Game Review: 180 (MSX, Mastertronic / MAD)

180 had already been established as the leading darts game for the three main 8-bit systems, with them being a release on the short-lived MAD C series of Mastertronic’s Added Dimension (MAD) releases. Both the Atari XL/XE and MSX versions were released almost a year after, by which time the MAD releases just indicated a premium price point of £2.99, but with catalogue numbers embedded within the main 310 range. So, in this case, this is why it has IX 0203 instead of a MADC number.

The game does not have a loading screen, but the title screen does come up with the speech proclaiming “One hundred and eighty!” loud and clear at you, which is nice to see that has been kept in. The screen here shows you the eight potential championship opponents including Beer Belly Bill, Mega Mick and of course, Jammy Jim. Pressing fire allows you to choose one of four options, but as there is no redefine keys option as such, the option 4 for Oops just takes you back to the title screen.  1 is the tune up option, 2 is the tournament mode (Game On) and 3 is for two players to battle it out on the oche against each other.

Round the Board

Normally on round the board, you start off requiring a 1 and going all the way up to 20, and sometimes 25 and the bull depending on the variation. Here, for some reason, and like the Spectrum version this was converted from, you have to start at 20 and go down to 1. This mode does have one shortcoming that is less obtrusive when you play in the tournament – the hand with your dart starts off on the left-hand side of the screen, and so meaning you have a long way to travel to get to the likes of 6, 10 or 13, and meaning you can run out of time very easily. The hand drawn by Ste Pickford is at least present and correct here, and moves well in response to your controls.

As with the other versions, the diagonals on the joystick are best for movement and once you get used to those, you are directing the hand well towards the board, pressing fire to throw. Compared to say the Commodore 64 version, I felt I had to aim a little lower here to get the treble 20, but soon go the hang of that. The time limit is very tight to get all 20 numbers though and one bad mistake or miss can prove to be fatal. I am sure having the hand start in the centre would have helped, but also give you a chance to work out the directions easier. Still, it gets you used to the control method and where to throw, so can be useful for general practice also.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Let’s Play Darts!

The tournament mode (Game On) is where you battle it out to win, facing one of seven of the eight opponents in the quarter final and semi-final, with Jammy Jim to face in the final.  You always have the throw first, which means in theory that your chance of winning is increased. You throw your darts the same way, but naturally aiming at the treble 20 most of the time. If you do manage to achieve the magical 180, the sampled speech will play and give you that nice sense of accomplishment.  The nice effect of chalking up the scores as the darts hit the board is very welcome here, and good that it has been kept in to simulate someone chalking up the score down the pub, as you do.

The game then switches to the other player with the background of a pub bar, with the barmaid pulling pints and the odd one being slid along the bar, a couple may be having too much of an embrace, and there is the dog at the bar too. The opponent, like in the Spectrum version, wears a magenta checkered top, with only the face looking different for each opponent and the hand moving to throw the dart. It would have been nice to give them similar characteristics that the Commodore 64 version had, where Beer Belly Bill indeed does have a beer belly and his top does not quite fit him correctly.  When the opponent throws, you can see what darts have been hit, and what their score is remaining. If they happen to win the game, you will see that on screen.

Jocky Wilson Said…

After battling past the likes of Tactical Tel and Mega Mick, you then are faced with the prospect of Jammy Jim in the final. Unlike in some of the versions, here he actually does not get a nine dart finish every time, often missing the final double twelve and hitting a single twelve instead. This means on rare occasions you can take a game off him with twelve darts instead of having to get the perfect finish with nine, but it still is a difficult task. I did manage to lose 2-1 in the final which was acceptable, but with practice I think he would be beatable. The facial expressions of the dart players, although static, do add a sense of humour to the game too and they are well drawn, but why not take more advantage of what the MSX could do graphically, I wonder?

Throughout, the gameplay is simple once you get the hang of it but very playable, with you soon being able to work out the best flight to get the treble 20 more often, rack up the 180 maximums and concentrate on the other doubles and trebles for that perfect finish. The treble 19 does not seem the easiest to always hit either, so do bear that in mind that what looks like a good dart might just be outside instead.  The two-player mode does allow you for a good contest against a friend, and the controls and playability are just the same. No doubt that scoring a 180 would have you feeling smug, as well as a high finish – of which all the finishes and possible ways to get them are listed in the instructions, which is great if you are either not the best at adding up, or want to see how the pros tackle it.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in 180 are pretty much a straight port from the ZX Spectrum version, even down to the same characteristics of your opponents, both at the dartboard when you throw, and when they throw in the pub, with the same magenta top and head bolted on top. What is there is well drawn enough including the hand with the darts by Ste Pickford, and the board is crisp and clear – even if for some reason the treble 19 seems harder to hit. The sound has the same speech as the ZX Spectrum version and the music is similar to the Spectrum 128 version, with a nice title theme an interludes for the opponent’s throw and when you win a game, all crafted well by David Whittaker. Apart from that, there are no sound effects to speak of here.

Final Thoughts

Although 180 on the MSX is in the main a port of the best parts of the ZX Spectrum 48 and 128 versions, they do combine well here to make the best darts game for the system. Importantly, the playability is still here, and even though at first using the diagonals on the joystick may seem odd, I does work well and allows you to throw some good darts, with the keyboard response also being good. A redefine keys option would have been a nice to have to help it along, mind you. The throw always starts from the left side of the screen which is a hindrance when doing the tune up around the board, but this is fine when playing in the tournament, where you will be getting treble 20s with practice and hitting those all-important 180s, complete with speech. It may have taken its time to appear on the MSX, but it proved to be a playable and worthy conversion, and well worth your cash.

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