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Spread across books, films and videogames, there is no denying the power or popularity of the Harry Potter franchise. Young and old, and on both sides of the Atlantic, the fictional young wizard has fans galore. Other characters in Harry's world have garnered interest, of course, but the one thing that's nearly as popular as the boy wonder isn't a character at all, rather an event: Quidditch! After reading about it, seeing it played on the big screen and then getting a brief taste of it in the videogames, Potter fans clamoured for more and sports behemoth EA responded with Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup.
Although the game is being produced on the EA Games label (apparently EA Sports only does real world stuff), the developers have borrowed from the wealth of sports titles in EA's library in order to ensure solid play mechanics. One part hockey, one part soccer and one part pure fantasy, Quidditch World Cup may not have the draw or the depth of Madden, but it is still plenty of fun to play.
The game of Quidditch is played on a standard rectangular field, much like a game of football, only no one ever touches the field itself - instead of running, all the players fly above the field on magical broomsticks. While this allows for some impressive maneuvers in the films and the game's cinema sequences, players will not be able to utilize 3D space; everything's instead kept on a 2D plane. This results in a little less depth of play, but it doesn't really hamper the game because the learning curve is much less severe.
Seven players make up each team, with positions such as Chaser, Beater and Keeper. For the majority of play, the object is to score points by throwing a ball through one of three goals on your opponent's side of the field. You have the use of standard moves, such as passing, as well as special moves that can be earned by executing combo shots. Special moves are played by pressing a hotkey at the correct time. Throughout the match, a two-part meter at the top of the screen is closing in towards the center - once closed, the game switches from the main field of play to the final race for the Golden Snitch.
The Golden Snitch is worth 150 points, so this segment can easily determine the outcome of the entire match. Catching the snitch plays much like a high speed racing game as players are forced to maneuver their broom on the snitch's narrow trail. Stay on the trail and get a speed boost, slide off and you will slow down drastically giving your opponent a chance to race ahead. A limited turbo meter can be used strategically to close ranks if you are behind.
Because Quidditch has no basis in reality, the game offers an intelligently designed training mode to ease players into the game. You will start out at Hogwart's by learning a few lessons and then playing against another house. Master a few more lessons and a second house becomes available and so on. Special moves are limited at Hogwart's and the AI is automatically set to a very low level making it easy for the player. In many ways, playing at Hogwart's is the Quidditch equivalent of Little League play, master it and you can move on to the big leagues - the World Cup.
World Cup play centers around country-based teams, so Harry and friends are relegated to the sidelines, however, the quality of play ratchets up quite a few notches. Whereas the competition at Hogwart's was something of a pushover, in the World Cup matches, the computer will play to win. Special moves are also fully available in this mode of play.
Team names may not be very inventive (they are named after their respective countries after all) but they are balanced. For this version of the game, there are minor differences in how the teams play, but no distinct strong or weak points. Hopefully those differences will become a bit more pronounced in future releases. Also, there is no option for a custom team. We've become used to seeing that feature in sports games and its absence was notable.
Adding a little bit of depth to the single-player experience are the unlockable card options. Each collectible card is given to the player when certain challenges are met. The cards then grant access to arenas, special moves and other items. When fully unlocked, the game allows players to experience "Queerditch." Poorly named (we pity the one at EA who has to answer customer complaints), but fun to play, Queerditch is the precursor to Quidditch according to Potter lore.
Multiplayer is limited to two players on a single console, with no online or four-player options. Playing multiplayer is similar to the single-player mode, with the exception of a real live opponent. Because of Quidditch's low learning curve, it is very easy for a new player to jump into the game and start having fun quickly.
While we were a bit skeptical when EA first mentioned the game, Quidditch World Cup is surprisingly fun with an appeal that reaches past the core Harry Potter fans. Even if you've never cracked open a Potter book or sat down in the cinema to watch one of the films, there is still plenty to like in the game.
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Mini Golf: Dream Courses is a minigolf game that features four courses of nine holes for each one. The player can only control the swing.
2008, the year Mini Golf: Dream Courses was released on Windows. Made by MicroValue and published by IncaGold plc, PC3 Programs.
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Fishing is a single player game which is controlled by the mouse or the keyboard.
This is not a detailed fishing simulation, it is more of an arcade game. The game has thirty lakes in which to fish and each offers a different challenge to the last, catch a given weight of fish, catch fish in a specific time, race through a course and catch fish at the finish line etc. When the player completes one challenge the next lake is unlocked, the prize money earned by completing challenges can be used to upgrade the fishing tackle.
