Junior Pro Joystick

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Function Rating 9/10

Design Rating 9/10

JOYSTICKS - WHAT TO LOOK FOR When it comes to joysticks, value for money can be difficult to assess. Naturally, you want one that's human proof, flexible, accurate and not likely to fall apart - so, to help you in your search, C&VG did a test run to see what you can expect for your money. We found that the most expensive wasn't necessarily the best. Aside from working out how much you can afford, decide what you want in terms of design and size - if you have limited desk space, or even no desk space at all, you may need one of the mini versions that is either hand held or stays rooted to the spot by little black plastic feet attached to the base, to stop it slipping. You may also have figured that most joysticks come in zap-pow colours like red/black, but more variations on the colour theme keep appearing and, more importantly, there is an increasing abundance of touch-sensitive joysticks, like Cheetasoft's RAT. RAT, which stands for Remote Action Transmitter, is a nice little gadget that enables you to play games without all those awkward dangling wires getting in the way. The RAT comes in two parts - the stick itself with a touch sensitive control surface and the receiver interface which plugs into the back of your Spectrum or Commodore 64. The stick looks more like one of those gizmos you get to work your TV set with - except instead of buttons it has that touch sensitive pad for direction control and another pad for firing/jumping. The RAT is fully Kempston compatible and is available for the Spectrum and Commodore 64 at £29.95. Maidenhead-based company Wico do a selection of traditional-style joysticks priced between £15 and £45, made specially for the CBM 64, Atari and Vic 20. The best one, in my book, is also the cheapest, at £13. Light grey in colour, with a black gear lever and white fire button on top. The Boss looks rather like a vacuum cleaner. However,it will zoom you around arcade games at the speed of light and has decent finger grips for you to hang onto. Their strangest joystick is the £25 Three Way Deluxe which comes with three different grips. One is a puny oval shape, another resembles an outsize radish which is very difficult to hold and the third is very similar to The Boss. This last one, again with proper finger grips, is the only one I'd use if given the Three Way joystick as a present. All three are red on a black base and the two fire buttons can be found on the base and grip tops. The selector switch determines whether you use one fire button or both at once and each grip is easy to pull on or off, without being too loose. However, the price seems excessive unless you really are going to use all three grips - remember you could get an equally good joystick for £12 less. But, to be fair, the thin grip may be good for little kids whose hands can't manage the bigger models. This one didn't work as effectively as The Boss - or, for that matter, the Redball joystick. Despite its name, the latter is a grip-type rather than ball-type joystick and costs £23. Again, there are two fire buttons and a selector switch so you can choose which one you want. Although you have to wrestle a fair bit with this one, it is accurate. However, there is always the problem of gaming cramp - rather like writer's cramp. It certainly makes you limp-wristed - just as if you'd been trying to twist the top off a new jar of marmalade. So instead of giving your aching wrists a break and shaking them around periodically, you may care to raid the bank and fork out a whacking great £45 for Trackball. However, this one was the least reliable of all when tested, with absolutely no results at all. It didn't matter which way you span the ball - you got about as much action as Silent Night. This offering is visually quite plain, consisting of a white ball in a square box with a red top and one fire button. Kempston's joysticks inspired both love and loathing. Love was directed at their cute Junior Pro joystick which is red all over and very tiny - great if you have an untidy desk or limited space. It costs only £5.99, and works very well indeed. More attractive than most joysticks due