Producer: Argus Press Software
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £
Language: Machine code
Author: P. Rawling & R. Harris

American Football has recently become a popular British TV sport for those with the patience to understand its tactical complexities and an access to Channel 4 Television. Chris 'Tipster' Passey turns from the gee gees to take a look at the armour-plated behemoths of the American football pitch....

'A General stands at the head of a battle, he looks deep into the mist. He asks himself questions as to the tactical advantages of various offenses. Should he bring the artillery up, or the cavalry, or maybe they should attempt a full-blooded, bayonets-fixed charge. The mist begins to clear. Standing on his 20 yard line he observes the field. He decides upon the Blitz in a last desperate attempt to halt the opposition....'

This battle is fought upon a football field, the battle is a game American Football. I'm not an expert on the subject (to the north of Ludlow we lack Channel 4), but after scanning through the supplied documentation I soon became proficient in the use of words like quarter back, bombing, blitzing, huddle and interference blocking. American Football is a hugely strategic game in which every move has to be decided upon. The choosing of the pre-set options of various offenses or defences was reasonable but I felt that I was just choosing names. After playing a while I found myself using manoeuvers for different positions with more competence.

The game is shown graphically on the screen using tiny little characters. This is not very exciting but it is better than nothing. Besides, this is a strategic game and not a shoot em up. Mind you, I do keep stressing that strategy type games would get a massive boost if they boasted graphics to match their other virtues; so if you are after raw excitement, then stick to zapping nasties; but if you want to exercise the cranial muscles then this is worth a try. Playing the game is quite easy, it's understanding what effects your strategies will have that is the difficult task. The sixteen or so strategical options are all entered by using the first two letters, so to bomb will be BO, and blitz will be BL. Each player takes a turn, and in a two-handed game it is better not to watch a player entering the codes, as this is called cheating!

The accompanying book provides an excellent introduction to the game and for complete beginners like myself this is a great help. I found the game to be mildly addictive, which rather surprised me as I usually find such games a little yawn-inducing to say the least. And as well as enjoying American football it taught me a lot about the real thing, so that now I can't wait to watch it when we finally receive C4.

Generally I felt it would have been even better if it had great graphics; and in real life the teams can decide things on the spur of the moment by looking at the opposition's movement and position. Here it is all pre-set and you wait for an outcome which is then enacted on screen. This does tend to impair the atmosphere - perhaps cheerleaders would have helped this, but the game is still an enjoyable strategic exercise.

COMMENTS

Control keys: various inputs
Keyboard play: all prompted on screen, reasonably responsive
Use of colour: average but perfectly adequate for the purpose
Sound: not much
Skill levels: depends on opponent
Special features: excellent handbook, single player v the computer or two handed games possible

HOW TO MAKE A TOUCHDOWN

Memory: 48K
Price: £9.99

Fourth down and three. Will you run or pass?

If that means little to you then you are clearly no fan of American Football. Recent television coverage of the sport has aroused an interest in Britain, and Argus Software has responded by releasing a simulation, American Football.

The game is a strategy version, in which you as the team coach select your style of attack or defence from a menu, and the computer, or another player, selects a response. The results are displayed on the screen with animated graphics rather in the style of Football Manager, with small figures moving into various positions and working through the selected plays.

American Football lends itself well to computer simulation, as the real game is played as a series of tactical set pieces where the object is to gain as many yards from a single play as possible, before scoring a touchdown by taking the ball across the opponents' goal line. Since the game proceeds in fits and starts, the computer version does not lose so much realism as comparable versions of Soccer or Basketball.

Those who are not familiar with the sport are nevertheless unlikely to be enthusiastic about the game, as it only really becomes fun if you allow your imagination to visualise what is being simulated.

For those who do know something of the game, the program is much more fun, and can be heartily recommended.

MACHINE: Spectrum
SUPPLIER: Argus Press Software
PRICE: £9.99

24! 32! 48! Hut! Hut Hut! Incredible isn't it - people actually talk like that!

