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There have been racing games galore on the Atari and most seem to bear moe than a passing resemblance to Pole Position. Now Mastertronic has released Milk Race, the target of which is to win a cycle race around Britain.

You start in Newcastle, and must make your way down to London before a certain date in order to win the race.

The game starts with a nice piece of music, and a colourful splash over the title page. You are also presented with the option to turn the music on or off.

You begin on the line with a few other racers when the starter waves a flag, and you're off.

Well, not quite. Other racers to have a nasty tendency to cycle up behind you and knock you off.

If you do manage to pull away without mishap, you can work your way through the bike's twelve gears to gain maximum speed.

As you speed up, your energy level decreases, so you must collect pints of milk, found in bottles strewn along the roadside, to replenish your falling energy stock.

These come few and far between, so when you do see one make sure you get too it before the other racers, or they'll take it.

Cars also zoom along the roads (which in itself is strange, as cars are banned from travelling along the same roads as the racers) so make sure they don't hit you, or it'll cost you another few precious moments.

Crowds watch from the roadside, but some spectators must be as fast as the racers, as they reappear every so often along the route.

The racers are all exactly the same, so it's almost impossible to tell who you are without waggling the joystick from side to side, thereby losing precious time.

Gaining speed is extremely difficult, and when you do actually manage to collect a milk bottle, the energy level rises by a most insignificant amount.

I am more than a little disappointed.