BASKET MASTER
10
:
This basket game simulator offers very neat graphics that guarantees and excellent visibility of the action. Also the movements of the two players, one of which can be controlled by the computer, are very elegant and smooth. It is possible to select the skill level and at the end of the match we see the score summary. The zoomed replay of the best actions is very nice. Noteworthy is also the quality of the introductory tune.
BULLY'S SPORTING DARTS
10
:
This is a darts sport simulator that offers a selection of seven different kind of games with different rules.During the game we can see a circular target with sectors and numbers. There is a hand floating around which holds a darts. With the four direction keys we have to force the hand towards the interesting points of the board and, at the right moment, throw the dart pressing the fire key. If the dart hits the correct sector, the score will be increased. It is possible to play against the computer with various levels of skill or against another human.
DALLEY THOMPSONS DECATHLON
9
:
Excellent simulator of the Decathlon's ten sporting disciplines. It's divided in two days containing the 100 metres, the long jump, the shot putt, the high jump and the 400 metres the first and the 110 metres hurdles, the pole vault, the discs throwing, the javelin throwing and the 1500 metres the second. To obtain a good score it's necessary to qualify overcoming the minimum expected for every attempt.The smooth movements of the athlete is worth noting.
DALLEY THOMPSONS SUPERTEST
9
:
Second sporting appointment which is as good as the previous.This game is also divided in two days containing tests like pistol shooting, cycling, diving, giant slalom, rowing, penalties, ski jump and tug of war.Also here it's necessary to qualify to progress in the tests.The graphics are clean and smooth, joined to an almost instinctive simplicity of the controls.To obtain good score we must only put a better physical effort, just like the real life.
HYPERSPORTS
59
:
Joystick-waggling (or keyboard-pounding) multiple-sports games were all the rage back in 1984, after the coin-op Track and Field gave millions of arcade athletes blistered and bleeding hands for weeks from attempting to recreate the Olympics with two fingers. Hyper Sports called for skill and timing as well as pure brute force - but that didn't mean your Spec wasn't going to take a fearful hammering as you strained to lift the 250kg bar in the weightlifting section. Violent but beautiful. (Just like Wild at Heart.)
LEADERBOARD GOLF
10
:
Very well made golf simulator. It consists of two different programs, Leaderboard and Leaderboard Tournament, that differ only in the fields available but in both cases we play on a sort of isles surrounded by water. The match consists in a certain number of holes and, as we approach the "green", we can select, before the shot, the right club for the distance from our position to the hole. At the end of every path we see a situation table. Very well made is the movement of the simulated player when he makes the shot.
INTERNATIONAL MATCH DAY
45
:
'There's only one International Match Day, one International Match Day, there's only one...' It doesn't really work does it? (No, not really. Ed) All the same, there is only one International Match Day, and its the best (but least well-known) of this incredibly popular series of incredibly popular series of Spectrium footy games. IMD was slicker than Match Day and more playable than Match Day 2 but unfortunately, it was only available for the 128k machine. It's still worth searching out if you're a 128 Spec-chum in search of the ultimate soccer experience. Kick Off? Gazza 2? Don't make me laugh/
MATCH POINT
8
67
:
For some bizarre and unexplained reason, tennis has always been one of the most popular subjects for computer game writers (indeed, Pong, the first ever video game, was a tennis sim of sorts). Match Point is one the earliest attempts on the Speccy and it can still show all the subsequent efforts a thing or seven about natural, uncomplicated-but-flexible controls. Understated but beautifully animated graphics, a wide range of skill levels and other options ensure that players of all ages, talents and attention spans get never-ending enjoyment out of it. Unsurpassed.
MICROPROSE SOCCER
10
:
Soccer simulator with top view of a portion of the playfield. An extremely smooth scrolling begins to work when we move outside the limits of the visible window. The animation is very realistic and the controls of the player are simple and instinctive. We can introduce the weather variability (rain) and other interesting parameters like the banana shot intensity and the effective length of the match. The goal-keeper acts in his own way like he were alive, interfering a lot with the work of the opponent team.
PING PONG
53
10
:
Ping Pong? Great idea for a computer game, I must say! Actually, this Konami coin-op conversion is one of the most playable sports sims ever. Your bat follows the ball, leaving you only with the playing of the actual shot to worry about. This frees you from all that tedious trogging around and makes the game an exercise in tactics and reactions. Slick presentation and brilliant music add to the enjoyments of this simply beautiful piece of software. Ping pong is an object lesson in How To Do it Properly.
PRO TENNIS TOUR
10
:
This tennis simulator gives the real sensation of the shot and offers some different techniques. The movements of the players are extremely realistic and much plastic and fast. The graphics are monochromatic but with enough level of detail. There are many options available either as skill levels or as practice. It is possible to do a tournament and even to train against a balls-throwing machine with many kind of training programs to choose. Lastly, you can select on which side of the field to play, the foreground or the background.
ROOM TEN
9
:
Simulator of a futurist game between tennis and squash. The match takes place inside a totally closed room in which the ball can bounce on all the walls. We must prevent the ball from touching the back wall using a big racket which we can move in the four directions. The graphics are essential but the movements are extremely smooth and this makes the playing very pleasant.
WORLD SERIES BASEBALL
9
:
This baseball game simulator, even with non-exceptional graphics, succeeds inits task because it reproduces all the game stages well and, thanks to the simplicity of the controls, tempts the player to continue the match. The total view of the field allows a good playability and the big screen which is visible in the upper part of the display gives the correct visibility of the bat stage. The pon-pon girls show which appears at regular intervals is very amusing and the singular messages, some of them advertising, which appear sometimes on the big screen.