Stock Car is another of the new cheaper, better packaged Electron games from the Leeds-based software emporium. The professional look of Micro Power games is further extended in this package by some very nice screen graphics for the Stock Car logo and the enforced use of Mode 6 for the instructions page, much neater than BBC Mode 7.

The game is two-player, a market uniquely tapped by Micro Power, with a practice mode for the lone racer. The computer is a mean opponent and you may well prefer a human, and therefore fallible, competitor. There is no joystick option for the Plan One or First Byte interfaces and keyboard controls are the usual ones for left, right, gears up and down. There are symmetrical sets for both sides of the keyboard.

There is a choice of six different and imaginative circuits, variable skid (0% to 99%) and selectable number of laps (1 to 40). There are also oil patch hazards. The computer controls two yellow cars even in the two player game, taking over the third if you are on your own. Escape resets all game options. After the finish, if you are fast enough, you enter your name against your lap time in the high score table.

The game has been tweaked to make it run acceptable fast on the Electron (and it does). If anyone wants to run it on a BBC then the first two gears are enough to be going on with!

Graphics are simple but effective and sound is well exploited. If you bought your Electron to have fun then this is just the software to achieve that goal and best played with a friend.

Melvyn Wright