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Tynesoft is sadly no more and, truth to tell, not many of their games were that great but Rodeo Games is at least above-average. In the Epyx style, it's basically a compilation of sub-games linked by an overall theme. Up to four players can compete, each taking turns on the sub-games (sadly there are no simultaneous two-player games).

You can play through all seven events or pick a selection at the start. Each event takes a fair old time to load though, so it's fortunate there are superb title screens.

You can also retry each event as many times as you want, which can lead to arguments if you're in competition!

The first event is Trick Shooting, a simplistic shoot-'em-up where you aim a cursor at pop-up targets - shooting innocents costs you points, though! Knife Throwing is next and much the same as that in Fiendish Freddy, albeit not as impressive. Your assistant is strapped to a rotating wheel and you must throw knives to hit as close as possible without bringing the event to a sticky end. It's fun although there's a long delay between pressing fire and the knife arriving!

Calf Roping is event three and shows an overhead, horizontally-scrolling view of you pursuing a calf. Guide your horse to avoid various obstacles while moving close enough to attempt lassoing the calf. The graphics aren't great and the lassoing frustratingly tricky.

Event four, Bottle Shooting, is better. Against an impressive backdrop, a cowboy throws bottles one after the other. Aim the cursor to hit them before they hit the ground.

In Steer Wrestling the arena horizontally scrolls past in side-on perspective, and you must bring your crudely drawn horse close enough to the steer to jump on. As with calf Roping, it's not easy to make contact so not everyone will get to the joystick-waggling, wrestling bit.

Event six, Bronco Riding, shows a side-on view of a bucking bronco. Arrows flash up to show which direction you should push the joystick if you want to stay on! Not bad graphically but basic gameplay-wise.

Finally there's the Stagecoach Rescue, again side-on with a nice background but graphically disappointing otherwise. Waggle to bring your horse close enough for you to leap aboard the stagecoach. Then it's a simple slugfest with the blocky Indian. And that's it. Whew!

In Issue 54 Rodeo Games got 80% with Randy enthusing, "Each sub-game is playable... brought together in one package they add up to value all round." In retrospect, the rating seems slightly high: on cassette the multi-loads take ages and there's a fair few duds among the games with none particularly outstanding.

However, there's some nice presentation, including a varied bunch of good tunes, and it's fun for a while with two or more players competing.