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California: a place rumoured to have inhabitants of almost God-like beauty and sports of almost unbelievable banality. It is these 'games' have been bundied together in California Games from Kixx, and inciude such classics as skateboarding, surfing and footbag (footbag?).

You can practise the events or choose to compete in all or any of them. If you choose to compete i all of them, each one is loaded in turn: results are displayed at the end of each event and summarized together when you finish a session. You can also choose the number of teams against whom you compete. Either play alone or with up to seven friends.

The first event involves skateboarding through a half pipe. All you have to do is whizz back and forth across the 'pipe' performing flips and airborne turns without falling in a messy heap at the bottom. Good fun but incredibly difficult.

Event number two is the enigmatic footbag. Obscure it may be, but it's a real hoot, 100, Just keep the little bag in the air by repeatedly kicking or heading it (a bit like practising football skills with a bean bag). It's also possible to hit the seagulls occasionally flying past.

The third event is probably the most enjoyable of the lot. Surfing gives you a ticket to perform mind-blowing leaps across the waves with the usual outcome being an ignoble plunge into the watery depths. This one is hard to beat.

Next comes the roller skating, a straightforward sprint on wheels in which you have to jump obstacles and perform stunts whilst completing the race in the quickest possible time. Think it's easy? Think again.

Onto the penultimate event which is BMX bike racing. The aim here is much the same as with roller skating. Complete the course as fast as possible and as stylishly as possible by pulling wheelies and jumping debris.

And so to the grand finale, the flying disk. By manipulating your character's arm and setting the power bars at the bottom of the screen, you must attempt to throw the frisbee as accurately as possible to the catcher at the other end of the screen.

Each of the events are superbly done. The graphics are very pleasing and the gameplay can't be faulted. Where California Games falls really flat is in the inordinate amount of time it takes to load each event. As a cassette game it just doesn't work at all.

How about a cartridge version, guys? It's really the only way to get away with this sort of game. As it stands, it can't be recommended. Steer well clear unless you have several days spare to spend loading it (never mind playing).

Bless my soul, this takes me back a few years. [Have you been to California then Edith? - Ed] No, it just reminds me of our summer holidays in Great Yarmouth: sun, sand and liberal helping of Mr. Whippy's 99's. So because it's made me so happy I'll give it 99%.

N.B. Insurance companies employ loss adjusters, we have to employ dross adjusters. The adjusted figure is 55%.