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I know, it's another one of those sporting games, but it is a fair variation on the overall theme. Tossing the caber hasn't been recognised by the Olympic committee yet, has it?

Need I really explain the format? Oh, all right. You are an athlete, entered in the World Games. You must fly around the world, competing in eight strange events. The first is the weightlifting, in Russia. You choose your weight and start your lift. When you think the time is right, dip under the bar and push up. If you think you have it under control, jerk the bar up and try to straighten your arms and legs. When the judges are satisfied, they will light their lights. You have the option of competing in the snatch or the clean-and-jerk.

Next off to Germany for the barrel-jumping. Choose how many barrels you want to attempt and start to skate toward them. Left and right pushes on the joystick will push the skater's left and right legs.

Following these are cliff diving off Acapulco's infamous La Ouebrada, French slalom skiing, log-rolling in Canada, bull-riding in the good ol' US of A, caber-tossing in Scotland, and finally, sumo wrestling in Japan.

What can I say? I got tired of this type of game after Track And Field in the arcades. The variation in events with this one hardly engenders my enthusiasm. Still, there are enough nice touches to bring a smile to the otherwise blank look on my face. The weight-lifting is the most realistic yet and is good fun to practise, using the "practise one event" option. The log-rolling and the bull-riding annoy me but you usually get the odd couple that do in this sort of suite.

Qualify in all events

Like Chris, I long ago got fed up with sporting games, bur still quite enjoyed this one. Events like the weightlifting and skiing need skill and timing Log-rolling is a nice idea but badly implemented. The others are average events which you can get better at with practice but they don't really get the adrenalin pumping. Perhaps it's rime for another good old-fashioned joystick-wrecking decathlon.

Eight events are all okay.

Graphics 73%
P. Very nice animation in places.
P. Most characters have a lot of detail.

Sonics 54%
P. Nice title tune.

Grab Factor 67%
P. Practice option is useful.
N. 6128 life is tough without remote tape control.

Staying Power 74%
P. Eight different events to compete in.
P. Tough high-score targets to beat.

Overall 70%
P. Another Decathlon-type game.