“Ringo! You’ve messed it all up,” yells John, as a rendition of Day Tripper grinds to a halt with some fuzzy drumming.

After a stirring rendition of Paperback Writer at the 14,000-capacity Budokan Arena in Tokyo the group attempt Do You Want to Know a Secret?

Unfortunately, Ringo hits the buffers again and his wild, rhythm-shy drumming costs the group dearly, to the gently simmering anger of John, Paul and George.

It’s like watching the Beatles implode all over again. This time however, it’s the Bootleg Beatles — who have been performing the Fab Four’s back catalogue since 1979 — and their, ahem, musical differences are being played out at the controls of a computer game.

The Beatles: Rock Band, one of this year’s most eagerly awaited computer games, offers non-musicians and skilled performers alike the opportunity to emulate their Fab Four idols.

The idea is that players re-create tracks by playing imitation instruments — Paul McCartney’s Hofner violin bass, George Harrison’s Gretsch Duo Jet guitar, John Lennon’s Rickenbacker 325, a Ringo-inspired Ludwig-branded drumkit — and singing. Standing in front of a screen, the players follow a rolling music score that tells them when to press a button on their replica instrument. Wannabe Johns, Pauls, Georges or Ringos can then sing along karaoke style to lyrics on the screen.

Animated forms of the “real” Beatles intermittently appear interspersed with images of famous venues from the band’s career. The music has been taken from the band’s mastertapes and Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Martin’s son, Giles, have all assisted with the project.

Andre Barreau, aka George, raves about the sound quality: “It’s been remixed so you can hear things that you can’t hear in the normal tracks.

“This is great because it gets kids interested in the Beatles and it will teach them the story. It will certainly also teach you timing and co-ordination.”

The Bootlegs decide to finish with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Faced with their animated onscreen doppelgangers, something seems to click and they sail through with style and swagger, smashing the day’s highest scores by some way. “John” scores 100 per cent on vocals. “Woo-hoo!” he cheers.

The game is out today on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii, from £39.99. The Bootleg Beatles’ UK tour runs from December 1-17, www.bootlegbeatles.com Box office: 0871-230 0333

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