Sky Jinks

Name:	Sky Jinks
Company:	Activision
Model #:	AG-019
Programmer:	Bob Whitehead
Year:	1982
Released?	Yes

Sky Jinks (rhymes with hijinks get it?), is a 3/4th view plane racing game in which you attempt to navigate an aerial obstacle course in as short a time as possible.  While flying the course you must avoid trees and hot air balloons, while following the correct path through the pylon maze.  Think of it as a slalom course in the air.

Since your goal is to get the shortest time possible, you'll want to avoid any penalties.  You're charged a 3 second penalty if you fly on the wrong side of a pylon.  Red pylons indicate you fly to the right, while blue pylons indicate you need to go to the left.  The number of pylons remaining is shown at the top of the screen along with your current time.  You can increase your speed and altitude by pressing forward, but the faster you go, the harder it is to make the turns.  

While Sky Jinks isn't a bad game, it's really just a single player air racing game.  There are no explosions, no enemy planes trying to stop you, not even a fuel gauge to manage, all you need to do is put the pedal to the metal and weave your way through pylons.  Call me jaded, but I just can't get into these "beat your own best time" games.   On the plus side, the graphics are really well done and make the game somewhat exciting.  Now if only they had put spectators on the ground you could plow your plane into, I could get into a game like that...

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