Quickjoy Jet Fighter

Your Sinclair

Linda Barker

TIDINGS OF COMFORT AND JOYSTICKS As we've no doubt pointed out about 20 times already this issue, Christmas is almost upon us, so what better time to take a good long gander at the wonderful world of joysticks? After all, they make an ideal stocking filler! (Or so LINDA BARKER thinks anyway.) Not really knowing a massive amount about joysticks (it has to be said) I thought I'd check with a couple of my sources before embarking on this feature. What a waste of time - the only comprehensible (and non-indecent) answer I got went along the lines of "Um, er, um, they're those smelly things you light, aren't they?" Useless. Vowing to get a better class of source, I made my excuses and left. The research was all up to me. Ahem. So where are we? Well, what with it being Christmas (the 21st time we've mentioned it this issue) and everything, we thought you'd be wondering what to ask good old Santa for this year. Well, how about a joystick? They really do make rather lovely little presents - not too extortionately priced (usually), made of spiffy red and black plastic (almost always) and just a nice size to wrap up too! The only problem is there are so many to choose from. Decisions, decisions. I hate 'em (and I'm sure you do too), so being incredibly kind-hearted souls we thought we'd save you the trouble of traipsing round all the stores. Now there's no need to work yourself into a hair-tearing ninny because you can't decide what to get, because we've done all the deciding for you. All you have to do is settle down, get yourself comfy and read on. (Hurrah!). COMPETITION PRO 5000 BLACK (£14.95). COMPETITION PRO PHANTOM (£14.95). COMPETITION PRO GOAL (£14.95). COMPETITION PRO 5000 CLEAR (£15.95). COMPETITION PRO 5000 EXTRA, RED GLOW AND GREEN GLOW (£17.50) The Competition Pro 5000 is the one that we generally use in the office. It's a good medium sort of size and simple in design - a car gear lever-like shaft with a knob on the top, and two big fire buttons on the base, all finished in ubiquitous red and black. Some may think it looks a bit old-fashioned, but I like it - there's no fuss and pretension here. It's been around a while (eight years or so) and is still popular, probably because it's so durable (the shaft's steel-plated, you see). Seeing as it's the one that's almost always plugged into our office Speccy it's been the standard I've been judging the others by. All versions of the stick come with microswitches on the fire buttons and a two-year guarantee, no suckers though (so desktop work isn't too hot) but the more expensive ones get autofire and slow motion features. It's easy to get to grips with and a good shape to hold but (but! But!) one problem - the stick's too stiff for me and doesn't waggle enough. They loosen up with age apparently (and tend to be fairly unbreakable) so perhaps that's worth putting up with however. Of course, if you're bored of black and red (and if you're not now, you will be by the end of this feature) you can get the same basic design finished in different ways. The Phantom is a ghostly white ('startling', according to the packaging), with a black handle and fire buttons (very stylish), while the World Cup series comes in ten different colour combinations for different teams. We've got the England one (a white body with red buttons and stick) but more exciting is Brazil - green and yellow. Ideal for Kick Off II! What else? Well, the Clear is, as you might expect, clear (so you can see all the wires and nice little gold bits inside) while the 'Glow Style' Extras are a sort of transparent luminous acid green or pink. Nice and bright, but really worth the extra three quid!? (I think not.) QUICKJOY JETFIGHTER (£13.95) Shock horror - this one isn't red and black! No, no, Nanette, it's grey and red. Well, sort of greyey brown really - not that nice at all. And - oh no! - the handle's an even muckier grey/brown. (It's a bit of a visual nightmare really.) What else can I tell you about it? Well, the Jetfighter has a big ponderous base with suction pads, and a clicking hand-grip stick with two fire buttons perched on top. Everything you need is located at the top of the handle, which is a noisy one at that, This one looks just like part of an aeroplane, no doubt about it, but it's a lot more flash than function. Like many of these sticks, it has suckers which don't actually seem to stick to our lovely Melamine teak-look table too well (they obviously know a fake when they suck it). Too big and flash - not my favourite stick. LINDA'S PICK OF THE STICKS So there you have it. After much debate and deliberation in the office (and a fair amount of arguing) we've managed to narrow it down to the top three. (Or at least, I have.) Here we go... 1) POWERPLAY CRUISER (in black) A nice shape, well-built, a good price and oh-so-sexy in black. A bit of a winner all-round really. 2) KONIX NAVIGATOR Quite well-built, small and futuristic-looking, and ideal for when you haven't a table to lean on (or don't want to anyway). Quite expensive for what it is though. 3) = COMPO PRO 5000 Super-sturdy and quite accurate - worth the high(ish) price. 3) = CHEETAH 125+ Accurate and comfortable, if a bit cheap looking in the plastic casing stakes. Very good value though. Now all you need to do is a) ring the one you want, b) leave this issue innocently lying around the house (open at these pages of course) and c) hope that someone with a bit of money takes the hint! Merry Christmas, everybody!

