| ★ AMSTRAD CPC ★ GAMESLIST ★ SPORTING TRIANGLES (c) CDS SOFTWARE ★ |
Amstrad Computer User |
Test your sporting knowledge in this spin-off from the gogglebox. Well 'arry .... Sporting Triangles might sound like a menage a trois at a golf club but in reality it's nothing so fruity or interesting, but rather a quiz game based on ITV's answer to A Question of Sport. Unfortunately for ITV, Sporting Triangles was a fairly witless and pale imitation of the BBC programme, and suffered appropriately. A game based on this particular sporting quiz show isn't necessarily a bad thing, for one thing you don't have to watch embarrassed sports 'personalities'wondering why their agent got them into this. On the down side you do have to wait quite some time for the game to load and set itself up, even on disc this takes absolutely ages. There can be up to three human players, with the computer filling in for absentees. The computer plays on three skill levels: average, good and perfect. Or as we discovered, good, very good and unbeatable. A time limit can be set on each round, which stops dull and oafish players taking forever to answer. Next we go to the select-a-sport section, where each player nominates his fave topic. After that, go make a cup of tea, play a game of chess or something while the questions load. When the inlay says 'please be patient' you know you're in for a long wait. There are seven rounds to the game: standard question, standard question, hit for six, standard, standard, jigsaw picture, and quickfire question round. For the standard rounds the players throw a dice and follow a marker round a triangular board, marked with colours to indicate subjects. The colours correspond to the three subjects selected by the contestants at the beginning, there being twelve categories. After a short while the answer is displayed and the player is asked whether they got it right or not. While you have to be honest in a two or three player game, when playing the computer you can cheat as much as it does.
The hit for six round consists of six attempts to answer a question, with six clues, and seven answers in front of you. Naturally, the fewer clues you use, the more points you get. The jigsaw picture round works similarly with a list of answers and a few pieces of a jigsaw. You are asked to identify the playing area or object, with more pieces being filled in if you get it wrong. Some of the answers border on the ridiculous with totally obscure sports. The quickfire round is a case of who can get to the buzzer first, and when the computer is on perfect setting it's necessary to hold your finger on the buzzer before the question is finished. The graphics are all in medium resolution which means that you get 40 columns of easily readable text, but only four colours which makes everything look rather drab, and they are produced so that it looks as though they were ported straight across from the Spectrum. As a one player game this is far too slow, and not appealing enough to counter the scant satisfaction of beating a computer quiz opponent. Where it does become fun, and a worthwhile purchase is if there are two or three people playing together. So if you have a couple of sports quiz loving friends, have a patient nature, then Sporting Triangles will help you while away the hours until a Question of Sport returns to the TV. Mark Luckham, ACU #9001 |
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