First, Go is not a racing or any other kind of an action-game. As a matter of fact, Go has nothing to do with the verb go. Go is the oldest strategy game in the world. It was invented in the Far East and predates chess by several centuries.

The object of Go is to control as much area as you can, while eliminating as many of the opponent's pieces as possible. This game is somewhat akin to another board game, Pente. Go can be played by two players, one with white pieces, the other black, or you can play the computer. If you decide to play the computer, you will be allowed to choose which side you want to take, as well as what kind of a handicap you want to give the computer-that's the number of pieces (0-9) that the computer is allowed to place on the board before the game starts.

If you know how to play the computer should provide a pretty good, though somewhat easily surmountable, opposition. On the other hand, if you don't know how to play it should be very easy to learn, considering that there is an excellent rules booklet provided. The rules are really very simple.

The graphics are more than sufficient for the purposes of a board game-the field is sharply detailed, and the stones (playing pieces) are very well drawn. There are no spectacular video or sound effects to reward you for eliminating a particularly pesky group of enemy pieces. As a matter of fact, the best you can hope for is a small blinking sign at the bottom of the screen saying "Atari" (check), which means that one of your stones is about to be spirited away to never-never land.

Go has one feature which is excellent if you are a beginning player-it allows you to change the position of any piece on the board, or to eliminate it completely. If you feel that the computer is giving you unfairly stiff competition, or your friend is beating you too badly, all you have to do is go into the Edit mode. Imagine the look on your friend's face when he comes back into the room after going out to get something to eat, and finds that he doesn't have any pieces on the board.

This game is excellent for the experienced player and novice as well. It's also nice for lazy people like me-it does all the boring math in figuring out who wins.

Keep the computer on the defensive. While it's pretty good on offensive, its defensive is weak.