By Peter Eley

By Peter Eley

GP500

* * * *

Microprose

PC

$99.95 (All ages)


It may lack the glamour of Formula One, but GP500 is arguably more exciting.

These superbikes have the fastest acceleration of any machine on Earth, and all the riders have between tarmac and skin is 2mm of leather.

GP500 captures this raw excitement with smooth, fast graphics, realistic sound and accurate reproduction of the way these 200hp bikes handle. It's an officially licensed product with all the top teams, riders and tracks.

New Zealander Simon Crafar is one of the main men, so I chose him and his Yamaha 500 and took on Donington Park in Britain's East Midlands.

The learning curve was steep, and I soon realised you can't buck the laws of physics: bank over too much and you fall off.

After learning that simple rule, GP500 was full-on. The graphics were flawless on my 3D-accelerated system, and top-end systems can get around 50 frames a second.

Combined with excellent sound, it was a nerve-tingling experience, although it was also a bone-jarring one in full simulation mode. The easy handling option was soon switched on.

GP500 has all the usual bells and whistles of an official product, with an impressive range of customisable options.

Required: Pentium 200, 32MB Ram. Pentium II 266 with 64MB Ram and a 3-D card are recommended.