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	The Smirking Horror (WoW, 1991) You're sitting in the computer room at PUE Tech on a freezing night, and a snowstorm is raging outside. It's time to finish your assignment, so you'd better get on with it – but you soon discover that all the computers are down. Bummer! Fans of Infocom's text adventures will instantly recognise the scenario, which is almost exactly the same as that of The Lurking Horror. This adventure is written using GAC, so it's unfair to expect it to match the quality of the game it's based on – but it uses GAC's features well. The author's sense of humour really shows through, especially if you've played The Lurking Horror and discover that certain things are rather different in this game! This is a really enjoyable text adventure, and is arguably one of the best GAC adventures that I've ever played. More information on TACGR 8
	Snoball in Hell (Atlantis, 1989) I don't know why the word 'snoball' is spelt the way it is in this game, but you know the saying about "a snowball's chance in hell", and now you're attempting to raise hell, armed with just a few snowballs. Can you pull it off? This is a Breakout clone, using an armoured tank as a bat and a snowball as a ball. Unlike many other Breakout clones, though, the bat moves vertically and not horizontally, and there are also plenty of monsters which fly towards you. They can be hard to dodge, but you soon learn to hold down the fire button more or less constantly. The graphics are very colourful, but there's nothing that makes it better than similar games. More information on TACGR 6
	Snooker Management (Cult, 1990) A snooker management game? What kind of lunatic thought of this? It's one of Cult's terrible efforts at writing management games, being written entirely in BASIC with no graphics to speak of. You start bottom of the world rankings and have to play in tournaments and earn prize money to make it all the way to the top. You can also arrange matches with other players and gamble your money on other players. The big problem is that you have to sit through other players' games, and of course, your own games. It is duller than watching paint dry, and even die-hard snooker fans will loathe this sorry excuse for a game. More information on TACGR 1
	Soccer Challenge (Alternative, 1990) Despite the name of this game, you don't actually play a proper game of football; instead, the game concentrates on training. There are four types of training – dribbling, tackling, passing and penalties. When you have completed all four courses successfully, you can then go on to the assault course. The courses are all self-explanatory, except for the dribbling, in which you have to kick the ball around some cones in the direction highlighted by the arrow shown on the screen. There aren't many football training games around, mainly because they're just not as exciting as actual football games. This is no exception; the graphics are OK, but the gameplay is really dull. More information on TACGR 3
	Soccer Director (GTI, 1990) There are lots of football management games on the CPC, but this game instead sees you as a crooked businessman trying to buy at least 501 shares in the top ten clubs in the 1st Division. Starting with £200,000, you buy some shares and watch their value rise and fall as each team's fortune changes. Each week, you are paid a dividend through your ownership of the teams, and can use that to buy more shares. You can also bet on a team to win the league or be relegated, and you can also call meetings to demand pay rises, ground improvements, or a new manager. There is no excitement to this game at all, mainly because it takes ages to build up enough money from your dividends, and you are forced to look at screen after screen of information after each turn. Oh, and it's written entirely in BASIC as well. More information on TACGR 2
	Soccer 86 (Activision/Loriciels, 1985) Reviewed by Guillaume Chalard The French version of this football game is known as Marius Tresor Foot, after a great French footballer who played for France in the 1982 World Cup. You can select two of four teams (Great Britain, France, Germany or Italy) and choose the level of each of your players (from 0 to 20) and your opponent's players. However, there are no differences between the different teams, save for the colour of their shirts. You automatically control the player that is closest to the ball, although pressing the fire button allows you to change the player you want to control. Once you are in possession of the ball, your speed is reduced by half, which favours a very collective method of play! Eventually, it is a fast and really enjoyable game, though it isn't realistic at all. More information on TACGR 6
	Soccer Pinball (Codemasters, 1992) Soccer and pinball – when you think about it, it almost makes sense. As you'd expect, the pinball table is laid out in the form of a football pitch, the aim being to get rid of each of the defenders blocking the way, and then scoring three goals to go on to the next table – which has exactly the same layout, but with more defenders. Whether you'll actually be able to score three goals seems to be a matter of sheer fluke; the game is too difficult and the goalmouth is too small, letting down an otherwise novel concept. Out of interest, it also uses the cassette motor as a sound effect... bizarre! More information on TACGR 6
	Soccer Rivals (Cult, 1991) A football management game combined with a board game – it sounds interesting but after a few goes, you begin to realise its limitations. Three players, which can be human or computer-controlled, choose to manage one of 32 teams and take it in turns to move around the board. Each square on the board triggers an event; one type of square lets you buy new players, another lets you set up a youth team and coach, or to make improvements to your stadium, while another lets you train your players. There are also 'chance' squares which may win or lose you money. The problem is that you can only perform actions when you land on the right square, which may take one turn or ten turns. Football management games should be based on skill and not luck. More information on TACGR 5
	Software House (Cult, 1988) What's it like to be the manager of your own software house and release some games? This game lets you try this out. Your aim is to survive for five years, but you start out with a budget of only £2500, and if you go more than £25,000 into debt, it's all over. In each quarter (which counts as one turn), you can select one or more games to buy, and then it's your job to organise the duplication of tapes and the artwork, packaging, price and the number of advertisements to place in magazines. After each turn, you then read the Games News magazine which has news of how well you're doing and how good or bad they think your latest game is. It's all good fun, although it can be frustrating and unpredictable most of the time. More information on TACGR 7
	Software Star (Addictive, 1984) You're a games programmer at a software house, and you want to achieve the title of Software Star. Games are developed and released, and each month you get to see how well they're doing in the software charts; getting in the top three is crucial if you want to be known, and good reviews count, too! Other tasks you have to perform include booking adverts, removing old games from your catalogue, and whether to use hype or honesty to sell your games. Any initial excitement about the game begins to wear off; even on the beginner level, it's too difficult. More information on TACGR 5

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