Skooldaze, MatchDay II
Match Day II
Genre – Sport
The original Match Day was the first serious football game to hit the Spectrum, and this sequel emerged over 2 years later. League and Cup tournaments for up to 8 teams (any or all of which can be human-controlled) are offered alongside one-off Friendly matches with a handicap option - passcodes are given to allow you to restore these to the same state another day.
Matches are seven-a-side, with variable lengths from 10 to 30 minutes. All kicks except set pieces are variable in strength using a Kick-o-meter which is displayed on screen. One revolutionary feature of the game was the Diamond Deflection System, which mathematically calculated the angle and pace of any rebounds.
Skooldaze
Genre - Adventure
This highly original game concept sets you as Eric, a typical scamp of a schoolboy whose school report is due, and it is so bad that his parents can't be allowed to see it. This means retrieving it from the headmaster's safe, by obtaining every piece of the pass-code from the teachers, by hitting each of the shields with your catapult.
All this has to be done around all the rigors of a typical school day. you must go to class when the bell goes, or else it's detention, and the other kids will often play around to block you. The game's Artificial Intelligence means that events continue to unfold around you in the other rooms and corridors.
The Way of the Exploding Fist
Genre - Fighting
This menacingly-titled beat 'em up was the first in many martial arts titles from Australia's Melbourne House. Sixteen different moves are on offer, ranging from standard kicks to jumps, somersaults and roundhouse kicks.
The move executed each time is defined based on the character's direction, the joystick/keyboard positioning, and on whether the fire button is depressed, in a system which became standard on single-button control systems.
To win each bout you must score 2 Yin-Yangs - a perfectly executed kick/punch scores a full one, whereas a less forceful contact offers half a point - the best moves also offer more points. In the one-player game, you advance through a Dan by winning two successive bouts, and a single win for the opponent means game over. The champion in a two-player duel is decided by points after 4 rounds.
Thanks to World of Spectrum and Moby Games
