Cue Peter Purves: "...and there goes Roger, carefully lining up his bike with the very slippery pole over the pit... aaaannnddd... Whoops! Down he goes into the poison-tipped spikes! Well, it looks like he's out of the competition..."

Now the armchair leather boy can enjoy the thrills and spills of motorbike trials in a vertically-scrolling downhill race. Drive your slightly mean machine (with limited fuel) against the clock over such diverse obstacles as jumps, bumps, hills, tyres, ladder bridges and VW Beetles, all of which are portrayed in glorious isometric 3D-o-vision.

As the pleasant title tune began playing before the loading screen appeared, I thought that this would be quite a well designed and implemented game. Klutz City!

Motorbike Madness just doesn't have what it takes to be entertaining. The graphics are bland, the in-game sounds merely average and the controls... well, putting it mildly, they're pathetic.

The steering appears to be twisted the wrong way and the bike seems to want to wander off on its own!

Even at the Amiga budget price of a tenner, I'd rather be wiping my nose on other people's sleeves than watching helplessly as the main sprite careers off into a river.

The best advice I can give is Ignore This Game.

The idea for this game is really good - a sort of 3D Kikstart - but I'm afraid the execution is very disappointing. Most of the problems stem from the control method, which uses forward and back on the joystick to accelerate and decelerate - as if you were on the bike - but try to steer as if you were behind the handlebars and you go in the wrong direction.

What's worse, the program doesn't allow you to steer the bike up the screen at all, so if the ropey steering causes you to miss a ramp or bridge, you can't turn round and correct your mistake, and you're forced to crash!

Ten quid might be budget price, but it's still enough to stop me recommending this.

Presentation 45%
Good screen layout, but essential practice option mentioned in the instructions doesn't exist.

Graphics 51%
Reasonable sprites and landscapes, but the interaction between the two isn't very realistic.

Sound 59%
Good intro tune but effects are weak.

Hookability 40%
Awful controls are an instant turn-off.

Lastability 25%
Poor programming makes the game unplayable.

Overall 28%
Good idea, terrible execution.