Jocky Wilson's Compendium of Darts


by Brian Cross
Zeppelin Games Ltd
1991
Sinclair User Issue 112, Jun 1991   page(s) 34

Label: Zeppelin
Memory: 48K/128K
Price: £3.99 Tape
Reviewer: Alan Dykes

Stomach!. This is something you need a lot of to be able to play darts properly. If you don't have enough then you might just belly up and lose the chance of collecting a big fat cheque at the of the tournament. Yes, it's a funny old game and Jocky Wilson's Darts Compendium just goes to prove this.

The whole point of the game is to compete with the jovial Geordie in six different tournaments where your accuracy and judgement, (not to mention luck), will be tested to the full.

At the sharp end of the collection there is a 501 matchplay game which is fairly competitive. The rest of the compendium includes Ten Dart Century, Shanghai, Scram, Dart Bowls and Football. The rules for these games vary little but each does represent sufficient new challenge to keep your joystick wiggling for a little longer.

A quick flight through the control procedures of Jocky Wilson's Darts doesn't yield much joy. Each dart floats in front of the board as if held by a drunken orchestral conductor, with generally rather imprecise, keyboard or joystick guidance and fire instructions. It's a bit like juggling on a waterbed but it is possible, with practice to become reasonably accurate.

I quickly became bored with a noise like that of air escaping from a balloon every time I threw a dart but in general the sound doesn't help or hinder the game. The graphics are quite good and are easy to see with some nice colour on the omnipresent presenter and Jocky.

Jocky Wilson's Darts Compendium isn't a bad collection and has enough action to keep you occupied for a short/medium time span, especially if you're a darts fan.


ANDREA:
I don't like darts because it messes up T.V. schedules and stops me seeing arty films late at night. Jocky Wilson's Dart Compendium is much better because I can play it any time and it's pretty realistic. I wish the dart was easier to control though.

Graphics: 82%
Sound: 60%
Playability: 72%
Lastability: 73%
Overall: 73%

Summary: As long as you don't think darts is a load of old bullseye then you should like Jocky Wilson's Darts Compendium, a good sports sim for the price.

Transcript by Chris Bourne

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