The Olympic games have got a lot to answer for. Apart from shunting MAS*H mercilessly around the TV schedules, forcing Russian shot putters to change sex and expecting us to believe that supposedly super-fit athletes will spend the whole time guzzling Coke, wearing Seiko watches, posing for Kodak photos and knocking back Mars Bars, they have also spawned lots of money making manoeuvres from software companies. What better way to celebrate in Olympics year than by bunging together loads of old sports sims and re-releasing them in one huge bumper package? It certainly beats selling plastic flags on the streets of Barcelona.

Strangely enough, that's exactly what US Gold thought. The result: a whopping great compilation of 38 sports culled from the near-legendary Epyx Games series. A hefty chunk of the games date from as far back as 1984, so don't expect anything startling, stunning or, even stupendous in terms of graphics or gameplay (but do expect to see a couple of countries that have since ceased to exist in the selection tables - USSR, West Germany, etc). But though by today's standards some of the games are technically so ropey you could rig a ship with them, there are plenty that, despite, or perhaps because, of their simplicity, are great fun, and incredibly addictive. And what a barg when each game works out at just under 40p (or 53p you buy them on disk).

The collections that make up Mega Sports are Summer Games 1, Summer Games 2, The Games Summer Edition, The Games Winter Edition and Winter Games. Each contains a set of events that can be played as a tournament against other players. But don't worry if all your friends have been abducted by aliens, because you can either practise each sport or take part in tournaments on your own. But don't expect the computer to provide an opponent; the only challenge is to beat your own personal best, which is a shame, because sports games are all about competing.

Okay, so the graphics and animation are no great shakes, probably registering about 0.00001 on the Richter scale, but there are tons of nice little touches which add humour and character to the games. The pole vaulter leaps in joy after a successful jump, the hot doggers and ski jumpers land with their heads in the snow and skis all over the place if you don't get the manoeuvres right and, best of all, the hammer thrower goes flying after the hammer if you don't press the fire button soon enough. The Bobsled run is another highlight, combining the best elements of the collection. It's dead simple to play, fast, the screen is clearly laid out with all the info you need and you just keep going back to try and finish the course just that little bit more quickly.

One of the best things about Mega Sports is the number of different waggling, firing and yanking combinations you need to master. Whereas the 100m dash is joystick-waggling at its purest and most exciting, other events, such as the Downhill Skiing, Hot Dogging and Skeet Shooting, require timing and co-ordination.

Really, some of the events are ridiculously good fun considering how primitive the whole thing is [But then, they are classics! - Ed]

Of course, there are some turkeys. Figure Skating is stupidly complicated, Cross Country Skiing is just plain dull and the diving event on Summer Games is dreadful. Not only is it impossible to control, but you seem to score more points for a belly flop. The same collection's pole vaulting is also not a patch on the version found on The Games Summer Collection.

A couple of other sports are also doubled up - figure skating and ski jumping - which is a bit annoying, but at least the versions on offer are very different both in terms of controls and graphics.

The manual is pretty hopeless too. With so many games an index of what can be found where on the tapes or disks would seem essential. Essential to everybody apart from the people who wrote the manual, that is. Also, some of the instructions are too complicated for their own good - the ones for the Uneven Parallel Bars have to be seen to be believed. A couple of the other events also suffer from over-complicated instructions and/control systems, but more often than not more fun can be had by just waggling like mad in all directions and hoping for the best.

And then there's the multi-load. I mean, be realistic - 38 games is going to mean a hell of a lot of disk swapping or tape searching. Patience is not so much a virtue as a prerequisite. But at least there's a good gameplay payoff after the wait!

In theory, Mega Sports should be about as exciting as an Open University lecture on The Development of the Computer Game 1964 to 1988 shown at two in the morning. But it's not. Quite simply, it's excellent fun. Sure, there is some fun to be had at the expense of the steam train sound effects and naive graphics, but the Epyx Games series was a classic, and, like a retrospective series of Laurel and Hardy films on BBC2, Mega Sports shows why.

1. Multi-load nightmare!
2. Irritating sound and music.
3. Disastrously unhelpful manual.

1. What a barg! What value!
2. A wide variety of events that challenge every conceivable joystick technique.
3. Some great little pieces of animation, especially when things go disastrously wrong, that add real character and fun to the events.
4. Some of the events are so incredibly addictive, you'll spend ages trying to better your personal bests.
5. A piece of computer games history you really should own!
6. Tournaments with mates can get very heated.