ACE - Issue 01 - United Kingdom Magazine - Scans

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Region of origin	United Kingdom
Scan of	Magazine
Typical Dimensions	970×1327
Average File Size	233KB
Contributor
Notes	October 1987. More scans at http://wos.meulie.net/pub/sinclair/magazines/ACE/
Languages	1: English

An arcade machine you don't have to feed with 10p pieces...a machine that gives you instant loading of games like Space Harrier and Hang On....a machine whose graphics capabilities make most home computers look positively prehistoric. A games console can be all of these.

But which one - if any - should you go for? Atari are in the struggle with their 2600 system and the XE consoles; Nintendo are now being marketed in the UK by toy giants Mattel; and budget big boys Mastertronic have weighed in with the Sega machine. Will the consoles carve a niche for themselves on the games scene, or are they just another flickering sprite on the Great Screen of Life? A.C.E. investigates the console phenomenon and comes up with the answers...

Software

What's always been true of micros is even more true of consoles - software support and the quality of the games released are the only buying criteria worth considering. You can check out reviews of the hardware until you’re blue in the face, but unless the games themselves are hot you might as well save your pennies So will the consoles deliver? If they do. can you afford to pay for what’s on offer? Will you want to?

The Nintendo machine has a larger selection of software globally available - in excess of 60 titles - than its Japanese competitor Sega. Furthermore, this software comes from a variety of manufacturers other than Nintendo, though the company still vets and labels software before release.

Neither of the Japanese invaders, however, comes close to matching the volume of software available for Atari’s XE console-computer hybrid or for the 2600 console; there are thousands of titles available on 8-bit Atari format. Not only are many of them excellent games, they can also be snapped up at prices sometimes as much as 50% less than Sega or Nintendo prices. Atari games, though, are getting a little aged and there's not likely to be much interest on the part of software houses in developing new stuff

As for the Sega system, this - for the time being at any rate - is simply a way of getting a unit to play Sega games on (some of which, of course, are pretty hot). Other manufacturers will possibly get a look in at some later date, but there are currently no firm plans for this to happen before next year.

You shouldn't be misled by figures regarding the total number of games available for a system, however How may of them will you actually be able to buy? Unfortunately Mattel, who are introducing Nintendo in this country, are only planning to introduce 27 of those 60+ titles in this country in 1987. Sega cue bringing in only 20 of the system's 40 titles No problems on this score for Atari, though; there's lots of software waiting to be bought.

Both Sega and Nintendo will review this policy after Christmas, but with software costing between £15 and £35 you may think that the question of numbers of titles Is largely academic Sega's games have the advantage of being cheaper than Nintendo's by at least five pounds Both companies are planning to divide the games they release into different categories - Sega's will retail at £14.95, £19.95, and £24.95, Nintendo's at £19.50, £28.50, and £31.50. The cheaper Nintendo range are the 'sports and action titles, the games compatible with the Zapper gun will fall into the middle category, and the R.O.B. and other accessory-driven games will tip the top-end of the scales. Sega's games are priced according to format - one megabyte cartridges are cheapest, then 2-megs, and the credit-card style 'softcards' are the most expensive.

Atari software is much cheaper. A full-price cassette costs around £10, but there are numerous budget titles around which are well worth considering. The 2600 system is, of course, cartridge-only, these typically cost either £9.99 or £12.99, though many shops are doing bargain prices. There's a pretty big list of 2600 titles, but most of them are none too recent; the past couple of years has probably seen only a dozen or so new releases.

The actual quality of what's on offer is, of course, just as important as the pricing and the variety of choice. You can check out the reviews of the software for these machines on the following pages and make your own decisions, but most of us at A.C.E. reached the same conclusion - that the software on the Nintendo looked slicker, and that the system possibly had the greater potential, but that the games for Sega were actually more playable, while the Atari systems' huge software base was attractive despite the longevity of many titles.

Control

Of almost equal importance to software for the discerning games player is the question of what you use to play the games. Nintendo are investigating the possibility of providing alternative joystick units as well as the 'hand controllers' that come with the system. These little units - with their tiny knobs, pressure pads and buttons - are broadly similar on the Sega and Nintendo machines and feelings about them differ widely according to personal taste.

