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This is a long way from the Pole Position lookalikes that spring up in most computers. It relies less on reflexes than on good planning and real driving skill. The planning is important as you work out a route through the forests, fields and towns of the rally, while the driving skill is needed to steer along the twisting roads covered with mud, water and other hazards.

The rally is split into three stages, each of which has to be completed in a qualifying time in order to pass onto the next. The view from the car is out of the front window with the road ahead, passing landmarks and horizon visible. On the dashboard of the car are the steering wheel, time elapsed, penalty time, speed, turn indicator, handbrake and distance travelled. These don't need to be referred to too often; most concentration being aimed at the speed and direction of the car.

Control of the car is straightforward enough but the course demands plenty of work on the driver's part to get him around safely and quickly. He's trying to qualify for the next stage by getting one of the top seven times, ten opponents being computer controlled at the start. Speed is needed in order to make that time but too much speed will induce mistakes and these cost time in penalties that are added on.

Running off the road costs a 30 second penalty but if you're travelling too fast a five minute penalty may result from a bad crash. Penalties can also be picked up for hitting cows or spectators in the road, which have to be warned with your horn to move them. Time control gates appear on every stage and will also cause delays since you have to stop at them to check in. For each gate, you need to type in a two letter code to avoid another penalty. The code is on a sign somewhere before the gate which you have to pass slow enough for the co-driver to read.

As if these hazards weren't enough, the weather may also do its worst to you. Mud and water may appear on the road to make you skid or whole sections may be flooded and impassable forcing you to take a longer route. On the other hand, there are shortcuts that may cut some time off the journey if they're open for use.

The qualifying times are quite tough to achieve and making the grade certainly will take a lot of practice. The control at first feels very odd but as you adjust to the driving skills needed, taking corners and junctions can be done quite efficiently. The map that is provided with the game provides plenty of pre-planning for the race and although you can learn the course, there are plenty of factors that mean you can't always rely on putting up a good performance.

The graphics are reasonable with the display changing to suit the weather conditions, although the screen update can be rather jerky. At faster speeds, things can move much faster and smoother but this is riskier since a crash can cause heavy penalties. This is certainly more demanding than the average driving game, and presents a very tough long term challenge.

An intelligently created game that cleverly simulates some of the skills needed in driving a rally - though I'm not sure how many moo-cows you get on the roads in the Monte Carlo. It's certainly more interesting and mentally demanding than your average rev-'em-up.

P. Good courses with nice random factor thrown in.
P. Nice features like cows on road and road map.
P. Good graphics, if a little slow at times.

N. Very difficult to qualify, let alone win!
N. Control can be very tough at first.
N. One mistake, like the real thing, can ruin a whole stage - frustrating!