Skatin' USA

Your Sinclair

Overall 82%

Rich Pelley 82%

BARGAIN BASEMENT Once again RICH PELLEY leaps into the driving seat of a number 39 bus and zooms off to Cheap City... SKATIN' USA Atlantis £2.99 Reviewer: Rich Pelley Dee d-d-do, didie do d-didie do. If everybody had an ocean (oo-ahh), across the USA (dee de do de, diddle do). The everybody be surfin' (ooh-ah), like Californ-i-a (wa-hay). Woo woo woo (do diddle do), Surfin' USA. Well, Skatin' USA, actually. But anyway - not content on appearing once in Barg B (see below), Superkid goes and snatches this month's coveted top slot supergame spot! Zooming around New York on his skateboard firing his catapult at bikers and street gangs is his 'lark' here, and jolly good fun it is too. It's a flip-screen shoot-them-before-they-shoot-you affair, with you collecting enough dollars on the way to get you onto the next level. Mighty simple, but mighty effective. The graphics are cute and colourful, the skateboarding bit is especially good (there's a really nice feeling as you skate up ramps, jump over obstacles and what have you) and the gameplay is pitched at just the right side of hard. Brilliant stuff.

Watch out for that dog poop, Superkid!

Crash

Overall 79%

Nick Roberts 79%

BIG BUDGET BONANZA DJ Nicko, he's our man, hero of the nation; for his budget adventures just be sure to stay tuned to this station! Bzz, crackle... Come in number seven you're time is up... SKATIN' USA Atlantis £2.99 Superkid makes his return in Skatin' USA, the new game from the Shaw Brothers. You remember Superkid, he appeared in... well Superkid! And the Shaw Brothers style of programming, so successful on games like Kosmos and Heartbroken, has been repeated again in Skatin' USA to produce a real fun release. Superkid has lost all his super powers (probably too many pints the night before!). He can't fly and all his super-human strength has gone. But his quest against the evil on the streets of New York isn't finished, so he takes on the enemy using just his multi-fire, fast load catapult and trusty skateboard. Compete against the criminals in six levels of skating mania to save the city from crime! All the graphics are small but colourful and well defined. The stages are basically made up of platforms with ramps connecting them. Skate up and down collecting dollars to light up the 'SKATIN' USA'sign and pick up food to keep yourself alive while popping criminals. This is all very difficult to begin with, and it took me ages to get into the game. Once you've sussed it all out though you get on really well and reach the bonus section where you skate a trick ramp to collect extra points. An average tune on the title screen keeps your ears occupied plus the odd effect during play. Skatin' USA is a fun little game that will keep you playing for some time. It just takes a bit of time to get started.