In previous years the Forum64 coding competition has brought us new strategy and adventure games, but this time the theme was sports. Seven games were released at the start of June 2018 and judged. A prize fund was shared between the competitors (based on their points score), along with excellent hardware prizes donated by the sponsors for the top three. The games are reviewed here in reverse order of the results.

Code - Bytebreaker of Hokuto Force Music - Sidman of Hokuto Force (Paul Hesford) Graphics - Grass of Avatar, Hokuto Force, Lethargy, Resistance. Directory Art - Sink of Desire

This game was written entirely in BASIC, with a machine code intro. The aim is for one or two players to take turns shooting a basketball into the net. The power and angle for each shot are set and then fire is pressed to set the ball moving. A nice title screen and short piece of music boost the presentation, but the actual gameplay is limited.

Code, Music, Graphics, Design and Charset - Jammer of 1mandivision, Artstate, EXclusive ON, MultiStyle Labs, PriorArt, Samar Productions.

The version released into the competition was described as a "buggy pre-alpha" version with only one track to race on, so it was hard to judge alongside more polished games. This one or two player racing game has a stylish intro and great menu full of options. However, when the action starts, there are some serious issues with graphics flickering. The 3D road effect is good, but the method of changing gears proves tricky. A long way to go before this is finished, but promising nonetheless.

Code, Graphics, Music – Goerp

This game relies on a clever graphical technique, blanking the screen and then rapidly changing the border colour to "draw" large pixels across the whole screen (including the border area). After the welldrawn intro, the title screen and options appear while music plays. A one or two player game can be chosen. There are four attack moves (by pressing fire) and four defensive moves. A series of gradually tougher opponents await. Some moves cost energy to perform, forcing the player to retreat tactically to regain lost energy. Time a defensive move right and the opponent can be stunned (they "flash" briefly, allowing a counterattack). As a proof of the technique, this is really clever – but it does feel a little simple compared to some of the other entries.

Code, Music & Graphics - Zaadii

This compilation of five highly dangerous sports allows up to five players to take part, each choosing one of six factions. The different characters (Sportsbrain, Zombie, ItGirl, Lemming, Teddy and Robot) each have their different strong events. In Base Jumping you must change your body angle then release your parachute to land safely. Avalanche Skiing sees you chased by a wall of snow and jumping over hazards. Train Surfing awards extra points for moving further along the train, as long as the player does not get smashed into a tunnel (crikey, morbid gaming too - Ed). Shark Diving requires picking up tokens and returning to the surface for more air, while "Wing Suiting" sees the falling player try to aim for the high scoring holes in the rock wall. Graphics are mixed in terms of their effectiveness but do a good job of portraying the action from different viewpoints. Sound is ok, with good tunes to drive the action along. Control is tricky to learn, with some events easier to master than others. An interesting concept that needed a bit more polish.

Code - Endurion of Avatar, Megastyle, RGCD, Graphics – Smila (Trevor Storey)

This is really well made, reminiscent of the Slalom event from World Games. Up to four players can compete in a season, a single race or choose to practise the two disciplines – freestyle (ski down the course) and slalom (go through the red gates, but missing one stops the attempt). Three attempts are allowed at each race, with medals awarded after. Pretty good graphics, especially the snow trail, and playable controls are the plus points along with the choice of five courses and the famous skiers named in the records. The slightly odd shape of the skier when viewed straight on detracts, and it does get repetitive. This is still a lot of fun and deserved its high place.

Code & graphics – Larcky. https://golfdev.blogspot.com/ - development blog

Inspired by the classic Leaderboard, this is a golf game for up to 4 players (sharing two joysticks) and was known as 'Commodore Golf' and 'This Is For A Birdie' during development. The menu lets the players enter their name, choose skin tone and joystick port before setting the weather (calm, light winds or breezy) that affects the ball. Like Leaderboard, a 3D bitmap view of the hole is drawn quite quickly - with trees, water, rough and bunkers to contend with. Power is set by holding fire, releasing and then pressing at the right moment to set hook / slice (before / after the club head hits the ball). An indicator shows the wind direction, switching to the slope direction when putting. A nice particle effect and optional camera shake add to the atmosphere, along with the well-animated golfer (who looks towards the hole when getting ready for a shot). There are flaws, including raster flicker and the difficulty of gauging shot strength, but a commercial version improving on this release is on the way. There are nine holes, repeated to give the standard 18-hole course. A tricky but impressive release, up there with some of the best golf games on the C64.

Code - enthusi of Onslaught, PriorArt, RGCD.Music - Jammer of 1mandivision, Artstate, EXclusive ON, MultiStyle Labs, PriorArt, Samar Productions. Graphics - Veto of Oxyron, PriorArt, Tristar & Red Sector Incorporated

You may know it as Foosball or Bar Football, but the premise is the same. The players rotate (and definitely do not spin repeatedly) and move the handles to make the little plastic players kick the ball. A very good menu structure instantly impresses, with the computer playing a demo game if left alone. The animation of the moving players is very good, looking down on the table from above. Although it will take a little while to master the controls, there is a lot of fun to be had from this one. It's definitely the best table soccer / football game on the C64 to date, and a worthy winner of the competition.

Game And Participant Points Rank SAFTS - SPIN ALL FOUR TABLE SOCCER, BY ENTHUSI/VETO 7.93 1 BEECHING GOLD & COUNTRY CLUB, BY LARCKY 7.00 2 DOWNHILL CHALLENGE, BY ENDURION 6.46 3 DANGEROUS SPORTS, DEADLY SPORTS, BY ZAADII 6.29 4 KUNG FU PIXEL, BY GOERP 5.41 5 EL LOCO CHALLENGE, BY JAMMER 5.29 6 BASIC BALL 4.79 7