Neighbours was developed by “Impulze” and published by Zeppelin Games, for the Atari ST, Amiga, C64 and ZX Spectrum, in 1991.

Based on the popular Aussie TV series of the same name, Neighbours is a 16-bit video game that almost defies belief. It’s basically a scrolling racing game where you try to beat other characters from the show, each riding their own jalopies.

You play as Scott Robinson, who must race on his skateboard, against Charlene Ramsey (go-kart), Henry Ramsay (lawnmower), Matt Robinson (motorbike), and Mike Young (skateboard). There are eight races in total, taking place over four different locations. You can choose how many opponents to race against on the main menu, and what type of skateboard to ride.

One important thing to note, that the game doesn’t make obvious, is that you must ride through the bollards that appear along the route. If you miss one, the game doesn’t tell you, and you can be racing along, oblivious to the fact you missed a ‘gate’… The only way to then get the race back on track is to go back and go through the gate you missed. Which isn’t always easy to figure out.

One last thing to note: the white bar inside the Neighbours logo is your “reputation meter”. If you crash, your reputation goes down. To build your reputation back up again you can collect litter (trash) that is scattered along the course.

Unsurprisingly, Neighbours isn’t very good. As a racing game, it lacks precision, and the courses – and obstacles – are unimaginatively designed and animated. If you’re able to put up with the game’s shortcomings, there is a challenge in winning all the races, but there isn’t much to it. There isn’t even a two-player mode.

More: Neighbours (video game) on Wikipedia