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Following the success Atari has had converting its arcade games to its own range of home computers, it has decided to offer versions of some of its favourites on other machines. One of the first of these to be offered for the BBC Micro is a version of Pole Position, the car race game which features other cars and bends in the track.

Atari's usual smart box includes the cassette and instruction sheet, a colour poster and a set of stickers. With these you can follow the 'real life drama' of the Grand Prix World Championship. It says something about the late arrival of this software, however, that the chart is for the 1984 event.

The game itself loads easily to display a Goodyear blimp view of your car, from above and behind. The car is in full colour, but is small in comparison with the original. The roadway stretches away into the distance, bordered by red and white bands and with a dotted white line down the middle. In the distance there are snow-capped purple mountains.

You are required to qualify before taking part in the race proper. To do this you must race against the clock without sliding off the track or hitting another car. Your controls are left and right, brake and gear change. The last of these is only really used when moving off; once you're up to speed you should be able to complete the course without changing down again. You may use either keyboard or joystick control and the two are equally easy to use.

The race proper is not a lot different from the practice session, except that you all start off from the grid. It's fairly easy to steer round the track, but rather more difficult to avoid and pass the other cars. If you do hit anything, there is a stylised explosion and you're supplied with a new car.

The sound effects are reasonable, although the squeal of tyres in a skid is more of a squeak. A good try, though I've seen better.