Formula One 06 review

Imagine if you had a swimming lesson, only for your teacher to do two widths, give you a Speedo-wedgie and push you in the deep end. Or on your very first driving lesson, the instructor cruises into the countryside while lecturing you about sparkplugs, stops in a deserted lane, nicks all four tyres off your Nova and then asks for a lift home. Welcome to F1 06.

In the easy mode everything is done for you - automatic gears, automatic brakes, traction-control and a painted-on racing line. It's fast and it's fun, but it's more like Scalextric than F1.

But if you step up to the realistic medium and hard modes, you're expected to just get on with it. There is no mid-race middle ground and no easy way to gradually turn off the gadgets. It's super-fast bumper cars or realism. Painful realism.

Above: The most famous corner in motor racing - and achance to overtake (in the game)

And realism is something 06 does well: Real cars, tracks, drivers and sound, although the commentary is so disjointed that you worry Martin Brundle is jabbing James Allen with his car keys just to keep him awake.