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Just when you thought it was safe to forget all about slam-dunking, another basketball game shows its face.

After the statutory options screens, the player is treated to a 3D horizontally scrolling view of the basketball court. The object of the game is to score as many baskets as possible against the opposition before the end of the fourth quarter. Each quarter lasts around five minutes, and at half time you're treated to a spot of dancing by the local cheerleaders. On going for a basket, the view switches to a full-screen close up of the action, where you must judge when to stop the movement of your player in order to stuff the ball through the hoop.

Sometimes the opposition guard the basket, which obviously makes things more difficult, but if you find yourself on the losing side halfway through, you can always call a time-out and alter your tactics.

There are umpteen basketball games doing the rounds on most consoles, but I believe that what we have in Super Real Basketball is the best of its kind, both aesthetically and in gameplay.

The player sprites really are something else, perfectly formed and superbly animated, and they rush around that court as if there were no tomorrow! And then there's the full-screen animation views, which are unbelievable!

There's almost half a dozen of them, and as well as adding even more to the look of the game, having to actually interact on these screens gives them a real purpose.

A wealth of options on the front-end lets the player fine-tune the game to meet his particular skills, and there's host of charming little touches throughout, such as the dancing girls at half-time and the cheerleaders who burst onto the scene when someone scores.

Super Real Basketball is just that - a realistic simulation of a fast-moving ballsport, and one which I can heartily recommend to all arcade sports fans.