Clockwise from top left: Quickjoy Junior, Quickjoy Jetfighter, Cheetah Exterminator and the Quickjoy Supercharger.

Clockwise from top left: Tac 50, Command Control, Blue Powerplay Cruiser and the Black Powerplay Cruiser.

Left: Cheetah Star Probe. Centre: Cheetah 125+. Right: Cheetah Mach 1.

Left: Competition Pro 5000 Clear. Centre: Competition Pro 5000 Red Glow. Right: Competition Pro 5000 Green Glow.

Left: Konix Speedking. Centre: Konix Megablaster. Right: Konix Navigator.

Powerplay Crystal Standard

Star Cursor - Professional Computer Joystick: Centre.

Crash

Response 2/5

Feel 2/5

Look 3/5

Overall 1/5

Mark Caswell 1/5

IT'S A STICK-UP Whatever happened to the days of all joysticks being a small base with a stick in the middle and a fire button that never worked? Today they look more like something from the control panel of an F-16 and get bigger and sillier all the while. Nick Roberts and Mark Caswell delve into the CRASH joystick bin to discover whether the joystick really is a gamesplayer's best friend... QUICKJOY III Spectravideo £10.95 MARK: I'm not fond of Quickshot joysticks. I owned a Quickshot II many moons ago and that busted within a couple of months. This looks a first glance just like it, but its trendy red body sets it out from the crowd. Again two buttons are present and each gives a solid click with each depression, though one problem is the uncomfortable hand grip. With a fairly long shaft the Quickjoy III works best on a table top, but with my shovel-sized hands I found holding the stick quite easy. A relatively cheap stick that should be given serious consideration. Pro 9000 Euromax £14.95 NICK: This joystick has a classic design that has been copied so many times. The rectangular based with its two fire buttons on the end is comfortable to use both on a table and in the hand. The handle is quite short and has a ball at the top. The two fire buttons are not too good though as they're not microswitched and this lets the stick down. Not bad. QUICKJOY JET FIGHTER Spectravideo £14.95 MARK: Sadly the Jet Fighter costs too much for what it delivers. At first glance the stick is so impressive with its moulded shaft and very solid looking base. But the major problem here is the length of the travel: you have to move the stick so far to get a response that quick movements are near impossible! Diagonals are as elusive, though the fire buttons again answer with a responsive click when pressed. Steer well clear of this one: to quote The Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy - it looks like a fish, it moves like a fish, but steers like a cow! QUICKJOY V - SUPERBOARD Spectravideo £19.95 MARK: It looks like this stick contains everything but the kitchen sink!! With six fire buttons (four on the base, two on the shaft), top or base fire button selector and a digital timer (what for, I've no idea) it's a big mutha! On the table is the only practical way to use the Superboard. Travel is fairly short and thus responsive. A tough stick that should up to punishment pretty well, but twenty quid is serious dosh. WICO COMMAND CONTROL Suncom £24.99 NICK: The Command Control has a classic joystick design - a sturdy base with a long stick coming from the centre and fire buttons on both the base and the top of the stick. Unfortunately the size and shape of the base make it very uncomfortable to hold in your hand. A good feature is the inclusion of three interchangeable grips that slide onto the stick to suit all gamesplayers. There are some bad faults though. The grips do not come far enough down the stick, thus leaving a gap at the bottom. This can easily pinch a chunk our of your hand while you're playing, making the baddy who's torturing you on screen seem more realistic! The top fire button is also annoying as it needs a hard push to make it work. SURESHOT COMMAND MODULE Sonmax £17.95 MARK: If you want to know what big means, you should see the Command Module! With two large microswitched buttons you don't need to move your hand far to fire that laser, though I'm not overly fond of the gaudy sticker on the base. Stick travel is short making the Command Module very responsive, and so are the microswitched fire buttons. I'd advise you to wear sunglasses when using this joystick (due to the sticker) but it's a good all rounder. TURBO PEDAL Euromax £24.95 NICK: You've got to be joking! This is so rubbish I couldn't stand using it for more than one game! You put your foot down on the pedal and all you hear is a bang - the sound of the plastic pedal against the plastic base. Eventually you do get some response from it (after a few more bangs). I found that my feet and legs began to ache soon after starting to use the Turbo Pedal, making playing a long racing game an agonising experience. A few suckers on the base wouldn't have gone amiss as the thing keeps sliding away from your foot! ZIPSTICK SUPER PRO Sonmax £13.95 Standard Autofire £14.95 MARK: I'm afraid I'm a bit biased towards this stick, I've owned one of these for four years or so and it's still going strong! The sleek black shape and trendy yellow fire buttons and collar look good, and the stick itself feels 'worn in' even when first used. Button pushes and stick movement are rewarded by solid clicks, and both pixel perfect and wild waggling movements are easily achieved. Check the Super Pro out for yourself, I reckon this and the Cruiser are the two best sticks around. THE ARCADE Euromax £17.95 Standard Turbo £19.95 NICK: With a triangular base, a fire button on the end and