Grand National (video game)

Grand National is a 1985 video game for the ZX Spectrum from British publisher Elite Systems. It is based on the horse race of the same name. The goal is to win a race with your chosen horse at Aintree Racecourse while also having a bet on the outcome. An Amiga port was published in 1989.

Grand National
Publisher(s)	Elite Systems
Platform(s)	ZX Spectrum, Amiga
Release	1985: Spectrum 1989: Amiga
Genre(s)	Sports
Mode(s)	Single-player

Gameplay

Spectrum screenshot

Players must adjust their speed and avoid hedges and other competitors.^[1] Rapidly alternating between two keys makes the horse run. Another key jumps over fences.

Reception

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
Crash	ZX: 79%[2]
Your Spectrum	ZX: 11/15[3]

Reviewing the ZX Spectrum version, Crash complimented the games graphics, thinking it a "vast improvement" over Elite Systems' previous release, The Dukes of Hazzard, but criticised the lack of each way bets and the unintuitive controls.^[2] In their column "Joystick Jury" (formatted in the style of Juke Box Jury), the editors of Your Spectrum generally thought the game would be a hit, complementing the graphics and betting mechanics, but with Ross Holman thinking the pace of the action inadequate.^[3]

See also

• Olympic Decathlon, 1980 game with similar controls