Revving Up The Game

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I didn't exactly get bored with the original Revs, it was such an entertaining and well-written piece of software that it kept my interest for months. But after tearing around Silverstone for the umpteenth time, I wished that some more circuits had been provided.

Now they have, in Revs 4 Tracks. Four more British circuits are in the package: Brands Hatch, Donington Park, Oulton Park and Snetterton, and for the money, you realise what a bargain you've got.

As you load in the Brands Hatch circuit, force of habit tends to make you trim the front and rear wings to their optimum Silverstone setting, and after skidding at the first couple of corners and crashing into the fencing you realise that the wing settings are totally wrong for the circuit. I found that the best solution was to take a quick demotion to novice class, set the wings for the slowest speeds and creep along in second or third gear. I recommend that you do this for each of the other tracks because they are very much harder to get to grips with than Silverstone, which was a very fast circuit with long straights and few corners.

This new collection, although seemingly as fast, has shorter straights, trickier corners and a new test of skill and courage - hills! The fact that the track surface disappears from view and your steering wheel outlines itself against the sky is one good reason to go slowly at first. A novel feature is the built-in power steering which operates automatically when negotiating one of the hairpin bends. It just saves you having to press the spacebar to assist the turn.

All in all, an excellent value-for-money package. You will, of course, have to own the original Revs in order to run Revs 4 Tracks. Perhaps, soon, we can look forward to some international circuits, or maybe, with the extra memory of the 128 Master series, an enhanced version with grandstands or bridges.

Peter Clements