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World Class Leaderboard offers would-be Nick Faklos the chance to play their favourite sport without the need to shell out for expensive clubs or risk a potentially lethal meeting with Brucie on the green. As always with golf, the object is simple. Just hit your hard, white, dimpled ball in the direction of the green. Each course has a par (the amount of shots you should need to hole the ball), and the player who uses the fewest possible shots is deemed the winner.

This Sega conversion of the ageing C64 classic offers up to four golfing heroes the chance to challenge each other on four of the World's most demanding courses! Just watch out for the bunkers, trees and lakes - they have a tendency to get in the way of your potentially awesome shots. Oh yes, and let's hope it's not a windy day!

There are four courses (each with 18 holes) for aspiring golfing aces to conquer. Check out these mini-introductions to each.

1. Doral A pretty tough course, with loads of bunkers, trees and large lakes. However, most of the par limits are pretty easy to meet.

2. The Gauntlet 18 holes of pure hell! Everything possible has been included to make these some of the most demanding holes of Golf you'll ever play!

3. St Andrews One of the World's most famous golf courses is replicated in this Sega game. A fairly straightforward course with only water and the occasional bunker to cause worry.

4. Cypress Creek Trees and bushes are your worst enemies at Cyprus Creek. Cunning play is required to reach the end of this hole on par.

US Gold have added to the original C64 game by adding in some sampled speech and effects. Hit the ball straight into the bunker and you can expect to hear "No doubt about it! That's deep in the sand trap!". If you're unfortunate enough to lose the ball in the water, your Sega congratulates you with "You can't be too happy about that one!". There's also liberal dollops of sampled applause to astound and amaze.

If you're worried that your golfing skills are below par (groan), thon it's time to sally off to the putting green and the driving range. Here, you can hone those pitching and putting strokes to perfection - and with the courses in this game, you certainly need them!

Your caddy carries around all of your clubs and for each shot, you have to choose which one is suited to your needs If it's a real distance to the green, the chances are you should use the number one wood club. The number five iron comes in handy for medium distances whilst your putting wedge is just the ticket for putting the little blighter straight into the hole. On the novice levels, the computer automatically chooses the best club for you.

The office still hasn't calmed down from the arrival of PGA Tour Golf last month on the Megadrive, so being a bit of a golfing fan I expected rather a lot from World Class Leaderboard. US Gold haven't disappointed us one little bit! Although the graphics are quite slow, all of the skill, timing and atmosphere of real golf has been successfully captured. Invite a few more players around for a game and the competitive atmosphere really hots up. The graphics and sound are both superlative (especially the great sampled effects and speech) and are merely the icing on a pretty special cake. I had a look at Golfamania and Great Golf for comparison, but World Class Leaderboard is simply far superior. Whether you're a golfing fan or not, World Class Leaderboard is thirty quid well spent.

Programmers Tiertex have certainly come up with the goods here! World Class Leaderboard is a superb golf game - one of the best you're likely to play! With four ultra-challenging courses, a multi-player option, great graphics and even some sampled sound effects thrown in for good measure, this oozes quality, payability and longevity. The control method is excellent - it's easy to use, but is designed so that only experts can really place their shots exactly where they want them to go - and the courses are well chosen to thoroughly test the player's on-screen skills. The nature of this game means that it never becomes dull; trying to beat your par is a challenge you'll go back to weeks, months and even years after you first played it ? I know because I still occasionally play the original Leaderboard, and that's over five years old! If you're after a high quality sports simulation, send your caddy out for a copy of this!

Presentation 79%
Rather banal opening screens, but the game itself has loads of options to tinker with.

Graphics 92%
The 3D screen is a bit slow to build up, but the results are well worth it.

Sound 94%
Generous lashings of sampled speech and brilliant effects. An above average tune is thrown in for good measure.

Playability 93%
Simple to get into and addictive from the outset.

Lastability 92%
Four sprawling courses and a four-player option give this loads of lasting appeal.

Overall 92%
The best Sega golfing game by far, and one to snap up as soon as possible!