[{"TitleName":"Coliseum","Publisher":"Kixx","Author":"Alfonso Azpiri, Eugenio Barahona Marciel, Gominolas, Kantxo Design","YearOfRelease":"Unknown","ZxDbId":"0001008","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 63, Apr 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-03-30","Editor":"Stuart Wynne","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Stuart Wynne\r\nAssistant Editor: Phil King\r\nStaff Writers: Mark Caswell, Lloyd Mangram, Nick Roberts\r\nContributors: Ian Cull, Mike 'Skippy' Dunn, Richard 'smasherooni' Eddie, Paul Evans, Ian Lacey, Barnaby Page\r\nEditorial Assistants: Caroline Blake, Vivienne Vickress\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nSenior Designer: Wayne Allen\r\nDesigners: Melvin Fisher, Yvonne Priest\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nProduction Team: Robert Hamilton, Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris\r\n\r\nEditorial Director: Oliver Frey\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nAdvertisement Director: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nSales Executives: Sarah Chapman, Lee Watkins\r\nAssistants: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypeset by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group. Distribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters relating to adjudication and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens (like a game that has been offered as a prize being scrapped) we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. We'll do our very best to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the published closing date. Winners names will appear in a later issue of CRASH. No correspondence can be entered into regarding the competitions (unless we've written to you stating that you have won a prize and it doesn't turn up, in which case drop the Sticky Solutions Department a line at the [redacted] address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for either Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions. No material may be reproduced whole or in part without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into CRASH including written and photographic material, software and hardware - unless it is accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\n©CRASH Ltd, 1989\r\n\r\nISSN 0954-8661\r\n\r\nCover Design & Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"BUDGET BUREAU\r\n\r\n£1.99\r\n\r\nA mixed bunch of new budget games arrived from Silverbird this month, of which the most original is Pasteman Pat (65%). In this devious picture puzzle game, Pat Splatt has to use his paste brush to assemble a large wall poster from the squares which Nasty Norville has jumbled up (they resemble an SU poster!). It sounds easy enough, but on the most difficult levels you're likely to get a headache sorting dozens of small squares, while inaccurate brushwork by the hero causes frustration. Add to this the extra problems caused by a time limit and the objects thrown by Norville's henchmen (they knock Pat off his ladder!) and you have one challenging game. But if you're a wallpapering fan, this is your game.\r\n\r\nAlso splashing down from Silverbird is Turbo Boat Simulator (32%), a nautical (but not very nice) shoot-'em-up. Lost in enemy territory, your boat patrols horizontally-scrolling waterways, searching for map parts dropped by allied planes (why can't the pillocks drop a whole map?!). Play simply involves avoiding and shooting enemy submarines and missiles until you find all the map pieces to send you to the next level. Grotty monochromatic graphics don't give much incentive to play on in a game about as exciting as squashed hedgehog racing. Its best feature is definitely the 128K title tune.\r\n\r\nSkateboard Joust (30%) is another disappointing Silverbird effort, featuring very primitive graphics and minimal sound. Gameplay is reminiscent of the ancient jousting game, Ostron. But here you have a hovering skateboard and must destroy opponents by jumping up to let your board fly into them! The trendy sport of skateboarding has been over-used of late, and this off-beat implementation provides little excitement. Even Nick 'rad lad' Roberts quickly lost interest (but not his cool).\r\n\r\nJust as dull is Players' unoriginal beat-'em-up, Street Gang (24%). Strolling through eight New York streets, you are attacked by all manner of punks and thugs, some of them wielding machine guns. The bad news is that despite the presence of many foes, progress is surprisingly easy. This is especially so when you discover that by continuously jumping to the right, completion of all eight levels is a mere formality. This amazing feature helps to make Street Gang about as eventful as a monks' wife-swapping party.