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Transam is one of the latest offerings from Ultimate - originators of Pet-Pac and Pssst. Transam follows the tradition of quality graphics and simple but relatively original aims. The scenario: "It is the year 3472 and all that remains on Earth are remnants of a once great continent, a barren land... your aim, in the Super Brown Red Racer, equipped with advance technology, is to regain the eight trophies from the Deadly Black Turbos.

The scenario is corny, but what to the game itself? You have four car controls, either available from the keyboard or via a joystick. They are: anticlockwise rotate, clockwise rotate, brake and accelerator. There is also Pause, temporarily to halt the game. The actual aim of the game, in plain English this time, is to travel over American searching for the eight 'Great Cups of Ultimate'. Along the way, it will be necessary to keep filled up with petrol. I do not worry, there are petrol pumps in this decolate place of sands, rocks and boulders! Various objects will appear in your patch and, of course, the 'Deadly Black Turbos' will attempt to make you crash.

The display is 2D, with your car starting in the centre of the screen rotating, and with the barren land, etc, moving past. On the left-hand side of the screen is a 'Real Time Clock', i.e. one that can tell the real time, continuously; a miltometer; a complete map of the USA showing the positions of fuel pumps, cities, etc; and you, the Red Racer, as a flashing character. Moving down to the second half of this display is a speedometer, fuel gauge and temperature gauge. There is also a short range radar, showing the positions of cups and the Black Turbos. Finally, the number of cups found and the number of lives left.

The graphics are smooth, fast and of a high quality - just like the other Ultimate games. This, in some respects, is one of my main qualms about Transam - it is very 'Ultimate' in that no new boundaries have been crossed or new ideas used. The game is very professionally written with only one minor 'bug' - the fact that when you reach the boundaries of the US your car is flipped round, without notice, which can cause problems if a Black Turbo is in close pursuit. Overall, Transam is fun, though less original than Ultimate's previous two. The presentation is excellent, addictive and well recommended.