Derby Day - 'aving a flutter
The year was 1983, I had absolutely no interest in horse racing or gambling (being only 11 years old.) However, my father came home from work one day clutching this game in his grubby little paws. At this point , dear reader, feel free to take a few seconds to try and spot his motive. Was he perhaps trying to get me interested in horse racing? Perhaps he was trying to use this to negotiate an afternoon at the races ? Or....perhaps....it was educational reasons. An attempt to make maths fun? I think by now we all know the answer....educational reasons. I suppose in a way it was mathematically helpful, you managed your little pot of cash and learnt what decent odds were.
You had to hand it to this game, there was something addictive about it. You could play it alone, on a rainy Saturday afternoon while you waited for The A Team to come on, or you could play it with a gaggle of friends after school. It was certainly more fun with a gaggle of friends though, encouraging your chosen horse on with ...'terms of endearment' , daring each other to pick the horse with the longest odds and generally horsing around as only a group of 11 year old kids can. You were also exposed to the below gentleman, look at those eyes, look at that blood red mouth , look at that lemon curd background. This is your bookmaker 'Honest Clive Spectrum' .
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Believe me, even after you have forgotten the game play, the horse racing screen and the names of some of the horses, you will remember this gentleman! There was something about this graphic that stuck in the brain, possibly the way his mouth changed depending on whether you were winning or not , or was it those devilishly cyan steely eyes? Either way this was the one thing that stuck in my mind for years after about this game. But there was one other thing as well, one special feature that up until now I had not come across that added immense value to this game, especially if you were playing in a group of friends.
Take a look at those horses names,you will notice that Dr Who, Avon, Mr Stinky, Rat Face and Spock are all racing. Yep, that's right , you could customise the horse names and the odds. Suddenly this game had a purpose , it was suitable party entertainment for 11 year olds, it could lower the tone of a conversation in an instant , shocked parents would assemble at the door as a jubilant child announced that ' Popeye had beaten Poopy Pants'. Weren't we lovely when we were that age?!
Singers, cartoon characters , even the school heart throb were all fair game in the naming of horses and it has to be said even the odd parent's name got included. Perhaps maths was being made fun after all!
Singers, cartoon characters , even the school heart throb were all fair game in the naming of horses and it has to be said even the odd parent's name got included. Perhaps maths was being made fun after all!
I'm pretty certain that CRL Group who produced this game had not intended the adding of horses names to be the selling point of the software , I suspect also that 11 year old girls were not their target audience. But when Paul Young, is leading from George Michael and Shakin' Stevens is bringing up the rear, you can't really argue!
The little black box and joined the party and proved it could be as naughty as the rest of us. Encouraging us to rename those poor computerised horses, encouraging us to name them after our parents and teachers. ( Alright perhaps the Spectrum didn't encourage us that much, but it gave us the opportunity.) Planting that little spark of anarchy , which I now realise was present in an awful lot of Spectrum games.
I still remember the afternoons where Batman would race against Mr Stinky, not for the game play, or understanding the concept of long or shot odds but for the laughter and the anarchy. Another educational choice by my father had beaten the odds to become a much loved classic.
The little black box and joined the party and proved it could be as naughty as the rest of us. Encouraging us to rename those poor computerised horses, encouraging us to name them after our parents and teachers. ( Alright perhaps the Spectrum didn't encourage us that much, but it gave us the opportunity.) Planting that little spark of anarchy , which I now realise was present in an awful lot of Spectrum games.
I still remember the afternoons where Batman would race against Mr Stinky, not for the game play, or understanding the concept of long or shot odds but for the laughter and the anarchy. Another educational choice by my father had beaten the odds to become a much loved classic.