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Many, many people in this world are addicted to something or other. The sadder cases are of drugs, the milder ones of cigarettes and sweets. I once regarded myself as a person of willpower but now even I have submitted to a craving. I can't go for an hour without playing this wretched piece of software!

Now I've calmed down a little I'll begin to tell just what my ranting and racing is all about. The games (as you might notice) are set in California (you know, that place on the west coast of America where all they ever seem to say is 'radical') and the sports in it are not straight-forward Olympic types as in previous Epyx games. The sports are a collection of all the obscure wild crazes sweeping the beaches of California.

There are six events set out in the style of the previous Epyx offerings. The menu screen gives you the option to: play all events; play one event; play some events; or practise one event. You can play, with one or two joysticks and up to eight players can join in the fun. Or you can view the high score table and look at my immense high scores!

Epyx have also revolutionised games in a capitalistic sort of way, and included sponsors such as Casio. Maybe they could've dropped the price a little due to this. Oh well, on to the events...

1. Half-Pipe
   Half-Pipe is a bowl-shaped rink on which all self-respecting skate-boarders practise their aerial and kick turns. The pipe looks as its name describes, like a pipe sawn in half, the only difference being that it is about 20 feet high. The skater must skate up and down the sides until he thinks he has gathered enough speed to go for one of those fancy turns. Epyx have included three different turns which can be done, and the skater has three lives and a minute and a half to do this in - this event finds Epyx not even slightly dropping standards on their usual wonderful graphics, and faultlessly smooth animation.
2. Footbag
   This obscure sport is commonly known over 'ere as "hacky-sacking". The object is for the player to keep up the hacky-sack or, if you prefer, footbag using just his feet, legs and head. The footbag is a golf ball-sized soft leather ball-type-thing, and is fairly tricky to keep going in real life. Although manipulating the computer is slightly easier, the tricky part is pulling off the fancy moves such as the Doda, or the Axel Foley, as simply keeping the bag up will not get nearly enough points to hope for a medal when you are up against players of my standard [i.e. Extremely useless - Ed].
3. Surfing
   There are times when I seriously wish that this event just wasn't on the game, but this is only because the Ed won't let us listen to anything else but his Beach Boys collection (extensive!) and he keeps singing 'Surfin' USA' in a kind of would-be soprano. The event itself, however, is pure magic. The feeling of getting on the computerised board and hitting a few curls is just radical. The object is just to surf in the most dangerous and exciting manner possible for the duration of ninety seconds. You are allowed four crashes, which should be used if you hope to be awarded highly and get close to the tube.
4. Skating
   No, don't worry, it's not of the icy, boring variety as we saw in Winter Games. This time it's of the hot California boardwalk rolling variety. The object is to guide your bikini-clad, pouting redhead along the troublesome boardwalk, dodging monstrous obstacles such as melting ice-creams and cracks in the wood. There are also a couple of spins which you can pull off for extra points. This event is one of those in which Epyx show their amazing skill of simulating actual control by carefully deciding how the user must move the joystick the total success instead of doing as others and making it a left-right waggle job.
5. BMX
   Don't one of you begin to tell me you don't know this sport inside out. Everyone, yes, I mean everyone, has at one point been into BMX. Even the Ed, used to come in to work on a Mongoose. Anyway, the object is for you to burn across a BMX course, negotiating the ramp and twigs and bumps in the course, and if possible getting in a couple of stunts on the way.
6. Flying Disc:
   Two extremely butch, Martina Navratilova-lookalikes are playing frisbee in the park. You must first control the thrower and ensure that her speed and angle are correct, then you must manipulate the catcher so that she can either dive, reach above her head or just simply run to catch the frisbee. In the words of the immortal Run DMC "It's tricky".

Looking at the screenshots and reading my description you might thing 'great, this is as good as the rest of the Epyx series'. Don't. Think this instead. California Games is the best of the 'games' series, the graphics are a new first not only for Epyx but for the C64. The sound is amazing too and features the 60's classic "Louie, Louie". But the greatest virtue of the game is its ease of use and playability.

The teeny-weeny groans I do have are that the cassette version is ah oh-so-painful multi-load. Still, this can't be helped. Many software houses aim to reach perfection: Epyx are far and away the closest.