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It's strange that so few tennis games were ever produced for the Spectrum. After all, each summer Wimbledon dominates the sports world and thousands of children pull that dusty racquet out of the cupboard and head for the park. Thousands more are either too lazy to leave the house or unwilling to suffer the punishing British climate changes and would rather put their feet up and play tennis on their computer. Surprising then that the only tennis game worth its salt on the Speccy is Matchpoint. Although it is clearly a descendant of Pong, it has attractive graphics and some great rallies can be had if you come to terms with the auto-changover. If even the prospect of exercising your fingers is a little daunting, then sit back and let the computer play out an exhibition match for your entertainment.

Anyone for tennis?
WIMBLEDON has gone and strawberries are out of season but the Psion Match Point tennis game for the 48K Spectrum will be popular all the year round.


The simulation has more than the classic quality and style of Chequered Flag, the Psion racing game, and provides some of the most spectacular graphics for the Spectrum.

The screen display shows Centre Court at Wimbledon. The panorama provides a view of the net, umpire, crowds moving their heads, and even the benches on which the players sit after a game.

You can play either a quarter-final or semi-final if you are inexperienced, or a final if you want to be thrashed soundly by the other player. If you have no human friend with whom you can play, the computer will always be on hand for a game.

When you start to play you may have difficulty distinguishing between the ball and its shadow. Once you have played a few games, however, the effect falls into place and adds a three-dimensional quality to the game. The shadow of the ball is the only unrealistic feature of the display as, in real life, the players cast the shadows and not the ball.

Psion can be forgiven for introducing the shadow, as the game outclasses most other sports programs for the computer. Unlike most of the other games available it can be described as a true simulation.

It is a game for all the family and not only for the sports enthusiast. Although it does not replace the real thing it is a worthwhile program, as it is a simulation which provides an exhibition mode which you can sit and watch while two computer-generated players go through the motions. It might even teach the beginner something about the skills required in the game.



John Gilbert


MATCH POINT Memory: 48K Price: £7.95 Joystick: Sinclair, Kempston, Cursor Gilbert Factor: 9

Match Point takes place solely on centre court and launches you straight into the Quarter, Semi or Final of a fictional championship trophy (though we all knew we were playing for Wimbledon glory).

Despite its loading screen that shows a player dressed in whites but apparently playing with a badminton racket, Match Point is a triumph that still plays great to this day. The single screens representation of a standard tennis court is colourful and well drawn, with its line judges and electronic scoreboard.



But it is when the game moves that you see the real artistry that PSION have squeezed into the game. The stick figure have so much character as they run cross-court to reach a powerful stroke and the sight of ball boys sprinting on to the court to retrieve stray balls shows the attention to detail that can only have come from a real fan of the sport.

Despite its simple controls of running and swinging your bat, the AI of computer controlled characters has been perfectly honed and the ability to name the players lets you live the dream of taking on McEnroe and the likes in a tense final. But, as with most sports games, add a second player and true joy of Match Point comes alive as two white clad gladiators compete in a battle to the death for tennis supremacy.

It is a testament to the game’s quality that it was never beaten on the 8-bits and it would take almost 10 more years before Super Tennis on the SNES finally defeated Match Point and take the crown of Tennis game champion.

Producer: Psion/Sinclair
Memory required: 48K
Retail price: £7.95
Language: machine code



So many of the better games this summer seem to be sports simulations of the active kind rather than the strategic armchair sort, of which type Match Point is a supreme example. We’ve come to expect rather special programs from Psion and Match Point doesn’t disappoint. It points up the advances in Spectrum programming which underlines to some extent comments made by Crystal/Design Design programmer Simon Brattel in this issue about the versatility of the video display of the Spectrum encouraging programmers to write better and better looking programs. Match Point would have been almost inconceivable this time last year, so too would Database’s Micro Olympics.

There is an arcade version of tennis which does look good, but apart from the coloured sprites of the players there is little that Psion’s Match Point can’t do to match the arcade original, and in fact the perspective view is more realistic.

The game is for one player against the computer or two players against each other, although the flexible front end allows you to enter not only your own name but also that of the computer so if you want to you can have the thrill of beating McEnroe (or being beaten by him of course!) or Navratilova if you prefer.

The screen display, prominently green naturally, shows the tennis court from the ‘commentators’ box’ position, looking straight along the centre of the court from one end. At the ‘back’ is the scoreboard, and to either side are spectators who convincingly turn their heads to follow the movement of the ball. The two players are fully animated and the movement of the ball results in its shadow being seen on the grass to help you judge its position. Further detail is added by the ball boy who runs in to collect net serves.

Games and scoring are quite authentic for lawn tennis, a match being played over three or five sets with the winner being the player to win either 2 or 3 sets respectively. Six games make up a set, the winner having a clear lead of 2 games, although a tie-break comes in automatically should the score reach six games each, except in the final set when play continues until one player achieves a two game lead. As you can see, stamina is required. Game scoring follows full rules including deuce and advantage. Players change ends of court automatically at the correct moment and service follows the accepted pattern.

The game can be controlled by keys or joysticks with fire being used to serve and change racket swing. The movement, speed and position of the ball can be determined by type of swing, where the ball hits the racket and at what moment during the swing the contact is made. All this adds up to an extremely realistic program.



What the deuce, take advantage of the sun and serve an ace

CRITICISM
‘At last someone has had the guts to reproduce the game of tennis on the Spectrum, and they have made an exceptionally good job of it. Every detail has been really polished even down to the spectators’ heads moving left and right with the ball. Ball boys do a great job as they run realistically across the court. This must be the ultimate yet in sports simulation. A great feat of programming. Great!’

‘Match Point is an interactive tennis game where the players move about and hit the ball very well. A point against the game is that the automatic change from forehand to backhand and vice versa can cause more problems than it’s worth. I would prefer to be in complete control. Forced changeovers can cause problems! Generally, though, this is a very playable and addictive game. It is certainly a vast leap over the very first tennis games. Remember them — the first TV arcade games with two flat bats and a ball in black and white?’

‘If you become worn out — and you will — then you can sit back and watch the computer play an exhibition match played by middle, senior or top seeded tennis stars until you feel well enough to take the court again. The colouring of the graphics is sensible rather than exciting, black figures on the green background, but the animation and speed with which they move more than makes up for any disappointment caused by Spectrum colour problems. Match Point calls for considerable skill in placing the ball where you want just as in the real thing, and I can’t imagine anyone becoming bored with it very quickly. Addictive in fact.’

COMMENTS
Control keys: selected: (2 players) S or J/D or K move left/right, 1 or 0/Q or O move up/down, CAPS/SPACE swing racket. But all keys may be user defined
Joystick: ZX 2, Kempston
Keyboard play: responsive
Use of colour: sensibly used without attribute problems
Graphics: very impressive, smooth and fast with a deal of realism
Sound: not much at all, but hardly affects play
Skill levels: you may play quarter, semi- or finals, entering at any level, each increasing in speed and computer skill
Originality: highly original from the programming point of view to have achieved the level of this game
General rating: excellent and addictive to play, so much so that it’s rather high price seems well justified.

Use of computer 87%
Graphics 92%
Playability 90%
Getting started 87%
Addictive qualities 92%
Value for money 86%
Overall 89%