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Quite a while ago, Domark brought out a game known as Hard Drivin'. It featured a few nifty 3D graphics but was marred by being too difficult and having too slow a display. After that there came Hard Drivin' 2. This was basically the first game with some extra tracks and a course editor. Now the next in the long line of Hard Drivin' clones has appeared.

Let's be honest right up front. Race Drivin' is just Hard Drivin' with three extra cars and two additional tracks. Along with the original Stunt and Speed tracks, you're now fortunate enough to get an Autocross and a Super Stunt track as well.

The concept behind the Autocross track is simply speed. You race against either another player (with or without a serial link option, which enables you to connect two STs together to race simultaneously) or against yourself. When doing the latter, a "ghost" car appears on the track which represents the best lap time you've done, so the aim is to beat that.

The Super Stunt is a souped-up version of the Stunt track. It includes some very treacherous mountain hairpin curves, a huge roller-coaster style ramp and plenty of loops. It really isn't for the faint-hearted.

The graphics and sound haven't improved from the other games. There are still annoying glitches in the 3D routines which means cars appear through hills, and, particularly in the replay, the perspective becomes very confused. Sound still consists of some tatty old chip tunes and effects.

The handling of the cars is supposed to have been improved, but it's very difficult to see how. If anything, they're more difficult to control than in the other games. It takes many hours of practising and crashing before you can confidently tackle any of the tracks. Mouse control is still preferable to joystick control, but even that advantage doesn't help much.

It's another disappointment, unfortunately. Instead of revamping the entire 3D system, making some brand new tracks and giving the whole game a facelift, the programmers have opted to simply change a few elements and hope no-one realises. Frankly, it won't wash. Two Hard Drivin's were more than enough.

1. Don't even consider getting Race Drivin' if you've got either of the Hard Drivin' games. They're just too similar.
2. Stupid display glitches and almost uncontrollable cars still ruin what could be a very good idea.