If you are a fan of that bone-crunching spectacle Americans call football which draws massive audiences to Channel 4 at teatime on Sundays, you're going to love this computerised version.

Argus Software has come up with the first really worthwhile version of the game that has become increasingly popular in the UK over the past three years.

You can either take on the computer or play a human opponent in this game of strategy and muscle. Strategy is the right word here as you have mastermind your team's march to victory by utilising various tactics presented to you by the program.

The instructions - on screen and in the comprehensive instruction manual - list a series of "plays" you can use when on the offence or when defending. You key these "plays" by using simple two key instructions - and the computer works out the outcome.

The attacking team aims to score a touchdown by utilising the various plays and strategies available, while the defending team aims to stop them.

The computer acts as the referee and throws in penalties from time to time in a somewhat arbitary manner. This is one of the annoying features of an otherwise well executed program. Just like the real live players, you get really annoyed when a penalty decision comes up!

At half time and at the end of the game you get a statistics readout - how many yards your quarterback ran in the game, how many interceptions were made and so on. The program allows you to get a print-out of the result and the stat-sheet. Another nice touch.

The game comes with an informative booklet - well worth the money on its own as it actually helps you understand what you see on telly too! Ken Thomas, editor of Touchdown magazine, the official NFL publication in this country, has written an interesting, easy-to-understand guide to the game and a list of all the jargon used. Great stuff - and even a five-foot weakling can play it without fear of terminal damage! A Commodore 64 version should be available soon.

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K
CONTROL: Keys
FROM: Argus Press, £9.99

'Left 81... left 81... hup, hup, hup,' the quarterback shouts over the roar of the crowd. As the ball is snapped, there is the thud of flesh hitting leather and metal, and the crescendo of noise rises to new heights while the ball spirals into the arms of a waiting receiver for a touchdown.

If you followed all that, you already know about American football and will love this game. Otherwise you will need the rulebook supplied and a fairly vivid imagination.

The game puts you in charge of any team you care to choose and you can play four quarters of action against the computer or a friend. Throughout the game you will he in defence or offence and in either case you have to decide what type of play your team should adopt.

When carrying the ball in offence you have 11 plays, four passing, four running and three kicking. There are only four defensive plays and so the emphasis is on the attacking team to out-guess the defenders.

After making your choices the effect is displayed on the screen, with tiny players rushing around and the ball carrier flashing. Once the play is complete you are informed of the result and progress to the next down.

The basic concept is very simple and you just have to pick the right play to outwit your opponent. The program is run by two-letter inputs and can handle options for giving you time-outs and statistics during the match.

If you are not already familiar with the sport you will need to have a long read of the instructions. Don't be put off by the jargon because the game isn't that complicated to get the hang of.

Newcomers will be disappointed by the stickman players and the lack of bone-crunching sound effects but fans will love it and it's realistic enough to keep me playing for hours.

Indulge in legalized GBH in the comfort of your own home with this clever program from mind Games. And a mind game it is, with all the various plays, options and tactics. The 16-page booklet is essential reading, even for those familiar with the sport.

Despite this complexity, once in play the game becomes interesting and exciting as you will your running backs through those vital few yards.

PETER WALKER

Enjoyable even if you don't understand the sport. The graphics are good for this type of game and well animated, There's not much sound but that is not a drawback. There are quick responses to inputs and the action sequences are thrilling.

I was soon engrossed and found that I could easily pick up some of the tactics and understand what was going on and, after subsequent games, I had the play flowing well.

Football Manager has ruled the roost for ages as the best sports strategy game but this is far superior. If the theme appeals to you buy this game.

MARTYN SMITH

I'll have to be honest now and tell you that what I know about American football you could write quite easily on the back of a postage stamp. Fortunately, that didn't spoil my enjoyment of this game one little bit.

