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Homepage | Reviews | Competitions | Guest Rooms | Miscellaneous | Editor |
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Barbie
Team Gymnastics |
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With the long-running success of the Barbie
sensation it’s great to finally be able to interact with these famous toys on the
computer but if you are also a fan of gymnastics then BARBIE TEAM GYMNASTICS is the
ideal title for you. Barbie and some of her friends have teamed up and fancy their
chances in some competitions but first of all they’ll need to practice the technical
aspects of the equipment. Each of your athletes must achieve a good standard before you
are allowed to enter a competition but practicing is almost as much fun as winning. You
can create all of your own unique 3D routines and swap their order around until you have
the combinations that suit you best and you can do this for each athlete and for each
discipline. You’ll be working with balance beam, bars, vaulting horse
and floor and everything is about timing…! Fortunately, you don’t have to
actually perform the actions yourself – you only need to hit the correct keys, at the
right time, and your on-screen counterpart will react perfectly. This all sounds a little
easy but it does take a bit of practice to coordinate everything. It’s very easy to
miss a key or hit the wrong one or even be just a little late with your keystroke –
all of which cause your athlete to lose vital points. Each move has 2, 3 or 4 key combinations and you’ll have
very little time to strike their correct arrow key or space bar counterparts. The moves of
your routine are displayed across the bottom of the screen and shuffle their way along to
the left as you perform them. As they reach the far side the key symbols appear up the
edge of the screen – get them right and you’ll perform well. Get them wrong and
it’s practice time again…! In all there are over 100 gymnastic moves to master
and some special ones are awarded for good performances. These can all be saved into a
team scrapbook and even printed out to show friends how good you are, but the proof of
that is in the actual contests themselves. You’ll have to work your way through four levels of
competition if you want to get your hands on the gold medals but your best performances
can be saved and watched again anytime from the television in the locker room. You can
also select the team’s costumes and different ones can be won in each competition, so
success does bring its rewards. I found BARBIE TEAM GYMNASTICS to be a unique and fun game
to play (and I’m neither young, female or a Barbie fan). Players will learn a lot
about the sport as well as having a lot of fun trying to get their fingers to work
properly. Then, of course, there’s the added attraction of having an animated Barbie
to interact with and the challenge of choreographing each performance for maximum
competition points. It’s really great fun to play. Price: £19.99 on PC CD ROM. |
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