Sports Pack

Crash

Dominic Handy

CHRISTMAS COLLECTIONS Dominic Handy reviews compilations. Whether you're still looking for last-minute presents or someone's cheque is burning a hole in your pocket, you're bound to find something to light your candle in the Christmas season's spate of compilations. They come from software houses large and small, specialised and general; they range from £4.99 to £14.95; they come in all shapes and sizes, from boxes a foot long to laminated video-size boxes down to the (now) ordinary double-cassette boxes (for which we still have no racks!). You may not have anywhere to put all these different sizes, but they sure look pretty on the retailer's shelf. But some small independent retailers have great problems with the big, bold packaging of compilations, and when space is tight they usually end up at the bottom of the pile. And some compilations aren't even available in independent shops this Christmas - not because of the packaging, but because they're distributed on limited exclusive deals with high-street multiples. For instance, Gremlin Graphics' Ten Great Games is currently only available from chains like WH Smith and Menzies. It's strange the indies are treated this way when they account for 75% of all software sales... Elite gives its old hits a new lease of life on the compilation label Hit Pak. The latest compilation is The Elite Collection, a strong two-cassette assembly of well-known Elite classics. They're all very playable, ranging from the very old Bombjack and innovative Frank Bruno's Boxing to recent successes such as Paperboy and Ghosts 'N Goblins. And on the second cassette is a previously unreleased Elite game, Battleships - yes, a Spectrum version of the pencil and-paper classic. But to buy it all at £14.95 you'd have to be a dedicated Elitist. Paxman Promotions, a subsidiary of the Prism Leisure Corporation, has released two 'theme' compilations - which Paul Sumner predicted in issue 45 would be the things of the future, after the success of Ocean's Game Set And Match. At £4.99 each Paxman's Thriller Pack and Sports Pack represent good value, but sadly the games aren't that attractive. The six loosely-related games on The Thriller Pack, all previously released, are more memorable for their hype than as actual games. And The Sports Pack is a poor man's Game Set And Match. US Gold's recent compilation Summer Gold is now partnered by Solid Gold - probably the house's greatest compilation yet! Every game is very playable, and the collection covers a wide range from flight simulators like Infiltrator and Ace Of Aces to the CRASH Smashes Winter Games and Gauntle. Sadly Leaderboard didn't hit it off with the Spectrum like the others did, but it still fits in the package well. Hewson is eschewing the more-is-better theory of many compilations and putting just four Smash hits on a tape entitled exactly that. Four Smash Hits includes two of this years top shoot-'em-ups - Exolon and Zynaps - as well as Ranarama and (like Beau Jolly's Five Star Games Vol. 3) Uridium Plus. It's available on +3 disk as well as cassette. Ocean's compilations always provide value for money. In October Game Set And Match sent Spectrum sportsmen crazy, in November the shoot-'em-up collection Live Ammo arrived and now Ocean looks set to have a happy Christmas and a VERY prosperous New Year with the final 1987 release, The Magnificent 7. And guess how many games are on it... eight! If you thought Ocean's previous compilations were hot stuff, wait till The Magnificent 7 melts the snow with Ocean's greatest hits - like the mind-blowing Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Head Over Heels, arcade adventures such as The Great Escape and Short Circuit, leaders in their class like the mindless Cobra, and bat and ball with Arkanoid. And the most interesting addition