 Welcome to Lotus Turbo Challenge, again by Gremlin Graphics, Sean Southern and Andrew Morris. Did it take the Amiga by storm or was it just another racer stall on the line? I'm doing a retrospective on Lotus Turbo Challenge to answer one question. Was it any good? 32 racetracks and 19 other street racers, which was more than any other version and graphically the most superior of the lot, this is the version that stood out the most. But before we go on about the game, why did Gremlin choose the Lotus SE? Founded in 1948, Colin Chapman gave the world Lotus. It is said that he changed car design, motor racing and Formula One forever. It all started with the Mark I. The Mark I was the first car built by company founder Colin Chapman. He put it together with help from his friends and his girlfriend, later wife Hazel, in 1948. Success was immediate, but Chapman was constantly innovating and was soon hard at work on the Mark II. These cars were more agile, efficient and lightweight, in a time where other companies were obsessed with adding more power. Lotus were previously involved in F1 racing, winning the Formula One Championship 7 times. Jim Clarke, Andretti, Moss, Hill and the legendary Senna all raced for Lotus. His cars are famous for giving the driver the ultimate feedback, control and instant response. Lotus were winners at IndyCar, SaloonCar, Raleigh and Le Mans. Lotus gained even more notoriety in Hollywood, on the big screen with the 007 movie, The Spy Who Loved Me. It is here where the Lotus Esprit dives into the Mediterranean and transforms into a mini submarine. The rest is history, and the Lotus Esprit became one of the most memorable bond cars of all time. Back in the day, everyone wanted a Lotus. Huge software companies, the likes of Gremlin, were keen to get the Lotus SE all over the face of their games. But who could blame them, with the Lotus Turbo range being one of the most iconic and famous brands on the planet? Sean originally programmed his game to feature a Porsche. Fortunately, Gremlin had already signed a deal with Lotus, and the rest is history. In Lotus Turbo Challenge, the aim is to prove your worth, and to show you are good enough to qualify for a Lotus Turbo license. To do this, all 32 races, 7 easy, 10 medium and 15 hard, must be completed in your Lotus Turbo. By finishing inside the top 10 from a field of 20. If any race is finished outside the top 10, your Lotus is retired. In two player, only one player needs to qualify to keep the other player in the race. Maximum points are 10 for finishing first, and 2 for finishing 10th. There's no qualifying in the first race, your starting position in the first race is always at the rear of the pack. As one might expect, your position on the grid in the next race is determined by the result in the last. I'm not going to lie to you, the small screen is rather annoying in single player. This was corrected in later games, but the split screen does work really well, especially when you have friends around. As soon as you pull away from the line, the first thing you notice is the speed, but more so the wonderful smoothness. Once behind the wheel, you can select up to 4 music tracks or sound only. Unfortunately, this still rolls out your favourite album, Boyzone's Greatest Hits. The next best thing about Lotus, apart from the fantastic graphics, is the addictive nature of the game. And like many other racing games at the time, Lotus gently draws you in for the first few levels, letting you win the odd race here and there before bringing your crashing back down to earth. Of course, by this point the game has you well and truly hooked, and if like me, you are still playing Lotus Turbo Challenge all these years on. Lotus is all about the open road, as opposed to mundane race tracks. It's outrun, but puts true to real driving before arcade. Things start out a bit too easy-peasy, only to later become more of a challenge, largely thanks to extreme weather conditions, random oil spillages and carefully placed roadworks. Lotus Turbo Challenge is a dazzling slice of old-school gaming. The gameplay takes a while to click, but when it does, it becomes tremendous fun. A pleasing old-school racer that offers a surprising amount of replay value. Lotus Turbo is still a very competent racing game, with a fantastic two-player option. Finally, the trash talk is over, and winner takes all. Two-player gaming popularized Pong, and to a large extent, it hasn't hurt Lotus Turbo Challenge either.