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Brian Jacks Superstar is a re-release of an old favourite which first appeared a couple of years ago. The only change is the price, which has now dropped to a budget £1.99.

The aim of the game is to beat Brian Jacks (Mr. Superstar himself!) in eight different events of the kind that were featured on the old TV programme. Event number one is swimming and here you must coordinate left and right arms (Z and X keys) with breathing. Once mastered, it is no problem to beat Brian who swims in the other lane.

The next event also has a watery theme - canoeing. To succeed in this requires several hits of X to move the paddle one way followed by several hits of Z. Once again, Brian is in the other lane and is relatively easy to beat.

Next comes archery. Here you must hit a moving target, allowing for wind drift. A plan view shows you and the target and you can adjust elevation and shot. A front view of the target shows where the arrow hits. You have six arrows in all and I have not yet beaten Brian who does not visually compete - he just gets a score.

We now move to the track for the cycling which requires Z and X bashing and gear changes. Once again, Brian is not that fast and is easily beaten, The same is true for the 100 metres run. In both these events Brian is shown competing in the other lane.

Events six and seven are gym tests. First, the squat-thrusts which are a Brian Jack's speciality. To complete a successful thrust, several hits of X and then Z are required. You'll be hard pressed to beat the master at this one. The arm dips require similar Z and X work to get up, followed by Return to drop. Brian is not so hot at these and he's easily beatable.

The final event is football skills. You must dribble a ball through a slalom course, reach the penalty area, then position a cursor in the goal to indicate where you wish to shoot.

A diving goalie will attempt to save it. You have three attempts at this. Again, Brian does not appear in this event but gets a score anyway.

Like a number of these sports simulations, there are good, ordinary and poor events. In this case, the football is very poor - the animation is painfully slow. You have to complete the test to move onto round two (the same events again) but I rarely have the patience to do it.

It really spoils the entire software in which the gym test events are particularly good.

Rog Frost