Countdown

Crash

Use of Computer 40%

Graphics 5%

Playability 34%

Getting Started 49%

Addictive Qualities 30%

Value For Money 29%

Overall 33%

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Producer: Macsen Retail Price: £8.95 Author: Armand Jammot Are you a whizz with words, nifty with numbers, a giddy gamester of the computer kind? Then perhaps this game is just up your street, especially if you're a fan of the Yorkshire TV version. A game for one or two people, Countdown (or Onwuontcd if you're an avid anagrammer) is a jumbly jaunt through vowels, consonants and knotty numbers. There are nine rounds in this game, the first three of which involve unravelling an anagram. The idea of these is to get the best word possible from a selection of nine letters. By pressing the C or V key a player can choose a consonant or a vowel, then there are 30 seconds - the Countdown - to make a word using some or all of the letters. A green bar along the bottom of the screen which gradually shrinks as time passes, turning red when it nears the end. Below the anagram, the computer gives variations so that alternative combinations of the letters are revealed. Mistakes may be deleted up to the last moment, and words entered are checked against the computer's own dictionary. Should the word entered not be in the dictionary, it must be verified by 'The Guardian of the Dictionary' - someone who has been appointed by the player or players to check the accuracy of words. The word can then be accepted or rejected simply by pressing the Y or N key. If the computer can make up a longer word, it is given at the bottom of the screen at the end of the game. The cumulative score is indicated in the left-hand corner of the screen. Having won the word games, it's time to test numerical skills in the Numbers round. The player chooses six numbers from four rows, the first of which contains numbers between 25 and 100 of which up to four may be chosen, or none at all. Rows two, three and four contain numbers of a value less than 10. Having chosen these, six numbers are displayed in a row of boxes at the top of the screen. Then it's time for Cecil to do his work - Cecil is the unseen spinner who produces a random number of up to three digits to the left of the screen. It is then your task, within the 30 seconds available, to obtain this number (or the nearest you can get) by adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing the six numbers at the top. Fortunately, you don't have to use all the numbers. When time is up, the player has to enter the calculations. If you can't get close enough, Cecil displays a perfect answer just to show you how easy it really was. Following this, there are three more word rounds followed by a numbers round. The climax of the game comes with the Countdown Conundrum in which there are 30 seconds to unscramble yet another anagram. So, pit your wits against the computer or take on a friend or is it drienf... or maybe enfrid... COMMENTS Control keys: whole keyboard Joystick: none needed Keyboard play: very slow input Use of colour: below average Graphics: hardly any at all Sound: some weak spot effects and a passable rendition of the theme tune Skill levels: one Screens: three: the anagram game; the numbers game and the Countdown Conundrum

Your Sinclair

Graphics 8/10

Playability 9/10

Value For Money 8/10

Addictiveness 9/10

Overall 8/10

Rick Robson 8/10

Macsen £8.95 Reviewer: Rick Robson Home computer adaptions of TV games are notoriously suspect - remember 3-2-1? Despite the micro's excellent televisual qualities, most TV games are not games at all but cult events based on the personality of the presenter, whether its Crowther, Wogan or Monkhouse (personality?) So, where does Richard Whiteley stand amongst the elite of Aspel, Andrews and Bowen? Who? I hear you ask. Good ol' Dickie - the first face on Channel 4 and the presenter of the first programme on Channel 4 - Countdown. Countdown - the programme pulls massive audiences considering it's on at 4.30pm. Countdown - the game is sure to do the same 'cos it's a lot of fun and a very good adaptation too. If you're already a Countdown groupie, all I can say is go out and buy it now! It's an exact repro that'll keep you happy over the weekend while you're waiting for your Monday fix. If you're not still go out and buy it 'cos it's a damn good play. It's basically a nine-round words and numbers quiz. In the six word rounds you're dealt nine letters (you choose how many vowels and consonants to get) from which you have to make the longest word possible. In the two number rounds you're asked to calculate a number randomly generated by CECIL, YTVs answer to ERNIE, from six numbers you've been given. The last round is a straight anagram. You can either play solo or against a single opponent and there's plenty of built-in tension as you've only got 30 seconds to complete a round. The ponderous clever-dickness of Scrabble squashed. All credit to Macsen. Not only has it accurately reproduced the original but it hasn't felt the need to glam it up. The only change it's made is an improvement - the computer works out the longest possible word from its dictionary memory bank thus disposing of Gyles Badbreath's lousy guesses and lousier jumpers. Of course, Macsen can't reproduce Whiteley (my guru) the cringeworthy punner nor his blushes at introducing Carol Vorderman as his Vital Statistician, nor Bill Tidy's cartoons. But it has produced not just a good replica but a good computer game.

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