''Eddie Kidd Jump Challenge'' is a stunt bike

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released for the

Acorn Electron The Acorn Electron (nicknamed the Elk inside Acorn and beyond) was a lower-cost alternative to the BBC Micro educational/ home computer, also developed by Acorn Computers Ltd, to provide many of the features of that more expensive machine at a ...

BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

, MSX and

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 ...

first released in 1984, licensed by British stunt performer,

Eddie Kidd Edward Kidd (born 22 June 1959) is an English former stunt performer. He was paralysed and suffered brain damage following an accident in 1996. On 15 June 2012 it was announced that he had been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empi ...

Gameplay

The player takes the role of Eddie Kidd and must make a series of jumps. Like the real Kidd, the player must start by jumping a BMX over oil barrels and work up to jumping cars on a motorbike."Eddie Kidd Jump Challenge"
, Crash, December 1984 The player starts by riding away from the jump to get a big enough run up. They then must set the correct speed, correctly selecting gears, to hit the ramp with enough speed to clear the obstacles but not too much to miss the landing ramp. While in the air, the player can lean forward or back to land correctly.

Development and release

The game was first released in late 1984 for the ZX Spectrum published by Software Communications'

Martech Martech Games was an early video game publisher based in Pevensey Bay between 1982 and 1989. It published a number of successful video games for the emerging home computer games marketplace, including BBC Micro, BBC Model B, ZX81, Sinclair ZX81, Z ...

label. This version was ported to the MSX in 1985. A similar version was released for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron and a modified version of the game (with a much more zoomed in camera angle and no on screen display) released for the Commodore 64, also in 1985. The game

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came with a sticker and numbered competition entry card which could be used to win prizes including BMX bikes, computers and TVs. The game was reissued at a budget price as part of

Mastertronic Mastertronic was originally a publisher and distributor of low-cost computer game software founded in 1983. Their first games were distributed in mid-1984. At its peak the label was one of the largest software publishers in the UK, achieved b ...

's Ricochet label in 1987.

Reception

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

'' gave the game an overall score of 56% concluding it is "a good simulation, but as a game not over exciting and not particularly addictive". The difficulty curve was criticised with the early BMX-based levels, which can not be skipped, described as "a doddle" and once the skill has been mastered, the game holds no challenge. Clare Edgeley of ''

Sinclair User ''Sinclair User'' was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum (while also occasionally covering arcade games). Initially published by ECC Publications, and later EMAP, it was pub ...

'' agreed that having to replay the BMX section after failing the more advanced jumps "seems a waste of time" and gave a similar score of 6/10."The Flight of the BMX biker"
, Sinclair User, January 1985 ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

'' gave scores between 7/10 and 8/10, particularly praising the zoomed in graphics and improved sound of the Commodore 64 version calling them "superb - outshining the Spectrum game by miles"."Jump Challenge"
, Computer & Video Games, February 1985

External links

* *

References

{{reflist 1984 video games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games Commodore 64 games Motorcycle video games MSX games Video games developed in the United Kingdom ZX Spectrum games Martech games Single-player video games