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Okay, so Gazza is a bit of an idiot, and Carry On films aren't exactly tasteful, but Monty Python and Nige make us all stand proud. We at AA towers awaited the CPC version of Mansell with baited breath, hoping that it would measure up to what we'd seen on other formats.

When you first run Mansell, you'll see a Gremlin logo, and think "Hmm... that's pretty". If this is the case, the odds are you'll probably spit your teeth out once the main game gets going. You're greeted with some of the most beautiful graphics ever to grace the CPC. Forget demos - they're all the same anyway. Just spend a while playing Mansell to find out what your machine can really do with some decent software.

We've all heard this kind of slobbering rant several times before, and we all know that beautiful sounds and graphics do not a stunning game make. So it's time to prise open the box and check under the hood, so to speak...

Nigel Mansell's World Championship is a, erm, racing game. Basically. [We gathered that - Ed]. Okay, right - you, as Nigel Mansell, burn round as many courses as you can and get to be the World Champion a lot. If this sounds a bit limiting, don't worry - it's not. You work your way round the world, with plenty of different tracks, varying weather conditions (which you must accommodate by modifying your car), and various opponents.

In each race, you must first qualify to decide your position on the grid. The qualifying race usually consists of two to three laps. After that, you'll be entered in the 'real' race, where twelve of the best drivers in your field are waiting to destroy and humiliate you. After the race comes the award ceremony, complete with a podium (no champagne though!), and a chance to view the leaderboard to see just where you are in the big scheme of things.

If you're not exactly God's gift to drivers, you have the option to go to driving school, which involves whizzing round the track a few times in order to get the hang of the game (a nice idea), and check out the competition.

It's weird. The only way to describe it is that it's as if someone really loved this game and spent all their time working on it until there was absolutely nothing more they could possibly add. When you want to modify your car to handle varying weather conditions, etc, there's this lovely sideways view of the car, and any alteration you select is played out via an animated sequence. At the beginning of the whole game, you are presented with a spinning globe, stopping at your current location. The options menu has some of the most scrumptious icons you're ever likely to see, and all the menus throughout the game are joystick controlled and beautifully presented. [By Jove, I think he rather likes it. - Ed]

Another thing you'll notice about Mansell is that it runs at incredible speeds. Granted, the screen update is slow, but this doesn't seem to impair the gameplay, as it seems to create the impression that your car's going really fast. I suppose that what I'm trying to say is that it isn't at all flickery in the conventional sense.

There are varying difficulty levels and the easier ones are quite unbelievably, erm, easy. Once you've been on one practice run, you'll be able to handle the car with no problems, and you'll probably find yourself well ahead of the other drivers whether you started in pole position or not. But don't for a minute you go thinking that this detracts from the gameplay, because it doesn't! We all know just how irritating it is to play a racing game, make a slight slip, and know that no matter what you do in the next few laps, you've lost and won't qualify for the main event. It makes a nice change to actually play a game where you stand at least a fighting chance of progressing. Still, even on the easier levels there are a few challenges. Overtaking, for example is very difficult, as Mansell didn't seem to be at the front of the queue when they handed out track width.

And of course, once you've got the hang of things, you can try out the harder levels.

So what separates this game from the average driving game, such as Crazy Cars III last month? Well, the emphasis in CC3 is on money. That's all very well, but Mansell allows you to explore all the lovely things you can do to your car without worrying about cash. It also lets you advance around the world freely, as your progress depends on your skill rather than your luck at betting. Also, you're racing against a more logical opposition, as opposed to cars that just appear out of nowhere. When you overtake the pack, you don't have to dodge cars, just stay in the lead (unless you lap them - ahem).

Flashy bits aside, Mansell is a very enjoyable game. Of course, if you don't like racing games, then don't bother, but if you do then this is most definitely one of the best there is.

If, however, you're not into this kind of thing, don't worry, because neither was a certain staff writer before seeing probably the best racing game released to date.

So, you've loaded the game and you want to get burning. That's all very well, but with a game this size, it would have been impossible to fit it on to one side of a disk. This does have quite an unfortunate effect - you'll have to do a lot of side-swapping throughout the various sequences in the game. This isn't too much of a hindrance, but there seems to have been very little planning as to what section goes where. For example, you'll sometimes find yourself swapping to the other side just to display the leaderboard, and then swapping back again.

It's hardly a major flaw, but it could mar your enjoyment slightly.

Now, for all your 464 owners who are slightly miffed out on such a great game, you still have a chance. Gremlin aren't sure whether a cassette version will be released, but there's an outside chance. We must stress the word outside here, as the game wouldn't really lend itself to a huge multi-loader.

However, no doubt thousands of 464 owners will give Gremlin untold grief until they release a tape version that, due to the nature of the game, would be abysmal. You'd spend most of your time rewinding cassettes, screaming at tape loaders, and getting annoyed with tape counter. Sorry and everything!

Graphics 97%
You have to play it to realise just how wonderful these graphics really are. Buy it!

Sonics 86%
Sonically restricted, but the whine doesn't grate and a nice tune starts the whole thing off.

Grab Factor 94%
This game will leap out of your CPC, grab you by the ears and scream in your face - it grabs you.

Staying Power 88%
It may be easy, but it's fun, and you'll go back again and again.

Overall 93%
This is probably the most beautiful game you'll see for quite a while.