Grand Prix

Your Sinclair

Life Expectancy 46%

Graphics 48%

Addictiveness 50%

Instant Appeal 55%

Overall 52%

James Leach 52%

D&H Games £9.99 cass Reviewer: James Leach I could have been a Formula One driver, you know. It's true. I was very unlucky, because on the day I was due to sign with Ferrari in Italy I had a cold, so had to stay in bed. An unknown dude called Nelson Piquet happened to be on holiday near the team workshop. He didn't have a cold, so got picked instead - and look at him now! Life can be very unfair, readers. Anyway, the Formula One business is very exciting. Probably more exciting than running a football club (if that's possible), which explains why D&H Games have decided to do a management sim about it. The main idea is the same. You pick a 'GP' team, con a load of sponsors into paying for your tyres and fuel and win as many of the season's races as you can. And, er, that's it, really (at least in Grand Prix it is). At the start, most of the selection bits are done from big lists of companies who'd just lurve to supply you with engines, gearboxes or other oily bits for your 2 racing cars. Some are more generous than others, so it pays to shop around (as my gran always says). GRANDSTAND VIEW (SORT OF) Once the team is set up the fun really starts. Get a huge overdraft from the bank, pour some cash into engine development and go to the circuit (or simply disappear to Brazil forever). And here's where the graphics come in. You have a top view of about 30 feet of the circuit and the pits. You see the 20 cars line up in 2 rows. There's a long pause. A very long pause. Perhaps the computer's crashed... But no! Eventually the cars edge off the screen You'll see them again in a few seconds as they whizz past on another lap. Thrilling stuff. A box at the top shows the race positions. Crashes and spin-offs are shown at the bottom. Most of the races are about 50 laps, so take about 10 real minutes to run and during the race all you control is the pitstops. The cars come in anyway if they get knackered or their fuel runs low. You can speed things up by selecting the Refill and Change Tyres options, but you still feel a bit useless. (You are anyway. Ed) Annoyingly, you don't control the cars at all when they're going - you just set them up with the correct tyres, fuel etc before the race. But unless you've been playing for hours you'll probably finish last (if at all). The race graphics are jolly (but rather old-fashioned), and they're the best thing about Grand Prix. And if you're determined to win it can be quite exciting watching the battle unfold, especially in 2-player mode. But when each race is over you just fiddle with your team, hiring better mechanics, drivers and directors. There isn't much else to do except make small improvements for the next 10-minute race (in contrast to last month's D&H offering Soccer Manager, which gave you lots of control). And so it goes on. And on. If it was a budget game it'd be well funky. But at £10? No way, Jose!

The grid is worked out after qualifying. My bods are 12th and 17th. (Could be worse!)

The main menu and the excitement's killing me. Let's go practice to see if we can qualify.

The race is on. Senna leads, bit some people have stopped in the pits already.

Crash

Presentation 28%

Graphics 14%

Sound 5%

Playability 35%

Addictivity 30%

Overall 33%

Mark Caswell 30%

Nick Roberts 35%

D&H Games £9.99 Well, you've become the manager of a football team, tried your hand at cricket, so why not get into Formula One racing and become the manager of a Grand Prix Team? Why not indeed! If you've played any of D&H's managerial games you'll know the basic format this game uses. Once loaded, there are many option screens where you set up your game. You can alter things like driver's name, sponsors and tyres. Each decision you make affects your racing in a different way. After the option screens you finally get the chance to race (using the term in its loosest sense). The 'full graphical simulation' the inlay boasts is just one screen crammed with simple graphics. This screen includes a grandstand, the pits and the main track. You just sit and watch while the race takes place, a car shooting by every few seconds. All the action takes place off-screen; the only way you know what's going on is from the messages that appear at the bottom of the screen. Fans of managerial games will probably find Grand Prix a refreshing change from the usual boring football. But the game's written in BASIC, and shows it, and the £9.99 price tag is a bit steep. NICK 35%

The 'full graphical simulation' ('htm 'htm) in Grand Prix.

Your Sinclair

Life Expectancy 90%

Instant Appeal 78%

Graphics 30%

Addictiveness 85%

Overall 85%

Marcus Berkmann 85%

D&H SPORT SIM SPECTACULAR D&H Games £9.99 cass (each game) Reviewer: Marcus Berkmann Football Director? I know it's hard to iamgine anyone getting bored with the best of all footie management sims (I still think it's streets ahead of FD II), but you never know, it's possible. All well and good then that those sim-freaks at D & H ( which stands for De Salis & Huggard, triv fans) are in the process of turning virtually every other imaginable sport into the same sort of management sim. By an amazing coincidence, I have three of the little critters sitting in front of me. Now, I'm willing to agree that whether or not you like Grand Prix, Cricket Captain and Boxing Manager 2 will depend very much on whether you like those games - but I'm absolutely certain that if you didn't like FD, you'll HATE 'em with a passion. So if the mere sign of the legend 'Please Wait' drives you insane with fury, turn to another page now. (Go on, I'll understand.) So let's dig in, before these games get cold. GRAND PRIX No, it's a French word, you loathsome little oik. Go and see the headmaster immediately. Now where was I? Oh yes. This sim enters the gripping world of Formula One motor racing, and, one or two quibbles aside, deals with it very well. You are the manager of a racing team (it's up to you which), and you have two of the worst drivers in all of motor racing. Quite what it takes to improve your lot (your car's rubbish too) I haven't yet worked out, but you can be sure I will - even if it takes me months. There are the usual D&H features - a main menu which connects lots of other menus, on which you manipulate the various factors that will help you win the race - or, in my case, come last. Just to make it more humiliating, there's a slightly crude graphic representation of the race, with all the cars going incredibly fast except for yours, which poodle around like C5s. There are trillions of factors, including pitstops (can you keep yours to a minimum, and will it make any difference if you do?), crashes, hirings and firings, sponsors and loads more. Hints and tips on this monster will be more than welcome in The Clinic.

"'Ere, John, gorra new motor?" Well, as a matter of fact, no. Which is probably why it's 15 laps behind Nelson Piquet's.

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