Winning gold in Sunshine Games, Games by Zaweba

Four beach events in a row make up Sunshine Games, a sunny 8-bit contest on the Retro arcade shelf of Games by Zaweba. You take on three rivals at footbag, half-pipe, surf and BMX, and at the end there's a medal table to show how you did. It's drawn in the style of a 64K home computer, and it has the feel of the multi-event sports games of that era.

Arrows, Z, X and Space

Arrows move you, Z and X are for kicks and tricks, and Space starts each event. The same few keys do different jobs in each event, so the first time through is a chance to learn how each one plays.

Footbag, half-pipe, surf and BMX

The first event is footbag: keep the footbag up. Kicks with Z and X keep it in the air, and tricks score. Keeping it up is the first job; adding tricks once you have a rhythm is what builds a big score.

Next is the half-pipe. Pump the half-pipe for big air. Pumping builds height, and height gives you room for tricks. A few runs of steady pumping before going for tricks helps you find the timing.

Then the surf. Carve the wave ahead of the curl. The curl is the breaking part of the wave behind you, and staying ahead of it keeps your ride going. Tricks score here too, but a ride that ends too soon doesn't have time for many.

Last comes the BMX dirt track. Ride it, and use tricks to score. As with the others, a clean ride with steady tricks generally beats a wild one that ends early.

Scoring and medals

Tricks score in every event, and the best score in each event wins gold. You're up against three rivals, so a gold means beating all of them in that event. At the end, the medal table shows how the whole contest went.

Because each event is separate, a poor showing in one doesn't spoil the others. You can win gold in some events and miss out in others, and the medal table tells the story. Many players find one event comes easily and another takes practice, and that's part of the fun.

Learning the events

Since all four events share the same keys but use them differently, the best way to learn is to play the whole contest through a few times, not worrying about medals at first. Once you know how each event works, you can concentrate on the tricks and the scores.

Esc pauses, F11 gives you the whole beach, and the title card and F1 explain the controls. Games by Zaweba keeps your best score, plays and wins on your PC, and shows your score against your best when the contest ends.

If you enjoy the athletic side of the shelf, Track Champ offers a different kind of contest, with five track and field events and a key-bashing approach. Both run offline with no adverts. In Sunshine Games, learn each event's rhythm first, then add the tricks, and go for gold one event at a time.