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Every few months since they released Space Harrier into the arcades, Sega have startled arcadesters with the latest of their super-speedy 3D gaming experiences. Earlier this year, the game wowing the crowds was Power Drift, an exhilarating buggy race over 25 tracks which are like tarmax roller coasters.

Activision saw the potential kilobucks that home conversions of this mega machine could earn and quickly signed up the licence, much to the derision of a sceptical press. They're hoping this will be the Christmas number one, and I'm happy to report that their faith isn't as misplaced as everyone thought it would be.

The ST and Amiga programming is by Zareh, the guy behind Activision's masterly Sega 16-bit conversion, Super Hang On. The nine months' work he has spent on the game have resulted in what is undeniably a very credible conversion of the coin-op.

As in the arcade game, you get a choice of drivers and five sets of five courses to drive. After making your selections, you're shown the first track spinning around in 3D, then you zoom up behind your racer who's revving up on the start line. The time-keeper's voice counts you down, the green light appears and you're off! Now all you have to do is get ahead of a pack of twelve other racers and remain somewhere among the front three for four laps.

The tracks feature the usual hairpin bends, and there are ramps which take you high off the ground, so plummeting off the road in such places can cost you several positions. There are also jumps in the roads, some even at crossroads, so you can actually have a mid-air collision with a car travelling at right angles to you!

The buggy is under joystick or keyboard control, but the best way to play is on the mouse, with the two buttons acting as accelerator and gear shift, and the joystick or keyboard providing brake controls. Inconvenient? Not really. Power Drift fans will know that on the rare occasions when you want to slow down, you use engine braking, not the foot pedal. That's not the only instance of the conversion being totally faithful to the original game.

The tracks are perfect copies of the coin-op and the logic which drives the other cars is much the same, so you can actually use arcade tactics to win races. Zareh has also included a couple of the arcade game's secret effects which I won't reveal here, but you racing aces will know the ones I mean.

Naturally, the Amiga can't hope to copy the coin-op's graphics perfectly, and if you're just watching someone else play, the conversion looks a bit too jerky to be very convincing. When you actually sit down and play though, the effect is great. Certainly captivating enough to have you swaying around in your seat (who needs hydraulic chairs, eh?).

The test for a good racing game is whether it induces a feeling of speed and how intense the competition is to get to the front. This conversion is strong on both criteria, so if you're at all keen on the coin-op, this is a game you should get your mitts on at the first opportunity.

Hours of racing thrills in what is surely the best Power Drift conversion the Amiga is capable of.