A&B Computing


Countdown
By TV Games
BBC B/B+/Master 128

 
Published in A&B Computing 5.02

Countdown

Domark have just re-released a whole series of TV game show conversions, originally released by Macsen that were meant to slip out into an unsuspecting world. I'm always suspicious when review copies aren't supplied but, after special pleading resulted in this one game of the series, that suspicion soon vanished.

This isn't flashy. You won't want to play it every night. I'm not going to be inundated with pokes for it. But it's a good, solid little game with much to commend it - a reasonable adaptation of the semi-cult daily show which, thankfully, omits Gyles Brandreth. If you've never seen the TV show then don't worry - it's basically Scrabble against the clock as you have 30 seconds to create the longest possible word from a selection of nine letters or else work to a final figure from a selection of numbers.

The only real flaw with the game is the absence of a very large memory to hold the dictionary, although it is surprisingly comprehensive. It allows the other player (or yourself if you're alone) to verify that a word exists and doesn't check, for example, that six consonants in a row do not exist in the English language. A minor point, not easily remedied.

I never saw this game in its original release, thinking that it might be dire. After playing Countdown, I'm eager to seek out the others in the series - Treasure Hunt, Blockbusters, etc.

Dave Reeder

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