This book is the one that is contrary to my point in the first paragraphs, claming that the reader is not interested in the usual games programs any more.

How To Write ZX Spectrum And Spectrum+ Games Programs book is a step-by-step guide to writing games programs, and does at times assume the reader to be ignorant of computing, and at other times to know it all. On the first page, the invaluable REM statement is again explained, but at this point the reader is expected to now all about FOR...NEXT loops and the PRINT AT statement. The reader is also told how to get an asterisk on the screen by pressing Symbol Shift and B, but not how to get any of the other statements. Double Dutch if you ask me!

The step-by-step guide could be useful to the novice programmer, but perhaps the author thought that just a games book wouldn't sell too well, so the idea of learning how to program games seemed a better prospect. The programs are in separate chapters, and by the end of the first chapter the reader should know how to use the UDGs and the PLOT and DRAW statements. The games are separated into individual routines, and the author does his best to explain each routine, demonstrating how the game is moulded together. The games are at most for six players, but never included is the capability of playing with the computer. There is a chess game, but only the bare structure, as the Chess game in the book is only for two players, and does not have the facility to compete with the computer. I would rather get the good old fashioned chess board out. This way is much more real.

The programs also did not appear to be all that well written. I could easily rewrite a few sections if I was going to use the book to any great length. The listings also, due to the width of the book, were hard to read and appeared somewhat compact, but the programs could be adapted to improve the games, which in my mind only half succeeded.

At £2.50, the book is reasonably priced, and it may appeal to those who have some ideas but have difficulty in transferring them onto a computer, but otherwise I cannot really see the book as being extremely beneficial to anyone. Why would anyone want to draw a River Nile Scene in a game? Just another way of filling out a chapter.