However, an alternative would be a life-saver for those of us who can't handle anything other than a good, solid stick. Sega have no plans to provide alternatives, but the action of third-party suppliers may make both companies' plans irrelevant; if the market takes off, expect copious supplies of add-on joysticks. Atari, of course, supply their traditional joysticks - and you can use a wide variety of alternative sticks with these machines.

NINTENDO

The Nintendo is available as two different packages. The complete system will cost you £159.99 and comes with a plastic robotic figure (ROB) and a light gun. You also get two free games - Gyromite and Duck Hunt - which make use of ROB and the Zapper (as Nintendo call the gun}.

Despite the plastic construction, the quality of manufacture of these units is excellent. Most kids, of whatever age, will get a kick out of unpacking the system and setting it up, even if the main control box does look a bit... well... boxy.

For £99.99 you can get the slimmed-down system, which misses out the robot, the Zapper, and the two games and instead gives you a copy of Super Mono Brothers. For some games freaks, the inclusion of a freebie Mario game will probably be of considerable appeal - it's certainly an astonishingly addictive romp.

Once you've plugged the unit into the mains (plug supplied), connected up your TV, and selected your game, you slot it into the box where it snuggles down and makes perfect contact - no pushing or shoving required. The game loads instantly and you're away.

The 'game controllers', or joystick units feature four buttons - one labelled START, another SELECT, and two fire buttons. These are used for various different purposes according to what game you're playing. Unlike the Sega units, you can't screw a mini-joystick lever onto them.

The Zapper gun is very well made and easy to use. In practice it seems accurate and reasonably tolerant of your distance from the screen, though obviously the further away you stand the harder it is to hit your target. ROB - the robot - is likely to be a waste of money for most games-players. True, there are games that use it - but they cost a lot more (£31.50) and although they will doubtless appeal to younger souls, older gamesters are unlikely to be impressed. The prospect of watching ROB dither about spinning gyros and performing other antics is unlikely to appeal to someone whose first response to a robot is to send it into eternity with a mega-bolt from their pocket neutron blaster.

SEGA

The Sega, unlike the Nintendo, comes in one version only - the complete system, costing £99.95. For this you get the basic unit, two 'control pads' and the TV lead (with aerial/console switch included). You also get a free copy of Hang-On - an excellent version of the arcade motorcycling classic.

The styling of the machine is significantly better than the Nintendo and the quality of construction only marginally inferior - certainly not to the point of demanding adverse comment. One particular point about the control pads is that you are supplied with little knobs which you can screw into the pads, making them more like a conventional joystick. Since most of us found them pretty useless with or without knobs this point is largely academic.

The cartridges for the Sega system are more standard in appearance than the Nintendo ones. They are notable for coming in one and two megabyte sizes, space to pack some quite impressive software in. And of course you can get the softcards as well.. if you're £35.00 in credit at the bank.

If you want to get the Lasgun (er...light gun to you and me) you'll have to fork out another £44.95, but you get a couple of games with it (on what's called a Combo Cartridge - two games on one cartridge).

You can also get some very hi-tech 3-D specs for £49.95. Whether you think it's worth £50 to get 3D games must depend on the games themselves. You never know what the future has in store, but judging by the one we were sent tor review we feel that Mastertronic are unlikely to be burdened by our 50 quid for some time yet.

ATARI

Atari are revamping a couple of their older models for an onslaught on the console market. First there's the XE system, which for £119.99 gets you the XE main unit plus keyboard expansion and data recorder, thereby effectively giving you a 130XE 8-bit computer, but with only half the memory. You also get the CX40 joystick and a software cartridge thrown in.

Alternatively, there's still the 2600 games console. This will set you back £49.95. bringing you the console unit, joystick, and games cartridge.

In both cases there was still some uncertainty at Atari as to which software titles would be bundled with the machine. However, software is one thing these units have in abundance. There are, in theory, over 2000 titles for the XE system, with approximately 80-90 readily available on ROM cartridge, cassette, or disc. Prices for cartridges vary enormously but some of the older titles can be picked up for less than a tenner.

Age is the real concern here, however. The 2600 system first saw the light of day in 1979 and although it was ahead of its time in those days it certainly wasn't eight years ahead. However Atari claim sales of 1 million units to date and for that reason some software houses are still supporting both the 2600 and the XE system - Activision (and Atari, of course) being the prime examples. Some dedicated gamesters may also appreciate the possibility of being able to play some of the older epoch-making titles that made Atari famous and fuelled the early days of computer games - Star Raiders, for example, or Pac-Man.

