The fact that Anco's latest sports game comes from the keyboard of Kick Off co-designer Steve Screech has certainly attracted a lot of interest during the game's development, but now the final product's here it has to be said that it represents somewhat of a disappointment.

The idea is fine - apply the same techniques that made Kick Off great, jiggle them about a bit to fit Basketball's smaller play area and rules and away you go. And, indeed, many of Kick Off's trademarks are in evidence here - the game's simple, instinctive, and very fast indeed. But (and it's a big but) it just doesn't work. Basketball is a fast game, but Tip Off's interpretation of it is a bit too speedy for comfort. As a result it just doesn't quite spark in the same way as Kick Off, and so basketball fans would still be best advised to go with Cinemaware's version.