It is simple, colourful and, once you've read the extensive glossary, dead easy to play. That's not to say it isn't challenging - it is - but never the less even an idiot like myself can play it after only a few minutes with the help of the documentation. And it's a lot less risky than the real thing!

ROBERT PATRICK

Argus Press Software
Spectrum 48K
Sport Simulation
£9.99

American Football simulations have been around almost as long as Lunar Landers and Hammurabis. Essentially, this offering from Argus Press is simply a refinement of this hoary old classic with some nice touches and pretty graphics thrown in.

The instruction book contains the basic rules for American football, along with a phrase book to explain the essential slang of the game to the ignorant Limies. Then on to the game proper with an explanation of what to do. The game can be played against the computer or by two humans. The attacker selects a play in secret and then the defender enters his play. By comparing the two, and introducing a random element, the computer works out the results of the play, whilst you watch your best quarterback getting flattened on screen.

The tactics seem to be to try and run for the first few 'downs' to see if you can make the ten yards required, and only resort to a risky pass if things look desperate. Of course, this is exactly the tactic your opponent will be expecting, so you have to spice it up with the odd unexpected pass now and then.

The screen display is very helpful, showing the pitch itself, the score, time left, yards required and 'downs' to go. There is also a help screen in case you forget the two letter code for the particular play you want, of which there are 15. After the match, you get a whole bunch of statistics, which I'm told are analysed in even more excruciating detail than cricket averages. This game may well go down well Stateside, and it is probably going to remain the best version of this old classic, but for the true English man, it may soon lose its appeal.

CHRIS BOURNE TAKES A NOSTALGIC TRIP THROUGH THE BATTLE-STREWN FIELDS OF LAST YEAR'S STRATEGY GAMES

Before programmers discovered sprites, 3D graphics and continuous fire buttons, strategy games were regarded as a sort of ideal computer entertainment. That was partly based on the idea that computers were essentially souped-up calculators and partly because mainframe computers were very good at games like chess.

If you were into computers when the Spectrum was launched, you'll remember titles like Football Manager, and Flight Simulation being held up as examples of the finest programs around. These days it's more likely to be Alien 8, Shadowfire or Dun Darach, and their reputation depends in great part on graphics programming.

One of the reasons for that is financial. In their wisdom, retailers and distributors tend to see strategy games as having a narrow appeal. They are the classic sleepers which sell steadily but slowly. The trade wants the money now and lots of it. That means quick-selling arcade games, preferably with some spin-off celebrity theme attached, which hits number one in the charts in a couple of weeks and stiffs out a month later.

Many of the fine strategy/simulation games, produced in 1985, saw little exposure in the shops - certainly not in the big high street chains. That does not mean they were no good. In fact, there has been something of an upsurge in the quality of strategy games recently, and most spectacularly in the field of wargames.

Wargames have as long a tradition as any sort of computer entertainment. If you've ever read the hefty instruction books for classic wargames of the past - Avalon Hill's Afrika Korps you'll understand why. Those rules tended to read like a computer program with complicated look-up tables for cross-referencing dice throws, gridded maps and strict sequences of actions within a given turn of play. They also took hours to play.

The computer is supposed to take all the argument of table-top gaming out of wargames. It quickly does all the adding up, it doesn't cheat, and it can handle secret moves easily.

Unfortunately, most wargames never turn out like that. Graphics tend to be based on unrealistic grids, the rules appear over-simple, and the computer generally takes a vast amount of time to think about the moves.

One such game, which in other respects might have deserved success, was ATRAM. The name stands for Advanced Tactical Reconnaissance and Attack Mission, which turns out to be a NATO exercise in which the RAF and USAF battle it out using Harrier jump jets. The idea neatly sidesteps the obvious problems involved in trying to flog a game based on bombing the daylights out of Port Stanley.

The game is a computer-moderated boardgame with a glossy magnetic board and stylized pieces that you slide about as if you were a real NATO general. Unfortunately, the computer part is less fun. The only excuse for the program is to handle the boring bits like keeping track of how much fuel each jet has consumed.

