You've got to admire Imagine's advertising for this sport-themed compilation. Taking advantage of the multi-event games such as Daley Thompson's Supertest and Hyper Sports, they proudly boasted of 23 events on the box spread over 10 games and admittedly this did represent fairly good value for money. Game, Set and Match was hugely variable in content however as a quick look through its titles proves...
World Series Baseball
Like several other of the games here, WSB was an okay simulation of a famous American sport that generally struggled in replication to the Spectrum. Presumably Imagine had to obtain the official license for the World Series title, and the game was a credible attempt at replicating Baseball - less serious than Hardball (Advance) but certainly more playable.
Hit/Miss: HIT
Tennis
One gets the impression writing this that Imagine were knocking sports titles out left, right and centre in 1986 and 87, and there is certainly a rushed element to Tennis. A complete lack of complexity (you can't aim your shots) and sluggish controls mean it's inferior to Psion's Match Point from some three years earlier.
Hit/Miss: MISS
Hyper Sports
One of Joffa Smiff's legendary games, Hyper Sports was a brilliant recreation of the arcade classic button masher, offering bright colourful graphics, smooth scrolling and frantic, compulsive gameplay. Most Spectrum gamers have very fond memories of this over the Daley Thompson games, and for good reason - it was better!
Hit/Miss: HIT
Ping Pong
An arcade conversion, Ping Pong is a sports sim of consummate playability. In an inspired gameplay move, the bat automatically tracks the ball leaving the player just the task of directing the shot, as well of course deciding which type of shot to play. It worked exceedingly well, although the limited options reduced its lifespan and the crowd noise after every point soon became very irritating.
Hit/Miss: HIT
Super Soccer
The famous mullet-headed footballers of Super Soccer fame never did the game many favours, and despite some wicked looking sliding tackles, it didn't offer much in terms of playability. It's certainly not a patch on Ocean's Match Day 2.
Hit/Miss: MISS
Pool
The aging Pool from CDS Microsystems (long since disappeared from the Spectrum scene) was nevertheless one of the most playable pool simulations available on the Speccy. If there were two of you - because there was no computer opponent. This meant I got bored of Pool very quickly alas...
Hit/Miss: MISS
Barry McGuigan's Boxing
I can't stand boxing, just not my thing at all. Unless of course it's women's topless boxing, but a simulation of this artistic sport sadly never made it onto the Spectrum. Barry McGuigan's boxing is generally acknowledged as one of the best boxing sims on the Speccy though; it boasted top notch graphics (for the time) and concentrated on just the fighting element - you couldn't move your boxer. Nevertheless it worked very well.
Hit/Miss: HIT
World Series Basketball
Another sport that repeatedly failed on the Spectrum, this one crucially, did not contain any of the playability that made World Series Baseball so much fun to play. It's extremely tough and poor graphics that look to have been recycled from Super Soccer didn't do it any favours.
Hit/Miss: MISS
Jonah Barrington's Squash
I'm afraid not being particularly into the sport, I never gave this aged sim much of a chance. It boasted synthesised speech if my memory serves me correctly, but I never found much enjoyment to be gained from it.
Hit/Miss: MISS
Daley Thompson's Supertest
A worthy successor to Decathlon, and one of the earliest 128k games, Supertest offered 12 events on the expanded 128 edition ranging from the familiar joystick wagglers such as rowing and cycling, to more inventive events such as pistol shooting and penalties. The graphics were never great in these games, but they were superb fun, especially when played with friends.
Hit/Miss: HIT
Hits: 5
Misses: 5