Producer: Software Communications
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £6.95
Language: Machine code
Author:

Eddie Kidd is probably among the best known motor cycle stuntmen in the world. Apparently a film about American stuntman Evel Knievel inspired the twelve year old Kidd to start training with an ordinary bicycle - jumping over oil cans, barrels and even his school mates. Now Spectrum owners have an opportunity to match some of his feats in a simulation which has been programmed with some help from Eddie Kidd himself, who appeared on the Martech stand at the recent PCW Show in London to help promote the game.

Like the young Eddie, players will have to start off on a pedal bicycle before progressing to something a bit more powerful. The screen layout is quite straightforward. The top half is the actual playing area and the bottom half contains the instrumentation. In the playing area you are shown the blue sky with clouds (moving in parallax 3D), with a strip of yellow ground, a fence and then the black road with its white centre line stripes. Each attempt starts with the bike rolling off the take off ramp, heading away for the run up.

Your instrumentation shows the gears (1 to 5), brake on or off, two bars for revs and speed, and below that the objects and numbers you are attempting to jump. Controls from keyboard or joystick affect the speed, and therefore the gear change, by the throttle or brake, as well as turning the bike around and the angle at which Eddie leans. This latter is quite important both on take off and landing in controlling the attitude of the bike. Obviously other factors in a successful jump are the take off speed and the length of run up to the ramp. The run up is decided by the player quite simply by turning the bike around when you think you are far enough from the ramp. The wild card factor is the gusting headwind, which, depending on strength, can radically alter the length of the jump. To help you assess this factor, there is a wind sock device in the instrumentation area.

Software Communications are running two competitions in conjunction with Eddie Kidd jump Challenge. Prizes include BMX Bikes, microcomputers and colour TVs. Details are on the inlay, which also includes your Official Contender Card and a jump Challenge sticker.

COMMENTS

Control keys: SYM SHIFT/SPACE causes lean, Z controls throttle, CAPS controls brake, any key on 2nd row will turn bike
Joystick: Sinclair 2
Keyboard play: responsive, but not the best layout
Use of colour: somewhat limited, but clean
Graphics: smooth, fairly well detailed on bike
Sound: motorcycle noise is quite good, otherwise not much
Skill levels: progressive difficulty
Lives: 1
Screens: 1
Special features: competition

Why does an essentially motorcycle game start off with a push bike jump? it may show how he started at first, or where he got his inspiration from first, but in this particular game it becomes very repetetive, boring and irrelevant to the game. The motorcycle seems to perform not unlike a real one, and in fact mimicks a real one very well in mid air. One thing I don't like about this game is if you fall of your bike by hitting cars, landing wrong or whatever, you return to the menu, giving you no second chance, which is probably a little mean, and also a major drawback. Also, I didn't understand the scoring system, sometimes I scored and sometimes I didn't. This game is interesting at first to play, but the novelty wears off quite quickly. Unless you're a real motorcycle stunt fanatic, I don't think this game's worth the money.

The first task on this novel game is to pedal over some barrels. This is a doddle, or even a toddle, compared to what comes next. In the interests of making the game a little bit more playable, it would have been better to omit this stage on subsequent attempts since it soon begins to irritate. Controlling the motorcycle is fairly simple, and the fun in the game depends heavily on how you actually make your jump. There is, therefore, the attendant risk that players will soon tire of Eddie Kidd because in truth there is nothing else to it. Of course, as you get more practiced you can jump more and more cars etc. , but I don't think this is going to prove enough to keep people playing, especially as the scenery doesn't change.

Eddie Kidd has some nice graphics, the background is simple enough, but the effect of movement works quite well, and the graphics of your biker is quite neat, especially in the spills. But as far as it goes, we have already seen as good in Wheelie. Sadly, after all the promise, this game is quite unaddictive, for me at any rate, less of a game in fact than a simulation.

REMAKE REMODEL

Those cheapie re-releases, sifted and sorted by Marcus Berkmann.

Yup, games these days are like cats - they have about nine lives. First we see them on full price labels, then they reappear on various compilations, then they're out again as cheapies. In the past YS hasn't taken an awful lot of notice, but there are so many now, we just can't ignore 'em. So here's the first Remake Remodel, and the first person to write in and tell us what that reference is, wins three cheapies!

Ricochet
£1.99

Mastertronic has signed up the whole range of Martech's old sporty licences, and this one was reviewed by us back in Feb '85. Even then we scarcely wept a bundle on it, and now, well, all I can say is keep clear unless you're a big fan of Mr Kidd and always wear your 501s to the cinema. Jumping over the cars is less a matter of the right speed than making sure you go up in gear relatively smoothly, and the graphics are primitive. You'll get bored with it quicker than you'll get good at it.

Roger Yes, I can tell you from personal experience that leaning back or forward can certainly affect your stability whilst jumping a motorcycle. I can also tell you that, just as in this program, getting it wrong has spectacular consequences. Here, though, Eddie always gets up and waves to the crowd I usually stay down, screaming with pain...

Approach distance appears irrelevant, so long as the bike has climbed through its five gears and indicated speed is at its maximum when taking off from the ramp. All you really have to do is control the bike in the air and that, presumably, governs the number of cars successfully jumped. Sounds fine, doesn't it? Well, it isn't...

