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In the world of car racing, a silly name is no handicap - just ask Emerson Fittipaldi. Neil Jackson road-tests a surprising racer...

Stop! Before you go rushing off, cynically cursing OutRun rip-offs and assorted racing-game travesties of old, check this out. It may not be the classiest-looking racer, but it has hidden depths and plenty of faith-rekindling surprises.

Vroom (wow, eh? What a title!) is a six-track, multiple-ability Grand Prix game. There are four main modes:

1. Arcade where you need to pass a minimum number of cars to move on to the next circuit

2. Training where you can just hurtle around for practice, dodging other cars

3. Championship the real stuff! Finish in the top six for points at each circuit in the GP season

4. Demo a nice extra. A driver's eye view of how you should be doing it at each track.

Each mode can be tuned to a degree - in the arcade mode, you can even use a joystick to control the car (all others use the mouse). You can also select number of laps, automatic or manual gear-shift and which track or tracks you race on. By far the best option is the comms link which enables you to connect two STs together by modem or cable. In this mode, you can spot your opponent's car among the pack and just race against that if the competition is too tough.

On the track, the car is a superfast beast and tough to control at first. Mouse control is by far the most effective - push forwards to accelerate, use the two buttons to control the gearshift (like the famous Ferrari setup) and pull backwards to slow down - the first few inches just drop the revs, but the last apply the brakes. Getting the balance right is hard word, especially since the brakes are bit fierce and can make you skid helplessly towards the edge. Worse than this, any sideways movement of the mouse alters the steering - and you can imagine the results of this at 317mph.

Despite these problems, it's worth taking some time to get used to the controls. Vroom pays back your investment as soon as you start to race. It's packed with some excellent atmospherics and effects - you begin to see most of these as you start crashing. If you catch a tree-stump in top gear, you can feel yourself being thrown forwards in your seat. What makes the difference is a simple trick - lowering the horizon line but not the tree - coupled with a resounding sampled crash and a couple of explosion sprites.

Other delights are the "whoosh" noises you only hear when you pass within a hair's breadth or roadside objects - you know you ony just missed them when you hear them! Skidding around corners, speedway fashion, is another neat sensation, as is the sudden darkness you get when you pass under a bridge. For the Cinemascope feel, you can zoom in on the road ahead to make things seem even faster.

There's a pit-crew which, although a bit short on animation frames, adds to the realism a bit. You may find you need them because the steering and handling change as your tyres wear out and even the tweakable mouse-sensitivity doesn't aid you here.

But the pits can also be the cause of serious trauma. As you approach the pits on the main straight at nearly 300mph, the sight of a re-tyred (soon to be retired) car sluggishly pulling away from the lane is a bit harrowing. A rear-end shunt holds up both your front wheels and sends you flying through the air. And watch out - the side-objects properly detect collision even when you're in mid-air! If you make it back to the ground in one piece, you're probably on the grass. Just drop a cog or two (erm, change down a gear, that is) and you can keep going and stop the engine stalling. Then, look for a way back onto the track and count your blessings.

With this many subtle extras, Vroom is one of the best racing games in a long time. Okay, it's not perfect - the limited control options and the fixed number of laps in some competitions are annoying - but the problems are outweighed by the overwhelming sensations of the pedal-to-the-metal action.

First impressions were, admittedly, not good - the game-show-style intro music is laughable - but what the hell, it is a game! And when you spend a bit of time with Vroom you realise it's a major player. The competition is tough - well tough - but exciting and believable enough to make you want more. And if you're lucky enough to have a mate and a modem cable, it's ten times better to play. Buy it! You won't be disappointed.

1. Can run on single-sided disks.
2. Burns rubber off OutRun and Continental Circus.
3. On a par with Super Monaco GP for detail and realism, with better sound and visual effects than any other racer.
4. Lasts longer than Nigel Mansell's wheelnuts!