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> The micro version of the arcade hit 720 has at last hit the screens of the humble Amstrad in case you've never seen it, the game is based on a skateboarder skating around a small town called Skate City.

Your feet never leave the skateboard except when you push forward, or fall off. The point of the game is to skate around Skate City visiting the four skateboard shops and the four skateboard parks. Each shop sells a different item ranging from helmets, shoes, skateboards and pads. When you go near a shop, an icon on the screen will flash alternately with the price that the shop is charging for it. If you want it, you simply skate into the shop. If you have enough money to pay for it, a "Sale" message will be shown on the screen. If you don't have enough, a "No Sale" message appears.

You accumulate your wealth in two ways. The first and easiest is by skating over the dollar bills which some careless Skate Citiers have left drifting around. The second method is to get a medal at one of four skateboard parks because a cash prize goes with it.

The four skateboard parks are: Downhill, Jump, Ramp and Slalom. At the Downhill park, you simply skate downhill. The better you do, the higher a medal you get from Bronze, Silver and Gold. The Jump park is a hazardous place where you must skate and jump over ledges. If you land on the red circle, you will get a better score. The Ramp park has a half pipe in which you skate up and down the sides doing tricks on the wall ledges. The Slalom park, as the name suggests, consists of flags which you must skate between.

Extra points can be gained from skating over hidden locations. And from doing tricks. You do this by jumping in the air and twisting the skateboard whilst airborne. The better the equipment you buy, the better the tricks you can do, the faster you can go, and the higher you can jump. If you take too long in getting to a skateboard park, killer bees will chase you. If you still carry, the bees will become more menacing and will take away one of three lives.

I liked this game, but not at first. The skateboard is easy to control and it is fun to do tricks. The Ramp park baffled me, but see how you get on. The colours are very drab, but the animation is fair. The movement is quick, and the gameplay difficult.

To start with the game seems terribly easy and you wander what there is to get excited about. Then, as you run out of park tickets, it gets extraordinarily difficult. This is disappointing and takes the edge off an otherwise enjoyable game. The challenge may keep you going and, once you've got extra equipment, it can be quite interesting.

Some objects become tricky to see.

13,000

Graphics 61%
P. Easy movement and good animation.
N. Drab colours

Sonics 29%
N. I didn't like the music.

Grab Factor 63%
P. Easy to get into.
N. Takes a while to find out what to do at the parks.

Staying Power 71%
P. So many different things to do.
N. Hard to get into a fifth park.

Overall 69%
Not a brilliant conversion but nice to play.