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Some time back, Irish software house New Concepts had a plan to bring out a water ski-ing game which would come with two small plastic skis. These would be placed over the computer's keyboard. By putting your fingers on the skis you control the action on the screen. I actually saw the skis, but as far as I know the game never materialised.

No such gimmicks with Championship Water Ski-ing. Everything is joystick or keyboard controlled.

The game looks good, sounds good, but, unfortunately, doesn't play so well. It lacks that vital ingredient that keeps you coming back for more.

The graphics are very nice. I quite like the technique of overlaying different views of the action on each other. It worked very well with Infogrames' Passengers On The Wind adventure but, for what is basically an action game, it can be a little confusing.

So what do you get? You have a choice of taking what is called The All-Round Test, which covers three events, the jump, freestyle and the slalom, or you can undertake each event individually.

The first - and my favourite - is the jump. It's divided into the approach to the jump, the jump, and the landing.

The first screen shows a big view of the ramp. Top left is bubble which shows the skier. Hitting the Fire button sets him off. He must hit the ramp correctly, of course. This is fairly easy to do.

Once airborne, the screen changes to a more distant view of the jump. The bubble shows a close-up of the skier. By using the joystick you can stop him falling backwards or forwards. Get the balance right and he makes a successful landing.

The freestyle event takes place over two courses which both last 20 seconds. The view of the skier is far from the back of the towing boat. Points are awarded for perfecting various turns, from 90 degree turn (a side-slip) right through to a 540 degree turn (that's one and a half turns).

The final event is the slalom. The skier is towed over the course and must ski round buoys.

Championship Water Skiing is a nice try at capturing the sport but more excitement is needed.