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Epyx Street Sports series give you the chance to experience what the hard-up youth of America get up to in their spare time. As well as Street Sports Baseball there's Street Sports Basketball. And keep an eye out for the soon-to-be-released Street Sports Auto Theft, Street Sports New York Mugging and Street Sports Race Gang Warfare.

Baseball, though, is altogether a more wholesome affair. You get to pick your own teams, decide whether to play in the parking lot or the vacant lot - which is American for an overgrown piece of wasteland. There are no cheering crowds in Street Sports Baseball, in fact all the trappings of the big league are absent. The bases are dustbin lids, old tyres and people's jackets. The ground isn't exactly Astroturf, it's littered with old tins, bottles and other hazardous objects. But Street Sports Baseball doesn't lack any of the excitement of its big league counterpart, in fact, because it's more like the kind of game you'd expect to have in real life, it's a lot more fun.

Once you've decided where you're going to play you must pick your team from the bunch of kids sitting on the steps. Each prospect is highlighted by a cursor and before coming to a decision, you get a quick rundown of their capabilities and a little picture.

With team selection out of the way it's down to the parking lot and a toss of the coin to decide who bats first. The screen is split vertically in two with one half showing the pitcher and batter in close up - the way they show cricket on TV. The left hand of the screen gives a full view of the pitch, the moment the ball leaves the pitcher's hand.

The pitcher can do some, well, whacky things with the ball. You can swerve it right or left, speed it up, or slow it down during flight by moving the joystick in the required direction. You have to watch it though, the ball must go over the plate.

As with everything else, batting depends as much on the skills of your team as on you. To swing you must hit the Fire button when the ball is directly over the planet. You'll either miss it or hit it - hopefully the latter. The aerial view shows exactly where the ball has gone while the left screen cuts to a close-up of the nearest fielder. If the ball is in the air and you can get the fielder underneath it they might catch it. If it's on the ground, or they fumble, they can throw to any of the bases.

This is where it gets really exciting. The screen then cuts to the base, where the fielder awaits the incoming ball. If it looks like your runner isn't going to make it you can pull back on the joystick and slide for safety.

The computer keeps track of the score throughout the nine innings, so there's no scope for cheating there either. I think Street Sports Baseball is brilliant. It's realistic, has all the elements of a real fame - the kind ordinary people play - and is just as much fun.

Every game has something you can moan about, though, and this hangs up every now and then for a minute. It usually happens if you hit the striker with one of those wild, crazy pitches. They hobble to first, and no matter what you do, you can't get a new bat to the planet, you just have to wait. Apart from that, it's first rate. I'm off to give Buciak another slamming.