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The smell of new-mown grass drifted into my nostrils, echoes of applause reached my ears; this was Wimbledon.

This new game from Merlin attempts to recreate the game of tennis, on the Commodore 64. It even has the TV theme music.

After you have chosen the number of sets, the speed of the ball and the difficulty level you are presented with a 3D perspective view of the tennis court and two large chunky players.

For this game you must have a partner to play against and two joysticks. The ball is served by moving the racquet upwards and pressing the fire button at the same time.

When you feel the swing is right, you release the fire button and hopefully - hit the ball. The fire button is also used in much the same way for fore-hand, back-hand, lob and smash shots, and to control their power.

Sadly this method of control was annoyingly difficult to master and may deter some people from the delights of tennis.

The animation is very good, as your players trot up and down the court very convincingly. If they walk behind the net you even see parts of their bodies through the netting. Game sound is pleasant as a chorus of satisfying cracks rings out when bat meets ball.

With the choice of difficulty levels and match lengths, the game is made a little more flexible, resulting in a desire to play again, even if this may be shortlived.

Although the difficulty of control was annoying, this two-player tennis game should tide the fireside player over, until next-year's Wimbledon; now back to the strawberries and cream.

I was slightly put off when reading the instructions - the author expects the user to have two joysticks: no keyboard, or single player options! The tennis players' movement on-screen is nothing special. The game was often hard to play because the ball and its shadow confused me as to their exact position due to the 3D approach to drawing the court.

After raving over Psion's Match Point, I had very high hopes of a similar game on the C64. But despite the fact that the graphics are more colourful, the game doesn't have Match Point's instant appeal.

In theory, the game offers the player more control over the ball than Match Point, and it's possible that two dedicated players could really come to enjoy the program. But not me.

This doesn't live up to its boast as "the best sports simulation program". Controlling the players is very difficult, and the program should have offered a game against the computer - how many people have two joysticks anyway?