Master Joystick

Sinclair User

Overall 65%

Graham Taylor 65%

ONE JOYSTICK'S THE SAME AS ANOTHER ISN'T IT? NO. WHY? BECAUSE GRAHAM TAYLOR SAYS THAT'S THE WAY IT IS! Well you just yank it don' you, I mean sometimes you stab it wiv your fumb as well but das about it reely. Is there such a thing as a cool joystick? What particular piece of plastic will most perfectly set off your Georgio Armani lime green California casuals. If Crockett and Tubbs bust aliens instead of cars what would be the piece of plastic for them? When it comes to joysticks there are as many opinions as there are frazzled aliens. Ain't nobody gonna be damn fool enough to pretend that it's possible to do some sort of definitive/objective analysis. So what we have here is a mixture of fact and faction. Actually reading between the lines will probably reveal some deep-seated and dodgy details about the reviewer. THE RATING SYSTEM KILL FACTOR: A general purpose term implying how responsive the joystick is to your slightest movement. Responsive equals alien deaths. DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS: Can the thing take the strain? Is it going to fall apart in five minutes if the going gets rough? LOOKS CAM KILL: Is it stylish? Is it easy to grip? If it were a car would it be Ferrari Daytona or a dumper truck? This section is almost totally biased. OVERALL COOL: The lot totalled up, fiddled with, adjusted and generally mutated to give a definitive overall impression of the total joystick concept. MASTER Chunky microswitched offering with two fire buttons and auto-fire. KILL FACTOR Microswitches mean the response time is good but the shaft is, well, limp. It sort of, er, flops from one side to the other. It seriously effected my scores on Lightforce. DEFENSIVE SHIELDS Sturdy enough. Big chunky base and large angular top. Intense yanking could not dislodge it. Should last a good long while. LOOKS CAN KILL Em, well. How to describe it? It's sort of a cross between the Star Trek space cruiser (the little thing that usually crashes) and the gear stick off a very old Lotus. I found the base-mounted fire button a strain and the shaft difficult to hold comfortably. OVERALL COOL Big and chunky. Unusual - you may like it. I didn't. PRICE: £11.95