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One of the more original coin-ops to appear last year was Atari's Toobin, based on that decidedly uncommon spot of sitting in an old motor tyre and shooting down rivers. In this country that's probably about as healthy as drinking raw sewage given the state of our waterways, but that didn't stop it being a cute idea for a game.

Toobin turned out to be surprisingly playable. I remember the first time I saw it I nearly walked past because it looked like one of those children's novelty games. It's true there's nothing to obliterate, beat up or rip apart, but hey, give it a chance!

The idea behind Toobin is for one or two players to guide their characters down the river, through rapid, dangerous water, and unpleasant assailants to the end. One point automatically in its favour is that this provides you with the opportunity to play a black characters should you want - something all too rare in gaming.

The hazards you'll face en route are many, and you'll find yourself faced by thorny bushes, fallen trees floating across your path, and later mines and submarines. On the bank, fishermen cast rods with type piercing hooks, hunters fire guns indiscriminately and yobs lob bottles. Hang around too long trying to negotiate certain sections and a bloody great crocodile charges up behind you and takes a bite out of your inner tube. Nasty.

To ward off the nasties on the bank and clear obstacles from your path, you can throw coke cans. Points are most easily accrued by directing your bather through the gates which are dotted around the course. If you make it through one cleanly, you get the score that it shows; otherwise bumping into them will halve the amount each time. Negotiating a gate is a good way of getting rid of the croc, top.

Domark's converstion is pretty faithful to the original, although I'd argue that it's a touch more frenetic than the arcade version. There's little time to dwell around, and lobbing coke cans - which takes care and accuracy - can just be too time-consuming. Graphically it's pretty and recognisably close to the arcade Toobin, although the flowing of water, something rarely well reproduced in games is once again less than realistic. Sound is limited for the most part to spot effects, but there is a neat little steel band tune as the game loads.

Toobin is prime conversion material and Domark have reproduced an arcade game that does justice to the original. It's fun and addictive to play, and whilst I don't see it threatening the bigger names (including their own Hard Drivin') for top chart positions I hope it does well. Aren't I nice?