REVIEWS COURTESY OF ZXSR

The Games - Winter Edition
by Alick Morrall, Clive Paul, Flora Stoneman, John Mullins, Robert Moneagle
U.S. Gold Ltd
1988
Crash Issue 56, Sep 1988   page(s) 20,21

Loads of cold snowy fun with toastie feet.

Producer: Epyx/US Gold
Piste Costs: £8.99

Really odd, you're saying to yourself (aren't you?), to release a decidedly wintry game in the middle of summer. Have the marketing men got it wrong, I hear you ask? Well perhaps they got it late, but an American software house could be forgiven for their confusion - with our lousy weather, there's hardly much difference between summer and winter!

Epyx's original Winter Games was well-received, and even though Games: Winter Edition continues the same theme, it portrays a few new events plus the old ones in a different style.

Up to eight players can compete against each other in seven events, each competitor trying to win that elusive gold medal. Players can choose any of 17 nationalities and hear the appropriate national anthem played and see the country's flag unfurled if successful in an event - an addictive factor in itself. You can compete in all, some or just one event (useful it you're not a keen all-rounder like Nick Roberts). And any event can be practised.

First event is the luge - a sort of tin tray - where contestants hurtle down one of four icy toboggan tracks at terrifying speeds with only a thin body suit for protection! Speed is increased by keeping to the centre of the track, achieved by steering against the corners to stop outward drift.

Next is the stamina-testing cross country skiing, where careful timing, rather than mad joystick waggling, ensures fast progress. Race over either a 1km, 2km or 5km course.

Then it's on to the more delicate sport of figure skating. You can choose to skate to one of eight pieces of music. Points are scored by performing moves, selected from the eight available, in time to the music.

From art to danger and the ski jump, where the competitors fly off the end of a rather large ramp and try to land without breaking their legs! Another skiing event is the slalom where you weave in and out of flags as fast as your little skis will take you.

Then it's back on to the ice for some more skating but this time against the clock as you slide round a huge oval in the speed skating event.

Finally, the downhill skiing course is strewn with gates through which skiers pass while hurtling down the mountain ... aaarrgghhh!

The oval track speed skating in this version is definitely more playable than the equivalent event in Winter Games. But it's a pity the biathlon has been replaced by the less interesting cross country though, as the latter simply involves rhythmic joystick waggling. This simplicity is also present in several of the other events: the luge seems to hurtle down the track on its own, with the player just making fine adjustments to the steering - and it never crashes! Despite a general lack of comprehensive control, the seven events are still very playable and with a few friends gathered around the computer, you can have a great competition. Sports fans should lap it up.

PHIL [82%]

THE ESSENTIALS
Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: virtually all possible perspectives are used in various events: vanishing point 3-D, isometric and 2-D. PLUS a neatly presented front end
Sound: a superb variety of tunes for each nation and event
Options: definable keys. Up to eight players can participate in all, some or just one of the events. Extremely useful practice option


The seven events are all excellently presented and each one is as addictive as the last. The graphics are well-animated and the control method is similar to the real thing (very hard!). There is 128K music throughout the game with the different anthems and spot effects in each event it would have been nice to have a fun event like hot-dogging as well as the usual slalom and downhill, but even as it stands, Games: Winter Edition is great.
NICK [82%]


And talkinq of cream buns, yes guys, it's joystick mangling time again! Games: Winter Edition relies largely on your reflexes and coordinates - whether it's getting to grips with the tin tray-sized conveyance in the luge or mustering the sheer iron will needed to attempt the mind-boggling ski jump (yes, now you too can be Eddie Edwards and land downside-up). The practice mode is handy because I can assure you that much practice is needed to win as many gold medals as possible. The one-player mode is enjoyable, but at CRASH Towers we found it more fun in a gathering, competing against others adds a great deal to the atmosphere.
MARK [76%]

REVIEW BY: Phil King, Nick Roberts, Mark Caswell

Blurb: JOYSTICK MANGLING'S HERE AGAIN! In the ski jump, the end of the ramp occurs just after the dotted centreline changes: don't jump till the last possible moment. Also in the ski jump, try and keep your man perpendicular to the slope (perpenwhaticular? -ED) In the luge, try and memorise the track so that you can anticipate corners... and don't tell me you don't know what 'anticipate' means, Dom, I've seen you slavering at the thought of a cream bun.

Presentation83%
Graphics76%
Playability81%
Addictive Qualities79%
Overall80%
Summary: General Rating: Although the events involve simple control, together they make up a fun sports package which is especially playable with friends - the more the merrier!

Transcript by Chris Bourne

Your Sinclair Issue 34, Oct 1988   page(s) 90

US Gold
£8.99 cass/£12.99 disk
Reviewer: Ciaran Brennan

Isn't summer a joyous season? The flies buzzing idly around your lunchbox; the kiss of the breeze against your sweaty forehead; sunburn and foreign tourists. Kinda puts you in the summer mood. So what have I got to review? Ah, The Games - Winter Edition. Great eh?

The LUGE is first. You have a choice of four tracks, each varying in meander-ratio (tight bends to you) and wibbliness (honk). The graphics are quite good, lots of shaded icy overhangs and the like, but it falls down in playability.

Next is the CROSS COUNTRY, playing over either one, two or five kilometre tracks. The idea, believe it or not, is to beat the pacer to the finish by skiing across the scrolling landscape. The inertia effects are pretty good, however - it's actually harder to go up a hill than go down, and so the playability rates quite high. Addictiveness is good as well, because the pacers add a competition element unavailable in the other events.

Third is the FIGURE SKATING, this is the most complex. You skate around in your skirt (yes skirt) performing all manner of flamboyant and poetical moves to impress the judges. Brilliant animation and realistic spins and female movements (honk!).

