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This is more like it! The crunch of bones! The smash of helmet on helmet! The thunggg of the ball in the back of your opponent's teeth! This is a real man's game! SkateWars has, I think, been out before, or perhaps I'm just confusing it with a couple of similar titles such as SkateBall (a similar side-view format) and Speedball (a top-down version). In each case, the game simulates a cross between football, hockey and mayhem which takes place in the near future.

In the case of SkateWars, the game's played on ice by teams of three heavily-armoured bruisers with names like Ghengis, Zaxx and Rothgar, who have the choice of scoring goals, or merely achieving a result by battering their opponents into a heap (one of the players is a reserve who comes on if someone's creamed). The finely-detailed rink is viewed as if from the stands, and the display scrolls smoothly to show the centre of the action.

There are oneand two-player options, and you get to select your three-man team from a choice of ten thugs, each of whom has different characteristics for strength, shooting-skill, speed and reactions. Obviously you want the fastest out front, otherwise you'll never beat the computer to the kick-off. Control switches automatically to the player nearest the bail. Including of course your goalie.

The main trick is to knock your enemy off his feet without going over yourself: the collisions are well animated and you can pull off some spectacular tackles and saves.

It's difficult enough to beat the computer on level 1, but there are 50 levels to complete, each of which consists of a first-to-five match. By the end you'd have to be a real John Barnes to win (or even a good player).

To make the game complete, each level includes a number of different obstacles; mines, bobbing towers, spikey stakes, cracks in the ice, twelve different in total. A scanner at the bottom of the screen shows the position of the obstacles (and your opponents), and the screen scrolls left-right before each match to let you get the feel of the playing area. One of the most entertaining tricks is to try to barge your opponent into a lethal obstacle.

SkateWars is great, so remember kids, keep violence where it belongs, on the pitch!

Label: Ubisoft Price: £8.99 Reviewer: Chris Jenkins

Boffo future sport sim with neat graphics and trez mucho violenza!