is Wizball. Reviewed in CRASH issue 45 just a few months ago, it gained a Smashing 92%, and here it is already on an action-packed compilation. Ocean is backing the +3 with a disk version of The Magnificent 7. Gremlin Graphics are the ones to call if you're looking for ten great games... and Gremlins Ten Great Games compilation gets the CRASH award for Hope-Raising Packaging Of The Month! The box measures 38cm x 20cm and looks tremendous, but it holds a measly two cassettes, There's a whole range of Gremlin goodies in those two tapes, though: the attractive Monty On The Run, the gun-toting West Bank and even the original Jack The Nipper. And for those of you who prefer playing with balls they've also included Bounder, Trailblazer, Footballer Of The Year and Krakout. At just a pound per game this little (or should that be massive?) package is great value for money - and it fills the stocking up! Beau Jolly is back on the compilation wagon, and the nouveau Beau Jolly is launching a two-pronged attack on the Christmas market with two collections and a £100,000 TV ad campaign for them. The fourth in the series of 10 Computer Hits includes the Marble Madness clone Spin Dizzy and the Gauntlet clone Dandy. But pick of the bunch is either Pyracurse or Contact Sam Cruise, both CRASH Smashes. And Though Five Star Games Vol. 3 has fewer games than 10 Computer Hits, its probably the better package, it's hard to choose between such greats as Strike Force Harrier, Tau Ceti, Firelord, Aliens, The Way Of The Exploding Fist and Uridium Plus (an improved version of the issue 35 Smash). CRASH Overall percentages and review issue numbers are given after each game. N/R denotes 'not reviewed'. THE ELITE COLLECTION Hit Pak Bombjack - 92% Issue 27 Bombjack II - 71% Issue 39 Frank Bruno's Boxing - 86% Issue 19 Commando - 94% Issue 24 Airwolf - 90% Issue 13 Battleships - N/R Paperboy - 88% Issue 33 Ghosts 'N Goblins - 95% Issue 30 £14.95 THE THRILLER PACK Paxman Promotions A View To A Kill - 76% Issue 18 Friday The 13th - 32% Issue 29 Code Name Mat II - 81% Issue 20 Pyramid - 83% Issue 2 Test Match Cricket - N/R Beaky And THe Egg Snatchers - 75% Issue 7 £4.99 10 GREAT GAMES Gremlin Graphics Avenger - 85% Issue 36 Future Knight - 76% Issue 36 Krakout - 46% Issue 40 Bounder - 90% Issue 29 Footballer Of The Year - 68% Issue 37 Trailblazer - 88% Issue 34 Highway Encounter - 95% Issue 20 Monty On The Run - 94% Issue 20 West Bank - 84% Issue 25 Jack The Nipper - 93% Issue 30 £9.95 THE MAGNIFICENT 7 Ocean Head Over Heels - 97% Issue 39 Cobra - 93% Issue 35 Short Circuit - 71% Issue 40 Frankie Goes To Hollywood - 94% Issue 19 Arkanoid - 59% Issue 39 Wizball - 92% Issue 42 The Great Escape - 96% Issue 35 Yie Ar Kung Fu - 92% Issue 25 cassette £9.95 THE SPORTS PACK Paxman Productions Snooker - N/R On The Oche - N/R World Cup Football - 71% Issue 7 Olympics - 45% Issue 5 St Andrew's Golf - N/R Derby Day - N/R £4.99 SOLID GOLD US Gold Gauntlet - 92% Issue 37 Ace of Aces - 62% Issue 38 Leaderboard - 80% Issue 39 Winter Games - 93% Issue 26 Infiltrator - 72% Issue 35 £9.99 FOUR SMASH HITS Hewson Exolon - 90% Issue 43 Zynaps - 91% Issue 42 Ranarama - 90% Issue 38 Uridium Plus - 90% Issue 35 cassette £9.95 +3 disk £14.95 10 COMPUTER HITS VOL. 4 Beau Jolly Bride Of Frankenstein - 59% Issue 43 Contact Sam Cruise - 93% Issue 36 Spindizzy - 93% Issue 29 Uchi Mata - 36% Issue 39 City Slicker - 65% Issue 35 Sacred Armour Of Antiriad - 89% Issue 35 Deactivators - 85% Issue 34 Starquake - 96% Issue 22 Pyracurse - 90% Issue 31 Pulsator - 66% Issue 42 Revolution - 91% Issue 33 Dandy - 84% Issue 35 £9.95 FIVE STAR HITS VOL. 3 Beau Jolly Uridium Plus - 90% Issue 35 Trapdoor - 88% Issue 33 Tau Ceti - 94% Issue 23 Firelord - 91% Issue 35 Aliens - 84% Issue 37 The Way Of The Exploding Fist - 92% Issue 21 Strike Force Harrier - 83% Issue 33 £9.95