Producer: Digital Integration
Retail Price: £9.95
Author: Rod Swift

After a very long wait, TT Racer has finally arrived. DIGITAL INTEGRATION' S latest simulation puts you in the saddle of a Grand Prix bike. Riding in one of the four solo Grand Prix classes, the ultimate aim is to gain enough points to win the TT Championship. Sixteen riders compete in each race, and up to eight of them can be controlled by humans if the appropriate number of Spectrums are connected using the Interface 1 network.

Twelve circuits are included and four skill levels determine the strength of the opposition and how forgiving the game is when riding errors are made. It is possible to race on a specified track or you can embark on full a Grand Prix season, when the program automatically determines which tracks are used for the class of bike being ridden and sets the appropriate number of laps for each race. Rider information can be saved to tape, so a championship can be raced over several sessions. Practice allows you to get used to a circuit, improving your tap time to determine your starting position on the grid.

The track is viewed over the handlebars, which are shown in the bottom part of the screen. The clutch and brake levers move when used, and the racing dashboard contains a rev counter, temperature gauge and gear number indicator. The road racing dash includes mirrors, a speedometer, fuel gauge and tyre wear indicator - riders coming up from behind appear in your handlebar mirrors.

The main screen gives a view of the track, track side markers and riders in front. This view dips or bucks as the bike accelerates, and tilts as the bike goes round corners. The bike can be leaned to the left and right for cornering, while a dab of the clutch when the engine revs are at the right level changes gear up or down.

After every lap, the pitboard at the top of the screen is updated. This gives position, time from the driver ahead of you, and the one behind, laps, your best lap time and the course record. At the end of a lap, you can drive into the pits, and tyres may be changed, fuel added, or the gear ratios tinkered with.

The bikes controlled by the computer do their best to avoid a collision, and crashes tend to happen when you mess up cornering. The effect of a mistake largely depends on the skill level that has been set at the lowest level fatal crashes are rare. A minor error causes the border to flash and the bike to slow down a bit. If you come off, the engine must be stopped, the bike picked up, and started up again. A fatal crash ends the race for you...

COMMENTS

Control keys: open throttle 7, 0, P; brake 6, O, L; lean left 5, A, Z: lean right 8, S, X; clutch control SPACE
Joystick: Kempston, Cursor, Interface 2
Keyboard play: okay, but much better with a joystick
Use of colour: toggles between two colour track, or three colour track (with attribute problems)
Graphics: very much flight simulator style
Sound: not amazingly realistic
Skill levels: four
Screens: twelve scrolling tracks

Well, I thought this game was excellent. But then I'm a fan of flight simulators. And that's what this game reminds you of - it has the sort of complexity and detail normally associated with a flight aim. The adaptation of the tracks is very nice, with every slight wrinkle and turn nicely shown. My main criticism is that it's not tough enough. Even on the European level, if you hurtle into a corner, you'll just end up on the side of the track. It is usually faster to do this than brake and take the corner property. But apart from this it was great. All the avid biker could want from a simulation.

Despite my initial shock at the slightly weird screen display and the controls, I was fairly impressed at first although I don't think I could play TT Racer for more than a few goes. The graphics resemble those in a flight simulator, which makes the game hard to get used to and rather off-putting to begin with. The other bikes and the scenery are not at all detailed and there is a lot of colour clash - which you can turn off at the expense of the colour on the road. The sound is dire: there are no tunes and the effects used are poor. Generally, if you are really into simulators you may get on with this, but if not there are a few other motorbike racing games around, all of which I reckon are more playable and compelling.

This is much more than an arcade motorbike game - as you might expect from flight simulator experts DIGITAL INTEGRATION, this is a very accurate and thoroughly researched piece of programming. A fair bit of effort is required before you get to grips with the game - the mark of any competent simulation - and you may be put off at first. It's well worth persevering, however, and the scope for 'real' championships between friends with Interface 1's adds a whole new dimension to the TT Racer. Not a game for the casual arcadester, though...

