Full Throttle

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Overall 51%

John Cook

Julian Rignall

Spectrum £1.99 Zeppelin Considered a classic in its time, this aging Digital Integration game looks decidedly ropey by today's standard. There are ten tracks to race around and plenty of opponents to overtake and bump into, but the controls are slightly sluggish, and there's attribute clash a-plenty. If you're really after a motorbike game, save up your dosh and try Super Hang-On or Endure Race. If you're short of cash, you could always try Super Cycle, but that's only marginally better.

ZX ComputingZX Computing Globella

Overall Great

Elite Classics £2.99 It had passed through my mind of some time that there was a lot of life left in some of the earlier games for the Spectrum and now Elite has seen fit to market what to us old hands are indeed classics. This program was originally produced by Micromega and received much acclaim in its time so how has time treated it? Before going into personal opinion I think a description of the game is in order. It is a motor cycle racing simulation in perspective 3D and you have control over left/right turn and lean, accelerate and brakes either via the keyboard or joystick. You can choose to race any one of ten circuits, all of which I am assured are authentic representations, selecting the number of laps and practice or race mode. Your view is of the track stretching out from the bottom of the screen and providing you are racing, other bikes disappear or loom larger as you are overtaken or overtake other riders. In the sky, area information is given on the track, lap number, speed and position. You will skid it you take a corner too fast, slow down it you run off the track and slop if you collide with any of the other rides, a frequent event for me as they weave around unpredictably. There is a bit of flicker, especially on the other rides and some colour clash when your cycle goes off the track, sound is a rather high pitched blipping which, with a bit of imagination passes for an engine noise. None of this spoils the game to any real extent and you soon get absorbed in trying to beat those computer controlled machines, all 39 of them! It was great to replay this game, one of my old favourites, the original of which lurks in the depth of my program box, and it made me wish I'd kept it closer to hand. No it hasn't lost any of its magic and I'd still recommend it to you even if it was still at the original price. At £2.99 it's a snip if you haven't already got it.

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Graphics 7/10

Sound 5/10

Value 7/10

Playability 7/10

Paul Boughton

MACHINE: Spectrum SUPPLIER: Elite/£2.99 Classics PRICE: £2.99 Full throttle is the first of the 100 or so back titles bought up by Elite and released at a budget price. We first reviewed it way back in '85. This time you're placed on a 500cc Grand Prix motorcycle on the starting grid with 40 other bikes. There's a choice of ten top circuits, ranging from Paul Ricard in France to Silverstone. The race can last anything up to five laps. Apparently, you're given the best bike in the race but that doesn't really help when you're skidding and crashing all the time. Full Throttle is good fun at a nice price.

Your Sinclair

Graphics 7/10

Playability 8/10

Value For Money 10/10

Addictiveness 8/10

Overall 8/10

Phil South 8/10

2.99 Classics £2.99 Reviewer: Phil South Good grief! This takes me back. I remember when this game came out! At the time everybody went coo, phweep, wow, cor, flip, zowie about it. It was with some trepidation that I loaded one of my old faves, hoping that two years of accelerated sophistication in games didn't kill it for me.... Phew! The loading screen was a bit dicey there. All puke green and migraine magenta. But the game looks fair enough I guess. Let's take it for a spin. Vrrrrroooom? Hey, not bad. Shame there's no gears, but I s'pose it's a bit easier as an automatic transmission jobby. In its time this was a first class simulation. Fortunately time hasn't diminished its playability (or indeed credibility) in the simulator arena. Basically, if you don't own a copy of this genuine classic, then at just under three quid you can't afford not to have Full Throttle on your shelf. No FT, no comment.

