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No doubt you will have noticed that Mastertronic are making a killing with C16 and Plus/4 software, but I think they have gone a bit off target with this one.

Mastertronic describe the game as a gruelling sports simulation that will use every ounce of your stamina and strength. Where they get that idea from I haven't a clue. Perhaps the person testing the game was a reject from Noel Edmonds' Mr. Puniverse contest. I would describe the game as tedious and boring.

They also go on to say 'In the first three events - sprinting, jogging and jumping - you race against the clock (surprise, surprise) and in the fourth event - throwing - the record is the longest distance. Amazing.

The aim of the game, like any sport simulation is to complete in all the different events. Let me take you through all four of them. First there's the 200 metre sprint - continually running for 200 metres. That's followed by the 800 metres job - exactly the same as 200 metre sprint but obviously longer and called jogging. Thirdly, there's the long distance - a sort of steeplechase. In this event you must, whilst running, jump brick walls instead of hurdles. Last is throwing - instead of throwing a javelin or shotputt, you must throw a brick (I wonder what Daley Thompson would think about that, pretend he is a football hooligan perhaps).

There are also two game variations: Game A and Game B. If you choose Game A you have to compete in all four of the events, but if you choose Game B then you have the opportunity to choose an individual event to practise.

The most disappointing aspect of Street Olympics is that you can't use a joystick. The game does have joystick facilities but when you try to move it from left to right to gather speed, you are disqualified. I've tried the joystick in both sports but was still disqualified. This meant that I was forced to use the keyboard, pressing Shift to gather speed and Return to jump. If there is one thing that really annoys me, it's having to play games on the keyboard, and I think that goes for the majority of us.

Worst of all, the events are just plain dull. Run, run a bit further, run even further still and chuck a brick. If you are looking for a good sport simulation, don't look at Street Olympics.