I'VE not had as much fun behind the wheel since I was a lad, zooming about in a battered MG softop.

Sony's fabulous racer Gran Turismo came pretty close to re-creating that foot-down, devil-may-care buzz, and Toca 2: Touring Cars from Codemasters is probably as good as the genre gets at the moment.

Toca 2 is quality throughout, capturing all the excitement of the hectic, touring car season complete with screaming engines, wild performance and hair-raising crashes which should keep any self-respecting petrol head happy.

Stunning is one word which comes to mind as you eat up the track at breakneck speed, suffering some bone-crunching smashes along the way and watching the other drivers as they bounce about in their super fast carriages.

It's so realistic you almost feel yourself being thrown about inside the vehicle as you smash into another car, spinning wildly, the windscreen cracking before disintegrating and the bonnet crumpling as smoke pours from the engine, thrashed unmercifully. Super fun. The first Toca was voted top driving game of 1997 by one leading games mag so Toca 2, with twice the tracks and twice the cars, will probably following in its tyre prints.

Every car featured has been remodelled and all the teams and drivers are there, including Nigel Mansell who has just announced his retirement!

Players can lay down rubber on every official track - including the local Oulton Park - and trackside features such as crowds and buildings are closer to the action. Neat touches include flocks of pigeons which scatter in panic as your car screams down on them, adding to the game's brilliant atmosphere.

European tracks are also featured and there is test circuit where new boys/girls can try out various cars and put their skills to the test on skid pans, bumps, challenging high-banked corners and more.

Toca 2 is no holds barred, unadulterated fun all the way. Jump in your car and get down to the games shop now to give it a try.JE

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.