuffs up the track and can slow down the competitors still to come.

There are four classes of bob from amateur up to Olympic, the better the bob the faster it will go. Each class of bob is available as a two man or four man bob. The four man bob is faster than the two man and will incur higher maintenance costs. The Olympic four man is therefore the fastest bob.

It it's speed and excitement you're after then Bobsleigh won't let you down - get your skates on and beat it down to your games store now!