So just what exactly is a crazy car? Perhaps it's a Morris Minor hanging around bus stations asking passers by if they;ve seen its camels. Or it could be a Ford Escort discussing the life cycle of the wasp with a packet of fruit pastilles? Or how about a group of VW Beetles giggling at a rose bush? Those are all fairly crazy. But what's really crazy is releasing yet another driving game.

I mean do we really need another? Do we want another? After all, we've just had Jaguar XJ 220 and that just wasn't different enough to make it a Lotus beater. And let's talk about that old chestnut.

Why is everyone so determined to 'beat' Lotus 2? Wy not just admit that driving games have reached their peak? At the most you're only going to be able to boast some minor technical triumph. Oh, so it's three frames faster than Lotus? Very exciting. Is it worth splashing out on a game that's exactly the same but three frames faster? I doubt it personally. But, for some reason, the well-monied public seem to love splashing out on stuff they've seen before.

And so, will they get their money's worth from Crazy Cars III? I reckon they will actually it's certainly better than Jaguar as far as playability goes. I always found Jaguar too clinical. It actually looked and played like a game that was written solely to beat Lotus, and that was where it fell flat. There was no 'soul' to the game, y' know? No worthwhile purpose behind thundering about the place. Boring to be blung about it.

CC3 avoids that by at least giving you a reason to race. You've entered into the world of the Cannonball Run, the illegal road race across America. Pay yet money for each city, wager against the other racers, win the race, collect the loot until you've got enough to buy your way into the district championships, thus letting you win the big prize and snog loads of really ace birds. Well, that's the theory at least.

So you pick a city to race in, according to how much entry fee you can afford to spend, and the huddle down in a dingy shed to bet on the outcome. Quickly leg it to the road and set off, racing against up to three league drivers like you and about seven or eight local racers.

Oh, and let's not forget the everyday drivers and the police. The innocent civilians still bomb along the roads at reckless speeds, but they only serve to get in the way rather than trying to win. The police are a different matter entirely. Understandably narked at these law-breaking road hogs, they'll lie in wait, and attempt to pull over any car going too fast. This means you of course, but if another racer speeds past you then the police go after them instead. If you stop when the police are on your tail, you lose the race and have to pay a whacking fine.

A bit pointless actually, 'cos nobody's going to slow down and stop when you can easily outrun the rozzers, but there you go. Wait a mo, there's a smoke signal on the horizon. It's from Kevin Costner.
"What's it like then, this Crazy Cars III?"
I'm just getting to that bit, Kev, you impatient whippersnapper.

It's not bad, if the truth be told. It's better than Jaguar because Titus have remembered to put a game in here, but it lacks a two-player mode which could've made it a real stonker and a probable Lotus killer.

It's got all the necessary technical doobries to make it an acceptable driving game. Fast graphics, roaring engines and so on, plus it gets the adrenalin pumping with the police up your bum, your opponent out in front and your Mum telling you to come and get your tea. Sort of.

And hey. I'm feeling kinda mellow so I'll ignore the fact that it's criminally unoriginal and that driving games usually bring me out in huge weeping pustulent sores, and say that it's quite good. So if you want to buy it, I won't be very cross. In fact, I might pop round and have a game. Because I love you. Honest.

The nice thing about race games like Crazy Cars is that you can sit down and play them immediately, often without even referring to a manual, because they use an age-old-concept; one that is easy to relate and understand.

We all know what to expect from a game of this genre, don't we? Push forward to accelerate, steer left and right to avoid other cars and pull back when you want to stop, right? Wrong.

For, as you may well remember, Crazy Cars II tested your map-reading skills as well as your driving, and now Crazy Cars III goes into even more depth.

Take several desperate and reckless drivers with powerful cars, a perfectly innocent public-road system and some transport police, and you'll have some idea of what a typical Crazy race involves.

The first thing you notice when you begin driving in Crazy Cars III is that the game generates a good feeling of distance between you and the cars ahead. Far along the road in front of you, dwindling tail-lights of the leading cars appear and disappear quite realistically on the horizon; an effect which was not carried off as effectively in Lotus Turbo Challenge II.

Get it loose
Different weather conditions also have a greater bearing upon the game than in Lotus, with each climate producing its own car-handling characteristics as well as a change of scenery. Weather conditions are sometimes generated randomly, so it's possible to have snow falling upon the cacti as you drive along desert roads.

