Your Sinclair


Room Ten

Author: Phil South
Publisher: CRL
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Your Sinclair #12

Room Ten

After beating your gums out, not to mention the microswitches on your Ouickshot, on Tau Ceti, what better way to relax than a nice gentle game of glyding. Glyding? Where have you been? You mean to slouch there and tell me you've never been to the Galcorp Leisure Complex? Boy, do you need a break, flyboy. Okay, park your skimmer over there and join me in the glyding room in ten minutes. Room 10, that is.

I know it looks complicated but it's not. You stand on this side of the box, and I stand on the other side. That sticky ball on the wall by your bat is what were playing with, and all you do is repel it using your bat so it zings across the court at me. Like tennis, yeah, Fun, eh? Seems like a lot of fun? Sure.

Galloping from the same hay strewn stable as Tau Ceti and Academy, Room 10 is a horse of a different hue entirely. A first, in that it simultaneously takes games forward and back at the same time. Back to the old ping pong games you used to play on your telly in the late 70s, forward as in a 3D versions of the same. It's as true today as it's ever been that the best games are a simple but addictive idea, with the only frills being totally relevant to the gameplay. Tau Ceti was brilliant in this respect, and so is Room 10. More of a tennis game than Tennis, more of a ping pong game than Ping Pong, with none of the contemptuous familiarity of either.

The graphics are smooth and easy on the eye and there's a few nice touches like a slight recoil when the ball is struck by a bat. You can also alter lots of game parameters, like speed, selection of computer or human players (play your chums!), different colour schemes, and computer skill. You've also got the option of selecting keys or Kempston (indeed new Sinclair) joysticks. This is an enjoyable and well made game. Good to loosen up on before you face the blighted shores of Tau Ceti once more.

Phil South

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