\r\n\r\n£2.99\r\n\r\n'Who dares wins' is Code Masters' favourite motto. After all, they've dared to sell some pretty dire software at times, yet made a fortune in the process. True to their adventurous spirit, they've come up with SAS Combat Simulator (71%) (neat title, lads!). The good news is that this is one of their better releases. Most of the action is depicted by some decent overhead-view graphics, with your little soldier shooting and grenading swarming enemies. Starting on foot, he can find an armoured jeep and a tank to drive while he blasts or runs over enemy soldiers, and blows even trains to smithereens. After reaching the end of a stage, play switches to a side-view hand-to-hand combat section, with yet more soldiers for the violent hero to punch. Unfortunately this section is both repetitive and irritating as near-perfect timing is needed to dispatch countless foes. Even so, SAS Combat Simulator is a challenging shoot-'em-up with plenty of content.\r\n\r\nBut there are some places even the SAS would fear to tread. The murky depths of the Atlantic are home for many a deadly shark, and also the setting for Titanic (45%) from Kixx. To reach the famous shipwreck, your diver must negotiate a network of underwater caves infested with a variety of vicious sea creatures. Annoyingly, running out of oxygen sends the diver right back to the start, although I can't understand how he'd survive anyway - the water pressure at such depths would be enough to squash him flat! Nevertheless, survive he does to witness primitive graphics and gameplay inferior to Durell's ancient Scuba Dive. Cartographers will no doubt enjoy exploring and mapping the large cave system, but I found the whole exercise rather dull.\r\n\r\nSet in the equally dangerous world of the Roman Empire, Kixx's Colosseum (70%) is all about chariot racing. But this isn't exactly a sport to take up for health reasons. The drivers are equipped with weapons, and the winner is the sole survivor at the end of the race! As Benurio, wrongly-accused of treason (you were on holiday at the time), you must prove your innocence by winning a chariot race (this is almost as strange as British justice!). Racing round the oval track, obstacles must be avoided, while you hack away at other drivers with your axe. If a driver is killed, you take his weapon even if it is less powerful than your present one. The action is fast and furious, albeit very repetitive. Although the sprites are simple, the track is fast-scrolling, and the perspective for the bends is ingenious: the viewpoint follows the chariot round. Despite a very simple concept, Colosseum is surprisingly addictive.\r\n\r\nBut it's back to the future for The Hit Squad (70%) from Code Masters. In post-apocalypse 2125, evil Emilio Bocker rules the city of Los Angeles with an iron grip. Something must be done, so you decide to search the city for Booker's hidden lair. But who are you? Well, when the game starts you can choose to be one of four different streetfighters, such as stealthy Stak and 'sexy Xena'! Exploring twelve parts of the city simply involves jumping around platforms, shooting nasties while searching for teleport and weapon disks. But the action is well-portrayed by large, Colourful graphics, while the digitised title picture of the four fighters is particularly impressive.\r\n\r\nAnother playable Code Masters release is Fast Food (68%). Despite the strange moniker, this is actually a souped-up version of Pac-Man! The hero, however, resembles that old egghead, Dizzy. Hamburgers chase the oval hero around many mazes, while he tries to eat all the other food. Special abilities may be obtained, including burger-eating, by collecting various objects. What really disappoints is the pedestrian pace at which the action takes place. But amusing, animated screens every three levels provide an incentive to keep playing. The neat presentation is improved further on 128K machines by the inclusion of a neat in-game tune.\r\n\r\nHowever, even decent presentation would do little to improve Cult's dire Soccer Star (28%). This football management game is about as unrealistic as you can get. Firstly, there are only eight teams per division. But worse still, you are only allowed to buy and sell players at the beginning of the season: so if your team is rubbish, you're stuck with it! Match presentation is equally poor, consisting mainly of a ball wobbling along a line - this is meant to represent 'the balance of the match'! The goalmouth action is slightly better but is hardly exciting. With such limited options and poor presentation, Soccer Star is a sure candidate for relegation.