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There's realistic and there is realistic.

When it says it's 'unbelievably realistic' on the front of the TT Racer motorcycle simulation box (attributed to Suzuki TT champion Paul Lewis) this may (unintentionally I'm sure) be misleading.

TT Racer is a very close simulation of TT racing - the bike you control in the game handles just like the real thing. In that sense it is very realistic. It is not, however, particularly astounding visually which may be some people's impression from the quote. In truth I was disappointed by the display.

The Suzuki bike is accurately represented in terms of acceleration, cornering and other handling characteristics. You can race it in a variety of settings and tracks against other bikes - authentic techniques to weave your way to the front and beat the opposition on the corners will work and thus the game can be seen as an genuine test of riding skill.

Despite the accuracy of the simulation (you can even alter the engine size and gear ratios - to experiment with different kinds of response) you can control the bike using only joystick movements - combinations of forward and backward with Fire giving gear changes up and down.

On-screen you get a display of the track, peripheral objects like trees and the other bikes (if you can see them) and at the bottom of the screen is your bike console. A nice touch is the authentic way the gear and brake levers 'squeeze' according to your joystick movements.

The display of the track - as already mentioned - is marginally disappointing. Things don't seem really to have moved on from say, 3D Death Chase or any of the early car racing games. All the opposition bikes are the same colour (green) except for the usual attribute problems and excepr for when you 'see' the bike you have just passed in your mirror (when strangely it discovers colours it never knew it had - nice idea though).

Track scrolling is reasonably smooth but no better than other racing games of a year ago. Am I being too demanding to expect better?

Buy TT Racer because you want a simulation that's state of the art as far as attention to detail goes. If you're just after another racing game you might be disappointed.

Label: Digital Integration Author: In house Price: £19.95 Joystick: various Memory: 48K/128K Reviewer: Graham Taylor

****

Excellent as a simulation though not graphically as astounding as expected. if you're into accuracy, it's got it.