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World Cup USA 94 is a top-down football (soccer) game recreating the namesake tournament. Beside the 24 teams who qualified for the actual World Cup, other significant footballing nations like England, France and Denmark can be drafted in. Tackling is difficult and passing is easy, making for a flowing end-to-end style of play. The presentation of the menus is largely icon-based, with the official mascot featured prominently.
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Kick Off 98 is an international-team based football game, released to take advantage of the forthcoming 1998 World Cup. Game modes include practice (with several situations available, such as corners, dribbling and free kicks), warm up (a mode where the level of play increases as the player learns to play more effectively), quick start, friendly, cup, world cup, ANCO Challenge (where the player chooses increasingly difficult opponents), network play and a name/appearance editor.
The game was fully localized in several countries, such as Germany, Spain, Italy and Portugal.
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A football game that can be played in a realistic 3D environment, with motion-captured animations or in a classic 2D arcade style familiar to those who have played the previous Kick Off games like Kick Off 2. The game offers 307 teams and 5,200 players to choose from. Among the features there is the ability to create your own teams, leagues and cups, intelligent computer opposition, the option to save your replays and the motions of Patrick Vieira, David Seaman and Ian Wright. The game also has a lot of options for speed and graphics making it very adjustable.
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Kick Off 96 gives you the chance to take part in the European Championships in England 1996. Kick Off 96 can be played with several perspectives, including overhead and isometric, and offers the same pacey gameplay that made its predecessors famous. If Euro 96 isn't enough you could play with 49 international teams plus 750 club teams, totalling 15.000 real players with varied skill levels. If that's still not enough, you can also create your own leagues and teams.
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Kick Off 3: European Challenge is an updated version of Kick Off 3. Whereas the original game only featured national teams, this version allows the player to take control of all club teams from the top divisions of five European countries: England, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. For each country a league or a cup can be played and there is also a European cup with teams from all countries as well as individual friendlies. The European cup and friendlies also allow the player to select teams from other countries. For copyright reasons, all player names are misspelled (for example Barcelona features Rommario, Haggi and Coeman). The names can however be edited.
There are also some changes to the gameplay. This includes changes to the control systems to make it playable with a one button joystick (on Amiga) and new sound effects (for example when goals are scored) and improved graphics with more animations. Another addition is special key players that bring special playing styles to their sides.
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The third entry in the Kick Off series is the first that offers an isometric view instead of the old top-down view. In the game, there are four competitions (World Cup Finals, League, Knock Out Cup and the challenge). There are several options for game speed and ball control to suit both novice and skilled gamers. Each of the 32 teams in the game has a distinct style of play, ensuring that no two games are alike. Each team also has "key players", such as Liberos and Wingers, who play a pivotal role in how that team plays. Kick Off 3 offers two styles of play: Arcade and Simulation. The difference is that in the Arcade mode you can switch off rules to focus purely on reflexes.
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The original Kick Off was expanded on in many ways for this sequel. The game now features full tournament modes (although the players on the teams are fictitious) and four different pitches (including an implementation of plastic pitches, whose uneven bounce cause controversy when several British clubs tried them in the 1980s).
Viewed top-down, the controls involve trapping the ball under your foot, giving you time to prepare passes. Running with the ball is tricky at first, as it doesn't stick to your foot the way it did in contemporary football games. Complex moves such as overhead kicks, back-heels and long-range through-ball passes can be completed with practice.
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3-D Ultra MiniGolf Deluxe (aka MiniGolf Fantasy, MaxiMiniGolf), a really nice sports game sold in 1998 for Windows, is available and ready to be played again! Time to play an arcade, golf and mini golf video game title.
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3-D Ultra MiniGolf takes the classic game to a new level of fun! Includes your favorite holes, plus unique new holes created with adventure in mind. Experience interactive 3D animations that will challenge even the most intrepid putter, with hidden holes and other surprises guaranteed to inflate your score.
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Torino 2006 is the official video game of the XX Olympic Winter Games, hosted by Torino, Italy in 2006. The game lets you compete in 15 different events. The game includes such disciplines as bobsledding, figure skating, cross-country skiing, hockey, and biathlon. Up to four players can compete for Olympic glory through head-to-head or sequential gameplay.
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The Jack Nicklaus series of golf games adds several new features and updates. A new MouseMeter control system is designed to feel more like real golf than the more traditional 2-click and 3-click systems which are also provided. The action can be viewed from anywhere on the course, although some views are more suited to action replays than actually taking aim or playing a shot. Ball lies are not always flat in this edition.
