Cricket T20 World Championship

With the 20/20 series making quite a splash on TV, it is a well timed launch for Cricket T20 World Championship.

This game is a well rounded and enjoyable mixture of skill, tactics, humour and luck – much like the real thing. Although you only have eight teams to pick from, this game offers the player a variety and good level of detail, with realistic abilities of the overall team and the individual players, to the colour of the kit and movement of the players. So whether you’re an experienced cricket player or just want to be, you can quickly get to grips with your team and start batting/bowling for your country!

You have three games to pick from – quick match, knock out and tournament. As you can probably guess the quick match is a straight forward case of, pick your team, pick how many overs you want (from five to 20) and beat the opposing side using cunning, strength and skill – failing that, just keep hitting keys and you’ll work it out soon enough.

The knock out game is much like the quick match but you get to battle your way through a few rounds and hopefully emerge victorious. The tournament puts you in one of two groups, where you have three games, then if you’re good enough, you’ll reach the semi-final and then final.

For those who wish to make the game more challenging and less predictable and arguably more realistic, rather than just hitting the OK key or 5 on the keypad, you can select your shot from a wide variety of shots available using the whole keypad. If you’re fielding, every over you can play with the position of your side, so you can place men on the flanks, behind the batsman or a bit of both – wherever you feel the batsman may direct the ball.

Initially you will be quite entertained by the on-screen graphics when you have scored a four or six or bowled the player out for a duck, but after a while, this can be a bit time consuming and repetitive and not really add much to the game. To any cricketing purist amongst you, the 20/20 style is something of an acquired taste, but nothing has been left out. From the holding up of 4’s and 6’s in the crowd, the television style of action replays and stats live, to fireworks, post match chats from both sides and cheerleaders, you really do get a level of gaming made by and for enthusiasts of the game. A touch which I quite liked was the trajectory of the ball after each over – this brought the game into a different league of fun and professionalism, and allowed you to be coached into different strokes and bowls.

There are quite a few cricket games available to buy, but this one is definitely one of the best available on the market currently. The graphics are smooth but basic accompanied with good sounds (although hitting the wicket does sound like a strike in ten-pin bowling), you will be caught up in the game for quite some time!

78%

Positives

You’ll be hit for six and bowled over by this cracking game – Howzaaaaaaaat?

Good sound bites

Nice touches help keep the game alive and interesting

You can skip any boring bits quite quickly

Quick to get to grips with

The umpire checks with TV umpire to see if they’re out.

Long or short games are possible.

Negatives

Quite easy and I found a glitch when bowling that virtually assures they get out.

Repetitive