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Grab yourself a can of Bud, bud, two dogs on rye and let's slob down for Monday Night Football! Four hours of blood, sweat and, er... more blood, as dozens of superfit athletes beat each other even more senseless than they were before they started. This is the world Mirrorsoft invite you to join with TV Sports Football: the excitement of being there in your own armchair.

Grid Iron, a game of mind numbing complexity and brain rattling tackles, doesn't readily lend itself to "simulation". There are just too many people on the pitch, too many tasks to perform, too many rules to obey to make it a go project.

Cinemaware's solution is simple. They've taken the sport and put it in a more familiar environment. Everything now happens as if it were on Channel 4, only you've the power to take control and influence the outcome of a play. No more hollering "Look behind you!" as your running back gets drilled! Now you get to take the stick and prove you could do better.

The three methods for taking control are all joystick commands, to give you until the last possible moment to override the computer. A click on the fire button or a tap on the joystick lets the play proceed as it was planned with a hand off/pss at the earliest opportunity. You're free to chip in at any point and take the play over, but for short yardage, it's better to leave the professionals in charge. For total control of your team's destiny pull back hard on the stick and get your man in motion. The flashing player (er, as in *the one with the ball*) can be sent in any direction: a click on the fire button orders a hand off, keeping it pressed kicks you into pass mode.

Downfield passing is spectacular and dangerous. When the quarterback runs into the offensive pocket, press the fire button and a cursor appears indicating where the ball will land. Your nearest receiver flashes and heads to the reception point. If he gets there too early, a crunching tackle's likely, too late and an incomplete pass blots your playbook. Practise is essential before you try passing in a game situation, if you want to maintain possession of the ball.

The plays themselves - the route/course of action to be followed by any specific player - are detailed in a playbook visible to both offence and defence. The teams choose which formation they line up in, then what specifically to do from that position. Should you try to block the pass, or go man-to-man on the receiver? Will a quarterback sneak or screen pass work best? Trial, error and bruises are the only way to learn.

All the usual sports sim features are here, including leage and team selection from players with a range of abilities that influence performance. You can practice, play against a league of up to 27 friends, the computer or even just sit back and watch exhibition matches. You have the choice, in short, of whether you'll be sensible and watch, or get out on the turf to bang heads with Lawrence Taylor and his meathead friends.

Graphically the small player sprites are visible enough to control while retaining sufficient personality to celebrate their touchdowns. The kicking scenes, viewed from behind the kicking team's line, are particularly impressive. Players grapple and fight at the scrimmage line and heads bob up trying to block the kick. It's all composed of a few still frames, but is more than convincing as you gaze into the crowd of 20,000 people! Musically it's no great shakes either, but this is American TV we're dealing with here, so would you prefer quality or authenticity?

The games needs the "auto pilot mode" for you to stand any chance of playing it at all, but the way the system has been implemented leaves everything feeling remote and vague. You want to taste the turf in your face when you get hit, not just get the general idea it may (or may not) have happened.

Still, there's more than enough football here to keep you out of your pads for a week or two. The game is complex and very long, and perhaps it's for these intrinsic reasons that it, frankly, lacks excitement. There's a sense of isolation during play, created by the very system that makes the game playable in the first place. Because there's no definite moment when you take control, it's never quite clear whether that last touchdown pass was down to your skilful reading of the situation, or just a computer fluke.