The SKI JUMP is next. This section is probably the most difficult. Jumping is no hassle but it's the landing that's the chore. Quite addictive, fairly playable. Graphics are similar to Cross Country (not very good).

Next is SLALOM, a combination of lightning reflexes and anticipation. This part has you weaving between scrolling flags in another effort to beat that pacer. The angle is a rough 30 degrees isometric view and the scrolling is fast, the gameplay good. You fault if you touch the edge of the course. crash into a flag, or run out of time - whichever way, you end up as a meaty snowball. Graphically this part is okay, but on addictiveness it scores very highly.

Then there's SPEED SKATING which is the most taxing. The animation of the central characters is good and realistic but the gameplay is a little frustrating when you bite the ice for the fourteenth time in two seconds.

Lastly is DOWNHILL. Gameplay is fast and fierce but the graphics we a terminal let down: blocky posts and mountains suspended unrealistically in a chronically blue sky.

So in summary, the games don't stand up well on their own, but together fit quite nicely with only the dreaded multi load spoiling their consistency. Addictiveness and playability seems to be smeared thinly over the seven, but they're certainly atmospheric and sharpened with nice user-friendly effects.


REVIEW BY: Ciaran Brennan

Graphics7/10
Playability7/10
Value For Money7/10
Addictiveness7/10
Overall7/10
Summary: A varied compilation: good effects, varying gameplay - for sports addicts only.

Transcript by Chris Bourne

Sinclair User Issue 79, Oct 1988   page(s) 36

Label: US Gold
Author: Sentient Software
Price: £9.99
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Chris Jenkins

As usual, what you can expect from Games - The Winter Edition is a selection of joystick-waggling events, only this time in the snow and ice, rather than on the running-track. This means that the graphics have a lot of white in them.

So. having covered practically every other sporting event know to Man in earlier games, what's left to try out in The Winter Edition? We sent fearless sportsmen Ploppy and Plippy to see.

The Luge. Always good for a laugh ("You want the luge? You should have thought of that before you came out!"), this bobsleigh-like event has the best graphics of the lot. Speed along the track through a series of flip-screens, adjusting your position and rate of drift in order to steer the best course.

Cross Country. A bit too similar to the Biathlon in Winter Olympics, this involves you skiing up slopes and along the levels to the finishing flag. This is 8 test of co-ordination, with two contestants shown simultaneously in a split-screen effect. Backgrounds and characters here are pretty poor.

Figure Skating. With a choice of three pieces of background music, you select the spins and jumps you want to perform.

Once you move to the ice rink itself, you are marked on your artistic interpretation (how well the moves fit in with the music) and your technical excellence (how few times you fall on your bot).

Ski jump. Just what you'd expect. First a view of the slope, then a goggle-eye view as you try to keep your skis lined up, then the final plunge off the end of the slope and flight through the air (or landing spreadeagled in the slush if you don't hit the fire button at the right time).

Downhill. Pretty unexceptional; you push off from the top of the slope, then switch to an eyeball view of the gates coming between you. Steer left and right to get between them. Ho-hum.

Speed Skating. This is a bit more original; a top-down view of the race rink, with insets of the competing skaters. Get into the right rhythm and you'll speed along the track; get out of step, and bob's your monkhouse. you're on the floor in a hail of clippings.

Slalom. Quite good fun; ski diagonally down the course, avoiding the flags. Unless, of course, you want to turn into a giant snowball.

You can choose up to eight players, each with a name and country, and select which events to practise or play.

Before the games there's an opening ceremony, after each round there's a medal ceremony, and at the end there's a closing ceremony.

While these are quite well done, you won't really want to see them more than once.

There's plenty in Games - The Winter Edition, but none of it is done staggeringly well, and we've seen most of it in other titles. It's nice to see a new compilation for fans of sports simulations, but this isn't one of the best.


REVIEW BY: Chris Jenkins

Graphics59%
Sound44%
Playability59%
Lastability69%
Overall65%
Summary: Competent, but unremarkable, selection of snow sports sims.

Transcript by Chris Bourne

The Games Machine Issue 12, Nov 1988   page(s) 60

Spectrum 48/128 Cassette: £8.99, Diskette: £12.99

Everyone is in Sports Mode, what with the recent Olympics, another thrill-packed football season accelerating into Christmas and the lack of cricketing skills shown by the England team remaining a good talking point. Simulations are being released thick and fast and fans no longer need rely on TV programmes to feed their need - computer sport is here to stay.

The Games: Winter Edition has been converted by Sentient, and although it may stand in the shade of the excellent Gold Silver Bronze (which includes the impressive Winter Games) it features seven very impressive new events.

The first is the luge, with a madman on a tin tray presented in flick-screen fashion as you struggle with the lob of steering. Considerably slower, until practice makes perfect, is cross country skiing requiring some carefully measured joystick waggling. Figure skating may look prettier, until you fall flat on your ice, but is one of the toughest sports - requiring very careful timing. The ski jump is a welcome change, with a first person view of the track rushing upwards until you press fire to jump. Timing the jump, and landing, is the key to the event. Yet more skiing is contained in the slalom, a canted side-on view shows either two competing players, or a player and pacer - as in the cross-country and the next event - speed skating. Much like the cross-country this event requires very accurate, rhythmic, joystick waggling. Finally there's the first-person perspective downhill run, with gates whipping past at high speed.

Lacking the graphical refinement, and some of the gameplay, of Epyx's early Winter Games this is still an attractive silver medal contestant at least for disk owners. On cassette, the multi-load is tiresome, especially as the names of potential loads are not displayed as they run past. But like other Epyx titles a great opportunity for having friends around for some heated competition.


Blurb: COMMODORE 64/128 Overall: 75% TGM009

Overall71%
Transcript by Chris Bourne

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