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I've been fiddling about with this for days. Leaving it for a bit and then coming back, and even going so far as to set up my own player, play a few games and take a peek at my statistics. You see, the first thing you notice about Kingpin is presentation.

It's obvious from the title screen that we're dealing with a ten-pin bowling sim, but as soon as the main menu pops up you're bowled - yes - over by the number of options.

Do you want to play a quick game? Or a whole series? How about the Arcade Spares Challenge? Or if you're more serious than that, what about creating a few players? And as I've already mentioned, you can keep checking out your own stats after every competitive match to see how you're doing. And that's only the beginning.

But to start with you'll probably want to skip all that and get out onto the alley. And if you're anywhere near as cynical as me, you'll be wondering just exactly what can be done with ten-pin bowling to turn it into an entertaining computer game. I've played a few PD versions, and they're okay if a bit dull. And although Team 17 have done their best with the presentation and look and sound of the game, I still can't imagine fighting for possession of it when there's nothing much to do on a Friday afternoon.

This isn't because the game is awful, or bugged, or doesn't work properly. It's because you throw a ball down the lane, having selected the weight, power and direction, and then put a bit of spin on it using aftertouch. And you see what happens. Which is fine for a while, but before too long you've tried all the possibilities and you're starting to get bored. The tedium is worsened by the way the computer-controlled player will almost always select the same weight of ball, and throw it in exactly the same direction. And he tends to score a strike almost every time, which, as well as being boring, is also really annoying.

The saving (quite literally) grace of the game is the way you can create players and back up their stats, so that you can fake some sort of career for yourself (I'm on a 166 average after four games with twelve strikes to my name). And if you can get three or four friends to visit you regularly and set up a little league, then you might even get some fun out of it.

It's laudable that the game is being released for only £13, and that Team 17 have clearly tried to put everything they possibly could into it, including some amusing speech. But the overriding sense of dullness never goes away. And in all the time I've been playing it, it's always been a case of "Oh, well, nothing better to do, I'd probably better have another crack at Kingpin" rather than "Hooray, now I've finished that I've just time for a quick go on Kingpin."

You could argue that that's got more to do with Amiga Power's vast and mighty library of alternative games. But, of course, you'd be wrong.

Uppers: Practically everything you could think of has been shoved in. There's loads of speech and 'real' bowling alley samples. There's the chance to create players and then save their statistics. And it's only £13.

Downers: But computer ten-pin bowling simulations have been done before. And they've all suffered from the same thing: tedium. The game always plays the same way, unless you close your eyes or something, and the computer opponents always know where to put the ball and how hard to throw it.

This overall score may seem a bit harsh, especially when you take into account all the extra features that have been included. But Kingpin is only fun for a short while, before becoming increasingly repetitive and tedious.