| ★ AMSTRAD CPC ★ GAMESLIST ★ COMPILATION: CODEMASTERS QUATTRO SPORTS (c) CODEMASTERS ★ |
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CODEMASTERS CLASSICS What do you do with a full-price game that's a couple of years old? Re-release it as a budget, of course. But what do you do when you've got old budget games to hawk off? Codemasters knows the answer, you cunningly re-release them as budget compilations - and at excellent value for money too! That's exactly what Codemasters has done with four of its favourite simulators, to produce Quattro Sport, a selection of sporting challenges to cater for every taste. The four games on the compilation are: Grand Prix Simulator, Pro Ski Simulator, BMX Simulator and Pro Snooker Simulator. And at a price of roughly 65p each, they're all spectacular value. Now I'm not a great fan of snooker on micros, and the last time I went skiing was on a dry slope near Bristol, where I nearly dislocated my thumb falling off at two-and-a-quarter miles per hour, but BMX Simulator and Grand Prix Simulator are truly excellent little games. BMX Simulator is one of those all-time classics. You view a variety of different BMX courses from above and control your perspicacious pedaller in a race, either against the computer or another human opponent. Push the joystick left or right to steer, and press the Fire button to pedal - and that's it. It sounds simple, but with a variety of obstacles to negotiate - such as jumps, hay bales and banking - it's not as easy as it first seems. Graphics are great, sound is functional, and the playability is excellent. Grand Prix Simulator follows the same principle of action viewed from above, but this time the graphics are less impressive. The car sprites are tiny and lacking in detail, with only a small white blob to help you tell the front from the rear. Start playing, though, and the graphical limitations are forgotten. The cars travel at breakneck speed and oversteer round the bends like Ayrton Senna on acid. You need ultra-fast reactions and many hours spent getting used to the control method before you can start racing properly, but once you do, a human vs. human race is guaranteed to end either in helpless laughter or a punch-up. Years old it may be, but Grand Prix Simulator is terrific fun. Codemasters takes a lot of stick, for its game names if nothing else, and while none of its games are remotely ‘professional' and are ‘simulators' only in the loosest possible sense, apart from the odd dog they invariably give an excellent fun for £ ratio. And at just £2.99, Quattro Sport gives more fun than most. NCE
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