To date, car racing enthusiasts have seen the releases of E-Type, Powerband and Saloon Cars. The question therefore is whether Chequered Flag offers anything new...

For those who read such things, a nice manual is included which, besides outlining the game, explains how to run it on a 1Mb machine and install it on a hard drive.

On starting the game, the racer sees a screenful of options on a rather psychedelic chequered background. These include three levels of difficulty represented by different styles of helmet, from the boring, white and functional, to the exciting, red and dynamic.

You load drivers from disc, and select one of four tracks (Monza, Silverstone, Mexico and Hungary) from a separate submenu. Another fifteen tracks will be available for those who wish to race an entire world series. There are two more menus, one to control the physical characteristics of the car, the other the mouse sensitivity and braking, via a mouse button, or pull-back on the mouse.

Automatic control of the seven gears can be used at most levels and a speedometer can be displayed to judge cornering speeds, although this can be removed if you prefer that 'real life' feeling. All these options are clearly laid out, and individual settings can be stored on disc.

So far, so good. You start the game, be it Practice, Qualification, or Actual race. Unfortunately, the 'realistic' landscape referred to in the manual seems to be missing. Certainly all three dimensions are there, but the area surrounding the track is simply one shade of green, and signposts are scarce, although the cars are drawn quite well.

The Refresh rate is nice and fast, and those lucky enough to own an ARM3 will see it even faster, although the game itself plays at the same rate - a welcome feature. When played through speakers, the engine noise whistled annoyingly.

Control of the car itself varies from reasonably taxing at beginner level, to very difficult. My car tended to spin off the track rather too often, and once off it seemed hard to get back into the race. The front wheels, while turning on screen, failed to get quite far enough round. The engine cut out and had to be restarted regularly, although this may be true to life. A big rev counter is displayed centre-screen.

While playing this game, I kept remembering that Saloon Cars retails at the same price, and although a different beast, is better for 'car game' freaks. But for those wanting a more accurate simulation of Formula One racing, Chequered Flag may suffice.