Producer: US Gold
Retail Price: £8.99
Author: Epyx

This latest Epyx sports simulation gives players the chance to compete in six radical new games under the sweltering Californian sun.

In half-pipe skateboarding, the player performs as many stunts as possible. Points are awarded for the difficulty of stunts attempted, and the highest score wins. Three falls signals the start of the next event - the foot bag, or hackysack.

Here, the player keeps a small bean bag in the air by kicking it or bouncing it off head and shoulders. Each successful manoeuvre earns points, and a varied succession of kicks is even more fruitful. Again, the highest total wins.

Surfing appears next, and the surfer moves backwards and forwards along the face of the wave, keeping close to its 'curl' to gain maximum points. Points are also awarded for the speed and length of ride, and for the number of difficult manoeuvres accomplished. Four wipeouts signals a premature end to the contest.

Next, it's back on land for the rollerskating event, which takes place along a seafront sidewalk. The course is completed within the time limit, and points are earned for spins and jumps.

Three falls means disqualification and the start of the penultimate event, which sees the player perched on a BMX racing bike about to set off across a hazardous desert course. The winner finishes the course in the fastest time, with extra points being earned by performing stunts along the way. Two minor falls are allowed during the course, but one 'serious' mishap ends the event.

The final sport features the Flying Disk (or Frisbee), with three attempts in which to throw the circular disk to a waiting catcher. The throw is made by setting the speed and angle of trajectory and control moves to the catcher who is directed to grab the disk as it flies past. Points are awarded for the length of throw and the degree of athleticism accompanying the catch.

COMMENTS

Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: lacking in colour and detail
Sound: disappointingly sparse
Options: to play/practice one or all the events

California Games is a real disappointment. Whether or not it's because the Spectrum simply isn't up to a game of this complexity, or because the programmers have skimped on this version I'm not sure - but it certainly isn't up to the standard I'd expect. The graphics are poor on most, if not all the events, and playability is sadly lacking throughout. The final nail in the coffin is the high price tag. California Games is a major mistake - don't buy it.
MIKE [39%]

I thought the whole point of multiloads was that by sectioning the game up, more memory could be used on each event. Perhaps I'm wrong. It certainly doesn't seem to be the case with California Games. You have to waft for each event to load in - and when you get there it just doesn't seem to have been worth it. The graphics and gameplay seem to bear no connection with the supposedly high Epyx pedigree. Definitely not recommended.
BYM [41%]

California Games is a total waste of time and money. The graphics are dismal, the colour is pathetic and the sound - what sound? You have to load and reload all the events, and once completed you have to start all over again! The screen is so cluttered with stray attribute problems that it often looks as though the game has crashed! I'd steer well clear of this.
NICK [30%]

Kixx
£2.99 re-release

Enter the world of West Coast sports in California Games. All that sun, sea, sand and six of the best sporting events, all designed to set your pulse racing. Choose from skateboarding, foot bag, BMX bike racing, surfing, roller skating and flying disk: something for all tastes.

Each event is multi-loaded one at a time if you play through the whole game at once, but there's also an option to practice so you can continue playing as long as you like. Graphics are not as good as they could have been but this doesn't spoil the atmosphere.

Some of the control methods are a little complicated, on the skateboarding section especially. Combinations of keys have to be pressed to perform various stunts for points: a lengthy read of the instructions is essential if you're to avoid falling off at the first attempt. A good alternative to all those endless track and field sports simulations.

Epyx
£8.99
Reviewer: Duncan MacDonald

Crikey, its the game that Commodore owners (yeuch!) have been crowing about recently - California Games, a joystick waggling multiple-event affair. Last time I played a 'waggler' my joystick shaft suddenly went all wibbly and came off in my hand, but as the California Games menu screen finally popped into life can you guess what was missing?... a joystick option! Anyway, onto the six multiple-loading events, which can be played in any order you desire:

HALF-PIPE SKATEBOARDING: You have to ride your skateboard up and down the walls of a U-shaped ramp, performing as many stunts as you can in 75 seconds. There are three stunts; ariel-turn, hand-plant and kick turn, and believe me, they are HARD to master.

FOOTBAG: Keep a bean-bag in the air for 75 seconds by kicking with your left or right foot, or by heading it. Perform stunts (eg 180 degree turns) while the bag is in the air to get your points. Bit tricky this one, as the bean bag is about the same size as a pixel!

SURFING: This one's totally simple, but strangely enough I found it the most satisfying of the lot to play. Just turn your surfer left or right to keep him upright on the wave. Points are gained by flying off the crest of the wave and then successfully rejoining it (ie by not 'wiping out' or to coin a far hipper phrase, 'crashing into the water').

ROLLER SKATING: Pump the keys to gain speed and negotiate the hazards on the right to left scrolling sidewalk (or 'pavement' as one would say here in good old blighty). Points are scored for 360 degree spins.

BMX BIKE RACING: Again, a right to left scroller, but with bumps, humps and jumps. Points are scored for performing a variety of stunts while airborne, but be careful how you land, or you'll 'chew sand' (erm, that means crash, I think). And finally...

FLYING DISK: Pump the keys to throw the frisbee with the correct power and angle. Once it's been launched the control switches to the catcher. Score points for, well, for catching it basically. Similar to the javelin event in Daley Thompson's Decathalon although, luckily, you didn't have to CATCH that!!

Righto, summing up time. Well, the graphics are certainly big and chunky with reasonable animation and use of colour, but alas, the sound is kerrapp!!! (A couple of 'ping' noises, but that's it). The "challenge quotient" is average for a game of this genre, but is enhanced if competing against chums ('cos up to four bods can play, you see). All in all not a bad bundle of games, but I for one was expecting better. Dare I say it?... Yes I do: I think California Games (the Speccy conversion) was a little bit of a 'rush job'. Crikey!

