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You play the part of the local hotshot and street racer from the town of Charlotsville and have been chosen as the local representative in the California Run. It's the biggest race in America - and the most dangerous.

Your little town has clubbed together and raised enough money to give you the choice of a Porsche, Errari or Corvette.

As with nearly all car racing games, this one uses a front-on perspective for all the action. You control your car using a joystick plugged into port one. Pushing forward will accelerate your vehicle and pulling back decelerates it. Left and right move the vehicle in that direction.

The main screen is split into three major sections. At the top is yuor time left to complete a course and your speed in mph. At the bottom is the scrolling road you drive along and sandwiched between them is the landscape.

The actual race is split into three stages, each of which must be completed within the time limit in order to qualify for the next stage. Take care to avoid oncoming traffic, puddles and trees by the roadside if you want to complete the run. Your car doesn't explode when you hit these obstacles, you just decelerate and lose valuable time.

On completion of the race your score is calculated by the amount of time left after each stage. Should you fail to complete stage one, your score will be zero.

Screen scrolling is quite smooth, but I have seen better. Sound effects are unimaginative and rather dull. The car looks like a flattened dustbin on wheels - it accelerates like one, too.

All in all I found California Run an average car game. Not very spectacular and old hat. The only thing it has going for it is its low price.