In the final analysis however, any money spent on these units is money spent on history. True, at £49.95 the 2600 is incredibly cheap and despite its age the software still packs an addictive punch So as history goes, it's pretty entertaining - but do you really want to spend today's cash on yesterday's system.

DUCK-HUNT-Nintendo

Quack, quack - you’re dead. Played with the ’zapper’ this cartridge gives you the opportunity to shoot one duck, two ducks, or clay pigeons. The zapper itself is accurate enough even at distances of five metres from the screen and has a pleasant balance and weight; it actually feels like a pistol. The game has pretty graphics and reasonable animation, as well as one or two nice touches; when you bag the birdie your faithful hound jumps up with it in his mouth - when you miss it gives a sly guffaw. But that's about it. Both duck and clay pigeon shooting are far too easy to keep you at it for long: when you're a crack shot you need something a bit more challenging.

SAFARI-HUNT - Sega

Sega's software for use with the pistol includes three games; Safari Hunt, Marksman and Trap Shooting. Safari Hunt, as the name implies, involves shooting various animals that bound or flap around the on-screen jungle. The scenery and the animals change for each round though the graphics are generally simplistic with a rather blocky aspect to them.

Marksman takes place on an indoor range of the type favoured by Clint Eastwood when in practice with his Magnum 44. Silhouettes of baddies pop up or trundle across the screen; waste the requisite number and you can go on to the next stage. The perspective and shading of the game are good, the sound is suitably atmospheric and the game proves to be quite a test of your marksmanship.

Trapshooting, as the Americans call clay-pigeon shooting, boasts wonderful explosions when you score a hit. This is a good shooting cartridge, let down somewhat by the far too simplistic Safari Hunt. Still, Sega's pistol-packing game gets nearer the bull’s-eye than the Nintendo offering.

SUPER MARIO BROTHERS - Nintendo

Now this is a game worth playing; in fact, it's almost worth buying the console just for this one game. Can 4,000,000 Japanese buyers be wrong? In this case, no.

Playing the game involves controlling a little man - Mario - on his quest for the Mushroom Princess, kidnapped by the denizens of the Turtle Kingdom. It's a silly scenario, very Japanese and cutesy, but don't let it put you off.

The game area is made up of several 'worlds’, each comprising four separate levels. Mario runs and jumps from left to right, catching various objects and destroying walls with his hard-hatted head. Catch a Magic Mushroom and you become twice as big and twice as powerful; get a Fire Flower and you are transformed into Super Mario, lobbing bolts of fire at the nasties; grab hold of a star and you are, temporarily, Invincible Mario.

The game is incredibly addictive, with a huge playing area, hosts of wacky enemies, and a plethora of puzzles which will only be solved by lots of practice and large helpings of luck. The graphics are bright and very cute, and the musical accompaniment must be one of the catchiest computer tunes ever written -it certainly fits the crazy action perfectly. Super Mario is by far the best game available for the Nintendo system, and more than holds its own with games we've seen on any home micro in the last few years.

GYROMITE - Nintendo

Your chance for meaningful man-machine interaction as you plug In ROB - your Robotic Operating Buddy. You sit ROB in front of the screen, connected to the console via the second control pad. ROB activates the buttons of the control pad by placing spinning gyroscopes onto a red or blue 'cup'; the weight of the gyro' then depresses the cup which in turn activates the button on the control pad. Depending upon which cup the gyro’s in, a series of columns of corresponding colour is raised*lowered on the screen enabling a little character, (the proff) to wander across the screen and reach his goal.

ROB's an interesting little add-on to the system, but it remains to be seen what - if any - software will be produced to take advantage of it. Gyromite itself is a very simplistic game which has little to recommend it except that it shows how ROB can work.

HANG ON - Sega

This motor-bike game was - rightly - a big hit in the arcades, largely because of the faithfulness of the simulation. Sega have pulled this off rather well; the game is exciting and demanding. Graphics are very similar to the arcade original, with only two very minor points letting it down; firstly, the trackside obstacles, as they move closer, grow larger In a somewhat jerky fashion, and secondly that when you crash you miss out on all the fun of seeing your hapless rider flung through the air - on this version the bike just explodes into a ball of flame. But these are minor points; the game is as smooth and responsive as ever and though sound is not quite up to the arcade standard it is still difficult to fault.

