Game Review: 180 (Commodore 64, MAD)

Darts games on home computers up to this point had been very hit and miss, with the from distance angle and throw of Pub Games being a reasonable attempt but which did not quite hit the mark. Enter Mastertronic with 180 – this MAD release on the short lived MADC series of games.  It is worth bearing in mind that darts during the 1980s was big on the television – various tournaments would be shown, with the World Championship from the Lakeside being shown each January – in fact January 1986 was its first time there.  And naturally, you couldn’t beat a bit of Bully with the darts game show Bullseye having millions of viewers each Sunday.  So, it was obvious that if done right, a darts game would sell well.

Jocky Wilson Said

It is worth noting that there are two versions of the cassette – they use the same loader, but the file name when FOUND appears is different.  For those named 180, you have the inferior (and bugged) version, and for those that have one named NAME, this is the clean version, you are good to go.  I will explain why as we go. Early copies also had the original MAD range illustrations on the cassette itself too, indicating it may have been proposed as a first-generation MAD release rather than the MADC range.  Either way, you get a nice dartboard loading screen showing Darts 180 in the middle, and sets you up nicely, as does the short but catchy little David Whittaker tune on the title screen with scrolling message of massive characters.  You have three options – play in tournament mode, go around the clock, or play in two player mode, activated by keys 1 to 3 on the keyboard.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Let’s Play Darts!

When you start the tournament mode, you see the list of eight opponents, all alliteratively named, such as Beer Belly Bill, Devious Dave, Tactical Tel and the daddy of them all, Jammy Jim.  The computer will select an opponent to play against, in a best of three leg match.  You do have the advantage of always throwing first, and the dartboard appears with a well-drawn hand, courtesy of Ste Pickford – the remaining graphics are by Jeremy Nelson.  Using only the diagonals, you position your hand where you wish to throw, and press fire to launch the dart.  The hand needs to be a little bit below where you are aiming at, and you will soon get the hang of it.

In the bugged version, the hand disappears and flickers very badly when the hand is at the bottom of the screen, which really does detract from the gameplay.  This does not happen in the clean version, and the hand moves smoothly wherever you aim.  Once the dart is released it hits the board, and the chalkboard on the right updates with the score for that dart.  Once all three are thrown, a total is totted up and deducted to give you the score remaining – and proper darts rules apply, so you must finish on a double or the bullseye.   If you happen to get three treble 20s and score 180, the voice of Pete Gartside (one of the Binary Design team) belts out the “One hundred and eighty” like a proper Northern bloke darts announcer, and always good when you get it.

We’re Going Down The Pub

It is then time for your opponent to have a go, and there is a nice pub backdrop with the bar and perhaps someone pulling a cask ale pint or two, whilst the opponent steps up to the oche and gives it a good throw – and all with different characteristics, so Beer Belly Bill lives up to his name and has the belly sticking out for example.  In the clean version, there is a reprise of the title theme that fades out after the last dart, but in the bugged one, it just uses the title tune and can sometimes also be out of sync, which does not work as well.  In any case, the score is totted up so you can see how well they did and what you must score next time to keep ahead.

If you manage to throw the double or bull to get down to zero first, you get a little piece of music and two massive scrolling messages, which both say “GREAT!” going in opposite directions. This was clearly the programmer showing off here and you cannot press fire to skip to the next leg.  If your opponent wins, it just goes straight to the score to show you the leg has been won, so no sort of music like when you lose the gamble on Bullseye to contemplate instead if your finishing was not up to the mark.

Final Flourish

If you do win the quarter and semi final matches, the final is against Jammy Jim.  This opponent will score a nine dart finish every single time, so the only way to beat him is for you to get that nine-dart finish first – so normally 2 180s, then a 141 scored by treble 20, treble 19 and double 12 (or treble 15 double 18 for the final two darts if you wanted to mix it up.)  This can be a little frustrating initially but with practice you can manage a nine darter yourself.  The only down side to that is once you miss one of the trebles, you know that you have lost that leg and will need to regroup, if possible, for the next one.  Win the tournament, and you will get rated as mega zarjaz or better, and lose in the earlier rounds, the rating is nowhere near as good.

Round the Clock

Game two here is a traditional round the clock type darts game, played on the same board.  You need to score the numbers from 1 to 20 in order and within a tight sixty second time limit.  This is also good practice for aiming accurately at other numbers when you need to, and I have managed to do this with 10 seconds left on the clock – so definitely well worth it to get the accuracy up and freshen up being used to the controls as well.  There is a little background noise to try and add to the tension as you throw.

Game three is the same as game one, but in effect two player mode where you play against each other and try to get down to zero before the other player.  This can also be useful for you both to sharpen the skills before taking on Jammy Jim, but also at least gives you a competitive edge.  It is a shame that multiple players could not do the tournament mode, although that may mean you get to avoid Jammy Jim in the final, so I can sort of see why maybe that was not an option.  I did also think about other darts variants being here, such as darts cricket (if you have played it, you will know), Shanghai, killer, and so on – they could have been implemented easily as the base is there.

Graphics and Sound

There are some nice graphics here in 180, from the excellent Ste Pickford animated hand to the dartboard itself, and the bar scenes where the opponents throw all enhancing the game well – watch out for the pint being pulled as the dart flies across into the board.  Each of your opponents have a graphical style when they throw too, which gives them character and makes them look more believable – a good job done all round.  The speech is great to hear, although it would have been nice to hear a “Game on” or “Game, shot, and the match” when you win too.   The music is a little David Whittaker by numbers maybe, but it is still pretty good and does at least give you a little tune when you do win a leg of darts.

Final Thoughts

180 is, without doubt, the best game of the MADC games series, and to boot still a great darts game to fire up and play.  The controls do take some getting used to, but once you do, it becomes fun and addictive, with the tournament mode being a great option for one player, along with the two-player match too.  The round the clock mode gives you a chance to hone the skills, and so that you can then take on Jammy Jim and win the tournament with an epic nine darter of your own.  It is a yardstick by which other 8-bit dart games were judged against, and rightly so.

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