Cricket 97 is a cricket game for PCs that was released in 1997. It was released in January 1997 in Australia and April 1997 in the United Kingdom.[1] It was released throughout the rest of Europe on May 9, 1997.[2]

Cricket 97
Developer(s)Beam Software
Publisher(s)EA Sports
SeriesCricket
Platform(s)MS-DOS
Windows
Release1997[1]
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player
Multiplayer

Gameplay edit

The game stars cricketer Michael Atherton.[3] Ritchie Benaud and Ian Botham provided commentary for the game.[4]

Tour Edition edit

A Tour Edition of the game was released in late 1997.[2] It featured actual photographs, real player names, portraits, and statistics of all major Australian and international cricketing personalities.[2]

Reception edit

Richard Moore for The Age called the game "very realistic" but criticized the "play-balance-driven parity of the sides".[3]

George Soropos for PC PowerPlay rated Cricket 97 Ashes Tour Edition at 87% and stated that "Really, this is the game that Cricket '97 should have been in the first place and all credit to Beam for sticking with it until they got it right."[5]

The game shipped 50,000 units.[1] It was the No. 1 best-selling sports title in Australia and the No. 3 best-selling title in Australia overall when it was released.[1] In the UK, the game entered the Top Ten UK Charts straight into 8th position for PC CD-ROM games.[2]

Reviews edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d "Chairman's Report to Beam International Limited Shareholders". beam.com.au. March 11, 1997. Archived from the original on June 7, 1997. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "Cricket 97 hits Top Ten in the UK charts". beam.com.au. Archived from the original on October 21, 1997. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Moore, Richard (April 22, 1997). "Cricket's armchair fans gets some real action". The Age. p. 41. Retrieved March 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b Camm, Mark (February 13, 1997). "Playing God with flanneled fools". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 92. Retrieved March 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b Soropos, George (October 1997). "Cricket 97 Ashes Tour Edition". PC PowerPlay. p. 60,61. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  6. ^ "Cricket 97 Ashes Tour Edition". Computer Gaming World. June 1998. p. 242. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  7. ^ Wilks, Dale (July 13, 1997). "Cricket 97". Game-Over!. Retrieved March 17, 2022.

External links edit