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The Mayor's daughter has been kidnapped and was last seen heading north in a red Porsche. What do you mean you're all busy, is anyone free? Oh no, not those two. Aren't they the ones who gratuitously shoot up innocents and criminals alike? Oh Gawd, I suppose they'll have to do..

And that's where you come in. You take the role of a couple of tough streetwise cops, whose role it is to save three unfortunate kidnap victims, one of whom is the Mayor's daughter. To achieve this glorious aim you are equipped with a large red car which has been specially designed with only two gears (programmers' cop-out alert) and unlikely speed capabilities. Oh yes, and you have a handgun.

That said, it's time to hit the road, Jack. Push forward on your shaft of glee [I think he means joystick - Ed], and your car will accelerate like there's no tomorrow. Once you're up to top speed all that remains is to stay on the road. This is all very well on the straights but bends prove a little more tricky. In these cases, careful use of the brake (pulling your joystick back) is advisable. Mastering this skill is ludicrously difficult as the car seems to have little or no steering capacity when cornering. What's more, it would appear that the kidnappers have chosen to commit their dastardly deeds during the rush hour, as the volume of traffic is starting. This can prove hairy on bends but on the straights, great fun can be had bumping innocent folk off the road.

At the bottom of the screen is a wee radar containing one blue dot and one red dot. The blue one is you and the red dot is the enemy. The distance between the two represents how far away the opponent's car is.

At the start of the game you have five boosts available which can be used at any point in any level by pressing return. This simple keypress will send your vehicle hurtling along at even higher speeds than before. Handling is no worse during a boost but the real benefit of using this feature is on the various straight sections, centralise the car, hit return and the kidnappers will come into range before you can say, "Pull over, creep".

About mid-way through each level, a helicopter swoops down and drops a weapon which one of your characters has to catch. Unfortunately, this item only has a limited life-span, so if you're nowhere near the enemy when you collect it, the chances are it'll disappear before you reach them. But it's fairly easy to dispose of the baddies once you've got a feel for the controls.

In the early part of any level your opponent's motorcycle out-riders weave about the road and make life difficult for you. But after a few waves of bikers you will, with luck, catch up with the kidnapper. Draw up alongside the car and drive very carefully, even if you slow down at this point you won't lose it. However, go too fast around a corner and you'll crash. By the time you get going again, the crook will be long gone.

To complete the stage you need to repeatedly shoot and ram the enemy vehicle. A meter displays the damage done to the enemy car. When it reaches 100%, success is yours and a static screen of the arrest is displayed.

What next? Much of the same really. Your boss informs you of your next mission which is, er, save a female kidnap victim. The only difference is the scenery, the kidnapper's vehicle and slightly more difficult gameplay.

Well, the C64 cartridge age has dawned and all we can do is breathe a sigh of relief. SCI loads in an instant and each stage, screen and menu takes scant moments to appear. This is a real bonus as far as this game goes, for reasons I will come to in a moment. Visually, SCII is a real feast. The graphics are fast (very, very fast) and incredibly smooth. Hills and dips are very slick, and the tunnels have a realistic and claustrophobic feel to them. The backdrops range from city skylines to craggy mountains, which scroll smoothly as the road twists and turns.

Where it suffers is in the playability stakes. Control of the car when cornering just isn't relstic enough. It's almost as if the computer takes over, or rather restricts, your movements, unless of course, you crash.

Furthermore, there just isn't enough control over the range of your speed, it's either stop or go bloomin' fast. And although the graphics vary between levels, the gameplay doesn't. This is a great shame, because all other aspects of the game are extremely polished. I strongly suspect that the fact that this is cartridge-based may well save its bacon. If it were a cassette- or disk-based multi-loader it just wouldn't be worth the wait.

If the phrase try before you buy was ever applicable, it is here. If you're a fan of this sort of thing, the more than competent graphics and the lack of loading times may well outweigh the limited gameplay.

1. Road moves very effectively, with wonderful undulations and excellent tunnel effects.
2. Backdrops are atmospheric and varied, adding to the polish of the game.
3. The game runs very fast, scenery becomes a mind-boggling blur when the boost button is pressed.
4. End-of-level static screens prove very rewarding.
5. Good sound FX add to the thrill of it all

1. Lack of variety between levels may curtail (ooh-er) the desire to persevere
2. Cornering is abysmal, which may prove frustrating.