Read it at Your Sinclair Rock'n'Roll Years

Sinclair User

Overall 4/5

Graham Taylor 4/5

OLD GOLD? One of the ways software publishers have breathed new life into old titles ie. more than six months since release, is to shove a few of them together on a tape for ten quid or so and call it something like 'Now that's what I call Software Solid Gold Hits II'. The truth about compilation tapes is that there are usually one or two goodish old games on them and a lot of dross. Elite has launched a new range called Classics which gets around this problem by rereleasing the old games, singly, at a budget price - £2.99. Elite is releasing one title a week, beginning on July 21, for the foreseeable future. Mostly they are old titles but there are a few new games thrown in here and there. Elite says the Classics label will feature only those of 'top quality'. Looking at the first titles on Elite's release schedule I'd say they weren't entirely defined by the term but there are no absolute dodos and quite a few real bargains. The first four titles due between now and mid-August are all winners and well worth picking up if you missed them the first time round, or, as with Valhalla found them too pricey. FULL THROTTLE One of M J Estcourt's games for Micromega. It is a motorcycle racing game - the two-wheeled equivalent of Pole Position. Looking at it now the single-colour graphics for the motorcycles look pretty simple but certain things remain constant. It is very fast and very addictive. In its simple way the 3D effect of the other motorcycles on the track is most effective - the way they zoom into the distance, mere specks in the horizon, is depressingly realistic, and it happens time and time again. Well worth a fresh look.

Crash

Ben Stone

Robin Candy

Use of Computer: 94% Graphics: 88% Playability: 95% Getting Started: 92% Addictive Qualities: 85% Value for Money: 90% Overall: 91% The best way to describe Full Throttle would be a 'Pole Position on motor bikes'. For those of you who have never heard of Pole Position (?) the basic idea of the game is to race around the track avoiding the other vehicles and be first across the finishing line. There are 10 tracks to choose from and each have to be tackled in a different way. The best track to start off on is Silverstone. After you have selected a track you must select the number of laps you wish to race. You can now decide whether to have a practice run to get familiar with the track (there are no other bikes to race against if you select this option) or start the race. You start the race at the back of 39 other bikes which roar off into the distance if you are not quick off the mark. Full Throttle is still the best racing game around - even the game from which it originally stems wasn't a match for it. The 3D graphics are breathtaking and the scrolling of the track is brilliant. There isn't much sound used but a game as good as this doesn't need it. Words just simply fail to describe Full Throttle it's great! RC Full Throttle by Micromega was, to say the least, a pleasant surprise to us at CRASH. It still looks very good today and is undoubtedly the best racing game for the Spectrum. The much praised graphics are still excellent compared to today's software even though they are a little jerky at slow speeds. After a while I'm sure Full Throttle loses its playability but I'm still hooked. BS (Rob) If I was forced to change any of the ratings I would put Addictive qualities UP by about 5% otherwise they all still apply today. (Ben) I wouldn't really quarrel with any of the ratings, perhaps even a few % onto the graphics mark.

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition

Personal Computer News

Peter Worlock

AND THEY'RE OFF There's something about the thrill of racing around a track at high speeds that catches the excitement of most games players. Peter Worlock dons his racing helmet and evaluates some of the 3D racing simulations competing on the market. GAME: Full Throttle SYSTEM: Spectrum PRICE: £6.95 PUBLISHER: Micromega [redacted]. Death on two wheels this time in Full Throttle from Micromega. Mount your 500cc motorbike and compete with 40 riders on your choice often tracks. Full Throttle is one of the few true racing simulations in that your primary objective is to win - covering set distances or setting lap records are secondary considerations. The track layouts are based on real racing venues from Silverstone to the Nurburgring and having selected one you can opt for a practice lap (good idea) or go straight into the race. There are only four controls for acceleration and braking, and left and right steering but control is good and your approaches to the bends are critical. But the best feature is that controlled skidding is catered for with suitable graphics and sound effects. On the whole, the sound is adequate and the display is reasonable. This is one of the best simulations.