The author is clearly fixated on jargon, which makes the rules almost unreadable, and all moves are keyed-in in a jumble of letters and numbers. It is so easy to make a mistake that you'll never be entirely sure whether you're playing the game properly. Headbangers and retired Harrier pilots only.

A much better two-player wargame is Confrontation from Lothlorien. Confrontation is a wargame system which allows you to design your own maps and, within reason, choose the composition of your armies. That allows you to play at a tactical or strategic level. The flavour is essentially modern, with armour and mechanised infantry supported by footsloggers, artillery and air units.

To go with the system, Lothlorien has also released a set of four scenarios ranging from a fictional WWII invasion of Kent to guerilla warfare in Afghanistan and Angola. We found the Egypt-Israel scenario most interesting in that the open terrain left units extremely vulnerable without air support. The organisation of such support requires capturing and defending a chain of airstrips in order to reach Tel Aviv or Suez depending on which way you're going.

Nevertheless, Confrontation is still slow. The same cannot be said of Overlords, another two-player game from Lothlorien. Loosely based on an old boardgame favourite, Campaign, it is played across a large area of fairly basic terrain. The concept is abstract, involving footsoldiers, generals, and the Overlord. The objective is to capture strongpoints - ownership of which generates one piece per turn. The fighting is equally abstract, based on the number and strength of the pieces in contact with the enemy.

Both players play simultaneously, and the game is so fast that you'll almost certainly need joysticks - preferably one each. The pieces whizz about the screen and that leads to a magnificent confusion as both players simultaneously attempt to outflank their opponent.

By and large, it is the epic battles of WWII which command the keenest attention from programmers. Battle for Midway is a strange hybrid from PSS, and incorporates arcade sequences. The Battle of Midway was a crucial turning point in the war against Japan, when the US sent a force to smash the invasion fleet.

The PSS game falls into two parts. First, locate the course of the three arms of the Japanese forces. Having done that you must send out strike forces from your aircraft carriers to bomb them.

When battle is joined you get the chance to zap the Japs using a joystick, which rather spoils the point of a supposedly realistic wargame. The author claims it simulates the fog of war, or some such nonsense.

We found the game easy to beat - it's good to see the computer taking an active part in a solo game for once, but the graphics are primitive and not very clear. A year ago we might have had more praise, but there are better games around.

Much better, in fact, and the star of the bunch is undoubtedly Arnhem from CCS. CCS, like Lothlorien, specialises in strategy games. For years CCS games were worthy rather than exciting, and almost always written in super-slow Basic. With Arnhem the company has finally struck gold.

The game follows the thrust of the Allied armies across the Rhine against fierce German opposition. The main idea was simple enough. The British were supposed to hurtle down country roads to Arnhem while American paratroopers were dropped on the bridges ahead to hold them for the main advance.

Of course it wasn't as simple as that, and neither is the game. There are a number of levels at which you can play, until you get to the full battle. A time limit is set, and if you don't capture the bridges quickly enough you lose. The German task is therefore to hold up the advance.

The graphics are pleasant, and information about each unit's strength can be obtained by positioning the cursor. One of the best features is the movement system. You can choose to move in open or close order - open order means you are far less vulnerable to attack but cannot take proper advantage of the roads. The game can be played by up to three players - with three, one player gets the Germans and the other two play British and American forces.

The feel of the game is tremendously realistic, with the onus placed on keeping the British moving down the roads. Arnhem is absolutely recommended and will hopefully encourage other software houses to pull their socks up and match the standard.

Less attractive, but equally fast, is Lothlorien's The Bulge - the German counter-attack on Antwerp and Hitler's last great offensive in Western Europe. It was always doomed to failure, what with narrow country lanes and terrain choked in snow. The computer plays so quickly and viciously that you'll be hard put to survive.

