Mountain Bike 500

Sinclair User

Graphics 77%

Sound 72%

Playability 83%

Lastability 79%

Overall 76%

Alan Dykes 76%

Matt Regan

Label: Codemasters Memory: 48K/128K Price: £3.99 Tape, N/A Disk Reviewer: Alan Dykes Yew take the high road and I'll take the low road, and I'll get to Stoneybridge before yew, and why? Because I've got a Muddy Fox mountain bike and you've only got a spazzy Chopper with broken gears. What ho! Unfortunately Mountain Bike Simulator gets off to a bad start, the graphics don't immediately impress and the gameplay seems far too simple. However we mustn't judge a book by it's cover and you'll find that once you've played Mountain Bike Sim for or fifteen minutes (and have mastered the riding technique) it can get reasonably addictive. Indeed this little Match Stick Man on his Kinder Surprise bicycle could easily become a cult character if he was properly marketed, I mean if Fido Dido can reach the limelight then why can't Match stick Mountain Bike Rider? The rider himself is a small but detailed sprite and all movements including acceleration and deceleration are smoothly and realistically animated. The 2D landscapes feature plain backgrounds underneath a prominent game logo, but unfortunately this logo can be a little distracting, as it always looks as though it's going to get in the way when Bikey does a big jump. The rough, tough race tracks are littered with gravel, long grass, awkward bumps and boulders, log piles and broken bridges. Each level is progressively more difficult and precise bicycle control is called for at all times. Obstacles are often hard to make out the first time you traverse a level because they may be hidden, however practice makes perfect and you'll soon be sailing through the various race tracks like a mountain goat with a rocket-powered jet pack attached to his bum. Sound is quite sparse throughout the game which is useful because desolate mountains are not usually noted for their abundance of Spectrum bleeps. If you crash while on the course there is a crunching metallic sound but it's not overly dramatic. Gameplay is where Mountain Bike is at it's best. Not only do you have quick response to controls with quick wheelies and jumps available and good brakes (essential), but whenever your rider falls off his mount the program puts him back in a sensible position rather than right in front of the obstacle again. This sounds so simple but think of the amount of games that are frustrating because they don't do this. Mountain Bike Simulator is devastatingly simple in concept and looks a bit daft at first but it's very easy to warm to this jolly little range rambler. The sprite (with a bit of imagination), is very lifelike and the hills are quite challenging. It's good to see Codemasters developing a game like this when it could just as easily have been yet another cluttered vertical or horizontally scrolling racing game with a few howitzers attached in a vain attempt at originality.

The earliest design for what we now call the bicycle has been attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, planned circa AD 1493, though the first modern, practical one wasn't made until 1861, when two Frenchmen named Michaux put one together in Paris. The largest ever bicycle was made in 1989 by an American (who else) named David Moore. Christened Frankencycle it's front wheel diameter measured ten feet! Mountain bikes also have their origin in the U.S.A. Now with alloy frames capable of withstanding massive pressure and up to 32 gears. Mountain Bikes are at the forefront of cycling style and technology.

