Sinclair User


A Question Of Sport
By Encore
Spectrum 48K/128K/+2

 
Published in Sinclair User #102

A Question Of Sport

"Er, and... Ian, can you tell me WHO in the 1914 World Cup scored the equalizing goal for Uruguay?"" This is the stuff advanced technology was intended for.

If you're anything other than a sport trivia nut, Elite's three year-old conversion of the BBC TV show will send you round the twist. So - assuming that you're on the whole entertained by being asked who fell off the asymmetric bars during her final twist losing the World Championships for her country - what does a Question of Sport offer?

Well, it's a pretty competent quiz program. There are six sets (loads) of questions, all along the same TV show format. The only section missing is the "who's this, then?" stage; pictures of famous sportspeople's bottoms and ears. Mind you, if you've seen Steve Davis' bum once...

A Question Of Sport

Hosted on the computer as well as the telly by ever-jovial David Coleman. Q.O.S. comprises six rounds. Once you've selected your two team players from a motley crew of sporting stereotypes, it's on with the show. First up is the picture-board round. A set of twelve numbered pictures pop up and the appropriate team member is asked to plump (wrong show, surely - GS) for a for one. The numbered picture revolves revealing... an icon! Each icon represents a different sport.

David then proceeds to ask the question and your (rather short) time limit begins to tick away. Fail to answer in time, or give the wrong reply and the question goes to the opposition for a bonus point.

The Mystery personality round comprises evermore precise descriptions of sporting personalities and then a list of possibles.

A Question Of Sport

Home or Away is about as pure as sport trivia gets. Home questions are easier, but worth less points. Away are worth more but tougher.

What Happened Next is a bit of a farce. The whole point of the round on TV is that the contestants frankly haven't got a clue what happens next and make extravagant guesses. Technical restrictions have turned the video excerpt from the TV show into a description of events. Once the description has scrolled across the screen, a set of options are presented. Usually the most unlikely is the correct answer.

Following the Quick Fire round (as many questions as you can answer against the clock) it's time for another picture-board round and - before you know it; it's all over.

A Question Of Sport

There are six lots of questions you can load from tape, so it will take an age to play through the whole game.

Unlike some other trivia games, all the answers are displayed, and you have to make multiple choice selections. Thankfully this avoids the rather ludicrous situation of the machine asking if you answered correctly.

For the fiscal outlay, QOS is really rather good. Lots of opportunities to show off your knowledge (or lack of it). The menus are competently handled and the whole thing hangs together in a satisfactory, rather BBC sort of way.

Label: Encore Price: £2.99 Reviewer: Jim Douglas

Overall Summary

Good value (if slightly old) re-released sports trivia quiz.

Jim Douglas

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