Speed King 2

Crash

Overall (Mike Dunn) 9%

Overall (Dominic Handy) 37%

Dominic Handy 37%

Mike Dunn 9%

Run it again and again and again - there's nothing like a good race game. You can always beat that world record just once more, as DOMINIC HANDY and MIKE DUNN discover when they go into... Speed King II Mastertronic 42% Issue 36 MIKE: Take the corners, avoid the other riders, go as fast as possible, and you've cracked the game - not what one might describe as the best race game ever. Poor graphics and an almost total lack of playability make it worse than any other racing game I can think of. 09% DOMINIC: Along the same lines as Full Throttle, only everything's worse than in Micromega's classic original. Full Throttle is also at budget price, so I'd give this one a miss. 37%

MORE WHEELS THAN ISIAH! BMX Simulator Endurance Enduro Racer Glider Rider Knight Rider Miami Vice Milk Race Nightmare Rally Paperboy Pole Position Scalextric Speed King II Street Hawk Super Cycle TT Racer Turbo Esprit

Your Sinclair

Graphics 5/10

Playability 9/10

Value For Money 7/10

Addictiveness 6/10

Overall 7/10

Rick Robson 7/10

Mastertronic £1.99 Reviewer: Rick Robson Lean and hungry for victory? Mean and menacing zipped into skin tight leathers and helmet? Sounds like you - then you should be playing this game! 'Cos this is Speed King 2, the motor cycling simulation from Mastertronic. The game has one or two player facility and is keyboard compatible but swoons with delight at the touch of a joystick. Push it forward for faster, ease back for those tricky bends where you must lean to left or right. With one up you start last of twenty riders which gives you plenty of opportunity to blast your way through to become leader of the pack. Two up is real head to head stuff - just feel that adrenalin! The visors eye view on a split screen gives you a superb sense of suspense and speed. There are nine different courses ranging from Monza to Daytona, each with its own particular character. This game's built for speed! There's none of that nasty crashing or falling off which slows everything down. Okay, so the graphics aren't pretty (all the courses seem to be in deserts), and there are no sub-screens where you can assess your race status or predict the bends of the course but this game's great fun to play. Thrills and spills without the frills!

Read it at Your Sinclair Rock'n'Roll Years

ZX ComputingZX Computing Monster Hit

A HIGH CALIBRE MOTORCYCLE RACE SIMULATION FROM MASTERTRONIC. Mastertronic (MAD Games) £2.99 If you want to add a motorcycle simulation game to your software collection, look no further. Speed King if is an excellent package, crammed with options that for a budget price offers outstanding value for money. For starters there are nine tracks to choose from, ranging from Silverstone (the easiest) to Brands Hatch (the hardest). The race action itself has been pitched at just the right degree of difficulty. You start at the back of the grid with 19 other riders to overtake on your way to the finishing line. It's impossible to crash; hit another rider and your speed plummets to zero as it does when you career off the track. While lacking in realism this makes for a better game as there's nothing more annoying than being eliminated for a tiny mistake. The handling of the bike (there are keyboard, Interface 2 and Kempston options) is very responsive and unlike some motorcycle games does not require pinpoint accuracy on every turn; missing the optimum line or cornering too fast will just result in a rapid drop down the field. The number of laps can be varied from 1 to 9 and as well as the one player game there's also a two-player option with a split screen display. With such a range of options available, Speed King if will undoubtedly give hours of racing pleasure because if you find the track too simple you can go on to a harder one or alternatively cut down the number of laps. To keep track of your progress there is an after race display which gives your placing, best placing so far, your fastest lap and the current lap record. For the race game fanatic Speed King it can be highly recommended.

Crash

Use of Computer 48%

Graphics 45%

Playability 41%

Getting Started 56%

Addictive Qualities 36%

Value For Money 50%

Overall 42%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Mastertronic Retail Price: £1.99 Author: Derek Brewster You are a contestant in a motorbike race. The action is viewed from behind your bike, the track scrolling towards the player gives the impression that the bikes are actually moving. At the start of the race, four lights count downwards and then you're off. The bike is capable of travelling at up to 192 mph, although it isn't such a good idea to do this when you're travelling around particularly tight bends. The speed at which you are travelling, which lap you're on and your position in the race are all shown at the top of the main screen, so that you can keep an accurate check on your progress. The program includes a choice of track, each based on one of the world's famous racing circuits. The tracks involved are Donnington, Silverstone, San Marino, Anderstorp, Paul Picard, Jarama, Brands Hatch, Monza and Daytona The track you want to race around can be selected from the menu options at the beginning of the game. The player can ride from as little as one track right up to nine, if he/she is feeling particularly fit. There is a two player option so that you and a mate can compete against each other. In the two payer option there are just two competitors, yourself and your opponent. In this case, the screen splits into two halves so that the view from each racer is shown. If a player mis-judges a comer during the race, their bike comes off the track and slows right down to zero. The player loses valuable time when this happens and has to get back on the road and re-accelerate to top speed. If the player hits another bike, then once again their speed drops off and more time is lost. COMMENTS Control keys: Player One: Q lean left, W lean right, A accelerate, D decelerate. Player Two: O lean left, P lean right, L accelerate, . Decelerate Joystick: Kempston, Interface 2 Keyboard play: responsive Use of colour: minimal Graphics: dire Sound: rather like a very excited mosquito Skill levels: ten different tracks of varying difficulty Screens: scrolling play area

Right at the start, can you fight your way from the back of the field