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Now you've played Summer Games, Summer Games II and Winter Games, Epyx are set to jet you around the world to compete in another eight events to test you and your joystick.

World Games is described as "the events the Olymmpics forgot" and is a mish-mash of sporting challenge that range from caber tossing to Sumo Wrestling.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that they're all played on the same planet.

At first sight, it seems like a desparate attempt to follow the success of the neatly packaged Games series but, since there isn't a Spring or Autumn Olympics, Epyx scoured the World for sports that haven't been computerised.

That may be true but it all becomes academic when you actually play the game. The fact that you've got 24,000 miles to travel during the contest isn't important when you've got a World Record or seven opponents to beat. What is important is this: will you go the distance and will the events be good enough for a second or third trip?

Here's your chance to join the suicidal swimmers that flock to Acapulco to leap off the 118ft cliffs known as La Quebrada (that means "the break in the rocks" but could end up as the break in the neck!)

Several ledges are available for daredevil divers to show their guts to the crowds below.

To achieve the best score you dive must not only be the highest but also the most stylish. The judges are particularly impressed by those who just miss the rocks below.

To add to your problems, the water level varies as the waves come in and out. Miss-time your jump and you could be on the rocks!

Skating at 40mph at a line of empty beer barrels may not sound like a sport but apparently Germans have been doing it for over 300 years. Now it's your turn.

Timing left/right joystick moves in rhythm with your legs is the secret to building up the speed you'll need to clear the barrels lined up before you.

Time the jump well and you'll land to tremendous applause but get it wrong or mess up the approach and you'll spread yourself painfully across the barrels.

Again, only three attempts so you must go for as many as possible to take the gold.

Next stop on our world tour is Chamonix in France and an exile that should havebeen in Winter Games.

This is a straight race against your opponents, and the clock, down through a series of slalom gates.

Miss a gate and you get a hefty time penalty, hit a gate and you could get a hefty hospital bill.

Should you survive the heats then you get a chance for the medals in the final.

Timing is essential in this event, especially when the pace increases as you hurtle down the mountain.

Another odd event, this time devised by lumberjacks who have been log rolling since 1840.

The idea is to walk on the log to set it rolling so that you stay on while your opponent falls off.

Consequently you must play a waiting game until you see the chance to either speed up the log, stop it or roll it in the opposite direction thereby toppling your opponent and winning the contest. Unfortunately, concentrating on your opponent's footwork can cause you to lose your balance, giving you the early bath.

Again, three attempts determines who is the world's best.

Ferdinand, Elmer, Bob, Tornado and Earthquake eagerly await your arrival at the rodeo for the next event as they're all wild bulls that you must ride to win the gold.

Hanging on to a rope, you must stay on top of these 2000lb beasts for eight painful seconds. That might not seem long but it's long enough when a bull is doing all it can to snake you onto its horns.

You will need lightning reactions to keep onboard as you counter any buck, halt or spin that the bull tries.

If you come off you'll hurt more than your pride!

Ferdinand is the easiest but can still bruise the unwary whereas only the bravest (or most stupid) should attempt to ride Earthquake.

At the end of your 24,000 mile trip is a grapple with a 400 pound Sumo Wrestler!

Through a series of twelve joystick-controlled slaps, pushes, trips, pulls, snatches and grips, you must force opponent out of a clay ring.

Points are awarded not only for winning but also for moves attempted and the length of time you survived. This even makes a record=breaking thumping by the computer a medal-winning performance.

The first stop in this trip round the world in eight events is Russia for the "iron game". Here you must compete in the snatch event and then the clean and jerk competition.

Both lifts require a timed sequence of joystick movements to lift the bar and hold it until the judges give you the green lights.

Get the timing wrong and your red-faced competitor will waste one of his three attempts.

Before each lift you can select the weight which is added to the bar. Since the competition is only over three attempts you must force weight up to a level that you can lift yet will leave your opponents struggling. A sudden 50kg increase may knock your opponents out but can you afford the gamble?

The clean and jerk is the harder of the two since the snatch is a straight-forward lift whereas the clean and jerk is a two stage life involving extra joystick movements enabling heavier weights to be lifted. Perfect this and you could win the contest.

Once you've been tossed by the bulls in America it's time to toss the caber in Scotland.

Sporting your best kilt and your knobbly knees you must hurl a caber the size of a lampost further than anyone else to win this famous highland fling.

As the pipers play in the background, you must take a few careful steps before hurling the caber so that it flips completely before landing in the heather.

The secret lies in timing your steps to gain the necessary speed without having 120 pounds of tree landing on your head.

Each event can be practised or played separatey or in a series to form a World Championship.

All events feature the same superb graphics that have been a feature of the earlier Games series, enhancing the action from the frozen barrel-jumping lake to the hot, sweaty Sumo wrestlers. They've also added a few humorous touches such as the shark in the water which chomps toppled log-rollers and the bird that watches cliff divers plummet on the rocks.

We will have to see whether eight events over 24,000 miles will tempt the joystick athletes into a short journey down the shops to buy it. I found it to be a collection of fun games that lacked the intensity of the Olympic events that encourages some much needed practice but made an ideal game to play with a group of friends.