There are two kinds of people in the racing world. Some like their cars to be low, fast and pointy. Others like their cars muddy, boxy and occasionally upside-down. Rest assured that whatever side of the fence you're on, you wouldn't like Euro Race Champion.

Not even being a budget title can excuse the many sins committed by this game. If bad is 'not good' then this is the kind of experience that makes bad feel better about itself. Your light, floaty car slides around the track like a balloon in a draught, resisting all attempts to do anything as radical as steer. There are a multitude of options to tweak your car's performance, but none of them seem to be marked "make the ****ing thing work".

Driving around the bland landscape is a hollow, empty experience. It doesn't so much drain your will to live as grind it into the dirt with its heel. There's very little you can do to affect your car's progress around the tracks and even the most gentle of cambers can cause problems. All this is complemented by the engine noise from a burger meal toy, flat lifeless textures and no car damage.

The final insult is the embarrassment of watching your crashed vehicle magnetically find its way back onto all four wheels, no matter how badly you rolled. Do yourself a favour and avoid this, or do other people a favour, buy it and destroy it.

Graphics 40%
Cardboard trees and flat landscapes.

Sound 30%
Bland, droning engines and little else.

Gameplay 20%
A horrible experience.

Lifespan 30%
A few extra plays, just to check it is that bad.

Overall 30%
It's highly unlikely that there was any point in the history of time that this would have been an acceptable videogame!