Zzap


Hit Pack #1
By Zeppelin Games
Commodore 64/128

 
Published in Zzap #84

Hit Pack #1

They say variety is the spice of life - or at least an excuse for throwing four unconnected games onto a budget compilation!

Kenny Dalglish Football Manager

This one achieved the impossible and actually made me *want* to play on!

Controlled using a crystal-clear icon system, Kenny Dalglish boasts one of the fastest running speeds I've ever seen. The static graphics are ace, and the animated goal-mouth action is a real treat for the eyes [Not to my eyes, matey - Ed]. Okay, so the routines get a little repetitive after a while, but you can always turn them off!

Kenny Dalglish Soccer Manager is everything you could wish for in a management sim. If you're like me and hate the genre, you could do a lot worse than give it a go - if this one doesn't grab you, nothing will.

Rally Simulator

Ever entered your battered old Skoda in a Formula One Grand Prix? Rally Simulator is an excellent simulation of what would happen if you did! As soon as the light turns to green, the computer-controlled cars leave you eating their exhaust fumes, and you've precious little chance of catching up again!

It wouldn't be so bad if this was the game's only fault - but it isn't, by a long chalk! The graphics are shoddy, the control dodgy, and the on-track arrows are as confusing as hell.

To cap it all, if you drive into a computer car, you bounce back. If they drive into you, they just go straight through you as if you weren't there!

This game is just the pits. 'Nuff said.

Para Assault Course

Spanky graphics and a comprehensive options screen aren't enough to save Para Assault Course - if you've seen one waggler, you've seen them all!

Until you get the hang of it, the game is irritatingly difficult. The time limit is generous, but with such unforgiving obstacles it has to be! Also, halfway through each course there's an obstacle that ends the game if not completed first time, but by the time you get there your waggling arm is so tired you come a cropper anyway!

There's a game in there somewhere, but fishing it out really isn't worth the effort.

Recommendation

I never thought I'd see a compilation that sold on a management sim! If you haven't got Kenny Dalglish, Hit Pack #1 is a worthy purchase. If you have, don't bother.