Tommy Nash mounts his funky moped and takes it for a spin round DI's TT Racer. Now he wants to be the leader of the Pack...

Game: TT Racer
Publisher: Digital Integration
Price: £9.95
Keys: Open Throttle-7,0,P; Brake-6,0,L; Left-5,A,Z; Right-8,S,X; Change Gear and Use Clutch-Space
Joystick: Kempston, Interface II

Vrooom! Vroooom!!

"On yer bike," the Ed said. And I was just about to get my you-know-what into gear and go you-know-where when he gave me TT Racer. "That bike!" Oh!

Now the closest I've ever come to 500cc is a carton of orange juice, so I wasn't going to pass up the chance to race round the Nurburgring with a juggernaut between my knees. I'd soon polish off that Mr Sheene.

Right, rev up, release the clutch, whoa a wheelie... and we're off. Right off. Still, if this had been for real I'd have gone A over TT and ended up in hospital with more metal plates in me than a works canteen. But perhaps it was a little ambitious to start off with the big boys at Grand Prix level. Let's have a go on the 80cc phut-phut at club standard. And sure enough, within half an hour I'd won my first race. I don't know how because I still hadn't mastered the little things like gear changing but the Ed wasn't arguing when I sprayed champagne in his direction.

But that's the beauty of TT Racer, it provides enough options to keep you burnin' rubber till your Dunlops drop So, you can pootle off on a noddy bike with all the trappings like fuel indicator, speedo and wing mirrors - everything (barring the fluffy dice) that real racers have to dispense with to keep down wind resistance. You can even choose the automatic gear change - just don't let anyone see you 'cos that's for the real wimps! Then, once you've sussed out the technicalities of the throttle and the rev counter (no, it's not a device for adding up vicars), you can work your way up to the megamachines and win a place on the Grand Prix circuit.

The big test of any simulation, though, is just how realistic it is. It doesn't matter how many permutations of the original scenario it offers if none of them give you so much as an inkling of what it really feels like to be flying a plane, burning round Brands Hatch or becoming a Back Street Hero. TT Racer certainly convinced me. It convinced me that it's as close as I ever want to come to spreading myself like strawberry jam round the Silverstone circuit. Nothing can ever hope to capture the exhilaration and raw fear of trying to keep your tyres touching the tarmac while you're attempting to take a corner at 110 mph but this'll do for me.

And just take a look at how far over this baby tilts. If this was for real it's a wonder your ears don't catch fire in the friction. Swinging from side to side to take the S-bends on the Salzburgring can almost make you feel sea-sick. But you must master the corners if you're ever going to make it. You have to put yourself in a position to take the most direct line through them, brake, lean and then accelerate out again. One hint as well - don't use a sloppy joystick or you'll be wobbling all over the road and probably get done for being drunk in charge.

A couple of minor quibbles. The sense of speed doesn't seem to alter whether you're on an 80cc donkey or a 500cc mean machine. But then I'm still spending most of my time trying to stay on board and not really noticing the scenery as it whizzes past. And when you're racing against other bikes they all get out of your way when it comes to overtake - not as realistic as all that bobbing and weaving but a darn sight less dangerous.

If you're keen to take the chequered flag without getting spattered and only want your bike made by Yamaha not your organs as well, you'd be well advised to take the Ed's advice. On yer TT Racer!

Run it again and again and again - there's nothing like a good race game. You can always beat that world record just once more, as DOMINIC HANDY and MIKE DUNN discover when they go into...

TT Racer
Digital Integration

78% Issue 34

MIKE: A race game with all the complexity of a flight simulator? A daunting prospect, or at least I thought so! However, TTRacer has the content which is lacking in so many games of this genre, giving it addictivity if not immediate playability. For ten quid, some may expect rather more fun, but I'm fairly happy with it.
67%

DOMINIC: This has to be the most accurate biking simulation around today. When it first came out I wasn't too impressed, but after many, many more games the true simulation characteristics become apparent and the game more addictive. Most programmers would do well to look at the comprehensive options screen, as this makes the full price well worth paying. The best track-biking simulation on the Spectrum.
85%

THE COMPLETE YS GUIDE TO DRIVING GAMES

It's strange but true - normally courteous YS readers tend to turn into homicidal maniacs once they get behind the wheel of a Spectrum. We sent JONATHAN DAVIES, who still hasn't managed to get that wretched helmet off, to find out why.

