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Hot Rubber, eh? That sounds a bit saucy, wouldn't you say? It looks a bit racy from the box, too, what with a luscious leather 'n lace-clad lass straddling a bike and the promise that 'Package includes Girl On A Motorbike poster'. (It does, too, and it's currently gracing my wall.)

Sadly, the delightful dollybird is nowhere to be found in the motorbike racing simulation itself. Nor are any decent noises for that matter - the bikes are about as roary-sounding as a baby going 'Bbrrr! through its lips. In fact, when you first play Hot Rubber there's not much fun to be had, full stop. The bike seems to slide across the track for no reason and it's all too easy to fall off. It's right frustrating, I can tell you!

Having said that though, I was just about to dismiss the game and put it back in its box when suddenly, somehow, it all came to me in a flash - the control takes a bit of getting used to, but isn't impossible, that's for sure.

Hot Rubber is not a real motorbike racing simulation, even though it's got plenty of options (such as a practice mode, straight one or two-player racing, a championship, and a selection of four bikes and sixteen actual courses) that try to tell you otherwise. It's a pretend one, which is occasionally fun and sometimes funny (the winner shaking a bottle of bubbly before he shoots its contents in yer face is particularly tittery), but is really nothing to get excited about. You can take it or leave it really.

A decidedly average motorbike racing simulation with a reasonable sensation of speed, hit-and-miss playability, and drippy sound. Super Hang-On's still your best bet in this department - and loads cheaper.