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It was only a matter of time before the sports simulation mania spread from the summer athletics action to the ice and snow frolics of winter. There are eight events to take part in and they load in five different sections from the tape.

The first three events are slalom, giant slalom and downhill and all three follow a similar format to simulate the skiing. The display is split into two with the left display showing the forward view and the right the overview. Below this are the control and speed indicators and above it the time and number of gates passed and failed.

The three events are very similar. In the slalom you have to ski around gates (marker flags), in the downhill you have to ski between gates and in the giant slalom the two are combined - you start by skiing through gates and then switch to slalom.

You have control over the left/right movement of the skier and over the speed down the slope. The left/right control can only be changed gradually so that a lot of forethought is required and the speed has to be watched carefully as the skier accelerates rapidly when facing straight downhill. This means excellent control is required to avoid missing gates.

Once a gate is missed the skier has failed the run but he can continue to see what the rest of the course is like. If the run is successfully completed and the time is good enough it can be recorded in a high score table that is carried forward, even when loading other events.

The action is slow for all three events but demands plenty of concentration to complete. Unfortunately, this becomes repetitive after just a few plays and the frustration caused by crawling down the slope only to miss a late gate by a couple of pixels is extreme. The main problem is that there is no sense of urgency or excitement conjured up by the slow action, simple graphics and scratchy sound effects.

The ice hockey comes next and also suffers from the action being too slow. The pitch is shown in perspective and scrolls horizontally as play moves around. It is very similar to Anirog's Slap Shot but it's much slower and at the top of the screen is an overview of the whole rink. There is a two player option or you can take on the computer, both games being played over four periods of five minutes.

The ski jumping is a more demanding event, requiring skill and faster reactions. The screen is again split into two with the left display a view down the slope and the right display a side view of the skier. He has to first be guided straight down the slope and then jumped off the end. While in the air his body position can be altered to gain maximum distance but trying to stay upright on landing. The graphics and sound are still uninspiring but the gameplay is more demanding.

Speed skating is back to a good old fashioned waggle or key hammering along courses from 500 to 10,000 metres. The split screen action is quite nicely animated and the ability to have two players can introduce excitement but the game control is rather baffling. Finding the right waggling technique is difficult but it seems to be a matter of timing rather than going as fast as possible. The longer races can last a very long time and the main problem is that it is impossible to build up a really big lead - you can only ever get a few metres ahead.

The bobsled is the most interesting event, with yet another split screen showing the view from above and behind the bob. It has to be guided down a course taking corners with you controlling speed and left/right movement. The graphics are again better for this event with enough speed and difficulty to make it a tough challenge.

The last event is the biathlon, combining skiing and shooting. The skiing is a laborious waggling affair across some very picturesque backgrounds. Every few screens, some targets have to be shot within a time limit before getting back to the trek. Again, it suffers from the skiing being too slow to raise any excitement.

The main gripes with the game are its lack of speed, painful loading, and pathetic sound. Although you're getting eight events for the money and some are pretty challenging, it still leaves me unexcited by the whole thing.

The graphics and sound on this long awaited game were both so Spectrummy as to make me think the wrong version had somehow loaded on the Amstrad. The gameplay did not compensate for the deficiencies in presentation; all the events, with the exception of the bobsled, were very dull indeed. Add to this the tedious loading system and you've got a pretty disappointing program.

P. Eight events.
P. Some difficult games to complete.

N. Most games are too slow for the gameplay to be interesting.
N. The sound effects are very basic.
N. The loading system isn't much fun.
N. Too much attention seems to have been paid to pretty backgrounds and not enough to the gameplay.