Sinclair User

Racing car simulations, following the blaze by Chequered Flag, have tended towards the disappointing. Micromega decided on Grand Prix motorcycles racing instead, and Full Throttle is a fine version of the sport. Essentially very similar to the earlier game, with its curving track and sparsely detailed background, the game has one major advantage in that it is a real race, with forty other bikers to beat. Were the graphics not so flickery the game could be rated even more highly. A choice of genuine circuits with information on the lap records is a spur to the players achievement. Position 28/50

Your Spectrum

David Lester 4/5 HIT

Roger Willis 4/5 HIT

Ron Smith 2/5 HIT

JOYSTICK JURY Success in the charts doesn't always mean it's the best game around. Check out the thoughts of our jury this month - Ron Smith, Roger Willis and David Lester - and you'll see what we mean... FULL THROTTLE Micromega £6.95 Roger: As a long-standing motorcycle fetishist, Full Throttle's simulator promises were fatally attractive to me and it absorbed far more of my time than I originally planned - however, I couldn't help having one or two misgivings. Program content initially excludes Grand Prix bike racing authenticity; the player is offered a menu of 10 of the greatest Grand Prix circuits in Europe. Throttle, brakes and steering all function in an apparently realistic way - the 'racing line' you take through the corners is critical to speed - but complete control is difficult on the keyboard. The 3D graphics are fairly good but, compromised by a lumpy horizon, each track has a habit of looking the same. Worse still an absence of visual reference make 'learning' each circuit almost impossible, so anticipation is seriously limited; just naming the corners of each circuit would have helped. Unfortunately, the whole thing crumbles into arcadia when the player gets fast enough in the saddle to ride with the pack. The other 40 riders hop about like a bunch of idiots... and bang goes the realism. Aspirant Barry Sheenes will bit Sinclair's finest with abject frustration as the opposition crank through the turns without ever crashing.

Read it at Your Spectrum Unofficial Archive

Sinclair User

Gilbert Factor 8/10

Chris Bourne 8/10

TT TRAIL BLAZER Memory: 48K Price: £6.95 Joystick: Kempston, Protek, Interface 2 Grand Prix motorcycling has increased in popularity tremendously over the past few years, so it was probably inevitable that someone would attempt to simulate the sport on a computer. Following the path blazed by Psion with the Formula One simulation, Chequered Flag, Micromega have produced Full Throttle, a hair-raising version of the Grand Prix 500cc TT races. The game involves a race against forty bikers around any one of ten carefully simulated tracks. The controls are simple - accelerate, declerate, left and right. There is also a practice mode to give you a chance to familiarise yourself with the track. The simulation is not as accurate as Chequered Flag, with 0-175mph in under three seconds, but the controls are extremely sensitive, and the bobbing and weaving of the riders lends considerable atmosphere. You should aim to take the lefthanders fast and the righthanders slow - if you hit the edge of the track you lose speed, and if you collide with another rider your speed drops to zero. Graphics are not of the best quality, but on the whole match Chequered Flag, with a similar mountainous horizon and smoothly shifting track. The bikes themselves flicker, but with at least three or four in view at a time that is not surprising. Beware; Full Throttle is maddeningly difficult. It took us many hours to achieve 39th out of 40 on the easiest circuit; the best attempt was 25th in Yugoslavia. Despite that the game is as addictive as any race game on the market.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

Big K

Graphics 2/3

Playability 3/3

Addictiveness 3/3

Overall 3/3

Steve Keaton 3/3

BIKERS WILL LIKE IT MAKER: Micromega FORMAT: cassette PRICE: £6.95 Totally amazing sequel to Micromega's good-a-the-time bike race, Deathchase. Here author Mervyn Estcourt takes us out of the woods and onto the road, pole Position-style, for a selection of bike-meets from San Marino to Silverstone. With a field of 40 other competitors on hand the competition has never been fiercer. Initially the graphics might seem a little bland, but the animation of the bikes and perspective FX are quite brilliant. Just lean that sucker over and see for yourself! Being no stranger to the world of two wheels I can vouch for the authenticity of the movement. There's a couple of nice extras for hesitant rebels, like a learners' practice mode (vital if you wanna make an impression on the rest of the field) and a variety of tough 'n' easy tarmacs to test. We were also due to have gear changes but Micromega thought that unworkable. A lucky escape methinks. It's also accident free! Collisions merely result in a harmless (but annoying) speed penalty. Safety first, eh? Be advised, though, that a taut 'stick is needed for prolonged rides. The keyboard layout is quite unmanageable.

