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Finally we see the first of Activision's biggies for Chrimbo, a conversion of an extremely fast race machine. So how has cartie-racing legend Power Drift fallen into the 68000?

Not very well, as I expected. The problem lies with the machine. When an arcade programmer has an idea, he is given the hardware to carry that idea out. No matter how good a programmer is, the Amiga 500 hardware isn't going to improve, and so the new breed of arcade games are too difficult to carry across. Powerdrift is one of them.

Activision did try, and to be fair they haven't done an awful job. What they have come up with is as close as you're going to get. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of the machine, a few sacrifices had to be made...

The game is simple in design. Five courses, five stages to each, four laps of each stage. Come in the first three and progress to the next. As you race through the courses the bends get tighter, the jumps get bigger and the opposition gets tougher.

It's the courses that made the arcade version so impressive. Not satisfied with straight race along the ground and the occasional hill, Powerdrift's courses are full of tight bends, bridges, hills, jumps and dips. What this results in is a very packed screen, as you race under bridges, jump over bits of courses and even stop and watch cars racing everywhere on the track, a feat only accomplished once before, in the Digital golden oldie Integrations T.T. Racer.

The way the road was constructed in the arcade, and the system employed in the Amiga version, is by laying down strips of graphics, one behind the other to create a 3D image. The Amiga version contains less strips which makes the track look very broken, and also leads to some very confusing instances. For example, when you pass under a low bridge, all the strips blend together, and you end up with a screenful of colour, rather than a cartie race track.

The game is fast, but at the sacrifice of smooth scrolling. If you remember OutRun Amiga you'll know what I mean. There are plenty of times where you just can't tell if the road branches left or right, or indeed which part of the road you're supposed to be racing on. This ruins what could have been a good conversion, but how are you supposed to enjoy a racing game when you can't make out where you're meant to be racing?

There are one or two graphical touches thrown in. For example, the way the viewpoint pans across the course before setting in the normal position. The special courses have been kept in too, on which you race an F-15 Afterburner style along and then the Super Hang-On bike - a feature taken from the arcade original.

The soundtrack is good, but limited. The usual growls and squeals accompany your racing and there is some nice sampled speech that counts you in and also provides an audible lap counter.

A fan of the coin-op might enjoy this, I personally don't. It's nice to have a fast game, but when that speed means a loss of gameplay, then I'd rather have a slower game.