C&VG


Centre Court

Publisher: Amsoft
Machine: Amstrad CPC464

 
Published in Computer & Video Games #43

Centre Court

The only thing in Amsoft's Centre Court which has been left out is the odd tantrum from one of the players - but I suppose you could supply that yourself.

Centre Court is a simulation of the lawn tennis game and includes options for either a two player game or a single person against a computer opponent.

Not only is the grass court represented on the screen, there is also a cheering crowd, an umpire and line judges which are all animated beautifully. The representation of the players and the ball - which is just too small - is a little disappointing. Otherwise the game is comparable with the best tennis simulations on other machines and is more reliant on skill than most in not letting the computer do most of the work for you.

Centre Court

Serving is made much more difficult than in most other games because you have to hit the ball while it's in the air. If it's too high, it will overshoot the line or hit the net if it is too low.

You can vary the speed, height and direction of shot so, just like the real game, you can lob, smash, volley into a corner or play a gentle drop shot over the net.

One big drawback of the game is the size of the ball used - it's tiny. True, it may be in proportion to the size of the players but it would only have improved the game if this small alteration had been made.

All round, a well produced game which, in spite of a few niggles, still rates as one of my favourite simulations on the Amstrad. Well worth adding to your software collection.