Different towns also have different scenery and who is to say whether or not you will race at night or in the daylight hours? A large range of scenic views is to be found within this game, each one of them well-drawn and moving past very swiftly... now I want a real Lamborghini!

Cash, as well as climate, is important. Prize money for finishing in pole position is double the race entry fee, but for finishing third you make a 50 per cent loss. So winning the race outright is practically the only way to make a profit.

The only alternative is to wager other competitors in your race that you will finish before them. Unfortunately your opponents are very good - you have been warned!

Money won at a race can be used to improve your car through the purchase of various add-ons, which is a welcome feature. The hardware store sells new and faster gearboxes, wet-weather tyres and super brakes, which are all ludicrously priced but improve your car's performance greatly.

The most expensive is, surprisingly enough, the good old nitro fuel, costing an incredible $50,000. For your hard-earned money you get 10 seconds rocket-powered mayhem, which increases the car's speed by about a third. This has the effect of practically turning it into a low-flying aircraft, so I suppose we must grudgingly accept that the race is more interesting when nitro is used rarely.

Babylon business
It's a fair cop - even in America. Police are to be found patrolling the highways, giving you even more hassle. Apart from the patrol cars which chase you when you accidentally (or otherwise) hit someone, there are also radar-operated camera speed traps along the road.

Police wielding hand-held speed-detectors also give chase frequently. They are excruciatingly annoying, but give the game much more flavour. And, as they try to ram you off the road (because you've been, er... ramming other people off the road), the game bears a very strong resemblance to Chase H.Q. (your car even becomes labeled with a huge arrow saying 'Offender' on it). N.B.: a sneaky trick to play when the cops are around is to shunt an opponent into a police car, thus turning him into an offender.

All in all, Crazy Cars III has amazing durability because it keeps on changing, the races run smoothly and quickly, and terrain is presented really well. From the word go, you have a challenge on your hands. It is certainly much harder than the recent Lotus and Jaguar race games, but in the long run this just means that you'll carry on playing.

Preconceptions are funny things. Take, for instance, any of you readers who have 'experienced' the first two Crazy Cars games. Right about now you'll be saying, 'Mmm, I wonder what's reviewed in a couple of pages'. But wait! Don't do it. Stick with this one, it'll be worth it. Give me, ooh, three pages to blow your preconceptions apart. Trust me. I'm a professional.

THERE'S A KILLER ON THE ROAD
It's been over a year since Lotus II first graced our screens, showing up the clutch of other Amiga racers for the amateur jobs they reall are. At the time it seemed like nothing more could be done with sprite-based driving games (although some still prefer the original Lotus). Then Jaguar appeared, with the claim that it was a Lotus beater.

Sure, it managed to add some neat features to the formula - atmospheric weather conditions, more variations in tracks, and a course design kit - but a lack of cars on the raod and a lack of anything particularly new or exciting prevented it from fulfilling its original promise.

So chances are your eyes have wandered off to the Bottom Line box over at the bottom of the review, and you want to know why I've given it such a high score. After all, it's only a Crazy Cars game, isn't it? No, actually it's not. It's a shame that they just didn't think up a new title for this one, because it really has no connection with the previous two accursed racers.

So let's do a quick check list, shall we, and quickly compare the features of Crazy Cars III with those of Lotus II and Jaguar (we'll forget about Lotus: The Final Challenge for the moment). Track editor - nope. Two player mode - nope. Spectacular weather conditions - nope. (Crazy Cars III) does have snow and rain, but the rain is particularly crap and the snow, though pleasant, is more reminiscent of It's A Wonderful Life than arctic conditions).

So Crazy Cars III loses on all counts, right? Wrong. This is the most funsome, groovesome and triumphant racing game I've played on the Amiga. The key lies in Titus' approach to the subject. While Lotus II and Jaguar have strived for realism - the simulation of a real life race, if you like - the guys at Titus have gone for a blend of Out Run arcade simplicity and cartoon-like, um, craziness. They've also got their game moving way faster than the rest. A fully-powered car can hit 400km/h, and it sure looks convincing.

Nobody would ever believe some of the stunts that the Lamborghini can pull - but, just like in the movies, it doesn't matter, because it makes for a fun game. If you liked the Cannonball Run, if you ever admitted to enjoying an episode of Knight Rider, or if you love movies based in San Francisco (where the cars are frequently airborne on their way down steep hills) then Crazy Cars III is going to do things you that you thought only Winona Ryder was capable of (for girl readers, please substitute Dolph Lundgren or some other swoonsome hunk).