It's an expensive business, driving. Not only do you have to hand out piles of dosh to actually get a car, but there are loads of 'hidden costs' thrown into the bargain' too. For a start, you've got to get it insured (in case you crash), which means serious sponds for your average Spectrum owner Then there's road tax, servicing, MOTs, petrol, all sorts of things. And, if you want to keep up with the latest fashions, you'll want to purchase a few 'extras' as well, ranging from simple '-TURBO-' stickers for the back window to alloys, buckets and twin cams. And they all mean spending lots and lots of money.

So wouldn't it be nice if you could get your Spectrum to sort of 'pretend' was a car, allowing you to zoom about to your heart's content for minimal outlay instead? Well, actually you can! Yes, all you need to do is buy a suitable driving game, load it up and you've got yourself a set of wheels.

It'll be almost exactly the same as driving a real car except that you can crash as much as you like without having to worry about your no-claims bonus. And you'll be able to choose from all the latest posh sports cars like Porsches, Ferraris and Lotuses and drive them as far and as fast as you like without having to splash out on a drop of petrol! (In fact, because driving games are so much cheaper and more practical than real cars, it is predicted that by the year 2012 the motorcar will have become obsolete, replaced by the driving game.) The only trouble with all this is that it's a bit hard to pick up birds with a 48K Spectrum.

JUST WHAT, EXACTLY, IS A DRIVING GAME?

Mmm, knew we'd have to get round to this sometime. Well, I've had a think and come up with the following spec...

- It's got to have either a car, a motorbike or a lorry in it.

- That means no bicycles, boats, jet-skis, tanks or anything like that.

- And no skateboards either. They're crap.

Seems simple enough. It means we're including Grand Prix-type games (where you just race against other cars) and shooting ones (where you zap them) but not similar-looking ones that don't have cars, bikes or lorries in (like boat ones). Okay? Phew. I never thought it would be quite so easy.

SO HOW ABOUT THINGS LIKE ARMY MOVES?

Oh cripes. Look, just shurrup. will you, whoever you are. No, Army Moves is out, I'm afraid. It's rubbish anyway.

So let's take a look at a few examples, eh? It's worth noting that, where driving games are concerned, the ratio of crap ones to good ones is a lot higher than with other types of game (apart from football games, of course). So you can't be too careful.

RATINGS

The YS Ratings System? You don't want that old thing. No sir, over here we have the brand-new top-of-the-range 1990 model. It's turbo-charged, fuel-injected, 16-valve, super-cooled and has a full X-pack (with droop snoot). And spots. You'll be doing yourself a favour.

DRIVE
It's no good having a driving game that seems to be simulating an FSO or something. You want real power, a feeling of being at one with the road and all that sort of thing. Control responses, speed etc are all taken into account here.

VISIBILITY
Assuming you remember to clean all the dead leaves and bird turds off the windscreen before you set out, what's the view like? A thinly-veiled graphics category, in other words, but jolly important all the same.

ROADHOLDING
It may seem to have everything, but once you've set off, and you've been on the road for a while, do you relish every second that you're behind the wheel? Or do you want to keep stopping at the services? Or perhaps you'd rather just take the bus instead, eh?

FIRST-OFF-AT-THE-LIGHTS FACTOR
A competitive edge is most important where driving's concerned, both in real life and on the Speccy. So do the other cars put up a decent fight, or do they just seem to be part of the scenery (if, indeed, there is any)?