BARGAIN BASEMENT

Once again RICH PELLEY leaps into the driving seat of a number 39 bus and zooms off to Cheap City...

Kixx
£2.99
Reviewer: Rich Pelley

Good Lord. Dunc spent an entire page reviewing this chestnut back in '87, and concluded with a rather ambivalent "Crikey" - which isn't really much help, so looks like I'd better tell you what happens. It's a multi-event affair, set in (surprise surprise) California - with all the 'radical' new sports to try your hand at.

And quite a selection there are too (you can practice them in any order you like, by the way) although unfortunately most of them are a bit crap.

The best is certainly the half-pipe skateboarding. You waggle back and forth gently to gain speed going up this spooky ramp thingy, and then jerk in various directions to do various assorted 'stunts'. It's quite hard, but great fun once you've got the 'hang' of it. Surfing is good too - just move left and right and into waves to 'air' (ie jump) - really satisfying. And that's about it as far as the good ones go. The footbag is okay (just move left and right to keep the little bean bag in the air) but the rest are pretty diabolical.

There's rollerskating (a slow waggler), BMXing (just a bit crap really) and 'The Flying Disk' (ie frisbee, but you're not allowed to say that because it's a TM). Utterly impossible. And there you go. Quite a selection - nice graphics all-round but it certainly suffers from only two or three events being any good. (And each event is multiload too. Bleeuurrgh.)

Label: Epyx
Author: In-house
Price: £8.99
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Jim Douglas

Oh for heaven's sake! Don't these Californians ever do any work? They seem to spend all flaming day down on the beach, 'hanging out' or whatever it is you are supposed to do whilst wearing a pair of shorts so loud they could jam the radio signals of nearby aircraft.

Take California Games, for example. No sign of checking out the old newsagent for any part-time vacancies here. Nope just lazing around in a variety of leisurewear, being moderately sporty and topping up their tans. And I must say, it's really rather good fun.

There are six pseudo-sporty events on the tape, most of which you won't have seen anywhere else, owing to their exclusively Californian bent (ooer) They are - in horrific multi-load one-event-at-a-time order - Half Pipe Skateboarding, Foot Bag, Surfing, Roller Skating, BMX Racing and Flying Disc.

On loading, a menu will ask you to plod through a fairly lengthy set of procedures where you can name each player (up to eight) and decide who is to sponsor each one. (Quite how this affects the game is beyond me, but I guess it's nice to know you have a meaty conglomerate on your side.) Then there's the joystick/keyboard options and other fiddly little bits that you have to endure in order to get on with the games.

First off, skateboarding is wonderful. You can pick up speed by pushing the joystick up and down, so you are eventually nearly running off the edge of the enormous concrete arc. The idea is to perform as many stunts as possible, in the 75 second time limit. There are around six stunts in all, and trying to string them together in the most time effective manner is quite exciting.

The graphics throughout the games are more workmanlike than 'pretty', but they're very effective and incredibly smooth.

The Foot Bag, or Hacky Sack for those in the know, is easily the most laughable event. Not because there's anything actually wrong with it. but because you manage to look so utterly stupid, contorting your legs into absurd positions in order to keep a tiny white dot (your hacky sack) in the air. It's just like keeping a football in the air, except you look more silly. Again, you're on a time limit.

Surfing is the most enjoyable event on the whole tape. You start at the top of a wave, and must surf down it, picking up speed, and then turn and glide up the wave before reaching the bottom of the screen. Just as you're about to reach the top, hit the fire button, jerk the stick right, and you'll take off. Completing perfect dives is tricky, though very rewarding. This is the most relaxing event and totally enjoyable.

Roller skating and BMX Racing are both a bit iffy. They're side-on, and involve picking up as much speed as possible whilst avoiding obstacles in the road. While roller skating, you appear to suddenly turn into a girl (just as well I'm confident about my sexual orientation, eh)? These sections really aren't very good. You can't really get up enough speed to make them exciting, and the limited acrobatics possible make both events a trifle dull.

The Flying Disc is actually the Frisbee. Epyx have managed to get a very good feel for the event, although visually it's not very exciting. You've got to set both the strength and the angle of your throw. This is done by trying to stop a wavering line on the correct position on a bar. It's actually quite tricky, as the wavering line shoots along, and you have to be very accurate in your timing as to where you're going to stop the thing if you're going to achieve anything other than a totally pathetic throw.

Once launched, you can follow the progress of the disc on a monitor at the top of the screen. The next stage is to catch the frisbee. You move another character left and right, and by judging when the frisbee is going to be at hand height, you should be able to intercept it. If you misjudge by a long way, it's hopeless. Only a short way out, and you can make a sprawling dive which may or may not be successful.

California Games is great value for money. Admittedly graphically speaking I've seen much better, and the multi-load aspect is a definite pain, but there's enough variety and it's programmed well enough to redeem much of this.

Spectrum 48/128 £8.99

SUMMER CHARLESTON

REVIEWED in the first issue of THE GAMES MACHINE, California Games was rated at 92% on the Commodore 64, and considered as one of the most impressive events games to date. We have no news of the Amstrad version, and those for Amiga and MSX owners, slated for October 1987, still have not materialised. The Spectrum version, however, has. The game consists of six events: Half Pipe Skateboarding, Foot Bag, Surfing, Roller Skating. BMX Bike Racing and Frisbee.