to its miniature features, it's a smart, compact little number which will work on Vic 20, Atari, CBM 64 and Sinclair Spectrums. Like all the joysticks previously mentioned, it has little rubber feet on the underside of its base to stop it sliding around during use and one fire button can be found on the base. The company isn't kidding when it says this joystick has been designed to combine economy with high performance - the price is unbeatable and shows you don't have to shell out loads of bread in order to make sure you get a good product. Meanwhile, on the other side of the fence is the BBC Pro joystick, also from Kempston at £16.95. Its ugliness is its most interesting feature. Loaded with clashing colours, it looks like a big, square milky bar with two huge red fire buttons on the base, brown grip and black lead. Also for the BBC is Strike Control, a set of two joysticks from Consumer Electronics at £13.85. These can be hand held or left on a surface and, while they're quite dinky and attractive looking, the duo we tested didn't work at all well. Of the two blue and white boxes with black switches at the top, only one worked. If there were two of you playing a game, one of you would be right out of luck. However, the one that did work did an excellent job and can be recommended. From the same company come three more joysticks - Slik Stick, Starfighter and Joy Sensor, all for the Atari, Vic 20 and CBM 64. The first, although it sounds like a make-up pencil or cover-up stick, likes moving characters up or down but has an aversion to right or left. This is a shame, as it is a really smart number, black and orange with quite a sophisticated finish and one base fire button. This one can also be used on the TI-99/4A but you'll need adaptor model 11060 first. The £8 Starfighter gave much the same performance, with up or down movement but apparently no left or right. This one also looks quite good, in a mixture of black, silver and orange, but design-wise is not quite as smart as the Silk Stick. Last but not least, the Joy Sensor seems to have no sense of left or right, either. This £14.65 model is a touch sensitive joystick simulator resembling a calculator without any buttons. But you won't be in luck if you want to use these joysticks on the Commodore C16 - its joystick ports are different from those on the CBM 64 and Commodore expects you to purchase your joysticks from Commodore dealers only. MAKE: The Boss FUNCTION RATING: 9 DESIGN RATING: 6 DISTRIBUTOR: CGL, [redacted] MAKE: Three Way Deluxe FUNCTION RATING: 5 DESIGN RATING: 4 DISTRIBUTOR: CGL, [redacted] MAKE: Redball FUNCTION RATING: 7 DESIGN RATING: 7 DISTRIBUTOR: CGL, [redacted] MAKE: Trackball FUNCTION RATING: 2 DESIGN RATING: 3 DISTRIBUTOR: CGL, [redacted] MAKE: Junior Pro FUNCTION RATING: 9 DESIGN RATING: 9 DISTRIBUTOR: Kempston, [redacted] MAKE: BBC Pro FUNCTION RATING: 8 DESIGN RATING: 3 DISTRIBUTOR: Kempston, [redacted] MAKE: Slik Stick FUNCTION RATING: 5 DESIGN RATING: 8 DISTRIBUTOR: Kempston, [redacted] MAKE: Starfighter FUNCTION RATING: 5 DESIGN RATING: 7 DISTRIBUTOR: Kempston, [redacted] MAKE: Joy Sensor FUNCTION RATING: 5 DESIGN RATING: 5 DISTRIBUTOR: Kempston, [redacted] MAKE: The RAT FUNCTION RATING: 5 DESIGN RATING: 5 DISTRIBUTOR: Cheetahsoft

Above: Redball £23.00. Below: Three Way Deluxe £25.00 both from Wico.

BBC Pro Joystick £16.95 Kempston.

Joy Sensor from £14.65 Consumer Electronics.

Junior Pro Joystick from Kempston.

Strike Control from £13.85 Consumer Electronics.

The Boss £13.00 from Wico.

Your Spectrum

JUNIOR JOYSTICK Kempston Micro Electronics, the 'interface-anything' people, has designed a new style of joystick for the infant computer-user. Called the Junior Pro Joystick, it's moulded in bright red and has been released only after extensive market tests. With a pocket-money price tag of £5.99, Kempston believe it will be a firm favourite for Christmas. They're also doing a package deal of a Junior and a Kempston 5000 Pro Joystick for a total of £14.99. If you're in the market for a Junior or just feeling childish then pop along to your local computer shop or phone Kempston on [redacted].

Specially designed for younger user, Kempston's Junior Pro Joystick comes at the pocket-money price of £5.99.