Advent Calendar - December 4th.

4th & Inches (Commodore 64)

Accolade went through a little spell in the Eighties where they brought us Britishers a real taste of Americana on the Commodore 64. I've already written about a couple of them... Law of the West and HardBall! I like to consider the games a trilogy, and the third is the game I've played today, 4th & Inches.


You just don't get names like that in English sport. Mack Truck? Fantastic.

I used to quite like American Football in the Eighties, courtesy of Channel 4's coverage. I didn't understand it (originally I didn't even know what this game's title meant!), but it almost felt like it was a game from another planet. Of course, any liking of American Football was knocked out of me by five years of living in Detroit... there has never been a suckier team than the Detroit Lions.

So the first time I loaded up 4th & Inches back then I was instantly taken with it. There were all these weird sounding plays and moves... Shotgun? Streak? No idea what they meant, but they seemed to work so I did them all the time. I really enjoyed the game, especially when playing against another human. It's a long, long time since I played 4th & Inches... I thought the time was right for a revisit.


See what I mean? I thought a Double Wing was something new at KFC.

The game is structured in a similar fashion to HardBall!. You've got a choice of two teams, which effectively comes down to your favourite colour between red and blue. Before you actually try and score any points, both sides have a choice of plays, chosen by the respective positions on the joystick. Your human opponent won't know what you've picked, adding an authentic air to proceedings. Once all the options have been run through, the action starts. The ball is snapped to your Quarterback, and you have to try and successfully run the play you've selected, or effectively stop your opponent if you're on defense.


Go on, son! GET IIIIIINNNNNNN!

I'm not going to run through the rules of American Football here... partly because it would be boring and partly because I don't know them myself. I'm not writing about American Football, anyway. 4th & Inches is an incredibly limited game by today's standards, but it was fun then and it's still fun for a game or two now, as long as you're not expecting any amount of depth from it. Because, depending on whether you've chosen to run or pass, the game becomes either a giant pile-on or a Benny Hill sketch, with the entire opposition team charging after your running back. In fact, it reminds me a little bit of Monty Python's Masters vs. Boys rugby match.


Inevitably, the tide has turned. That'll be that, then.

I was never that great at the game, and so it proved again whilst playing this... after a good start that saw me taking the lead, I never scored again and received a sound thrashing. I still enjoyed it though... the graphics have a charm all of their own, the incidental music from Ed Bogas (look him up... I had no idea back then that he'd done so much musically) that contributed so much to the atmosphere of all the classic Accolade games is still lovely today and there's quite a bit of tension as the clock ticks down and you're pressing for another score. 4th & Inches might not be a match for the Madden games of today, but back then it was all we had and it served us very well indeed.

HardBall! (Commodore 64)

HardBall! is the second classic Accolade title from the bunch I mentioned in my Law of the West write-up. When it arrived, I don't think I'd ever seen baseball before, and it genuinely felt like they'd put a little piece of America in the corner of my bedroom. The game blew me away.

It was presented so well that it was hard not to be drawn in. The huge player sprites and unusual but effective viewpoint were, of course, the main draw. I actually played this before the slightly earlier World Series Baseball, and the difference between the two was (and still is) like night and day in that respect.


About to bring the heat...

The computer opponent was quite tricky, but that didn't matter because I only really played the two-player game, which was great fun. I didn't have that option here, so I was forced to take on the computer opponent in a test of my mettle.

I have to say, HardBall! is still exactly as I remember it. And for all today's games are considerably flashier, much more detailed, much more in-depth and generally better, it hasn't really lost anything from back then. The player graphics are still pretty impressive for the age and platform we're looking at, and for all its little flaws, it still plays a pretty good game.


Success! Another homer, and I've tied the game.

It might seem very limited now, but back then the ability to substitute players and construct a starting line-up of your own choosing was quite revolutionary. And then there was your pitching strategy to take care of... and it certainly seems to matter, it's not just there for show. My first pitcher lacked a fastball, that staple of most pitchers, and went for two homers in the first inning. Not a great start, and although he improved in the second I soon yanked him and sent in someone else.

Batting was always the hardest part of HardBall!, and so it was proving again. I managed just one hit in the first three innings... which for those of you that don't know the game, means nothing... you don't actually score anything for a hit. However; all was not lost, and I tied the game at two in the fourth, with a couple of home runs.


Fastball! The exclamation mark makes all the difference.

Sadly, no sooner did I have the game tied then it all went wrong. A feeble hit from my opponent dribbled to my fielder, but I accidentally threw the ball to the wrong base and the runner made it to first. The very next pitch saw a two-run shot blasted to centre field, and I was down 4-2. I pulled that pitcher and threw in a guy with a very low ERA (Earned Runs Average). Not only did he have a fastball, he also had a fastball! The exclamation mark meant it was really fast. So I threw one of them for his first pitch, and it was dispatched to the car park. 5-2. I never got back into the game after that.

HardBall! takes me back in all the best ways. The big players, the roar of the crowd, the lovely incidental music from Ed Bogas (his speciality... he was one of those whose music you could always tell was his), and the feel of America combined to make HardBall! a classic of its time. I had a lot of fun with it today, and having lived in America and developed a love of baseball, I have a new appreciation for it now.

Thanks to Steve for the corrections. :-)

Law of the West (Commodore 64)

Way back when, Accolade went through a spell where they released a series of games, all of which I look back on fondly. I would say they're regarded as classics, although they might not all have had the highest critical acclaim at the time. The first of those games, and the one which everyone I know played and loved, is Law of the West.


Admit it, this almost brought a tear to your eye.

I'm not sure why Law of the West caught our imaginations as it did. I mean, cowboy films were not exactly all the rage in 1985. And yet, here we were being presented with the opportunity to be a sheriff of a two-bit town, and we snapped it up eagerly.


That Rose is a right floozy. Begone with you, woman!

I suspect it was because Law of the West was different to anything else at the time. It was much lighter than a text adventure, although you progressed by choosing one of four responses to a character's statements. And it was much lighter than an action game, with very little opportunity to draw your gun... and that was the only actual action in the game!


Come on, you always wanted to. And most of you probably did.

I decided I was going to play through it again, for the umpteenth time. And although I may be wrong, I think that a large part of the appeal is that your choices do directly affect the way the game progresses. Choose the right responses, and you can pacify a gunslinger, woo a lady, or keep onside with the doctor. Make sure that you do that last one. It's quite handy...


This one always looks like ending with trouble...

So, is Law of the West a precursor to Heavy Rain? Did those guys play this as kids and set out to make a more elaborate game along the same lines? That's doubtful, although I like to think it might be true. But it is a charming and endearing game which brings a touch of decency and morality to the Wild West... if you want it to. It ain't Red Dead Redemption, and it ain't Deadwood, but for all its brevity and relative lack of challenge these days, Law of the West is likely to see the sunset with many an old gamer.