Producer: Silverbird
Out of Pocket: £1.99
Author: Andrew Rogers

After 720°, the trendy craze of skateboarding reappears in Firebird's Skateboard Kidz.

Pushing his foot against the ground to move, the skateboarder travels through a vertically scrolling, isometric 3-D cityscape. Jumping and negotiating ramps, you can collect the letters S, K, A, T and E. If all five are obtained, you're rewarded with a piece of a bronze, silver or gold skateboard.

In the 'old days' nice kids collected garbage for infirm old ladies, but things have changed. Next comes a street scene, where the kid collects garbage to hand into an old lady who gives him a bonus in return. We're not told what she does with the rubbish.

Cats and other enemies patrol the pavements ready to knock your kid down. If you get through the street intact, you can race against another kool dude, dodging various obstacles, in a bid to be the greatest Skateboard Kid in town.

Despite its gimmicky title, Skateboard Kidz turns out to be a competent little game with some decent 3-D graphics and plenty of sound (though the in after a while). Control of the skateboarder is very simple, but with so many obstacles around, progress certainly isn't easy.

Judging the right speed of approach to tackle the ramps is particularly tricky at first. Once you've mastered the jumping technique, however, collection of the letters does get easier. I still can't figure out why an old lady should want a bag of garbage, though. For two quid, Skateboard Kidz is a playable little game, although its lastability is doubtful.

PHIL [75%]

THE ESSENTIALS
Joysticks: Kempston, Cursor, Sinclair
Sound: three equally annoying in-game tunes plus digitised speech
Options: definable keys. Choice of three pieces of music

Skateboard Kidz is a fun game to keep you occupied for some time. The background graphics are quite effective though they're let down by the sloppy main character (he has a square head!) and the monochrome. The scrolling is smooth but does slow down when you change direction, though generally the animation isn't bad. The only almost unbearable feature is the sound; a grating tune accompanies the title screen and there's more droning all through the game. It would have been better if they'd just stuck to the sound effects. Skateboard Kidz will brighten up a rainy afternoon but I doubt it will have much lasting appeal.
NICK [60%]

BARGAIN BASEMENT

Make a mug of cocoa and stick yer tired feet on the coffee table ("Get them off" oo-er- mum), as Duncan MacDonald guides you through the spooky world of budget games.

Silverbird
£1.99
Reviewer: Duncan MacDonald

A budget version of Skate Crazy (except you're on a skateboard). Using one key to push, and another couple for left and right you have to roll about the course (upward scroller) avoiding the obstacles and jumping ramps. On the far side of each ramp is a letter which can be collected by clearing them in the air. First an 'S', then a 'K', you have to make up the word skateboard - then you're ready to proceed to the next level.

It's a monochrome bash, and the graphics are a fair size, but the layout looks untidy and the action is too slow and messy, There's music and sp(mmm)eech synthesis on the special 128K version, but that doesn't help when a game is un-enhanceable.

Label: Silverbird
Author: Andrew Rogers
Price: £1.99
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: Kempston/Sinclair
Reviewer: Steve Jarratt

Borrowing heavily from Skate or Die, Skateboard Kidz features a vertically scrolling urban course over which the kid in question attempts to steer his skateboard. Initially, he uses ramps to jump over the letters S, K, A, T and E which, if successfully accomplished, sees him awarded sections of silver, bronze and golden skateboards. Having survived this section, he then continues down the course, collecting litter. Finally, he races against a streetwise dude, dodging the various hazards.

Skateboard Kidz is terminally slow and far from exhilarating. Control of the 'kid' is quite smooth, but the collision detection around the jump ramps can be annoyingly inaccurate. Once you've seen the same course a couple of times, you'll start thinking what that kid can go and do with his skateboard...