Hypaball

Sinclair User

Overall 3/5

Jim Douglas 3/5

Label: Odin Author: In-house Price: £7.95 Joystick: various Memory: 48K/128K Reviewer: Jim Douglas Hypaball is another in the futuristic-sports simulation group of programs that have been appearing recently. It combines elements of basketball, American football and Volleyball. Unfortunately it doesn't quite live up to its ideas. It's from the people at Odin who were most recently responsible for the critically acclaimed and reasonably successful Heartland unfortunately, an essentially good idea is marred by some uncomfortable playing options and other niggling problems. In the future (it says here), only one sport will survive. It will have a huge following and it will be fast and dangerous and exciting. It will be played by two teams of three people. Right. Here we hit the first snag. No-one has yet come up with a decent simultaneous two-player option on a fast arcade game. The main problem is that most people use a Kempston interface which instantly prohibits a second player joystick option, forcing your opponent to use the keys. The fact that each player has to control three little men is even more awkward. There is no way for you to decide which man you wish to move. The computer will automatically default and give you control of the man nearest the ball. While this sounds sensible, it is, in fact, extremely tedious as you always end up controlling a man that you don't want to move. Anyway, while you are busy wrestling with the controls you can get to grips with the basic idea of the game. The play area radiates from a pole with a large metal box which goes up and down. The box has a hole in it. Now, the idea of the game is to pick up a bouncing ball and slam it into the box. Each team has one man on the ground and two in the air. The ball will launch from the box and whoever gets to it first makes the advantage. Futuristic eh? While playing the computer, you realise that things are a bit unfair. Once the machine has control of the ball, it's almost impossible to get it back. When you don't have the ball in possession, the computer defaults to forcing you to control the guy on the ground, preventing any hope of airborne interception. You can choose the members of your team from a batch of very ugly aliens. Each one has his own strength, agility and speed rating and works best in certain position. The graphics are simple and move around sluggishly. In fact, the whole game has very poor response and isn't very exciting to play. Although it's quite innovative in the way it combines different sporting elements, it never quite gels as a game.

Crash

Presentation 69%

Graphics 62%

Playability 49%

Addictive Qualities 52%

Value For Money 42%

Overall 56%

Ben Stone

Mike Dunn

Paul Sumner

Producer: Telecomsoft Retail Price: £9.99 Author: Odin This could be the ball game of the future. In Hypaball two teams, the Hawks and the Vipers, compete against each other in a fast and exhilarating match. The idea is to pass a ball between the members of your team, and then shoot it through a hole in a moving dome. This dome slides up and down on a pole which runs down the middle of the pitch. The fact that it is moving makes it all the harder for a shot to be positioned accurately. By using your team members correctly it should be possible to keep the ball away from the opposition and score as many goals as possible. There are three members in a team: a Grounder, Strike 1 and Strike 2. The Grounder walks along the bottom of the pitch, catching balls and throwing them up to the Strikers, who take shots at the goal. Each team member is equipped with a jet pack which is used to move around the pitch, for the game is played not on the ground, but vertically in the air. At the start of the game the player gets the opportunity to pick a team from the players whose portraits appear on the selection board. As the cursor highlights a portrait, that player's name, age, height, weight, strength, agility and speed is shown to give an idea of what their performance is likely to be. As the choices are made, the computer selects its equivalent team member. Once a team of three has been chosen, a fanfare heralds the start of the game. There is a two-player option - if this is selected Player One controls the Hawks and player two controls the Vipers. The selection process is the same, but Player Two rather than the computer gets to choose a team. A player can only hold the ball for two and a half seconds, before the ball is automatically passed to the opposition side's Grounder and the action starts all over again. Players can't tackle someone who is in possession of the ball, but as the ball can only be held for such a limited amount of time, it may be possible for a player to intercept it as it is being passed. A clock on at the top of the screen counts down from 100, and the winning team is the one with the most goals when the time runs out. COMMENTS Control keys: definable - up, down, left, right, fire Joystick: Kempston, Cursor, Interface 2 Use of colour: simple but effective Graphics: small, but well detailed and cute Sound: jolly tune at the beginning with spot effects throughout Skill levels: one Screens: two

Picking a team to enter the HYPABALL arena - an ugly bunch aren't they?

The Hawks and the Vipers battle it out, with the Vipers taking an eight-goal lead and 89 moments remaining on the clock.