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This time last year you couldn't go into an arcade without hearing the rattle of furious fingers on buttons as everyone attempted to beat world records for athletic events on Hyper Sports - Konami's brilliantly timed Olympic simulation.

Now, at last, you can get versions of the game on home computers - many of which are bound to be wrecked as gamesters everywhere go for the burn!

The resurrected Imagine company bring you this game based on the arcade classic. Sports featured are swimming, clay pigeon shooting, vaulting, archery, the triple jump and weightlifting.

All require good hand to eye co-ordination and fast reactions to succeed. We looked at the Spectrum version for the purposes of this review - and the graphics and animation are above standard for all the events.

Swimming requires you to time your breathing just right, and the novel clay-pigeon sequence makes demands on your joystick/keyboard skills to blast the clay targets out of the sky. In the vaulting sequence you have to control your athlete as he leaps over a vaulting horse. Get it wrong and you end up in a heap on the floor!

Archery requires you to shoot a moving target - extremely tricky - while the triple-jump returns to more traditional sports-simulation, joystick-wriggling techniques. Weightlifting provides a test of strength, stamina and timing - and is an original addition to the game.

Criticisms of the game include the fact that you can't jump from event to event at will - you have to qualify in each one to progress through the game. There isn't a practice mode either - useful in any home micro sports game.

I also found the Spectrum version difficult to play using a joystick - keyboard controls were much better. And the program allows you to redefine them.

Stop Press: We've just seen the C64 version - and it's a peach! Terrific sound, brilliant graphics - but still easier to play using the keyboard. Just listen to the Chariots Of Fire theme tune and you'll be hooked.