This one offers nine Jack Nicklaus courses and a specially created course for the game that is similar to Pebble Beach, as well as an online facility to download over 100 more. CBS' Gary McCord provides a running commentary. The course includes a number of 3D golfers that the player controls. The course designer, a mainstay of the series, has been enhanced for this version.
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FIFA 98 is already a classic game, surprising to this day with its craftsmanship, which surpasses many later parts of the FIFA series. By many, FIFA 98 is considered to be the most complete and best balanced game in the series. It is possible to play both a friendly match and league mode, and the biggest draw of this part is definitely Road to the World Cup. On the way to the World Cup, you play for the team from the first qualification to the main tournament using different systems in different parts of the world. This game contains 16 different outdoor stadiums. There are 189 clubs and 11 leagues in the League game. Each team has specific crowd songs incorporated into the surrounding sound. In the game are all the teams that then fought in qualifiers on all continents of our Earth. You can play for the Solomon Islands, for example, and fight your way through the qualifiers to the tournament itself. Finally, the offside rule is correctly implemented, artificial intelligence has been improved and a player editor has been included. The crowds in the stadiums have different announcements in their own languages, while players have different faces and hairstyle styles. For the first time in the series, a licensed soundtrack with the many popular bands such as Blur.
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The game consist 30 neighborhood kids from which the gamer can choose to play. Players take a managerial role by creating a team of different players to compete against opponents. In this first installment in the Backyard Sports series, the player's goal is to assemble a team of backyard kids and take them all the way to the championship - in this instance, the Ultra Grand Championship of the Universe. While not carrying an official Major League Baseball license, the game does contain 30 kids to assemble a custom team, as well as 10 fields for them to play in. The team's name, colors, and mascot can be defined, as well as its batting order and field positions.
Each kid has ratings in running, batting, fielding, and pitching, as well as personality quirks that can either be a help - or a nuisance - to the team. Good pitching and hitting can give a team the power-ups it needs to go all the way through the 14-game season and playoffs - as well as plenty of practice in exhibition games or batting practice. In addition, the stats throughout the season can be printed, as well as player baseball cards, photos, schedules, and the trophies the team earned.
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An okay game based on the 1994 Winter Olympics tournament at Lillehammer, Winter Olympics by US Gold includes a decent variety of events, but not nearly as good as Accolade's better-known-although-without-official-license Winter Challenge.
The graphics are adequate, but gameplay options are lacking: you can't practice in any event before the tournament since the game offers only 2 options: "Full Olympics" and "Mini Olympics." The events are fairly standard (e.g. skiing, shooting), but they are much more difficult than Accolade's game due to awkward and unresponsive control schemes. Some events are notably better than others -- perhaps a result of them being coded by different programmers.
Overall, Winter Olympics is a decent game that is worth a look for Olympics fans, but won't hold anyone's interest for long.
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Sensible Golf is a game dedicated to a sport that does not need to be introduced - golf. The game had the same characters - similar to those previously used with great success in Sensible Soccer and Cannon Fodder, although after release it was considered a commercial failure and received rather negative reviews. Part of the problem was that it used the same game engine as Sensible's previous games, so it had to be designed as an arcade game rather than a serious golf simulation, which many critics said led to a reduction in its overall lifespan.
This version of the golf from Sensible Software boasts very simple operation, where almost everything is done for you by a computer. The preset selection can be canceled and adjusted according to your taste, such as picking a stick, the direction of the ball, etc. You focus mainly on hitting the ball. There are a huge number of courses in the game, which you look at from above, so you have a great overview of where there is something. You can choose whether to play training, match, tournament and you can also choose many different ways of scoring and winning.
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If you want golf today, you are simply picking up and take your car to the nearest golf course. As far as golf you want to play in this game, the playground you need to build first. Yours is to lead a golf course, build it, enhance and mainly play with it's handwritten golfers. The better playground you want to have, the more effort you need to dedicate the comfort and the vrtoks of your visitors. A balanced difficulty of individual circuits should be taken care of, take care of the terrain and refreshments of visitors. Simply to work properly. In addition to classical mode, the so-called. Sandbox Mode where the player can enjoy the design of the craziest golf courses without the need to care for money - they are infinite. Like you a player from your game can export your simgolfist and play with him a championship. It is advisable to deliver that your golfer's ability to improve successful gaming and even deteriorate.
SimGolf brings together elements of SimCity and The Sims by allowing you to choose the important options that will either build your golf course into a major place to visit and play, or turn it into a one day wonder. Keeping each hold in order, managing memberships and costs are all part of the game. The Sims themselves may also challenge you to play the course itself, giving you a bit of time off and fun.