a short handle this joystick is very comfortable to use. Euromax claim it's been the best selling joystick for nine years. The turbo version of the stick comes with an autofire and a Pro 9000 type handle to support a fire button. The fire buttons are not too hot though. Using a single leaf switch they need a bit of prodding to get then to work. ULTIMATE RAPID FIRE Euromax £22.95 NICK: This is one BIG joystick! The Ultimate Rapid Fire is probably the closes you're going to get to an arcade stick with its large base and two fire buttons either side the short ball handle. A dial-a-speed rapid fire button sits on the top of the base and can be turned to vary the speed of fire or to turn it off. With this stick being the size it is you can easily rest it on your lap to pay a game but there are also suction cups on the base to secure it to a table top. This is definitely the best of the big sticks and a personal favourite. COMPETITION PRO Dynamics £14.95 MARK: The Competition Pro is another distinctive stick with its red shaft and fire button. The ball shaped handle is comfortable to hold, though table top use is hampered by the lack of suckered feet. The medium travel of the stick makes it responsive, but I find the use of leaf-switches in the fire buttons very silly. Overall a rugged, comfortable stick that should be considered. CRUISER Powerplay £12.99 MARK: Now here's my idea of a perfect stick: the comfortable rounded handle along with the sensibly placed microswitched fire button make this a definite winner. It comes in several colours: blue, black, clear and an eye warping multi-coloured best. All have the innovative "pull and twist" collar ring that adjusts the stick tension. Like the Super Pro the Cruiser's ruggedness is legendary - we CRASH louts have been abusing Cruiser sticks for years without complaint. Unreservedly recommended. QUICKJOY JUNIOR Spectravideo £5.95 MARK: This is a cheap stick, and unfortunately it shows. The fire buttons are placed sensibly enough on the base and under the index finger, but sadly a lot of bashing is needed to gain response. The stick is small so young hands will find it easy to hold, and table top players are well catered for with four strong suckers. With such a short 'stick', response is fairly good, I found diagonals easy to obtain and the Junior is almost silent when the stick is moved (no metal grinding on metal sounds here, matey!) At six quid the Quickjoy Junior is okay as a first buy, but I'd personally save my pennies. SINCLAIR STICK Amstrad Free With Speccy NICK: This is one of the easiest joysticks to break! I've lost count of how many I've destroyed over the years! It responds quite well, although you feel as if you're hitting against plastic all the time instead of a nice micro switch. The main problem is the shape of the base. The rectangular box design has rounded-off corners but can still be very painful if you lean on them. Supplied with all +2, +2A and +3 computers there can't be many people haven't seen one of these sticks. Not the best in the galaxy, but how can you complain when it's free? CHALLENGER REMOTE CONTROL Euromax £29.95 MARK: Let's face it, remote control sticks are a very expensive gimmicks that serve little purpose. Although this one works pretty well there seems to be a slight delay between you pressing the button and on-screen response. The stick is a rather natty grey colour with two fire buttons both on the shaft, though the handle isn't moulded and I found that prolonged use cramped my hand. There are plenty of cheaper 'normal' sticks on the market, and in my opinion the Challenger will only be bought by people interested in gimmicks. SPEEDKING Konix £9.99 Standard £10.99 Autofire NICK: The Speedking is one of the better joysticks when it come to the left/right waggle. You can get very high speeds on sports games using it. The only problem is that it creates a giant strain on the hands and arms. You can't use it vigorously for long, you have to take a break. For normal use the hand moulded stick sits comfortably in your left palm and the position of the fire button on the right is perfect. To my knowledge the Speedking is only available n a version for right handed players, cutting out a large segment of the joystick market. Overall a good stick but playing Daley's Olympic Challenge can be hell! WICO ERGOSTICK Suncom £18.99 NICK: This is a real winner with me. It's similar in size, shape and design to the Konix Speedking but has one important difference: instead of being made from hard plastic, the Ergostick has a rubber covering which makes it much easier on your hands. The rubber also stops the stick slipping and sliding about. The only problem is a knobbly bit on the end, it really begins to hurt after a long playing session! An excellent joystick I would recommend to all byte bandits out there! NAVIGATOR Konix £14.99 MARK: Beam me up Scotty! The Navigator is somewhat akin to a Star Trek phaser. Due to the handle, table top use is impossible (or at least improbable), and prolonged use can lead to hand cramping. The stick is physically very short (no more than an inch or so high) so people with big hands will find holding the handle very difficult. Response is fairly good due to the short travel, but I must say this is none of my least favourite sticks. Right, there you have it: the professionals' view of the joystick world. Choose your stick carefully - it can make or break your Speccy gaming fun!

A good looker but the long travel of the stick lets the Jetfighter down.