Zeppelin
£3.99 cassette
091 385 7755
Reviewer: Jonathan Nash

Oh no! How am I possibly going to make a review of this appalling game interesting? (Sorry to give away the surprise ending there folks.) Erm... umm... I know! I'll do it in the style of Frank Richards. (Obvious really.)

'He, he, he!' cackled the Owl of the Remove as he rolled up to Harry Wharton's 8MB Macintosh IIsi. 'Old Quelchy's given me this game to review and it's almost exactly the same as International Five-a-Side Football!' Quickly, the disreputable schoolboy sifted through the captain of the Remove's hard drive and transferred the appropriate archive file to a 1.44MB floppy disk.

'Hallo hallo hallo!' The voice of Bob Cherry boomed from the doorway. Bunter trembled. If he was caught reusing old material, he'd surely be reported to his form-master! Quickly he slipped the disk into his pocket as Bob clapped him on the shoulder. 'What are you up to with Wharton's Mac, old scout?' Bunter glared at him from behind his large spectacles.

'I hope you're not insinuating I'd cheat on this review he said with dignity. 'I didn't pass Wharton's study and I didn't see he was out and I didn't take an old review from his hard drive: 'Oh, my hat!' gasped Bob. 'Ha, ha, ha" he shrieked. 'You'll never get that past Quelch's gimlet eye!' he roared.

Bunter quivered with indignation. 'And why not?' he squeaked. 'All-American Basketball is obviously a shallow re-write of the soccer game. The graphics are exactly the same, the tackling method identical - one merely dashes up to the player with the ball and steals it away every time - and the playing method remarkably similar. They - they've even kept to the flashing man to identify which player you're controlling, and the way you can press fire to switch control to the player nearest the ball. I shall take this disk, add my name to Wharton's review, march up to Quelch and say - ow! Leggo, you beast! Yaroooh!

BUNTER GETS IT!

Bob had seized Bunter's ear and was pulling it with gusto. 'You silly chump. Quelch will give you six if you try that. Why don't you write something original?" Bunter squirmed in his grasp. 'I - I - I don't think there's anything to add, old chap! if you play against the computer, it merely rushes across the pitch in predictable zig-zags so you can intercept it easily, and there's never enough room to try anything fancy. I rather think all the programmers have done is shrunk the goal and put it on the wall.'

Bob had fished in Bunter's pocket and was looking at the cassette inlay. 'But what about these features - the full basketball rules, the accruate ball dynamics, the tournament option?' 'All - all bumph, old fellow! I grant you the tournament option produces a long list of authentic American teams, but they all seem to play in exactly the same zig-zag style.'

Bob released the Owl of the Remove and stood deep in thought. 'Odd! in which case, why would they put it in?' He paused, like Brutus of old, for a reply. Like Brutus, he waited in vain. Bunter just rubbed his ear and glared. Bob kicked him into his own study and loaded the game on the Spectrum Colonel Wharton had included in Harry's Christmas hamper. 'Hmmm! I see what you mean. Its not exactly wonderful, is it? The same jerky scrolling, the same way the computer opponents mob you to stop any clever passing, the same repetitive and boring gameplay. All the same Bunter, you'd better write it up in your own words. Remember what happened when you tried to crib Toddy's maths exercise.'

'Yah!' replied Bunter. 'If Zeppelin can get away with releasing just about the same game twice, I don't see how I can go wrong with repeating the old review.' 'I can see reason isn't working,'smiled Bob grimly, looking around for his fives bat. 'There's only one thing for it old man - I'm just going to have to upend you and sit on your head until you come to your senses.' He made a lunge for the door, but Bunter's suspicious mind had put two and two together, and for better or worse, the Owl of the Remove was gone!

Label: Zeppelin
Memory: 48K/128K
Price: £3.99 Tape
Reviewer: Tom Guise

Unless you happen to be a particularly tall person, basketball can be an extremely difficult game to master. Many a short person has dreamed of experiencing a good old slam or dunk, but alas the curse of those out-of-reach baskets has always won through... at least until now, because a remedy has arrived in the form of All American Basketball. The game for short people.

All American Basketball gives you the chance to play against the computer or a human opponent, or even to compete against seven state teams in a number of tournament playoffs. Options are also available which allow you change your team colours or even vary the length of playing time.

So, with options tweaked to your bidding, it's time to take to the court. Control of the ball is automatic when dribbling. However, tackling, passing and shooting are all be controlled via the joystick fire button. When not in possession of the ball, pressing fire gives you control over the player nearest the ball. The pace of the game really is quite fast and when playing against the computer, fairly challenging too.

There are three difficulty settings and although it doesn't take long to master the 'Amateur' setting, the 'intelligent' opponents on harder settings most certainly provides a challenge it's in two player mode that the game really comes into it's own.

Sports games of this type are always far more enjoyable with two players and All American Basketball is no exception. Although the controls are extremely basic, there is still a degree of skill and technique that can be acquired and it's this edge that makes the game more interesting in two player mode.

Graphic simplicity is the order of the day and the screen is never confusing to look at, though the lack of personal characteristics on the players does make it rather bland looking.

However, if, whilst looking at the screenshots you've been feeling a strange sense of deja vu, perhaps we can clear things up for you. All American Basketball appears in fact to be a rehash of Zeppelin's previous sports outing, 5-Aside Football.

Using the same sprites and basic idea with a new backdrop and baskets instead of goals, Zeppelin have managed to remarket their somewhat naff footie sim as a rather smarter basketball game. They've actually managed to polish up the game in the process. All American Basketball is almost devoid of any slow down, a big problem with five a side, even when the screen is packed with sprites. The controls also function more smoothly and the gameplay seems far more challenging.

Unfortunately though, All American Basketball is still a little too simple for its own good. With the exception of free throws and the scoring rules (1pt for a free throw, 2 pts for a score within the net zone, 3 pts for outside net zone) there are no basketball rules incorporated into the game, like backcourt violation etc. Perhaps that's why the game was so easy to translate from a football game.

As it stands, All American Basketball is nothing more than a replacement for 5-Aside Football. Still, it's not too bad for the price, in comparison.

ALAN: This game should have come with a government stress health warning: 'Not for persons of a nervous disposition who have already thrown Five A Side Football out the window'. It's a bit better than the latter, but I still would have liked to see real basketball... Not the sort of thing I used to play as a kid when I didn't know the rules.