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We're all familiar with Viz's brand of humour, but it's not an obvious choice for a game. So, have Probe, the programming team responsible for the game, managed to retain the unique qualities that make Viz so special?

Viz the game is a fun kind of olympic with toilet humour. Three of the main Viz characters - Biffa Bacon, Johnny Fartpants and Buster Gonad - are put through their paces in events best suited to their "talents". These are either individual events or a race against the clock and the other characters who are controlled by the ST.

You can choose to play any one of the three main characters via the main screen. There are also two special solo training events in which you must build up a supply of tokens you can use later on in the big competition.

Biffa Bacon has two solo events. First you must deflect a volley of bricks, by punching or kicking them. Miss one and your token counter resets to zero. The other event is a drinking marathon - several pints whizz down a bar and you must grab each drink and down it as quickly as possible. Once again, miss one and the counter resets to zero.

Johnny Fartpants' two events work along similar lines to Biffa's. In the first you have to inflate as many balloons as you can with Johnny's methane. In the second event Johnny must jet-propel himself as high as possible. The higher you get, the more tokens you can earn.

In Buster Gonad's first event, you must bounce him on his gonads as high up as possible. The second event has Buster flattening pastry with his unfeasibly large organs.

Once you've collected some tokens, the Fun Run can start. All the characters take part in this, with the ST taking control of the other two. Various Viz characters such as Percy's Parrot or the Parky interrupt the race and try to stop your from finishing. Press "Fire" and for a short time your character is invulnerable. But if you get hit by an obstacle three times, then the game is over.

The graphics are excellent: the characters are drawn with great attention to detail and the backgrounds are a lot of fun too. Incidental events happen all the time, so you're often not concentrating on the game itself.

Scrolling and animation are both excellent. The characters move around the screen in a "realistic" manner and often come out with Viz-like sayings every time they come a cropper. Sound is great too - a suitably jolly tune plays in the background and there are some decent spot effects.

Viz is a pleasant surprise. Against all odds, Virgin have got a witty, well-programmed licence on their hands. However, the language could be a problem for the young - though if you find Viz itself amusing, then you'll have no worries about this.

Gameplay is excellent, although the Fun Run is a bit too hard. Despite trying every manoeuvre I could think of, I couldn't for the life of me complete the event. This is mainly because the game takes a long time to realise you've pressed the Fire button. Overall, then, Viz is great fun but marred by some niggly faults.