Your Sinclair

Life Expectancy 63%

Instant Appeal 72%

Graphics 65%

Addictiveness 73%

Overall 67%

James Leach 67%

CodeMasters £2.99 cass Reviewer: James Leach In my day, BMX bikes were seriously trendy pieces of equipment (despite the fact they were pretty crap and you tended to fall off them a lot). But times change, and nowadays it's mountain bikes that everyone's riding (despite the fact that they cost about the same as a car and if you leave them out for more than 6 seconds they get nicked). Nevertheless CodeMasters, being the dedicated followers of fashion that they are, have come up with a rather cute Mountain Bike Simulator (just as we're getting in on the action by giving away one in a compo over on page 58). To be brutally honest it doesn't precisely replicate the actual feel of riding a bike over rough terrain, but that would be a tad difficult to do on a Speccy anyway. Instead, what you see is a side view of a small bod on a bike as he rides along. The ground scrolls from right to left and presents you with small bumps, large bumps, ditches to jump and big pools of oil (or acid or something). MIND THE MOGUL! You control the speed of the bike (ranging from slow to not quite so slow) and whether you want to jump or wheelie (or combine the two). What you don't control is the time limit. which is tight and brings a welcome feeling of urgency to the proceedings. This gets shorter as you progress up through the six levels, just as the obstacles get steeper and the jumps get longer. (In fact, you'll probably find you need to stay in high gear the whole time, and just hope that you to spot the ditches and ravines in time.) And guess what? I actually found Mountain Bike Simulator pretty playable. Blimey! What happened was I started to get annoyed because I was so crap at it, so I played it a bit more - and began to quite like it (sort of). It's not amazing or anything, and nothing much ever really happens, but it ain't too bad. The graphics and scrolling are certainly very smooth. Anyway, it'll certainly appeal to most owners of these so called 'mountain' bikes (who can play it after their real bikes have been nicked, hur hur).

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's just me being a clot on a mountain bike.

This causes considerable pain (so don't do it).

What a Flash Harry! I wish I could do wheelies like that! (Cross fingers he crashes when he goes over that wall!)

Read it at Your Sinclair Rock'n'Roll Years

Crash

Presentation 55%

Graphics 57%

Sound 50%

Playability 53%

Addictivity 55%

Overall 59%

Mark Caswell 73%

Nick Roberts 46%

It's that tough sport for people with big leg muscles, and now it's on your home computer! Cycling up and down hills, through rocky patches, over rivers - it's all in this simulation. But, as Nick Roberts discovers it's a rocky ride! Code Masters £2.99 Yes, it's all here - hills, valleys, ponds and tyre-burning leaps and landings. The question that springs to mind is... why? I've never really seen the point in making a game that's supposed to simulate a sport that relies on the wide open outdoors for its addictiveness. Perhaps it gives all the couch potatoes that sit at home all day long an insight into what they're missing! I wouldn't mind so much if Mountain Bike Simulator were a half-decent game. All Terrain Simulator from Codies simulated a similar sport but that game was great fun to play. OVER THE 'BARS The trouble with Mountain Bike Simulator is that you can get thrown off your bike for the slightest thing. I mean, riding at a steady speed through a clump of grass wouldn't usually send you flying over the handlebars would it? When you come to a stretch of water that you should be able to fly through, spraying muddy liquid everywhere, it seems to be solid! Very peculiar indeed! Perhaps someone got there first with a bag of quick-drying cement or a big lorry of hard-setting jelly? All the landscapes and the little rider on his bike are detailed enough and the eight-way scrolling's fine, but a spot of colour wouldn't have been much to ask, would it? Okay, so there's a colour change from level to level, but there's not enough to agitate my thrill sensors (who do you think you are - Tharg?! -Sub Ed). ARRRRGGGHH! The annoyance factor gets a massive boost when you fall off in the middle of a rough piece of land. Because the game only allows you to start biking once more on a straight, it scrolls the landscape slowly by until it finds one - with the timer going down all the way! Run out of time and it's game over (man). Not very fair at all, I'm sure you all agree! Oh yes, and something else (moan, whinge, complain): a password system wouldn't have gone amiss, either - y'know, one every three levels or so. It's a pain having only one life to play with because if you find yourself on level three and you run out of time, you have to start again from the beginning. It's all a bit dull playing through levels you know you can do easily with a bit of practice. Mountain biking has been computerised with much more success than this, but die-hard racers might be entertained by this simulation. NICK 46%

Aarrgh! Someone's stolen the bridge! It's rip-roaring non stop action in this epic sim for the Codies (Sarcastic caption courtesy of Nicholas G. Roberts).

Own up - who filled the river with cement? It's a triple somersault to pike! A perfect ten!

Yeee-har! I can fly! Silly cape and underpants worn over trousers not included!