Daley Thompson's Supertest - The Joystick Destroyer Strikes Back.
You may remember dear reader, how Daley Thompson made us destroy a joystick and a table in a previous blog post. He also got us banished to our room, caused arguments between family members and encouraged us to try out a few new athletic events on the way. Well , ladies and gentlemen , please be upstanding for , The Destroyer of Joysticks, Daley Thompson and his Supertest
The year is 1985 and we find ourselves in the company of Daley Thompson once more. Eight events over two days. What possible track and field events could we be going to face, would the joystick hold out, would the keyboard hold out if the joystick broke and would the desk survive the onslaught? I was surprised to find out that these events were not quite the events you would associate our Daley with. Pistol Shooting ,Rowing , Cycling ,Penalties ,Spring Board Diving, Ski Jump, Giant Slalom and Tug O'War. Perhaps Daley had gone to a local holiday camp for inspiration?
On the upside there wasn't quite as much joystick waggling required , but on the downside on each day there was at least one event which could quite merrily rain on your parade. Once again there was that friendly rivalry between my father and I. The pistol shooting , where you have a limited time to shoot your target caused a little bit of frustration . The cycling and we were on more familiar territory , left , right, left, right , creak goes the table . In fact I have to say that this game didn't destroy any joysticks this time (whenever I had friends round to play I disconnected the joystick, hid it and denied all knowledge of having one.)
But after we had peddled ourselves silly, came, the springboard diving. There stands our athlete, we will call him Daley , wobbling on the edge of a diving board, in front of four very nonplussed judges. We bounce, bounce , bounce, launch, spin, spin, spin and land in the water on our backside . Repeat bounce etc launch etc land ect. This event needed skills neither my father nor I ever held. Also in case you are wondering, no, shouting words of ....er...encouragement at the screen doesn't help. Neither does abuse towards the judges. There is also no option to turn your back on the judges and drop your trunks (we would have probably got more marks than our diving ever did if there had been!)
Next comes Daley Goes Skiing, or the giant slalom if you prefer. Get Daley safely to the bottom if you can, good luck with that event as well, it was possible , but guiding Horace was far easier! Well done you have survived day one....turn over that tape and prepare for more punishment. Day two starts with a little boat trip , it's left , right, left , right time again . But no sooner are we back on dry land and dried off the football pitch awaits.
Taking a penalty, tricky , but not impossible , surely? Not being entirely sure where 'Daley' is until he enters the screen is a little tricky but a goal can be kicked. It's not easy but it is do-able. Make the most of that goal , because we come onto the ......ski-jump. Picture our 'Daley' poised like the 'Milk Tray Man ' on top of that ski slope, he pushes off, glides majestically down and then launches himself into the air, before plummeting to earth and breaking his skies. Yet again another skill that my father and I never really managed to attain and 'Daley' would end up looking rather sorry for himself in a hole in the snow. The final event was the Tug of War , a nice left, right,left,right wrist destroyer to finish off with.
I liked this game, by now this format wasn't unique, but the sports within the game were new to me. It was a great game for playing when you had friends round ( as long as I hid the joystick) and was great for challenging my father to as well.
But I have another reason for liking this game. I have a theory, this game isn't about Daley playing these sports, it's Daley Thompson challenging YOU to try new things. I don't think for a minute Mr Thompson himself has ever flung himself down a ski jump, but I do suspect he has cycled, rowed even perhaps skied in the quest to better his performance at the events we know and love him for.
I liked this game, by now this format wasn't unique, but the sports within the game were new to me. It was a great game for playing when you had friends round ( as long as I hid the joystick) and was great for challenging my father to as well.
But I have another reason for liking this game. I have a theory, this game isn't about Daley playing these sports, it's Daley Thompson challenging YOU to try new things. I don't think for a minute Mr Thompson himself has ever flung himself down a ski jump, but I do suspect he has cycled, rowed even perhaps skied in the quest to better his performance at the events we know and love him for.
Looking back at this software now I can see parallels, branching points, (or different legs in the trousers of time - if you are a Terry Pratchett fan.) Where an activity or hobby has branched off into something completely different. For me a quick dip in the pool became lessons in synchronised swimming , water polo and spending time as a swimming instructor. Gymnastics became dance and trampoling . Starting with something familiar and then challenging yourself with the more unfamiliar.
I do wonder how many kids picked up new hobbies from this software, how many Olympic ski-jumpers, stood on the top of the slope , before taking their first jump, and thought of that little ZX Spectrum sprite.
Their own 'Daley Thompson' who had first planted the idea of what they now wanted to achieve.
I do wonder how many kids picked up new hobbies from this software, how many Olympic ski-jumpers, stood on the top of the slope , before taking their first jump, and thought of that little ZX Spectrum sprite.
Their own 'Daley Thompson' who had first planted the idea of what they now wanted to achieve.