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Most other computers have a game like this already - at last Beeb owners catch up! You may have thought that after Revs and Revs 4 Track that no software house would bother trying to better them as racing simulations.

Quite right too for what Superior have done here (and apologies to the programmer as the early version I've got does not have a credit) is to take an entirely different tack to produce a construction set.

As well as an option of racing on eighteen different Grand Prix circuits (I'll return to the racing later!) you are also presented with the option to design your own circuit which can be raced on at once or saved for future use. Working a bit like Scaletrix, the tracks are built up from a selection of differently-sized and angled pieces of track, including chicanes and humpbacks. Just establish the starting position and then drop new road segments into place - what could be easier?

Well, I did find a bit of difficulty returning the track accurately enough so that the final piece matched the start but a bit of practice soon solved that. The creation of tracks is simple and friendly.

As for the racing, it is playable without any of the refinements that made Revs so superb. A split screen shows the two cars and their position on maps underneath, controls being limited to steering and accelerating/braking. Sound is reasonable and the cars respond quite well but against even the easiest of the computer's five settings, it is a formidable opponent - try to play with a friend!

Of course, the construction element is what is going to sell the game and I'm sure that Superior have another hit on their hands here. The mystery, of course, is why it has taken so long for such a standard concept to be coded for the BBC. Thankfully it has been done well and I welcome its release, coming as it does after the release of Tynesoft's The Big KO, which also offers a design option. I hope this is a trend that continues as it raises a game's appeal immediately.

Dave Reeder