One of the true C64 classics, RDS utilises a scrolling, isometric 3-D that works really well. Not only that, but it has a split-screen display to accommodate two-player racing.

Most impressive of all is the track designer. You can place all sorts of hills, curves and junctions, as all the available track pieces can be widened/narrowed and their height adjusted.

There are even three road surfaces to choose from; pavement, ice and dirt. When complete, your custom track can be saved to tape/disk.

However, the disk version has 50 ready-made tracks to play, so you can get straight into the crazy racing.

Options include setting the number of laps, difficulty level, gravity (any of the nine planets, plus sime moons) and one of four backdrops.

There's a choice between 10 varied vehicles: cars, bikes, and even a lunar rover! All can be modified and their tyres changed to suit different surfaces.

Two types of racing are available: normal or destruction. The latter allows the competitors to carry such items as crushers, oil and landmines - additional armour is available to protect against these.

With either type of racing, two-player games are hectic fun. The cars hurtle round the tracks at stunning speeds - flying all over the place in low gravity!

RDS is everything Scalextric should have been and more. The only fly in the ointment is the gargantuan multiload on the tape version.