TT RACER
Digital Integration

This one appeared ages ago, produced by a company that's better known for its flight sims (check out the last issue if you must). And, to tell the truth, it looks a lot more like a flight sim than a driving game. You're on a motorbike, racing against lots of other motorbikes, but rather than the usual view from behind the bike you get an over-the-handlebars job. This means that when you lean over round a corner the handlebars stay horizontal while the horizon tilts over, and when you pull a wheelie the horizon wobbles up and down. It's a bit hard to explain, but think of flight sims and you should get the general drift. This gives it a very realistic feel, which is helped by having lots of gears and dials to worry about. There are loads of other complexities, like an ability to connect lots of Spectrums together and get them to race against each other, not to mention hundreds of options to adjust various things.

Being a bit on the realistic side, TT Racer isn't the easiest of games to get to grips with though. You'll start off wobbling about all over the place, and may well end up doing it too. But if you do get the hang of it this is a top-notch bike game that makes up for in simulationiness what it lacks in playability.

Label: Digital Integration
Author: In house
Price: £19.95
Joystick: various
Memory: 48K/128K
Reviewer: Graham Taylor

There's realistic and there is realistic.

When it says it's 'unbelievably realistic' on the front of the TT Racer motorcycle simulation box (attributed to Suzuki TT champion Paul Lewis) this may (unintentionally I'm sure) be misleading.

TT Racer is a very close simulation of TT racing - the bike you control in the game handles just like the real thing. In that sense it is very realistic. It is not, however, particularly astounding visually which may be some people's impression from the quote. In truth I was disappointed by the display.

The Suzuki bike is accurately represented in terms of acceleration, cornering and other handling characteristics. You can race it in a variety of settings and tracks against other bikes - authentic techniques to weave your way to the front and beat the opposition on the corners will work and thus the game can be seen as an genuine test of riding skill.

Despite the accuracy of the simulation (you can even alter the engine size and gear ratios - to experiment with different kinds of response) you can control the bike using only joystick movements - combinations of forward and backward with Fire giving gear changes up and down.

On-screen you get a display of the track, peripheral objects like trees and the other bikes (if you can see them) and at the bottom of the screen is your bike console. A nice touch is the authentic way the gear and brake levers 'squeeze' according to your joystick movements.

The display of the track - as already mentioned - is marginally disappointing. Things don't seem really to have moved on from say, 3D Death Chase or any of the early car racing games. All the opposition bikes are the same colour (green) except for the usual attribute problems and excepr for when you 'see' the bike you have just passed in your mirror (when strangely it discovers colours it never knew it had - nice idea though).

Track scrolling is reasonably smooth but no better than other racing games of a year ago. Am I being too demanding to expect better?

Buy TT Racer because you want a simulation that's state of the art as far as attention to detail goes. If you're just after another racing game you might be disappointed.

CAN THIS BE REAL?

Fly an aircraft, race around the world's most dangerous Grand Prix circuits or take a steam locomotive from London to Brighton. Just as your Spectrum can take you into the depths of space to zap aliens so it can simulate most audio visual real-life events you can mention. This month SU straps itself into the world of Spectrum simulators. Here's our choices:

TT RACER
Label: Digital Integration
Price: £9.95
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: Various

Here's a real meaty motorbike simulation for addicts, which has more features than the budget Full Throttle but is more difficult to play.

Again, you ride a Grand Prix bike but there are 12 international circuits and 15 other riders with whom you must compete. Your machine has throttle, clutch, gear and brake features all of which need constant attention as you wheel around the bends of circuits such as Silverstone, Hockenheim and Anderstorp. Just as the bike performs to life-like standards the straights and bends of each course have been accurately plotted by the author.

You have a pit stop on each course where your crew can fiddle with your bikes hardware and power. The gear ratios, steering speed and tyre-type are among the bike features which you can change.

The opposition can be controlled by the computer or your friends, if they own a Spectrum and Interface One. The program will use the network facility of Interface One to allow you to control each bike on the circuit through several Spectrums.

TT Racer is by far the best of the bike racing games.

