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I mean, who wants to be a pop star, eh? All that cash, all that publicity, all that totty milling around the old hotel room. Not me, matey (I tell lies)! But a pop singer is nothing without a good manager. And that's what Codemasters' new product sets you up as.

The first job of any rock Svengali is to pick a pop star or four. A selection of caricatures is displayed on-screen and it's up to you to pick the best one(s) for your particular needs, taking into consideration their status as a personality, and their wage bill.

From here, the real work begins. It would be a smart idea to get a bit of Practice in, 'coz you don't want them to be all out of tune when it's time for a Gig. You can choose from five different venues, from a pub to a huge stadium, with hire charges to match.

So you've got your band noticed. Why not go away and make a Record. The boys will go away and write an album, from which you can Release various singles, the LP as a whole, or both.

Time after time, though, your newly-found megastars are bound to become disillusioned with the business, so give them a little Gift to pep them up. Ranging from £2 for a magazine to twenty grand for a new car, there should be something there to keep their chins up.

The object of the game is to become so famous that you collect four gold discs for your hard slog. You have a year in which to accomplish your task, so get to work!

Surprise surprise! A Codemasters game without Simulator stuck on the end. But then again, who needs it with a title like Rockstar Ate My Hamster? However, this product certainly needs something more than a topical title if it's to sell in any vast quantities.

To be blunt, Rockstar becomes incredibly tedious after a short while, the trouble being the distinct lack of interactive options available to the player. Not only that, it's also unrepresentative of the business it is attempting to portray.

I mean, whoever heard of an album selling because it's good? It's all to do with media hype, an aspect which, again, cannot be found in Rockstar. Not a game I'd let my turkey escalopes go cold for, sorry, Morris.

After all the pre-launch chitchat, I was expecting something with a lot more in the way of depth than what actually exists. With only four main options, there's not much interaction involved: just a case of choosing how long you want to tour, practise or whatever, and sitting back for five minutes while the computer gets on with it.

It looks and sounds nice enough but despite all the cosmetic niceties, Rockstar Ate My Hamster suffers from a slight lack of the one thng it shouldn't really be without - gameplay.

Well I thought it was OK. That could be due to the fact that I'm well into the music biz, though, and it gave me a taste of what to expect when I finally make it as an international pop hero.

The graphics are a touch basic, with Speccy-like attribute blocks around some of the figures, but they serve their intended purpose. I thought that the way in which the music-style depends on the people in your group was a clever idea, giving scope for a wide range of different sounds.

A pity that there isn't as much interaction as I would have liked, but there you go. Not a major success, but still pretty passable nonetheless.

Presentation 69%
Easy to use menus, and a rather amusing newspaper-style instruction manual.

Graphics 57%
Verging on the average, they look good (especially some of the caricatures) but the colour schemes are fairly headache-inducing.

Sound 78%
Good tunes which reflect the characters in your particular band.

Hookability 78%
Very addictive at the beginning, being easy to get into and funny at the same time.

Lastability 48%
A crippling lack of interaction is the main cause of quick disinterest.

Overall 50%
If you're not bothered about the computer taking over for long periods, you'll probably enjoy this. Or not, as the case may be.