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Elite's timing is impeccable, I mean A Question Of Sport was due for release before Christmas, but was delayed because of Emlyn Hughes' departure from the TV show. Now the game comes out with David Coleman at the helm, just when he himself falls down with the terrible illness of Shingles, and thus must lay off the proceedings for a short while.

Unfortunately this game is no get well card. In fact, it could make any fan of the program positively ill. Not because it's a bad game, but more that it's just a pale shadow of the real thing.

For a start, although the pictureboard, mystery personality and what happened next sections are still included, they are nothing like their celluloid counterparts. Due to graphical limitations, the picture board displays just a picture of the subject of question that you must answer, and the personality/what happened next sections describe a character/situation in text form which have to guess correctly. The format of the game is actually quite pleasing.

First you get to choose your specialist subject and team members (each of which also has a specialist subject), and you start on the picture board.

You can play either one or two players, but the computer has a tendency to submit incredibly stupid answers, so I think it's best to play with a human opponent.

All questions are presented in the form of multiple-choice (out of four answers) and you only have a short time to choose one. It it's right you gain points, if not it goes on offer to the opposing team for a bonus point. This is roughly true for all the rounds, apart from the quick fire round which is probably the game's only saving grace.

In said round you get 45 seconds to answer nine questions, if answered correctly each one will earn you two points, an incorrect response will deduct two seconds of valuable time. This is the round where the final result is generally determined.

Another valid point, I think, is that the computer cheats, I would swear blind it does. Every time I'm winning because of some bad decisions on its part, and some good ones on mine, the computer becomes super intelligent and answers the rest of the questions correctly in order to win. This can get a mite annoying at times.

The graphical presentation is very smooth, but pretty graphics do not a good game make. The small digitised (?) pics are of a high standard and the game runs very professionally. One odd thing though, is that a person has of the arcade game. The graphics are only reasonable, and the gameplay is far too difficult. The fact that it's multiload doesn't help it one iota.

But, if you want a laugh, play Side Arms. And as a great fan of the neon version I was sincerely peeved. The sprite of the one character it allows you to play (the arcade machine having two-player action) is absolutely enormous, and really looks as though someone has thrown-up on the screen.

The game is slow, boring, and far too stupidly hard. If I'd wanted a joke I would have gone and bought a Billy Connolly tape, not a pathetic compilation. Bionic Commando is almost as bad as Side Arms, but not quite. It looks as if it's ported straight across from a Spectrum, and thus is garish, with see-though sprites. It is in no way as good as any other version, and even the action has been marred.

One reason why someone may buy this compilation (although I cannot really see this as an excuse), is to acquire the excellent 1943. Being a good shoot-'em-up it already scores been credited for music page, yet I have still to encounter some, perhaps this is a small oversight that is to be corrected.

Although sport fans will probably find this package fun, this will only last for a short while, as only five blocks of questions are included, and we've already gone completely through four in the office. If I had a choice I wouldn't plump for A Question Of Sport, the computer game, I'd rather invest my hard earned pennies into the board game instead.