The Good Software Guide

ZX Computing

BOOK OF REVIEWS Alongside the boom in microcomputers, the software on sale has naturally proliferated. It is impossible for us to keep up with the amount released each issue, although we do try. Software checklists, although useful, do tend to be merely lists. Helpful though is our sister magazine. Software Today, dedicated entirely to reviews of software for all types of domestic micro. Along these lines is the Good Software Guide from Fontana Paperbacks which is described as a "source of reliable expert, comprehensive and critical information". The intention is to include only the best of the available software, I would be interested to know what criteria they use when deciding on the 'best'. Nevertheless, over 300 programs are covered, divided into nine groups: adventure, arcade, collections, educational, novel, practical, strategy, traditional and utility and forty reviewers of a wide range of age and ability were used in the production of the book. Fontana plan to make this an annual publication and there will be three editions, the first of which is devoted to the Sinclair machines - ZX81, 16 and 48K Spectrum. A good idea when the results of a recent survey indicates that Sinclair has 55% of the home market. The 290 pages in the review issue still seemed too few compared to the amount on the market but for any keen games player, future historian or just for general interest it is well worth considering at £3.95 in the shops.