Roy of the Rovers

Roy of the Rovers is a football-themed adventure game released in 1988, based on the popular British comic strip. The Melchester Rovers team has been kidnapped just before a crucial charity match intended to raise funds to save their stadium from property developers. You play as Roy Race, player-manager of Melchester Rovers, who must rescue his ten missing teammates before time runs out. The gameplay combines two sections: an animated adventure where you explore the streets of Melchester using pull-down menus (walk, run, smile, chat, fight, collect objects), followed by a 5-a-side football simulation once teammates are rescued.

ZX Spectrum

Released in 1988 by Gremlin Graphics, developed by System Applied Technology for 48K and 128K models . The streets of Melchester are arranged into a giant square grid (map included in packaging). The computer rotates the viewpoint 90° at each turn, which can be confusing initially, but a compass helps navigation . The 5-a-side section was criticised: control is tricky, teams are nearly impossible to distinguish, and scoring relies heavily on luck. How well you do in the match depends directly on how many teammates you rescued beforehand . Your Sinclair gave 7/10, noting the two parts combine neatly and the game is "a good deal better than the Gary Lineker titles" . A solid adventure let down by its football engine.