Game Review: Jonah Barrington’s Squash (Commodore 64, Mastertronic)

For those of you who do not know who Jonah Barrington is, a quick summary: born in Cornwall, Jonah became an elite professional in the sport of squash, and between 1967 and 1973 won the British Open six times. This was at the time the World Championship, as that did not start until 1976. He became known as “Mr Squash” due to his popularity and reputation as a fearsome opponent. He even took part in the BBC sporting event The Superstars, but infamously walked off after being chalked off a significant number of squat thrusts in the gym tests event. Nonetheless, he is one of the true legends of the sport and so made sense for a game to be made bearing his name.

Originally released in 1985 by New Generation Software, the game received a Mastertronic release on disk years later in the USA, and when reissued at the £2.99 price point on Mastertronic Plus, this became what would be the final entry in what collectors call the “310 Range” with the side spine numbering ending with this title, 0310.  Thankfully, the instructions on the inlay are comprehensive enough to be able to know what the rules of squash are and explain those, so it is well worth a read before you start playing.

Squash Rules

It is worth noting that the rules used were the “Hand in – Hand Out” rules used at the time, and in the modern era, these rules have been replaced by the point-a-rally scoring (PARS). Hand In – Hand Out rules were that you only scored points when you were serving (hand in) and if you won a rally against the serve, it would be called “hand out” and you would then be handed the serve. As such, games were often long rallies just to even get serve back and win points. This meant that each game was first to nine points, and if the scores were tied at 8-8, whoever got to eight first would choose whether to play to nine or to ten for the game. Most matches were best of five games at the time. This will help explain the options and gameplay.

Colour Coded Choices

When the game loads, you are asked if you wish to take part in a one, three or five game match, and you can press the numbered key and then press RETURN to confirm your choices. For the computer skill level, red is easy, then white, blue, and yellow, with the latter being the most difficult. You do not press the first letter of each to choose, but press the key on the C64’s keyboard to match that colour. So, in effect, this is 3 for red, 2 for white, 7 for blue, and 8 for yellow – so that can prove to be confusing. Even 1 to 4 for the skill levels may have been helpful. Once chosen and RETURN pressed, you then are asked for each player if you want them to be computer or human. If a human player, you get to define the keys or joystick movements. Two joysticks are supported, and it will ask you if you wish to use the same controls as last time.  Last of all, you can enter your names – and these are retained from the previous game, so at least you can press fire all the way to the end if needed.

Not Up

The two players are shown with one player in all white top and shorts, and the other in yellow, making it easy to distinguish. You serve from the service box by pressing fire (in one-player mode you press fire to start the computer’s serve if needed) which forms part of the T line at the back of the court – the lines shaped in a T, and depending on the timing, this will go above the service line and rebound around the court. As returner, you then move towards the ball and press fire to swing the racket, and a successful contact will see the ball come back. A valid return must hit the back wall above the tin (the metal plate at the bottom) and the out line (the third line near the top). This continues until either the player does not return the ball in play successfully (not up) or if one player gets in the way of the other when returning, a let is called. So, if you hit the ball and returner does not get it back in, or it bounces more than once after rebounding off the walls, not up is called. If you are serving, a point to you, if not, it is hand out, and you get the serve back.

As you play, you will learn that timing is everything when pressing fire. There are several angles to be hit depending on the timing, so once in a good position to hit, the angle can change. What you do not want to do is for this angle to be too low and hit the tin (and there is a helpful sound effect if it does), because that is deemed to be out of play and you lose the serve or lose the point, if not on serve. Also because you cannot move diagonally, sometimes where you need to be can be a little difficult to get there, and the key is most of the time to stay within your part of the T-line (the left or right side of this depending on serve) so that you do not get in the way for a let, and have room to play your shot. Once you have mastered this, several good rallies can occur and it does feel satisfying to beat the computer opponent, even on the easiest skill level, when you do.

Jonah’s Jurisdiction

In the game, in the absence of a referee, the computer will make the calls if it feels a let is needed. At the end of each rally, there is speech from Jonah Barrington himself, which mentions not up, let or hand out as needed, then the score, with the next server’s score first. Reaching eight will be game or match ball, if the next point wins the game and match, and a nice feature to have, although as you progress you may find that it slows down any rhythm. It is also worth noting that the rules are faithful to what they were at the time, and because squash in real life can be very fast and a huge workout, the pace of the game allows you to be able to respond to every shot and attempt to get a return in, if you can. That does add to the playability.

In fact, despite not being able to move in diagonal directions, the game does have very responsive controls. You do feel that you are in control of the ball when hitting, and not just hit and hope. The shadow of the ball as it moves around the court in 3D really helps you know where the ball is in relation to the court, allowing you to position yourself correctly for the return the ball back and pull off a move rebounding off the sides of the court to make it trickier for your opponent to return. On occasion, the ball can hit the opponent or if they miss, and can end up being knocked to the floor. It is not quite as good as the Epyx games series for fails, but does provide at least some entertainment to the gameplay.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics are simple but effective, with the court and its lines being well drawn in a 3D effect, with the back of the court wider than the front. It would be effectively like watching squash at an event or on television when your view is to the back of the court where the glass allows you to view inside. The players are reasonably well animated with the colours to define which player is which meaning you know who you are in the heat of a rally. Where this game does excel is the speech, which for its time is very clear, and you know it is Jonah Barrington himself saying all the phrases. There is even a sample for ten, meaning if you did go to a ten-eight tiebreak, Jonah will tell you the score. You also get speech for hand out, let, not up, fault (and double fault), game, and match ball. That does add to the atmosphere and even if you cannot skip it, it is nonetheless a great feature to have and really enhances things here.

Final Thoughts

The more you play Jonah Barrington’s Squash and take time to understand the rules, it becomes a very enjoyable sports simulation, especially in two-player mode. The computer skill levels also mean that winning at an easier level is possible, but becomes tougher as this level increases. It is graded fairly and so progress is possible. Despite not having diagonal movement, the responsiveness of controls helps the game play well, and can lead to some exciting rallies before you finally nail the winning shot, with an exclamation from Jonah of “not up” to give you that satisfaction. The pace of gameplay is also right so you can at least get to attempt a shot return, and does mean that it becomes enjoyable the more you play. Finally, having Jonah Barrington himself call out the scores and judging adds a sense of realism to the gameplay too, and no doubt for fans of the sport this would have been a seal of approval.  As it is, it is still for me the best of the three squash games released on the Commodore 64, and a good way to sign off on the 310 Range as a whole.

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