Although The Bulge scores over Arnhem for speed, the graphics are less clear and the strategy less easy to fathom. Lothlorien has opted for simultaneous movement, and one is frequently reduced to hurling forces willy-nilly into the fray without much regard for tactics.

A pleasing feature of both Arnhem and The Bulge is that you can issue general orders to units which they will continue to obey until you change them. That is a sensible and much more realistic alternative and saves having to move fifty pieces every turn, slowing the whole flow of play.

Moving away from wargames, another category of great antiquity in computer circles is what is known as the land-management game. An early example of the genre was Hamurabi which puts you in charge of an ancient kingdom. You are head of a population, and there is corn in the treasury.

The idea is to manage the economy - based entirely on corn - so that everybody gets enough to eat. There is enough corn to sow for next year with some in reserve in case of natural disaster.

Of course, the way the game is set up at the beginning, there is never enough, so you get to make decisions about how many people to starve to death for the greater good of the rest, and so on.

Such games are very easy to construct on computers, and if you want to write your own strategy game we suggest you try something along those lines. The secret is to construct a set of formulae governing the relationship between various factors - for example, how much food do people need? How many people are needed to sow an acre of land? How much corn?

There are very few business-type activities that cannot be simulated in that sort of way. Two famous games of this type are Football Manager from Addictive Games and Mugsy from Melbourne House, in which you play a gangster trying to run rackets with the aid of a none too loyal gang.

Sadly, Kevin Toms - Mr Football Manager himself - has not managed to follow that enormous success.

Addictive has brought out a number of games along similar lines in 1985, but none of them match the old classic.

Software Superstar casts you as a producer of games. You have to allocate time and money each month to releasing games, programming, advertising and the like. Nice touches include the decision to hype games or be honest about them, but the overall impression is dull, and we found it easy to get a hit program and reach the targets set.

Grand Prix Manager from the same outfit was equally tedious, with poor graphics to boot. Luckily CRL brought out the infinitely more entertaining Formula One - a Sinclair User classic - which we found totally compulsive.

Formula One is a full simulation of a grand prix season. Start off by hiring drivers and building cars - you have a million quid or so but it goes very fast. When the race starts choose your tyres and then watch the cars whizz past in convincing graphics. Messages inform you of the state of the track and incidents involving other cars, while a leader board keeps you in touch with the race positions.

Best of all, you can call pit stops for tyre changes, and the correct choice of timing may win or lose a race. The pit stop sequence is arcade based, and you have to manoeuvre a mechanic around the four wheels to complete it. Purists may have their doubts, but the speed of movement is linked to the amount of money you invested in the crew, and does not therefore make a mockery of the strategic element.

Formula One is a good game against the computer, but becomes really exciting when played with friends.

Almost as enthralling, although less well presented and rather more anarchic in play is The Biz, a simulation of the record industry from Virgin Games. You begin by choosing your social class - from stinking rich to unemployed - and then form a band. Hire a manager, go on the pub or college circuit and send endless demo tapes to bored record companies. If you have the money, you can cut your own discs, but beware - without the clout of the big boys behind you it may all go to nothing. The ultimate goal is, of course, to get a number one, but the road is full of pitfalls.

The game is full of subtle humour - you may reckon a dry ice machine is just right for your tacky rock band, but watch your credibility plummet. You may even get a chance to sample drugs during the game. Try it and see where it gets you.

On then to simulation proper, by which is meant those worthy and sometimes addictive attempts to portray accurately a real-life experience. The original impetus comes from the flight simulators used by airlines to train pilots, and for some time software houses only seemed to be interested in mimicking those.

They all look more or less the same, with an array of instruments on the lower half of the screen and a view of the horizon with occasional crude landmarks. Some are better than others for speed and ease of use, and the best are still Psion's antique classic, Flight Simulation and Digital integration's Fighter Pilot, which is rather more difficult but does allow for aerial dogfights.

