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IN THESE DAYS of perspective graphics and complex simulations which tax the mind as well as the joystick fingers, a game like Ed-On, from Add-On Electronics, is a little disappointing.

It is billed as a car racing game in which the player steers his vehicle round a circuit accelerating and decelerating.

The object is to collect the maximum amount of dots while changing lanes to avoid the other car on the circuit. The other machine will do its best to collide with the player's. The circuit is a grid-maze and the vehicles are small UDG symbols. Steering is by the keyboard or you may use a Kempston joystick.

Five lives are allowed in each game. The difficulty increases as you become more successful and more opposing cars will appear after the first screen, making the action tougher and more dangerous - a kind of motorised Pacman, in fact.

It is no state-of-the-art game and the graphic display offers little excitement. The program is fast, however, and the task set is difficult given this speed. At times it seemed as if the computer was cheating, as the enemy car would tend to leap across sections to meet the other.

Steering is easiest with a joystick, though the keyboard controls are simple and well-placed. Manual dexterity and reaction speed are the only qualities needed.

Even if that is all you want from a computer game, there are more interesting games available and it had no really addictive pull to it. All in all, an average program with nothing to raise it above so many others.

Memory: Any Spectrum Price: £5.95 Joystick: Kempston