What have Gremlin Graphics, Lotus Cars and the CPC got in common? Rod Lawton finds out...

It's a hard life being a journalist, you know. I mean, no sooner had I arrived at the office at half past ten than I found this press release landing on my desk. Oh no, I only had to go on an all-expenses-paid trip to Norwich! I read further... wined and dined in an exclusive hotel overnight... taken on a tour of the Lotus Car factory at Hethel in the morning... taken round the Lotus test track by a Lotus driver then handed the wheel of a £45,000 car for a couple of laps...

Damn. Still, there was no way round it. You have to be dedicated to be a journalist, you know.

This little bash was staged jointly by Gremlin and Lotus to publicise Gremlin's major new licence. Basically, Gremlin gets to use Lotus's name, logo and car in its new game, due out in a month or so. Called Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge, it's a split-screen, two-player car racing game that Gremlin reckons will be the best driving game out.

In Challenge, the two human drivers (one of them can be substituted by the computer) race against up to 20 computer-controlled opponents on a series of courses featuring hills, valleys and vicious bends. You can play on three Levels, according to ability. Level One has 7 courses, Level Two has 10 and Level Three has 15. That makes for a grand total of 32 different circuits! On any level, to qualify for the next race in the series you have to finish in the top ten. In two-player mode, if just one of you qualifies, the other gets to go through too.

The gameplay doesn't end there, though. Mechanical neanderthals can go for automatic gears, while real masochists can race with a manual 'box. Add the extra dimension of pitstops -where you have to gauge how much fuel you hang around taking on against how much time you're losing - and you've got a game that tests more than just your reactions.

Gremlin only had the Amiga version up and running at the Lotus factory, but judging by that and the CPC screen shots, we're in for one hell of a hot game...

Rod Lawton