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Getting Started 8/10

Graphics 6/10

Value 8/10

Playability 9/10

MACHINE: Spectrum SUPPLIER: Micromega PRICE: £6.95 If you've ever felt the surge of power and the wind in your face as a big bike rushes past the one hundred mile a hour mark, then you could only feel disappointment when you compare the experience with riding a bike in a computer simulation. In truth, the same has to be true of all simulations. Who, for example, would rather score the winner at Wembley in a computer game than to do it in real life? No contest. But this does not mean that simulations are not fun and it also means that comparing sim-games to the real thing is no way of judging them. This is true of Micromega's latest game - Full Throttle. The graphics are not the most amazing thing since sliced bread and it's ridiculous to say you really feel like you're racing against Barry Sheene at Silverstone. What you can quite honestly say about this game, though, is that it is fun. This has been achieved by making the game a real race. The aim is simply to win. You are one rider in a field of 40. When the bikes roar off at the start, you may manage accelerate into 38th or 37th position, but from then until you see the chequered flag, it's a case of dodging, acclerating, cutting in at the bends and staying on the road if you want to work your way up the field. Full Throttle borrows a nice touch from Psion's Chequered Flag in that you are allowed to choose any one of ten tracks. If you are getting a race game for your Spectrum. I would recommend this one. Although th graphics are inferior to Psion's Chequered Flag and Atarisoft's Pole Position, it's a much better game to play.

Personal Computer Games

Graphics 8/10

Sound 6/10

Originality 7/10

Lasting Interest 7/10

Overall 7/10

Peter Connor 7/10

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K CONTROL: Keys, Crsr, Kemp, Sinc FROM: Micromega, £6.95 Throw away those leathers and gauntlets and that crash helmet. They're obsolete. Throw away your Honda 1000 as well. Because now that Full Throttle's arrived you can race on the world's top motor-cycle circuits using only a humble little Spectrum. Graphics, animation, scrolling, and 3D effect are all superb. The combination provides a game which give you a real taste of high-speed bike racing with, of course, none of the nasty physical dangers. One danger you do run, though, is frustration; it will take a considerable number of laps before you master the elementary techniques of riding, and even longer before you can overtake many of the 40 bikes in the race. The program give you a choice of ten race-tracks. Each one has its own perils ranging from the hairpin bends of the Nurburgring in Germany to the temptingly long straights of France's Paul Ricard circuit. Your rider is a vivid yellow while all the others are in green. Control, with either keys or joystick, is simple - left, right, accelerate and brake. As you roar away from the start and lean into the first bend you will admire the excellent feel of your machine. Then you'll go off the track. Eventually, after a few practice laps, you'll learn the character of the circuit and know which bends to take slowly and which at full speed. Racing is a real challenge - hit the other riders and you drop back many places. Weaving through is nail-biting. Anybody who played this game's predecessor, 3D Deathchase, will have high hopes of Full Throttle's accuracy as a simulation. They won't be disappointed.

