Have any of you readers out there had a run in with your folks because your Scalextric or TCR cars flew off the track and hit the cat or smashed an ornament? You have? Well this is just the thing for you! Turbo Trax is a slot racing system incorporating all the features of a standard layout - including crossovers, chicanes and even a pit stop - without the hassle of causing severe damage to anything else. Good, eh?
The first thing that appears is the options menu, which allows you to choose a predefined track from disk, choose wet or dry driving conditions, select the number of drivers, the number of laps to be raced and the car you wish to control.
Once the options have been set, moving to the OK icon exits the menu and moves to the track. The race is seen as a plan view on a split or single screen - depending on the selections made. The cars (or car if you're playing a time trial) sit on the grid with their engines running, until the green light appears and they're off!
You steer by pointing the joystick in the direction of the track (except on curves) and get a burst of speed by pressing the fire button. Zooming too fast into crossovers or chicanes will turn you over and cause damage, as will riding fast over rough track. However, repairs and refuelling can be carried out by stopping in the red and white zone of the pits. Unfortunately, a crash involving both cars on a crossover causes the race to be abandoned.
By the way, if you get tired of the tracks included, you can design your own with the track editor.