''Back to Skool'' is a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

, sequel to the ''

Skool Daze ''Skool Daze'' is a computer game released by Microsphere in 1984 for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 home computers. It was written by David Reidy, with graphics designed by Keith Warrington. The game was commercially and critically successfu ...

'', created by David Reidy (whose wife Helen was a school teacher at the time) with graphics by Keith Warrington for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

and released by Microsphere in 1985. The gameplay is very similar to - if more advanced than - ''Skool Daze'', incorporating most of the same characters, gameplay elements and graphics. The game is ranked 19th in the "Your Sinclair official top 100" Spectrum games of all time.

Gameplay

The game differs from its predecessor by an increase in the size of the play area (including a neighbouring girls' school) and a number of gameplay changes. The girls' school incorporates its own new characters including undistinguished girls with hockey sticks, Hayley (girlfriend of the main character Eric) and Miss Take (the headmistress). Only at break time and lunch times are the girls allowed to mingle with the boys, in the central grassy playground, separated at other times by a high gate. The opening and closing of the gate is controlled by the school caretaker Albert, a new character to the game. It is also possible for Eric to sneak over the gate into the girls' school during lesson times, either using the bicycle (after completing the challenge of finding its lock's combination and then performing a tricky manoeuvre on it), by watering the flower beside the gate and then jumping on it, or by kissing Hayley through the gate. When the girls and boys are allowed to mingle and when Eric gains access to the girls' school, he can kiss Hayley, who will then agree to do 1000 of his lines for him. This reduction method can be used up to six times before Hayley refuses to help Eric any more. Elements added in ''Back to Skool'' include stink bombs (used to trigger the opening of windows), water pistols,

mice A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

that can be released in the girls' school causing widespread panic, and

sherry Sherry ( es, jerez ) is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versi ...

(which can be squirted into cups and used to "intoxicate" teachers by splashing it on them with correct timing).

Suicide

It is possible to commit

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

by opening the top-storey window and making Eric jump out. (Jumping out of a window is necessary to sneak into the girls' school, but only from the first floor - not the second.) When this happens, Eric will lie incapacitated on the ground outside the boys' school until Mr Wacker approaches and tells him "You are not a bird, Eric. You're expelled", and the game ends.

Bugs

There is a bug in the game that enables you to see what goes on in the girls' school without leaving the boys' school. To do this go as far left as possible in the Blue Room, then face right and press the key that would have Eric pick up a mouse or frog (C), or K (kiss). The whole screen will scroll if you press any button until it goes all the way to the girls' school. Once the scrolling is complete Eric can move around as usual, unseen, and will ''not'' pick up any lines. You can, through trial and error, get to the girls' school upon which the game will go back to normal. This is best attempted at playtime, (so the gate between the two schools is open,) and really isn't that difficult to do provided you know your way around the boys' school. Another bug exists whereby it is possible to make a teacher completely disappear from the blue room. Once a lesson in that room has started, position yourself so that the lesson starts properly but the teacher is out of sight to the left. Leave the room just enough to let Einstein start reporting "Please Sir... Eric is not here." If you re-enter the room before Einstein has finished his sentence, still keeping the teacher out of sight, the teacher will - instead of issuing lines - turn around, start cleaning the blackboard, continuing to wipe the wall, then will walk through the wall on the far left-hand side. After a while, the teacher eventually re-emerges through the wall at the right of Miss Take's office in the girls' school, then makes his way back to the boys' school and continues as normal.

References

External links

* * {{Microsphere 1985 video games Action-adventure games Europe-exclusive video games School-themed video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom ZX Spectrum-only games ZX Spectrum games