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Ace athlete, Daley Thompson, came back from the Los Angeles Olympics with a gold medal in his pocket. Will the computer version of his exploits win a gold in the software stakes?

We staged a run-off between the original Decathlon game - now available for the Commodore from Activision - and Daley's new game.

Daley's game made a good start - the graphics are the closest we've seen to Track & Field, the arcade game. The screen layout is almost a direct copy of Track & Field. Two cartoon graphic-style athletes compete against each other in a series of track and field events - including the 100 metre dash, hurdles, pole vault and discus.

Daley's Decathlon is divided into two days. Qualify with enough points from the first set of activities and you'll get through to the next set. The Activision version allows you to complete in the full set of decathlon events and has an option which allows you to choose events as you go - very useful for getting in a bit of practice.

The Activision Decathlon has far more realistic graphics - with a larger screen presentation of the track and the athletes. The Activision sportsmen have a better and more fluid action when running and moving. The sound effects are slightly better too.

Both games are extremely hard on the joystick. As with the Atari 2600 version, you really have to pound the stick to death!

Ultimately, you have to pay your money and take your choice. If you want a copycat version of the arcade Track & Field machine, go for Daley's Decathlon from Ocean. If you want a more accurate graphic representation of an athletic event with realistic movement, then go for the Activision Decathlon.

Personally, I reckon that Activision's game gets the gold with Daley's version of a close contender for the silver.