Mode(s) One player Developer Elite Systems Genre Sports game | Initial release date 1985 Publisher Elite Systems Platforms ZX Spectrum, AmigaOS | |
Series ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection Similar ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection games, Strategy video games | ||
Grand National is a British computer game that was published in 1985 for the ZX Spectrum based on the horse race of the same name. Similar in parts to games like Hyper Sports and Daley Thompson's Decathlon, the game had a novel twist of being able to bet on the outcome of a race also.
Contents
Plot
The idea of the game is to race your chosen horse around the course of Aintree winning the race and also having a little bet on the side.
Gameplay
Gameplay at times was tedious and tiring as players were also required to compete in the race by hammering keys alternately and making the horse jump fences at regular intervals.
Movement
Movement consisted of furious keypresses and occasional jumps twice around the course.
Losing the game
The game can be lost
Graphics
The games animation and graphics were excellent and featured a split screen. At the top of the screen was a side on view of the horse in any impending jumps. The bottom half of the screen showed an aerial view of the race and the course, how many horses retired, fell or still racing. A summary of the player's position and leading horse number was also on screen, lap number and where the player was on the course.
Betting
Bets could be placed on any number of horses at various odds, you could even back your own horse.