Cricket + Darts

ZX Computing

Documentation 4/5

Addictive Quality 3/5

Graphics 2.5/5

Programming Achievement 3/5

Lasting Appeal 3/5

Value 3/5

James Walsh

MEMORY REQUIRED: 48K Cricket from Cambridge Microcomputer Centre comes complete with a B side. Darts (computing really is getting like show biz!). Both games are BASIC, in language and in playing. The screen is set up with two wickets and 13 men on display. Each man takes up a single character square, hence the graphic definition is far from wonderful. Before each ball is bowled, the speed must be entered as slow, medium or fast. The ball is shown travelling towards the batsman and then away again. You may control the man nearest the ball to try and stop or catch it. This I found to be a lot harder than expected. A full scorecard and information board is continuously updated and available. Sound effects are existent but rather basic, and not surprisingly for the Spectrum, unrealistic. Unfortunately, there is little skill required on the part of the player and little incentive from a novel but rather unexciting game. Darts is very much a B side. You pick a target, the computer throws and hits randomly at that area. Hence no skill is required. No more need to be said about this or the game cassette as a whole.

Personal Computer News

Lasting Appeal 2/5

Playability 3/5

Use Of The Machine 2/5

Overall Value 3/5

Mike Gerrard 3/5

NAME: Cricket SYSTEM: Spectrum 48K PRICE: £4.95 PUBLISHER: Cambridge Microcomputer Centre [redacted] FORMAT: Cassette LANGUAGE: Basic OTHER VERSIONS: None OUTLETS: Mail order FIELDS OF GREEN Presumably aimed at those cricketing junkies who need an alternative to Match of the Day during the winter, here comes an attempt to computerise the game with graphics and sound. FIRST IMPRESSIONS Cricket comes with a free Darts program on the reverse. The cassette cover provides all the information you need to get started, with some further brief instructions at the start of the program. IN PLAY You first enter the names of the two teams, then toss by pressing ENTER to see who bats first. The only other instructions you really need are that the fielding side chooses the speed of the bowler's delivery by pressing F, M or S. Once the ball has been bowled and hit, the nearest fielder can be moved in the appropriate direction by using either key 0 or key 1. The game is limited to ten overs or ten wickets, and there is even a random rain feature to stop play. There are six balls per over with a change of ends in between and a look at the scoreboard, although you can in fact get this at any time by pressing T. The cassette describes the game as 'full colour' which is true, the colour being green. This being a Basic game the graphics are limited, the players behind the wickets look more like seagulls than crouching men, and the movements tend towards the jerky rather than the smooth. The main actions are the bowler running up to the wicket and the batsmen running, or walking, when declared out, towards the pavilion. The cassette also says that the sound effects include a realistic click as the bat strikes the ball, with clapping from the spectators for a boundary or a wicket. While you do get sounds resembling those, I'd hardly say the game explores even the limited capabilities of the Spectrum to the full. Having said all that, the game itself is quite fun to play, though it is rather hard to pick out the ball once the batsman has hit it, which resulted in lots of boundaries in my first practice game. If the nearest fielder does get to the ball, the result may be a catch, a run-out, or simply a score lower than four for the batsman. VERDICT For this reason, and the limited use of sound and graphics. I was disappointed in Cricket, although I can well imagine it appealing to people who prefer the simple nature of this to something more complicated and frantic.