Racing computer games are a real favourite of mine. I really enjoy the competitive challenge of beating your opponents across the chequered flag. XRacing! is one of those wonderful racing games that gives you that competitive racing experience. It's more than just racing around tracks. It combines element of managing a racing season to give a much more involved and enjoyable gaming experience.

XRacing! received first place in the 'MSX Classic Category', at MSXDev 2018 game contest. The gap between first and second place was only separated by a by a margin of 0.2 points. The game is a 48Kb rom file, that will run on an MSX1, with 16KB of ram. Along with the first place, XRacing! was jointly awarded 'Best Graphics' honors by the MSXDev, 2018, judges.

The inspiration for XRacing! being created was brought about by classic games that Santiago Ontañón had loved when he was growing up - games such as Super Cars and F-1 Spirit.

You start the game from the "Stock Car" category. When you press space bar or fire button, an options menu will open. Here you can start a race by selecting one of the tracks available in your current car category. There is a fee to pay to race each track so make sure you have enough funds to compete in each one.

Before heading to the track, there are other options that will allow you to change the music, change your car from auto to manual driving, check on your standings (and other drivers) in the category, scout the car market for a faster car and receive the allimportant news from Skid Vicious, your brutal-talking agent.

Hitting the race track, you compete against three computer-controlled opponents. You have four laps to reach the finish line in first, second or third place. You don't want to come last. Not because the embarrassment of losing will see your computer opponents laughing at you online in social media forums. No. It's because your agent, Skid Vicious will sack you on the spot. Talk about kicking you while you're down. I'm not sure I'd want this guy in my pit lane in real life!

It's all in good fun though, and gives the game a positive point of difference from many other similar racing games like it. To become the champion of the Stock Car category you must place first in the overall standings after completing the four different tracks.

You don't have to win every race. You just need to come first at the end of the season. Your next challenge is the Endurance Car category. Here the cars change and so do the tracks - finishing in first place after competing in the four different tracks in the overall standings will see you progress to the final championship challenge - the Formula One category. This time you are competing against F1 cars and you must finish first in the overallstandings after competing in seven races.

With each progression, the cars have faster top speeds. Controlling your car in the race is done so by following the path of each track. Your car accelerates by pressing forwards or up on your joystick and when turning corners you press left or right on the joystick. Pressing fire button for breaking around corners will stop you skidding into walls and will also be your window of opportunity to pass other cars.

In simple racing terms - the gameplay is all about putting the pedal to the metal, driving as fast as you can while staying on the track, for you to earn monetary rewards at the end of each race. This will provide you with the opportunity to buy faster cars. Hopefully, you won't come last in your quest to become racing car driver champion of the three different categories.

You get a lot of bang for your buck here. A stack of in-game features combined with a fantastic racing challenge give this game much 'V8' power. The waving checkered flag is so cool at the start and end of the game. The options screen is cleverly designed. I love the feature of talking to your agent and receiving those pep talks of encouragement.

Navigating the options all works rather smoothly and neatly. Selecting your tracks or choosing to turn sounds on or off or to make the selection to drive a manual racing car is all so easy. The racing itself stays true and honest with just a little bit of sneaking around the corners giving you that glimpse of finding an opening and a chance to catch up and hopefully pass your opponents. Even with the slower car you can find a way to pass the faster cars, but you will require much practice and understanding of the tracks.

While track design may appear simplistic, it is not boring at all. There is enough in each track to give you a good solid challenge. The car sprites and look of each track are impressive and so is the scrolling of the game as you burn rubber around track after track. Cool sounding tunes, very pleasing to the eye graphics with a great deal of playability can be found in XRacing! I enjoyed seeing the fastest lap time appear on the screen as you cross the start/finish line and the start lights turning from red to green gives the game an authentic racing feel.

It is very well presented in all aspects.

Manual gear operation was quite frustrating for me. A practice feature would have been great to include before you set off to race. Not being able to continue playing if you didn't place third or better in a race became quite frustrating too. Hitting other cars usually meant for me that you were forced back behind the rest of the pack while you were trying to manoeuvre ahead of them. You are always placed last on the starting grid even if you have won the previous race, which seemed a little unfair.

When you hit a hazard off the track it can be very tough to catch up to the other racers, that's why the game should have more than one life.

Despite the negatives I have about the game, XRacing! is a worthy winner of the 2018 MSX DEV contest. There is so much to like about this racing game. Interesting techniques have been used in the coding to make it an entertaining and very likable car racing sim/management game. The racing is fast, getting your adrenaline pumping.

It is beautifully presented graphically, with the tunes enhancing the experience and the management style options keep the player interested to want to buy the better cars, constantly striving to be on top of the podium at the end of each racing season. Cool fun is XRacing!