Personal Computer News

Lasting Appeal 4/5

Playability 5/5

Use Of Machine 5/5

Overall Value 4/5

Bryan Skinner 5/5

NAME: Full Throttle SYSTEM: Spectrum 48K PRICE: £6.95 PUBLISHER: Micromega, [redacted] FORMAT: Cassette LANGUAGE: Machine code OTHER VERSIONS: None OUTLETS: Retail LAPPING IT UP Full Throttle borrows heavily from Pole Position and is Micromega's follow-up to Codename Mat. It's a 500cc motorcycle racing game with 40 competing riders and ten race tracks. OBJECTIVES Your aim is not to cover as many miles as possible in the shortest time, nor to set the fastest lap time. Your task is simply to come first. IN PLAY Once loaded you're presented with maps of the ten tracks, from the relatively simple Silverstone to the horrendously complex Nurburgring. Having selected one of these you either opt for a practice bash on your own or decide how many laps you want the race to be (up to five). Then it's off to the starting line and away. There are only four controls: right, left, accelerate and brake. Acceleration takes you to the top speed of 175mph quite quickly, with a rising buzz mimicking the exhaust note. Right and left lean your bike across the track and braking is quite harsh. The temptation is simply to burn up to max speed and hold it there, which you soon discover is a lousy strategy as you career off the track and into the grass on your first corner. It's best to make a few practice laps of each circuit before getting into racing proper. This lets you trundle round any course at a leisurely rate, learning the vagaries of the course and how best to tackle bends. The best policy is to hammer into left-handers, choosing a line from the right of the course, while right bends require a more careful approach from the left, braking as you enter the bend, and accelerating briskly round the apex. This is fine on your tod, but harder when you're jockeying for position with up to forty other riders. My favourite feature of the game is the skid - really authentic this. The idea in motorcycle racing is to go into a bend just fast enough to drift (skid) round, but under control. While the control in this version is limited, it's still great fun and very well done indeed, with a neat sound effect. I also liked the fact that clashing fairings with another rider or coming off the track doesn't stop the game - you simply lose speed. VERDICT Full Throttle is not an easy game. The graphics are reasonable, the road and mountains scroll around quite smoothly but the riders are a bit flickery. The sound is adequate and the game just compelling enough to make you have 'just one more go' to beat the others.

CrashCrash Smash

Use of Computer 94%

Graphics 88%

Playability 95%

Getting Started 92%

Addictive Qualities 85%

Value For Money 90%

Overall 91%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Micromega Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £6.95 Language: Machine code Author: Mervyn Estcourt A new game from Micromega has become something to look forward to since Deathchase and Code Name Mat. Each one seems to be carefully crafted for a specific purpose from this software house that releases relatively few games. Full Throttle is the latest program from Mervyn Estcourt (Luna Crabs, Deathchase) and continues his theme of bikes, this time on the race track. Interestingly enough, Mervyn had never ridden a bike before work on this game. Towards the end, he felt he ought to get some experience, borrowed a friend's and rode off into the sunset, or something, leaving Micromega worried for his safety. As you can now see, he was okay! Full Throttle is to bikes what Psion's Chequered Flag was to racing cars BUT with the addition of competition in the form of 39 other riders on the track. Unlike Deathchase where you only saw the handlebars of your machine, in Full Throttle your biker and machine are in full view ahead of you on the track. Maximum speed is 175mph and you can race on any of ten of the world's top circuits with your 500cc motorcycle. The circuits provided are Donnington (UK), Mugello (San Marino), Jarama (Spain), Paul Ricard (France), Nurburgring (W. Germany), Misano (Italy), Silverstone (UK), Spa-Francochamps (Belgium), Rijeka (Yugoslavia) and Anderstorp (Sweden). Information is provided on recent circuit records, average speeds and the winning riders name. The display screen is elegantly simply in layout with circuit name, speed, position and lap number superimposed over the landscape. This consists of the grass, moving background and the track itself, black with white centre lines and cross-hatched shaded edges. Circuits are selected via a full display map of each using SPACE to select and ENTER to return to the main menu. The number of laps to be raced may be selected between one and five. It is possible to practice without other riders on any circuit. Full Throttle is also unique in that it is a serious racing game because there are no spectacular explosions should you crash. Leaving the track results in your slowing down - running into other riders will result in almost total loss of speed as a penalty. COMMENTS Control keys: good - 1/0 left/right, 9 to accelerate and bottom row to brake; R returns to menu and quits game or practice Joystick: ZX 2, Kempston, Protek, AGF Keyboard play: very responsive Use of colour: not much but it is used very well and avoids worst of attribute problems Graphics: neat, well drawn bikes, good fast scrolling landscape and some of the best looking 3D yet Sound: continuous, with starter signal, revving bikes and engine note change, skid sounds Skill levels: 1, although each track has its own difficulties Lives: N/A Originality: not perhaps an original idea, but the development of the 3D certainly is on the Spectrum and this is the first serious bike, road racer

Roaring up from behind at Full Throttle.

Waiting to be lapped.

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition