I'm one of those wierd people who likes Mario Kart 64 better than Super Mario Kart. You didn't have to worry about coins, the karts were easier to control - but what I liked most was the high airtime you could get. I never thought that I'd be able to do that on the GBA.

I was wrong.

ATV Quad Power Racing (from here on known as 'ATV') manages to do just that, and in style. If you've looked at some of the screens, you'll see that the racers can leap into the air, but until you're actually playing it, you don't realise just how high you can get. I've never seen anything as cool as this on the GBA before.

The goal of ATV is to reach the finish line by finishing higher than a set position (for example, higher than 2nd in one of the later levels) by the end of all the laps. You're racing against seven other ATVs, and they're all pretty tough to reach. There are, however, powerups that you can collect on the track. They're not like most car game powerups - they activate automatically for a set period of time, then wear off. The two that I remember getting were the speed boost (thank God) and the super jump, which allowed me to get ridiculously high air from even small jumps. Speaking of jumps, the game is definitely off-road at points, complete with uneven tracks that rise and dip at varying heights, along with twists and turns as well.

The graphics are one of the most impressive things of all, looking like a decent PlayStation racing game (if that's possible). Not once did I notice the game slowdown. The ATVs themselves are entirely constructed of polygons, and when you see them turn, they actually go closer to the ground, as you would expect them to. But the coolest thing of all is what happens when you crash. I saw about three different variations of my racer enduring a world of pain as I slammed him into trees, rocks and what appeared to be the Tardis from Dr. Who.

This is Tantalus' first Gameboy Advance project, and it's really, REALLY impressive - I can't wait to see what else they come up with.