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"82,83","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"70%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 41, May 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-04-17","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa 'You're Fired' Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Catherine 'Head in Bucket' Higgs\r\nDeputy Editor: Matt 'Hi It's Mattie' Bielby\r\nProduction Editor: Jackie 'I Want It Yesterday' Ryan\r\nStaff Writer: Duncan 'What Time Do You Call This' MacDonald\r\nDesigner: Thor 'No Worries' Goodall\r\nEditorial Assistant: David 'Yo' Wilson\r\nTechnical Consultant: David McCandless\r\nContributors: Marcus Berkmann, Richard Blaine, Ciaran Brennan, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Sean Kelly, Catherine 'Nosebag' Peters, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith, Phil South, Ben Stone\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Alison Morton\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Stephen Bloy\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Katherine Balchin\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nPublisher: Terry Grimwood\r\nFinance Director: Colin Crawford\r\nManaging Director: Stephen England\r\nChairman: Felix Dennis\r\n\r\nPublished by Dennis Publishing Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England.\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1989 Felden Productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Sinclair is a monthly publication."},"MainText":"COLOSSEUM\r\nKixx\r\n£2.99\r\nReviewer: Marcus Berkmann\r\n\r\nIt's not often that Kixx releases an original game, the label mainly being concerned with recycling old US Gold and Gremlin games (and a v. good job it does too). But for some reason our Spanish chums have a small problem being taken seriously in this country, 'cos it's amazing how many games of theirs crop up on cheapie labels when there's a chance that they'd have done just as well at full price. Still, that's to our benefit if not theirs, as games like Colosseum sometimes crop up. The idea's fairly straightforward - you're a participant in a death-at-all-costs chariot race around the colosseum, and for obvious reasons (you like staying alive), it's rather important that you win. To do so you must negotiate four circuits of the track, taking care not to smash into any boulders or specially built walls as you go round, and should you come up abreast with any other charioteers, you must fight them to death (usually yours). You start with a mere hatchet, and by killing charioteers with better weaponry and then nicking what they drop, you gradually upgrade to a lance, which kills instantly.\r\n\r\nNow I'm not going to pretend that this is the most original or profound game I've ever seen, but it's an awful lot of fun, and quite difficult at first. The chariot sprites are huge and detailed, and the gameplay is fast, well balanced and thoroughly engrossing. Which means that at three nicker this is a bargain and no mistake, guv. Worth a punt, I'd say.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"51","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Marcus Berkmann","Score":"8","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"8/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 85, Apr 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-03-18","Editor":"Graham Taylor","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Meet the groovy aprils guys (and girlie)\r\n\r\nGRAHAM TAYLOR (Editor)\r\nHistory: Graduated from the Vienna Conservation at the age of six, studied under Serlioz and then joined the Southend Philharmonic.\r\nPlays: Stairway grand piano and kazoo.\r\nInfluences: Karlheinz Stockhausen, James Joyce, Timothy Leary and George Formby.\r\nHobbies: Erecting satellite dishes, wrestling with cats and cleaning weeds from the goldfish pond.\r\nMessage: \"In an indeterminate universe, only the subjectivity of the ovserver maintains the dualism of the animus. Orright?\"\r\n\r\nJIM DOUGLAS (Deputy Editor)\r\nHistory: \"Elvis Costello came up and spoke to me once in the queue in the Wimpy. He said, 'Push off ya git, I was in front of you'.\"\r\nPlays: Saxophone (actually he jogs about in the background holding a sax and looks moody).\r\nInfluences: Mickey Rourke in 9.5 Weeks (\"Now there's a bloke I can identify with\".)\r\nHobbies: Ignoring Sam Fox in Stringfellows (\"I hate fat bimbos\")\r\nMessage: \"Never trust women\".\r\n\r\nALISON SKEAT (Production Editor)\r\nHistory: Auditioned for Bucks Fizz' new girlie - was laughed off the stage.\r\nPlays: Triangle and with certain other members of the band.\r\nInfluences: Bananarama (they're so talented) and her mate Kelly who was in the Stu Stu Studio Line advert.\r\nHobbies: Picking up Greek/Spanish/Italian male tourists outside the Hippodrome (\"I'm very cosmopolitan me\").\r\nMessage: \"Always keep your dancing knickers ironed\".