MACHINE: Spectrum
SUPPLIER: Digital Integration
PRICE: £9.95

Whoooooo! Move over Kenny, Barry, Kevin and even you Ron! Here I come on my TT Racer! Digital do it again with an amazingly accurate simulation of Grand Prix motorbike racing.

Digital do for bikes what they ye already done for jet fighters and super-helicopters, and put YOU in the hot seat.

TT Racer isn't your normal sit-in-front-of-the-computer-and-dodge race game. This is much more like the real thing. In fact it's a bit of an insult to call it a game really. But don't think it's terribly serious either. TT Racer is an entertaining and addictive bit of software.

Once you've got past the 'orrible Lenslok protection, you'll see a menu screen which looks as though it would be at home on the flight deck of Concorde. There're so many different options flashing away at you!

Still, what it all boils down to is that you can choose from four different sorts of bike, 12 different international race tracks, how long you want your race to be, or if you just want to practice and at what level you want to race at.

You can even save lap record tables or bike performance characteristics and the menu selection to enable you to resume a racing session at any time. More about that later.

At first you'll be tempted - and rightly - to get stuck in and race. This is a great way to learn the ropes and you'll soon discover that the controls are VERY sensitive. Your first outings will more often than not end up in the grass.

It's best to begin by riding one of the smaller bikes as there's so much instrumentation to worry about, and you can concentrate on simply staying on the track.

You can select an 80cc, 125cc, 250cc or 500cc machine. Each has different instruments and the bigger bikes even have wing mirrors so you can check what's coming up to overtake.

In practice mode you can tweak your machine so it is perfect for the particular track you've chosen to race on. You can adjust gear-ratios, select the right sort of tyres, adjust the steering and even add automatic gears if you want. Then using the useful save option from the menu, you can store all this away track by track so you've got the best machine for all the races. Again just like the real thing...

During a race you can make a pitstop to change tyres and refuel - only really necessary during Grand Prix events.

At the top of the main race screen you'll see a "pitboard" which transmits info about the lap times you are putting in, plus your position in the race and how many bikes are in front and behind you. There are 15 in each race.

On the bigger bikes you get a tyre indicator and a fuel gauge, plus all the normal instruments. You are looking out over the handlebars and, as well as your instruments and the track, you can see your clutch lever and brake lever which are animated.

When racing, cornering and slick gear changes are things to get right if you are going to be a real champ.

Another pretty neat feature of this program is the networking option which allows you to link up to eight Spectrums together and race against your friends! The computers monitor the action and compiles a stat sheet at the end of each event giving you lap records and race positions.

Only a couple of moans. I wish Digital wouldn't persist in putting Lensloks on their games. It's a real bind to have to cope with it EVERY time you load the game. And maybe some of the lesser machines could have been made a bit easier to control in order to make the "game learning curve" quicker for beginners, and perhaps give gamesters the option of playing an "ordinary" arcade style race.

GEORGE DU VALLE GOES FOR A SPIN ON DIGITAL Integration'S NEW MOTORCYCLE ARCADE/SIMULATION.

Digital Integration
£9.95

Was it worth the wait? That question flashed through everyone's head as they had their first look at a playable version of TT Racer, Digital Integration's newest simulation. Although every simulation addict will be familiar with the classic Tomahawk, TT Racer promised to be the first game from DI that could be played, and enjoyed, by anyone.

It took less than ten minutes to get an answer to that initial question, a resounding 'yes'. As the author, R.J. Smith, demonstrated the game, if became very apparent that the two years it had taken to write was well worth it.

Although called TT Racer, the game has very little to do with the actual Isle of Man TT races. In fact, the game is set completely in a Grand Prix environment, with the player being able to race any of the four full classes, 80cc, 125cc, 250cc and the blue riband event, the 500cc.

OPTIONS

Even before playing the game, the options give a clue to the incredible scope of this program. In total there are ten initial options, varying from entering your name to the number of additional bikes that will be in the race. Confused? Don't be, DI have managed to make it possible to network up to eight Spectrums together to enable racing. When used (and yes, I have seen it work), it allows you to see whoever is ahead or behind, and they can see you.

