Skateboard Construction System was released for the Sinclair Spectrum in 1988 by a company called Players Software in the Uk. Players had a reputation for low budget software. This game cost £1.99 with is roughly $10 today, adjusted for inflation and the pounds to dollars exchange in 1988. It must have been a flop, because you can’t find any video footage of gameplay, and people will play anything.
As was the norm at the time, the software was released on cassette tape. Here’s the art from the j-card a shot of one in situ. Most of these images came from the Spectrum Computing web site.
Here’s a couple of screenshots from game play.
Above left is the splash screen, and it’s all downhill from there. In the middle is a screen cap from the emulator at Archive.org. I gave it a few minutes trying to figure out how to play and quickly lost interest. The game mechanics are squirelly and it’s just not that much fun. The objective is to make it through the obstacle course. There doesn’t appear to be any moving enemies, out at least I didn’t get far enough along to see any. On the right is the entire map of all the levels.
Having “construction system” as part of the titles is confusing when you only consider the game play, However, the inside of the j-card reveals what seems like an intense amount of customization possible, as if it is some sort of construction system even…. There is a level editor, a font builder, a sprite editor, a modular block builder for levels, a side screen editor, a sound designer and a title designer for changing the name of the game.
The interior j-card does mention the game, calling it KICKTURN:
Kickturn was written using the Skateboard Construction System. Skate as fast as possible down back alleys, building sites and dockyard scenes, you must follow the arrows around the cones and smash all the bottles to quality for the next course. Remember you are also racing against the clock. To gain extra points complete jumps and perform tricks.
It seems that the main focus of the game is actually the construction system. The outside packaging doesn’t make that very clear… well it does say it features a “free demo game,” which is what Kickturn is. There is no actual kickturning in that game however.
Interesting that a company based in the UK uses an American football player as part of their logo. I thought maybe it was a rugby guy, but it sure looks like he’s wearing a helmet. Look at that polygon count…
Here’s a couple more j-card images. How many times am I going to say “J-card,” and what the hell does that mean?
And there you have it. Skateboard Construction System. You’re not really construction skateboards, but an obstacle course and your own game. I can imagine this aspect at least must have been pretty intriguing to a young computer nerd, especially if they were into skateboarding. It’s quite a bit away from what you can do now, but at that time it would have been impressive.
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