Bitmap Brothers 1990
Genre: Sport
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Atari ST

The successor to the best sports game of the 80s (see the Amiga section for the first part) - published on the Atari first! A few years after Speedball 1. Corruption and violence have driven the sport underground. At least that is what the intro says. There's not really much more violence, but at least the corruption has obviously been eliminated (no bribing the officials anymore ;). Anyway, you're the manager of a team called 'Brutal Deluxe' (what a sound name!) which is a member of the second league. And now guess what you have to do...

California Dreams 1990
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

It's the early 60s. You're one of those 'cool rebels' who spend all day in their garage with your car. Tuning the motor, polishing it and in more intimate moments, probably even stroking it. However, what's the worth of a beautiful girlfriend which nobody else knows about? Exactly. That's why you're taking part in illegal road races.

Microstyle 1988
Genre: Sport, Simulation
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga, C64

Before he began to make "serious" racing sims like Formula 1 Grand Prix, Geoff Crammond created this Amiga classic. It is set in a fictional (or let's say I hope it is fictional) Stunt Car league. There are four divisions and the player of course starts in the fourth. In each division there are two courses on which all three drivers (of the division) have to race against each other in head-to-head duels. Points are awarded for the best lap and the winner. At the end of the season, the best driver of each division gets to the higher division, while the last one is relegated.

Mindscape 1990
Genre: Sport, Simulation
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

'Stunts' is a great and very action-packed racing simulation. You don't race against a bunch of other drivers but instead your main goal is to survive the numerous stunts each track has to offer, although you can still compete against a computer controlled car.

Magnetic Fields / Gremlin Graphics 1990
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

Racing games weren't always in pseudo 3D. For instance, there were Sprint and Super Sprint (which was never ported to the Amiga, but that's a story for another day). Super Cars is a home-computer-original variant of the same idea, and quite a good one.

Atari Games / Electric Dreams 1986
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 3/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Atari ST

Finally - the classic when it comes to top-down racers. You'll find exactly the same elements as in the later imitations. Namely: Fast and simple racing round courses which stretch exactly across the screen and randomly appearing power-ups which can be picked up by driving over them. In this case, the latter consist of bonus points and wrenches. Wrenches can be used to tune your car (motor, tires, you name it) - another standard feature.

Tokyo Shoseki / Nintendo 1991
Genre: Sport
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: SNES

One thing before: I am, presumably like 99, 997% of humanity, not a tennis fan. Actually I detest tennis. Now the reader asks: "Why the hell does this guy write a review of a tennis game?" I am an employee at a public service und therefore working in several offices from time to time. There you have - you can easily imagine - a lot of time to fritter away. What are you doing then? That's right! Gaming! But what? Everyone who has ever spent eight hours playing Minesweeper or Solitaire knows that there are more refreshing games. Other games like Counterstrike that enforce themselves in huge network (2000 computers) are unsuitable either, if you don't want to surprise your boss with sudden "Yeah!!! Head shot!!!" interjections...

Silvertime 1986
Genre: Sport
Rating: 2/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

First there was ping-pong. Then it got more 'official' and was called table tennis. Then nothing happened. And people waited for another evolution. But they really had to wait for a long time! Until the late 20th century to be exact. Then the messiah arrived: Pong! It took the basic ping- pong concept to whole new heights by adding an artificial opponent and making it all digital.

Melbourne House 1985
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

After the success of Karate Champ, it was only a question of time until the first imitations would arrive. The Way of the Exploding Fist is one of these. Whatever your personal verdict about the game's quality (and imitations in general) is: It's certainly one of the games with the most creative names ever! Exploding Fist? Hard not to like it!