After almost a year's delay, the Atari ST version of Sega's brilliant motorcycle racing coin-op has arrived. It's certainly been a long time coming, but I'm glad to say that the wait has definitely been worth it.

At the start of a race the player chooses one of three tracks: beginner, novice or expert. Each course represents a different part of the world, and respectively increase in length and difficulty.

At the start of a game, the player has the option to choose the control method, either mouse or joystick, and adjust the sensitivity. After that, a track is chosen, and the race begins.

Each course is split into several sections, and the objective is simply to race from one checkpoint to another within the time limit, whereupon extra time is added for the next part of the course.

The action is viewed from behind the bike as it zooms down the course, around tortuous bends and over hills. Unlike OutRun, the hills in Super Hang-On are thoroughly convincing. Another point I was pleased to note is that the programmers haven't opted for a stripy road - which usually looks awful - instead there's just the central road lines you'd find on any street circuit, and they work very well indeed.

The bike has a top speed of 280km/h. However, when this speed is reached, it's possible to kick in the nitro injector, which sends the bike screaming down the course at an incredible rate - which gives a tremendous feeling of exhilaration! The nitro injection should only be used on straight pieces of road though - switching it on just before you hit a corner is suicidal!

The course is packed with other riders, collision with which slow the bike right down. Crashing into a roadside obstacle sees the rider thrown into the air, and precious seconds are lost as he remounts.

When the finishing post is passed, any remaining seconds are converted into bonus points to give an overall score.

Super Hang-On is a superb conversion. Although the 3D update isn't super-smooth, it's very fast and doesn't detriment the gameplay or visual effect. The feeling of speed is tremendous, especially with the nitro injector or, and the bike handles extremely well - even with mouse control.

The difficulty level is nicely balanced so the game is both challenging and addictive. The three different courses gives that extra lasting appeal, and it'll take a lot of racing before the chequered flag is passed on the expert track.

Super Hang-On just has the edge over Buggy Boy, and makes OutRun looks completely pathetic. The feeling of speed and exhilaration it generates is incredible; combine that with superb playability, colourful backdrops and excellent sprites and you've got the best race game to date. Don't miss it!