DACC specialises in those features, and recently brought out 747 Flight Simulator. We've taken a bit of stick at Sinclair User for giving it the thumbs down, but I still maintain it's an unexciting production, mainly because the Jumbo jet isn't a patch on a light aircraft for aerobatics.

Real enthusiasts will probably enjoy it, it is certainly a worthy and apparently highly accurate program. If you're looking for entertainment, though, try elsewhere.

You might try looking at Southern Belle from Hewson. The program simulates the old Pullman service from London to Brighton, and you have to handle the great steam engine all the way.

Initial levels involve handling only one or two controls while the computer does the rest, but you work up to a full schedule with stops, signals, hazards on the track, brakes and handling gradients, to name a few.

It is a surprisingly fulfilling program, and the wire-frame graphics of recognisable landmarks along the track are well executed. You are marked at the end according to your accuracy on the schedule and how economically you conserved fuel.

Another unusual simulation is Juggernaut from CRL, in which you have to drive a container truck around town picking up cargoes. The screen shows an overhead view of the lorry and road, with traffic lights, status, steering and gears. The movement is slow and there are no other vehicles around - presumably you're driving in the middle of the night, council bye-laws notwithstanding. The irrepressible John Gilbert reckons the lorry looks like a Gillette GII razor. He's quite right, and although Juggernaut isn't a bad idea, the end result is rather dull.

Finally, a look at a few odds and ends which don't really fit any categories. One such Minder, a much-hyped trading game based on the famous television series.

You play Arthur Daley, the dodgy entrepreneur, and the idea is to buy and sell an incredible range of weird goods such as gold acupuncture needles while steering clear of the law in the form of mean inspector Chisholm.

You do that by seeking out dealers and wide boys, either at their warehouses or in the Winchester Club. Terry, as ever, gets to do the fetching and carrying, and can also be hired to mind you - an important function when dealers discover goods are stolen.

In essence the game is simply trading, with a large text interpreter enabling you to bargain with characters in authentic Daley cockney - it understands words like bent, or pony. Once you get into it there's rather more strategy involved. You have to organise Terry's time so goods get collected and delivered on schedule, while you need sufficient cash to pay for the next lot.

Minder is a pleasant romp and deserved to do better in the charts than it did, but would have benefited from a greater variety of incidents. Memory taken up with slang during the bargaining is fun at first but since it is really only window dressing it leaves you with the feeling that the game lacks depth.

Alien on the other hand, from Argus, has plenty of depth but is difficult to get into. It follows the tense cult movie in which a devastating alien invades a spaceship and proceeds to exterminate the crew.

The game uses menus to pick characters, objects and locations in the spaceship Nostromo, while plans of the decks indicate your position. The idea is to destroy the alien either in a straight fight - fat chance - or by escaping from the ship and blowing it up by remote control.

You only see the alien when you are in control of a character in the same room. The rest of the time you can hear it as doors and ventilation grilles slide open, or your scanner picks up the presence of a living creature nearby. That makes for tremendous tension in the play, and the one drawback is the simplicity of the graphics which works against the otherwise strong illusion of involvement. Fans of the film will enjoy it. Others may find it tough going.

We have made no mention of some of the plethora of spin-off titles in the sports arena which might come under the umbrella of simulations. Those are generally disappointing, especially in comparison with the arcade based sports games. Two, which play quite well, are Steve Davis' Snooker and American Football from Argus - which has the added virtue of not involving a famous personality. Nick Faldo's Open is a lovingly programmed simulation of the course at Sandwhich which suffers from one horrible flaw. The closer your ball is to the flag on the green, the more difficult it is to judge the angle at which you should strike it. In fact, the reverse should happen.

It is heartening to see arcade games taking on more elements of strategy in their play. Arcade-adventures such as Knight Lore or Gyron - if you can categorise those masterpieces at all - have as much to do with logical thought and planning as they do with swift reactions. That argues a growing maturity, both among games publishers and also in public taste, as computer owners look for more than a quick joystick fix from their hobby.