Match Point

ANYONE FOR TENNIS?

Memory: 48K
Price: £7.95
Joystick: Sinclair, Kempston, Cursor

Wimbledon has gone and strawberries are out of season but the Psion Match Point tennis game for the 48K Spectrum will be popular all the year round.

The simulation has more than the classic quality and style of Chequered Flag, the Psion racing game, and provides some of the most spectacular graphics for the Spectrum.

The screen display shows Centre Court at Wimbledon. The panorama provides a view of the net, umpire, crowds moving their heads, and even the benches on which the players sit after a game.

You can play either a quarter-final or semi-final if you are inexperienced, or a final if you want to be thrashed soundly by the other player. If you have no human friend with whom you can play, the computer will always be on hand for a game.

When you start to play you may have difficulty distinguishing between the ball and its shadow. Once you have played a few games, however, the effect falls into place and adds a three-dimensional quality to the game. The shadow of the ball is the only unrealistic feature of the display as, in real life, the players cast the shadows and not the ball.

Psion can be forgiven for introducing the shadow, as the game outclasses most other sports programs for the computer. Unlike most of the other games available it can be described as a true simulation.

It is a game for all the family and not only for the sports enthusiast. Although it does not replace the real thing it is a worthwhile program, as it is a simulation which provides an exhibition mode which you can sit and watch while two computer-generated players go through the motions. It might even teach the beginner something about the skills required in the game.

The only game which comes close to a simulation of centre court activity at Wimbledon. The game can be enjoyed by two human players or by one player against the computer. Its three levels of difficulty ensure the participants can warm up with a first round session and then let of steam with a final. Its most impressive attribute is the detail with which the court is displayed, right down to the balls shadow. Movement of the players and ball is smooth and fast and the action so realistic that you can use your racket to put some spin on the ball.

Position 8/50

SOFTWARE SCENE

While some software houses are taking the Spectrum to its limits and beyond others doggedly continue to churn out ever more diabolical pieces of programmed junk. John Gilbert present a personal pick of the bunch, and Chris Bourne take an irreverent look at the dwindling ZX-81 software scene. Their talents are combinedd in listing the Top Ten Turkeys of 1984. Let the reader be warned.

SPECTRUM SOFTWARE

A cynic may argue that development within the software market in 1984 was non-existent. The same type of game appeared as those which took the lead in 1983, the most popular being of the arcade variety. The programs were written in the same style and to please the same type of customers.

That is only a superficial view, however, and if you look at the games market as a whole, dividing it up into sectors such as strategy, arcade and adventure, you will see that substantial and sophisticated changes have taken place. Despite what some pundits have said you will find that the world of computer games is still buzzing with life.

£7.95
Sinclair

The most exciting strategy war game of the year was Stonkers from Imagine, and the best simulation, by a long chalk, was Match Point, a game from Psion which followed past successes Flight Simulation and Chequered Flag. Released on the Friday before Wimbledon Fortnight Match Point was an instant best seller.

The screen display shows Centre Court at Wimbledon. The panorama provides a view of the net, umpire, crowds moving their heads, and even the benches on which the players sit after a game.

You can play either a quarter-final or semi-final if you are inexperienced, or a final if you want to be thrashed soundly by the other player. If you have no human friend with whom you can play, the computer will always be on hand for a game.

When you start to play you may have difficulty distinguishing between the ball and its shadow. Once you have played a few games, however, the effect falls into place and adds a three-dimensional quality to the game. The shadow of the ball is the only unrealistic feature of the display as, in real life, the players cast the shadows and not the ball.