Reviews

This got 7/10 in YS.

However, having now played it, I have little idea what's going on. In fact, I'm not even sure when it was in "demo" mode and when I was actually playing. It looks polished (well, it has some sort of speed loader), but other than that I can't think of a single good thing to say about it.

It's not as hilariously bad as Sqij, but it certainly is crap.

This is one of the very few simulations of judo available for any system, or possibly - to my knowledge - the only one.

Although several magazines rated it as a decent game, it has been constantly panned by WOS users. I believe the reason behind this is that almost everybody thought it was something akin to a beat-em-up, while ignoring that judo is not a martial art, but a sport where you are _not_ supposed to hit your opponent. Once you figure out how to perform the various moves, it becomes clear that you must use your brain as much as your keys/joystick, if not more.

Graphically wise it could have been much better, although you can still see where your hands and legs are, as well as those of your opponent. The small diagram with the position of both contestants' feet helps a lot.

On a scale of 10 I'd rate this with a 7, i.e. pretty good in its own merit although not excellent.

1987 Martech Games (UK)
by Chris Fayers

One of the most important things to any player is to understand what a game is all about.
The instructions serve that purpose, but you may still feel stupid after trying to play a game like Uchi Mata.
The idea is good, the execution is...confusing.
The programmer had certainly good intentions in complicating the game, Judo requires more technique than lets say Karate. But this ain't Judo. This is a computer game with sprites looking like judokas and performing stunts resembling Judo. Its not played with arms and legs but with your hands and fingers. 'Geoff Capes Strong Man' ain't a muscle exercising game, it just looks like one! If you replace the graphics with anything else you would had the same gaming experience.
Uchi Mata has to many moves and combinations and its really hard to remember each one and performing it in the right moment. The stylised graphics don't help either.
Judo is a difficult sport to simulate in a computer (like Aikidô which is even harder) and that's the only reason I rate this game with a 2, because I think the programmer was trying something different that unfortunately didn't come out as it should.

There are some things on the humble Speccy that should have been left alone, Judo is one such thing.

Judo is among my favourite sports and I love watching it on the Olympics, Uchi Mata though does the sport no justice whatsoever.

I had this in the 4 Most World Sport compilation years ago and from then and up to now performing any throw in this game is next to impossible even playing against yourself in a two-player game. This undoubtably spoils the fun in the game for me, why for goodness sake even attempt to convert Judo onto the Spectrum if it's just going to be so awkward to control and actually perform a Waza-Ari (pronounced WA-ZAA-RI by the way and not WA-ZA-ARI, see I'm not bluffing I do know my Judo) and even a Yuko, it's such a pain in the ass that he's able to score points on you and you can't do a thing except for smashing your keyboard! Alessandro Grussu correctly points out though that once you figure it out you realise that brain power is needed to perform the throws...but I've not managed this yet, perhaps he has more patience than I do...good for him.

The graphics aren't so bad and the referee is quite nicely illustrated as he appears when a throw is performed but my goodness what have they done to the judokas?? They look horrific! They are a flickery mess and the Judogi tradionally worn in Judo look more like pyjamas..literally pyjamas!

Oooh what can be said about Uchi Mata, frankly it's a mess. Judo is always going to be a challenge to convert and evidently Uchi Mata trys to convert Judo to the Spectrum and it fails, quite miserably I like to add. Judo is quite simply brilliant but for the Spectrum it should have been left untouched.

Not totally awful but highly unplayable !!

A complete waste of time and money . :(


I don´t give this a 0 because the movements are , somehow , correct .

1,5 out of 5 .

ps - this title -Uchi Mata- has -somehow- become synonym with boredom for the Spectrum users .

I really like Judo but this is awful. It's impossible to do any throws no matter how hard I try and the graphics are attrocious. Completely dire and an insult to Judo. Was this meant to be a simulator? If so it's not even close.

Uchi Mata [Martech Games]

Uchi Mata is a martial art game, specifically devoted to Judo, in which the only thing you can do is being knocked over on the floor, and watching the scene with a sense of total powerlessness. These are the preserved fond memories of the game I retained, which stop me from playing it again. But I am not alone, the game's got an extremely low voting average, so at least it's not just me being inept as usual.
1/5