Occasionally, a game comes along with so few pretensions, its honesty makes up for its weaknesses. It's like the big greasy northern pies that Gav has for his lunch every day, smelly grey meat dripping in fat and gravy. Salt of the earth, and all that.

With various ski-themed races to undertake, with downhill, cross-country, and slalom modes, this is as cowbell-tastic as you can find. There's not a lot else going on - no fancy MTV soundtrack, no snowboarders. Just good old Ski Sunday action.

Gameplay, though straightforward, does have its diversions. You can power your chap up, giving him the chance to go faster (and he needs to when you see how slow he goes during the first stages), and you can deck him out in different togs and skis. Beyond that, it's all downhill. Handling is, in keeping with the salt-of-the-earth theme, Yorkshire pudding-like. It can get a tad repetitive the 20th time you bomb down a slope, and that's not just because all the slopes look the same.

We can't see this appealing to many, but for the niche it was designed for, it works well. Oh, and a final word of warning - try not to crash. It may sound obvious, but those ragdoll physics are lame. Think Stephen Hawking falling off a slide.

Robust, sturdy and a little bit 'beige'. And though it may well be Live, don't count on ever finding anyone to play against.