Break Point

Your Sinclair

Overall 5/10

Nat Pryce 5/10

BARGAIN BASEMENT And down in the basement this month, it's Nat Pryce - himself available at 20% discount on alternate Thursdays. Any offers? SNOOKERED Top Ten Software £5.99 Reviewer: Nat Pryce If anyone listens to the DLT show on Radio One (I don't I hasten to add), they will probably know the snooker quiz thingy. Well, Snookered is based on this quiz, only it's a much simpler version - there are four red balls and three coloureds, so not much scope for tactics. You are asked a question and given four answers. You must choose the right answer within a time limit and gain the points value of the question and ball colour: one for a red, two for a yellow, five for a blue and seven for a black. Some of the questions are simple, some difficult and some downright confusing - "Who's life is based around the musical Evita?" Weird, huh? I've never been able to see the fun of computer quiz games, especially when only one person can play. Trivial Pursuit is fun, 'cos you always have a great argument over each answer, but you can't argue with a computer, it just sits there and flickers.

Crash

Presentation 60%

Graphics 40%

Playability 65%

Addictive Qualities 50%

Overall 59%

Kati Hamza 74%

Nick Roberts 34%

Producer: Top Ten Retail Price: £5.99 Author: Steven Howlett For those who feel they have the brain-power but lack the necessary co-ordination to play top class snooker, Top Ten have devised a snooker game with a difference: green baize has been forsaken in favour of grey matter as the player pits his wits against the computer in a trivia version of the popular game. The screen pictures seven balls (four red, three coloured) lined up before the corner pocket of a snooker table. The computer invites you to answer general knowledge questions corresponding in value to the red and coloured snooker balls. Play kicks off with a red ball question, whereupon the player selects one of four answers lettered A to D. The answer must be given within a given time limit, indicated by a rapidly diminishing bar. If he gets it right the computer pots the ball and the player moves on to a colour of his choice; yellow, blue and black questions ascend in order of difficulty and are worth two, five and seven points respectively. Red and coloured balls are played alternately until 16 red balls have been potted or two questions have been answered incorrectly. As points are accumulated, a status strip at the top of the screen indicates the player's general knowledge rating from good (average) to genius (unbeatable). COMMENTS Joysticks: Cursor, Sinclair Graphics: more functional than impressive Sound: very limited (although not really needed in games of this type) Options: definable answer keys