Label: Codemasters
Memory: 48K/128K
Price: £3.99
Porgram By: Oliver Twins, James Wilson, Mark Baldock
Reviewer: Chris Jenkins

One thing you have to say for Codemasters, when they pick a theme for their Quattro packs they don't stick to it.

A pinball simulator, a fruit machine simulator, and just when you think you're beginning to detect a theme - a 3-D space war game and a car racing sim. I dunno, what a selection.

Still, for the very little money involved, you have to admit there's something here for everyone. I've always thought fruit machine simulators are the most pointless thing in the world - after all, if you can't lose all your money and claim it's fixed, where's the fun. Still, this one, which topped the budget charts for goodness knows how many weeks, has all the elements you could ask for; cash bank, multi-player mode, three reels, hold function, gamble, nudge and so on. Graphics are minimal, but what do you expect?

On to the pinball simulator. Here the flipper and ball movements are pretty realistic, though a little slow, and you get lots of realistic features like extra balls every 10,000 points, light-up features. knock-down targets, trap doors and so on.

A bit more ambitious is 3D Starfighter, a sort of distant relative of those ancient Star Trek games, or the venerable Codename MAT. Your mission is to clear the galaxy of enemy battlestars, choosing a sector to warp to, fighting your way through interstellar space then undergoing hazardous docking manoeuvres to refuel for the next mission. Pretty entertaining.

The best of the lot is Grand Prix Simulator 2, a bit of a Super Sprint rip-off. Three tiny cars - either computer or player controlled - skid around a number of courses seen in a top-down view. Any time you have remaining after a race is added to your limit for the next round, but crashes register on your damage meter, affecting your performance. This is great fun, and almost worth the dosh itself.

A peculiar combination, then, but if you fancy the two games sims you can't knock Quattro Arcade for VFM.

GARTH'S COMMENT:
Quatro certainly deserves some play - I particularly like pinball and the Pin Sim isn't bad!