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This offering almost became the official Acornsoft Grand Prix game but, for reasons unknown to themselves, Acornsoft chose the version programmed by the author of Aviator.

Software Invasion's 3D Grand Prix is yet another micro driving game, although the graphics are better than most.

Your car is drawn in hi-res graphics at the front of the screen, complete with rev counter, speedometer and gear indicators.

Using keyboard or a joystick, accelerate and shift into first gear. Your car begins to move forward, giving you a driver's eye view of the road. As you steer left and right, the view of the road changes but your view of the car stays the same.

Straight away I noticed that your car takes up the whole width of the road. So to overtake another car, you have to drive with half the car on the grass!

This is no real problem, as the program lets you drive most of the race on the grass, but there are occasional obstacles which will hit you unless you move back to the main road.

As far as scenery goes, there are some mountains on the horizon which move from side to side as you go round bends. Most of the race takes place on straight lengths of road, though, which can get boring if they are too long.

Changing gear involves pressing the fire button on the joystick while pointing the trigger either up or down. Moving left or right will steer you in the relevant direction.

Graphics are good and sound effects are included. A volume control is provided by use of the 7 and 8 keys, which is useful as the sound doesn't come from the TV speaker.

Not the best game I've seen for the BBC, and slightly overpriced. Unless you're a fan of road race games, save your money.