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I'm always game for a sports simulation, especially one which doesn't require you to waggle the joystick and break out in a sweat like a Turkish wrestler in a Soho stripjoint.

This American programmed collection of mildly physical events comes surprisingly, not from US Gold but a company called Advance. That's because Mindscape wanted more than US Gold were prepared to pay so instead they bought one event - obviously not included in this package - Superstar Ping Pong. Just keeping you informed.

What you are left with is still well worth having, even with the problems of the dreaded multi-load. Choose from three possible games: Ten Pin Bowling, Darts and Air Hockey.

Ten Pin Bowling: This is the second version of the game on the market at the moment. Compared to the Access simulation, which is programmed with the typical painstaking accuracy of all Carver games this doesn't fare too badly. They are not, however, treated in the same way. The Mindscape version plays completely differently to the Access one. But it's no less enjoyable or for that matter any easier.

You begin with an options screen, as you do with all events, which allows you to make adjustments to the style of game you want. Here you can select the weight of ball and alley sickness that suits your type of game. Don't ask me what that's all about, you'll have to read the instructions for yourself to decide what suits you best. Me, I just throw.

As you begin you get a side-on view of the alley and a nice large character who immediately snatches a bowling ball. So far so good, he seems to have some idea of what he's supposed to do. Your job is to position him in relation to the alley, then if you hold the fire button down an arrow appears, scrolling across the alley. When you've made up your mind where you want him to throw the ball - you may only have skittles standing on the right-hand side of the alley, for example - you let go of the Fire button.

Be ready because he's an impatient so-and-so and he'll leg it straight down the alley and chuck the ball before you know what's happening. If you fail to hit the Fire button to make him throw it correctly, he will fall flat on his face or club his foot with the ball.

The major skill involved with Ten Pin Bowling is in getting the ball on course for the pins. As the ball hits the alley it will start to curve and you have to control this with your placement of the ball and the degree you allow it to curve which is controlled by pushing the joystick at the best angle. As you move anti-clockwise round the points so the curve on the ball can be increased.

If that sounds easy it's not and it will take you some time to master anything like a degree of accuracy so that the ball doesn't career into the gutter and miss the whole set of pins completely. The scores are all added up for you automatically and you even get a face registering the guy's reaction to his throw. In my case he tends to look like he's swallowed a glass of camel sick.

Darts: This is also a game that has appeared before, and I have to say that it is not as good as Mastertronic's excellent cheapo. There's no speech and it's a lot harder to play. Nevertheless, it has some neat touches and is by no means bad. You simply line up your dart, first horizontally, then for the angle of elevation. Finally you select how hard you want to throw it.

Accuracy is not easy to attain, because there is no scale on the angle of elevation so you have to use your eye and experience to work out how to right the right spot. To make matters more difficult, the treble zone is extremely small and difficult to pinpoint regularly. One of the game's nice, but frustrating touches, is the tendency for the dart to hit the wire and bounce on the floor. Well, it happens to John Lowe.

Air Hockey: Still one of my favourite two player games in the arcades. No fancy consoles, laser discs or state-of-the-art technology. Just a puck, two striking blocks and a smooth surface cushioned with air. Blast the ball round the table at high speed and score more goals to win. It's just as simple and as much fun to play on the computer and what's more you do not get your finger trapped over the block so a puck travelling at about 50mph takes your fingernail off!

The computer falls down a bit here in terms of skill, so I suggest you play at workout or hyperdrive speed. This applies as well to the two player option where the game really comes into its own. One of those familiar office queues formed to play this.

Even without the ping-pong option Indoor Sports is still great value for money. The graphics throughout are of the highest quality and the sound effects are almost as good. Great fun and not too strenuous.