Although this is a fabulous option, and one that it would be ridiculous to ignore, especially if you have a few friends with Spectrums, the main game is impressive in its own right. In one load, the game gives you access to any of the 12 world championship tracks, including Silverstone. Then the choices set up your standard: are you a club racer who needs practice for five laps, or an experienced professional who is entering a full GP? The choice is yours.

As with many recently released games, TT Racer has a tie-in, in this case with Suzuki, the Japanese motorcycle producers. However, unlike many tie-ins, Suzuki played a major role in the production of this game. When I first saw the game, it was being played by a small Australian character, who looked totally captivated. It was later I found out that this was Suzuki's Number 1 GP rider, Paul Lewis, who was racing his real life partner, Niall MacKenzie.

What came as the biggest shock was how natural they seemed to be. I have no doubt that Daley Thompson would be hopeless at computer Decathlon, but lap after lap Paul managed to lower his times. Eventually managing to get his time four seconds faster an the author. Although at the Silverstone GP he unfortunately crashed on the first lap!

DECISIONS

Even when you have made all the initial options, you must then make a variety of vital decisions, such as tyres. Only then are you ready to start racing. Anyone who has ridden a motorcycle will be at a distinct advantage, even if it is only for a couple of minutes. Getting the knack of accelerating up to nearly 13,000 revs before dropping the clutch is something not many car drivers will ever experience! Having mastered wheelies, and managed to learn the one down, five up, motorcycle gearbox, the game starts in earnest.

Having played the game, I recommend practice on any track you intend to race on. To avoid anything except humiliation, it is necessary to know what kind of corner is coming. Without doubt the most realistic parts of TT Racer are the corners As with any flight simulator worth its salt, the whole screen leans, and if you are going too fast, you can almost feel the back end sliding away.

CRASH

Crashing too is very realistic, to the extent that, as the bike hits the deck, grass is sprayed onto your shattered fairing. Thankfully, however, you manage to avoid Barry Sheene-like broken legs. If, by some miracle, you manage to complete a lap your time is recorded for posterity, and if it is good enough, it is stored among a roll of heroes such as 'King' Kenny Roberts and 'Fast' Freddie Spencer. (Who? Ed.).

Overall, TT Racer is one of the most impressive games that I have seen on the Spectrum for a long, long time. Not only does it stretch the Speccy to its limits, but it manages to remain incredibly playable. For Digital Integration, it is the most arcade-esque game they have ever produced - and in my view the best.

Digital Integration
Simulation
£9.95

No bones about it, TT Racer is the most impressive Spectrum game I have seen for a long time. It is also the most playable simulation I have encountered. All that enthusing apart, Rod Swift, the programmer, can be very proud of the game, even if it took him more than a year to write.

Why the game is called TT Racer is something of a mystery, as it has nothing to do with the famous Isle of Man races. Do not let that deter you, motorcycle fan or not, as the game will keep any Spectrum owner glued to the keyboard.

Based round the Suzuki world championship team, and more specifically around its erstwhile number one, Paul Lewis, it lets anyone experience the thrills and spills of riding a 500cc - 250, 125, and 80cc - round any of the world's top racing tracks. Realism seems to be the order with TT Racer and each of the tracks seems to be exactly correct. Do not take my word for it - Lewis told me.

Using a split screen, with the bottom third being dedicated to a variety of necessary instrumentation-rev counter, gear indicator and the like - the top is left to display the 3D view of the other machines and the track. Of the many features which make this game so novel, the most interesting is the ability to network eight motorcycles together and have a race to the death, thereby stretching the idea of multi-player games to its absolute limit.

Using 3D graphics as the game does, some speed reduction, when compared to more usual vector graphics, had to be expected, but that does not affect the game adversely, particularly when hurtling into Abbey bend at 150 mph.

If you are debating which game to buy this month and are willing to put a little effort into getting the hang of the game, I can recommend 1T Racer wholeheartedly. It is surely a leading contender for game of the year.