Cheapskate graphics only serve to underline the fact that Eddie Kidd has attached his name to a fairly primitive arcade game that gets boring quicker than players will get good at it. The intro - or practice - screen demands you jump a pushbike over oildrums; trouble is, you make a perfect jump every time! Oh yes, jumps beyond a certain limit produce an offer to SAVE on to blank cassette for competition entry purposes, but I can't imagine anyone bothering. 1/5 MISS

Dave: The BMX section gets annoying - it's so easy you can do it with your eyes closed! Jumping with cars is much more difficult and quite addictive. 4/5 HIT

Ross: You can control Eddie quite well, but even after practise I found it diffficult to make any successful jumps over a decent distance. The 'gusting wind' didn't help either! 2/5 MISS

THE FLIGHT OF THE BMX RIDER

Memory: 48K
Price: £6.95
Joystick: Not specified

Eddie Kidd may have found it a doddle jumping 14 buses but in jump Challenge it is not so easy.

In the official Eddie Kidd version from Martech, you are given the chance to beat Eddie's world record jump - secure in the knowledge that every time you fail your bones remain intact.

Pedalling furiously on your BMX, you warm up with a gentle jump over a mere 18 oil drums. It is quite easy - complacency sets in.

On graduating to motor bikes there is a relatively small jump over eight cars for starters! If, as the instructions state, you land with your back wheel on the ramp you should be all right.

The game calls for a large combination of skill, luck and the ability to judge speeds and distances. The speedometer and rev counter are a help but the main idea of the game is to teach the player to 'get the feel' of the bike.

The position of the rider is critical during the flight as he controls the angle of the bike. Making him lean backwards or forwards alters the bike's trajectory so that a safe landing can be negotiated. You will need to put in a lot of practice to get it right.

The game is well written and includes all the elements of skill and coordination that make an exciting program. There is one irritating aspect. If you repeatedly fail to clear the eight car stage, the game will end and start again with the BMX warm-up. When you are itching to get Eddie into the air, that stage seems a waste of time.

Label: Ricochet
Author: Martech/Ian McCardle
Price: £2.99
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Jim Douglas

Have I gone all twizzley or something? I was sure that this was a Martech game a couple of years ago. Oh. I see, it was. Now out on Ricochet (coming back etc - geddit). Anyway if you like the sort of things that EK gets up to on his electroglide or whatever, you'll probably go for this. Graphically it's fairly dire, involving a stick man on bike (BMX push-bike to start, then moving on to a motorcycle) zooming along a white dotted line before shooting up a ramp and over some barrels. Easy controls coupled with an incredibly low skill requirement make jump Challenge an affordable way to waste an hour or so.

MACHINE: Spectrum/keyboard or joystick
SUPPLIER: Martech
PRICE: £6.95

If you've ever wondered what it's like to jump over a row of cars on a high powered motorcycle then the official Eddie Kidd Jump Challenge could be the game for you. Martech got a lot of help from Eddie while programming the game and they have included a competition to win a BMX bike, micros and colour TVs with the game. All you have to do is jump over more cars than anyone else.

You start your jumping career on a bicycle just to get a bit of practice - leaping over barrels. Once you've cleared the barrels you move on to the bike proper. You have to judge the distance away from the ramp in order to get up enough speed to clear the cars. Each time you clear the row of autos more are added.

A crucial skill to master is the control of the rider's stance on the bike. To make things a bit more difficult there is also a random wind conditions feature. The rider has to allow for the breeze when going for the jump.

That's about all there is to the game. It's simple, but quite addictive if you're a bike fan. The graphics are simple but effective and the bike sound effects pretty good. I particularly liked the crashing graphic routine.

Versions of the game are also available for the Commodore and BBC/Electron.

Martech
Martech House
Bay Terrace
Pevensey Bay
East Sussex
PRICE: £6.95

Fancy yourself as a stunt rider? The dare-devil feat can now be achieved within the safety and comfort of your own home, the Eddie Kidd Jump Challenge is a new game for the 48K Spectrum, putting you in the driver seat of your own motorbike.

You are Eddie Kidd, who we are told is the most naturally gifted motorcycle stuntman in the world and are privileged to take the Jump Challenge to gain a world record.

Initially, before jumping over cars with a motorcycle you have to jump over barrels with a BMX bike. Having successfully done this, you graduate to the motorcycle, with the controls of speed, brakes and position of rider all at hand in order to give you a realistic approach of riding a bike.

When you have left the ramp with enough room for your run up, you can start.

I cannot really say much about this game as it totally relies on the skill of the player in manoeuvrering the stunt bike.

Various points need to be considered while attempting a jump, eg. speed, length of run up, position on bike and the only way to make a successful one is to get a feel for the bike and learn by your mistakes.

I, not a bike rider at heart, did find it quite difficult to complete a successful motorbike jump and correctly judge the above three factors.

The game starts off with 8 cars and progresses onwards a car at a time. Unfortunately you always return to the BMX jump after each crash, which is a bit annoying as this jump is the only one that is easy to master. It would have been an idea to be able to attempt any level of jump at any time.

The company Martech are also putting on a competition, with BMX bikes, colour TV's, MSX Computers (not Spectrum Plus?) for prizes and runners up getting a poster of Eddie Kidd (WOW!). A good idea which should increase sales if not stunt riders.

A skillful game with excellent graphics and realistic sound all add up to a winner.