\r\n\r\nTIM NOONAN (Art Editor)\r\nHistory: Lead chair chucker at Milwall v Luton.\r\nPlays: Drums and the silly fellow.\r\nInfluences: Lager and vindaloo.\r\nHobbies: Getting thrown out of pubs/clubs/salvation army hostels.\r\nMessage: \"I'll 'ave you John, you're well aat of order\"\r\n\r\nCHRIS JENKINS (Contributor)\r\nHistory: Born on the planet Zob, came to earth in 1960 and has been trying to absorb our strange culture ever since.\r\nPlays: Synths that make widdly widdly noises, Japanese woodflute and zither.\r\nInfluences: Klaus Schultz, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwek and various other German hippies.\r\nHobbies: Trying to get Sabrina to notice him in Stringfellows.\r\nMessage: \"Phasers on stun, sequencers armed and pump up the volume\".\r\n\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nTechnical: Andrew Hewson, Rupert Goodwins\r\nContributors: Tony 'saucy' Dillon, Chris 'whingey' Jenkins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Katherine 'top girlie' Lee\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Martha Moloughney\r\nAd Production: Emma 'choccy face' Ward\r\nPublisher's Assistant: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Terry 'location unknown' Pratt\r\nMarketing: Clive 'starless and bible black' Pembridge\r\n\r\nPhone: [redacted]\r\nFax: [redacted]\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis Month's Cover: Brian Talbot\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1989 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries: [redacted]\r\n24 Hour Order Line: [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: Back Issues Department (SU), [redacted]"},"MainText":"Label: KIXX\r\nAuthor: Toposoft\r\nPrice: £1.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Tony Dillon\r\n\r\nHasn't the world had enough Gladiator type games yet? Maybe I wouldn't cry so despairingly had any of them been any good, but the sad fact remains, they've all been more less crud. Colosseum is no exception to the rule.\r\n\r\nColosseum isn't very good. That said, it's fairly original, so a pat on the back for KIXX.\r\n\r\nYou are a chariot driver, back in the good old days of the Romans, and along with four computer controlled riders have to try and win the race. To win you have to do two things. Firstly, stay alive. Secondly, make sure that no-one else does.\r\n\r\nAs you race around the long oval shaped track, you discover exactly what kind of things can kill you. Most important and the loveliest of the lot are the obstructions in the road which range from regular harmful bushes to bits of wall that someone has casually left lying around.\r\n\r\nThe other riders are armed, as you are, with axes and maces. What they have to do is deplete your energy by hitting you as many times as possible before you do the same to them. The loser is treated to a bit of a graphical thrill when their horses charge away from the chariot and the rider is left flying through the air before ploughing painfully and brain smashingly into the ground.\r\n\r\nControls are basic, usual, boring regular old controls. Up and down moves your chariot up and down in relation to the side view scrolling racetrack. Left and right brake and accelerate the chariot respectively. Fire activates weapon. Why doesn't somebody come up with a new and exciting control method. I'm bored with all these samey joystick controls. Come on BBC, buck your ideas up. (Terwonee, are you alright? - AS)\r\n\r\nThe graphics are alright. The scrolling works quite well, but there are a lot of items in the game that are just completely unrecognisable. As for when you get into a battle with an opposing chariot. Life suddenly becomes one huge mess of pixels.\r\n\r\nIt doesn't play very well. That's probably as honestly as I can put it without being offensive. The controls are fairly slow to respond, but that's no real problem. This is. At a guess, the racetrack has got five lanes. The obstructions appear in one of the five lanes with no overlaps. Steering around objects is difficult because there are no lane markers and it's a bit of a job to tell manually exactly where you are in relation to the rest of the universe.\r\n\r\nIt's just not very good. Colosseum is a brilliant idea. It's original, and were it carried through properly, it could be an excellent game. As it is in it's present form, it's not. At least it's budget.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Nice idea but badly executed.","Page":"56","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Tony Dillon","Score":"52","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"61%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"54%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"44%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"52%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]