SPACE HARRIER - Sega

A very disappointing version of Sega's arcade smasher. Though the game is very big, bright and colourful it lacks the smooth 3D movement that made the arcade game so playable.

Jerky graphics are not the game's only drawback; all the enemy creatures and objects are displayed in square character blocks and if two of these overlap then part of the most distant character can be erased by some a blank one.

Space Harrier's sound contains little to redeem the graphics, with the tune being played very weakly throughout and a voice that sounds like a cross between Micky Mouse and Donald Duck blurting out the usual 'Get Ready' as each wave of enemies starts to hurtle toward you.

ATARI XE GAMES

ROBOTRON 2084 - cartridge

A conversion of the old arcade zap-em-up in which your task was to rescue the last surviving humans from the clutches of hordes of killer robots. You are placed in the middle of a screen crowded with robots that all begin to converge on you as you desperately attempt to blast a path through their metal bodies. Also wandering around the screen are a number of humans which it is your duty to rescue. A very good conversion of a frantic game - but it is getting a little long in the robotic tooth.

JOUST

Another arcade conversion, this is the game of knightly conflict with the combatants perched atop giant birds. The object is to unseat your opponents and grab the egg that falls from the now riderless bird. Graphics are pretty simplistic when compared with the arcade version and this itself Is a rather ancient game (from way back in *83) but all of the playability has been retained, including the option for two people to play simultaneously.

STAR RAIDERS

Yes, its the first and all time great space zap-em-up in which you defend the Atarian Empire from the marauding Zylons. You are equipped with a Galactic map showing your location and the number of enemy ships in each sector, a short range scan that shows your position and that of any other craft within a sector and the essential battle computer, shields and photon torpedoes.

The object of the game is simple - warp around the map and destroy all of the enemy ships before they destroy either you or your Starbases. A 3D view is given of the small but fast attacking ships as they fly by blasting your defences to pieces; if you survive the fight you can warp off to a starbase for repairs. Star Raiders is a fast and compulsive challenge but, unfortunately, it can’t be played without the add-on keyboard.

CONCLUSIONS

With the Atari machines you at least know where you stand. The 2600 is cheap and uses cartridge software that's been around for a while and is readily available. The XE system is essentially an 8-bit computer with a vast amount of games to choose from. Neither , though, seems to have much of a future in terms of software development; unless they sell extraordinarily well software houses will see little point in devoting R&D resorces to them.

Sadly, because of the restricted availability of titles for both Japanese machines, it's very difficult to make a definitive judgement about each unit's potential A.C.E.'s Steve Cooke was in Tokyo last summer and saw Nintendo software that knocked spots olf anything we’ve seen for the machine over here. But the message is -if it’s not on the shelves in the UK then it might as well be in Never-Never Land. And don’t go relying on Japanese imports - the Mattel unit uses a different cartridge format from the Japanese Nintendo system.

Similarly, many of the games we've seen here for the Sega have been wntten in a character-based fashion that gives a slightly primitive look to the display and at worst causes ugly masking problems.

When it comes to making a choice between the two systems, the Japanese don't seem to have had any trouble. Nintendo claim 95% of the games console market -perhaps an over-stated figure, but the fact is that Sega sales have been nowhere near the level of Nintendo's. Over here, however, things don't seem to be so clear cut. Now that Mattel have dropped the price of the Nintendo unit to equal the Sega system, it's even harder to pick a winner.

We reckon that if you're after slick programming and expansion possibilities Nintendo has the greater potential, if you're keener on gameplay than cute displays. Sega - for the time being, at any rate - has the edge Remember, however, that there are always exceptions - Nintendo's Super Mario is a super-addictive and very playable game, and Sega’s Transbot has some great-looking screens.

But should you buy a console rather than, say, a 16-bit computer like the ST or the Amiga? While an ST costs £200 more than a console, it's a much more versatile machine, both in terms of what you can do with it and the kind of games you can play on it.

Ideally, we'd all have enough cash to own a computer and a console. Given that most of us haven't a choice has to be made. If you like the look of console software and are interested exclusively in games then the machines are worth taking a good, long look at; if you want something that will play games and do that little bit more then you're better off with a computer.

See more scans of ACE