DESOLATION ON THE ROAD
Now that I've (hopefully) convinced you of just how much fun I've had with this game, I'll get down to the basics of gameplay. Imagine a variation on the Cannonball Run. Set in America, there are four divisions of illegal races to work through, with around fifteen races in each division. Each race has an entry fee which is dependent on difficulty and on the winner's prize (second and third places also secure modest amounts of cash).

As cash is earned, outgoing arise in the form of car repair and modifications. Initially, they include such lowly, but useful, gadgets as radar detectors (for advance warning of police patrols) and extra-grip tyres. As the game advances and stakes rise, it's possible to buy better brakes, manual gear-boxes, five and six speed systems, nitrous-oxide engines, ECMs (to eliminate detection by police radar), and one-off turbo boosts.

Money is also needed to enter the division challenge. This involves driving a two lane road, overtaking entire convoys of trucks, while - yes, you guessed - more trucks fly head-on on in the other lane. Anyone who's seen Basic Instinct will fee right at home here (I mean the car chase, not the other bits).

Also competing in these races are twenty professional drivers, plus locals of varying skills. In any one race, there may be up to four of these pros to be wary of, but they also offer an opportunity to make some extra cash. You see, pre-race betting is catered for, so it's possible to win much more than the standard cash prize. Similarly, it's also possible to foolishly blow the last of your cash.

Police patrols? Radar? Illegal races? Oh yes, you read right. Crazy Cars III doesn't give you some namby-pamby race track to spin round. Oh no. What you get are real roads, while real drivers (the only complaint is that all the roads are mysteriously one way), and real police. Whether it's by photograph or good old-fashioned radar trap, the cops are out to put an end to these races.

Chances are you'll soon hear the sound of sirens and have the cops on your tail. It's then the tough choice between slowing down and hoping they go after one of the other professional drivers, trying to burn them off, or slamming the muthas right off the road. You see, it's not just the player's car which takes damage in Crazy Cars III. The pros and police can also be reduced to the level of Robin Reliant, with smoke billowing out the back and seriously reduced performance. And the fact that the pros can also be chased for speeding, and that they respond intelligently to the radar traps (electing to slow down or burn the police off) gives things the race a thrillingly believably edge. IN fact the intelligence of the other cars almost makes up for the lack of a two-player mode.

THE GREAT LAMBORGHINI HUNT
Actually, just to re-iterate the point about the computer car intelligence routines, it's worth noting that the demo mode on Crazy Cars III is not a recording of a human controlling the Lamborghini - it's actually the computer driving the thing (and what a good job it does too). The various professional drivers even have differing levels of ability, via individual distances they can 'see' ahead, and manoeuvre accordingly. This is an important factor in the playability of CC III. There's none of that drone-like weave from side-to-side stuff here.

And while I'm being generous with the compliments, I'll give a quick hurrah of appreciation for the level designs. The combination of colour-schemes, road layouts and scenery graphics ensures that every track feels individual, and true(ish) to the location of the race. Boston, for instance, is a night race, with a beautiful cityscape looming behind the miles of undulating roads and huge tunnels.

Other tracks, such as Miami, include road-works, single lane sections, and water. Gosh - it reminds me of my misspent youth playing OutRun down the local beach arcade. Okay, so a couple of tracks are fairly generic, but others just look and feel so different that it's a real thrill to go from race to race, discovering new delights, and attempting to learn track layouts. It's also nice to be able to knock various bits of scenery, sending them flying up over the bonnet.

The sound too, adds brilliantly to the proceedings. This engine noise is thankfully beefy, with a satisfying whine when a turbo boost is used. Even the tunnel sections sound right. It's all the little, thoughtful touches which leave an impression. Maybe it's the way things are split into divisions, maybe it's the way the car can be totally customised as the game progresses, perhaps it's the precision with which the difficulty curve has been set, or maybe it's the way more tracks become available as the player improves. Whatever it is, Crazy Cars III demands play after play.

Just in case you haven't guessed then - yes, I prefer it to the Lotuses and Jaguar. For me the ideal game collection would include this, F1GP and Vroom. Sure, it lacks the features and near-infinite number of tracks which Lotus: The Final Challenge is promising, but this game's bloody-mindedness is its strong point. Complicating things with a track designer or more realism would have only diluted the tasty cocktail. Crazy Cars III is simply excellent fun, and that's what it's all supposed to be about, isn't it?