[{"TitleName":"Cosmic Pirate","Publisher":"Byte Back","Author":"Iain Traynor, John Brennan, Peter Mannion","YearOfRelease":"1989","ZxDbId":"0001083","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 70, Nov 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-10-21","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":52,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nSoftware Co-ordinator: Mark Caswell\r\nStaff Writers: Nick Roberts, Lloyd Mangram\r\nEditorial Assistants: Viv Vickress, Caroline Blake\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION DEPARTMENT\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell (Supervisor), Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard\r\n\r\nDESIGN\r\nMark Kendrick, Melvin Fisher\r\n\r\nSystems Operator: Ian Chubb\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Lee Watkins\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nSubscriptions\r\n[redacted].\r\n\r\nDesigned and typeset on Apple Macintosh II computers using Quark Express and Adobe Illustrator '88, output at MBI [redacted] with systems support from Digital Reprographics [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistribution 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 Viv Vickress 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. We regret that readers' postal enquiries cannot always be answered. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. Colour photographic material should be 35mm transparencies wherever possible. The views expressed in CRASH are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nCopyright CRASH Ltd 1989 A Newsfield Publication. ISSN 0954-8661. Cover Design by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"COSMIC PIRATE\r\nByte Back\r\n£2.99\r\n\r\nYour name is Guy Manly, the roughest and toughest pirate in the galaxy, and your aim is to make crime pay in space. The 'council' have given you orders to hijack innocent space truckers and sell all the cargoes from them for a big profit. Not wanting to risk your neck by going out into space without knowing what's there, various mission simulators have been installed for you to practice on until you've earned enough points to get into the real thing. Have you got what it takes to satisfy the council and make yourself piles of dash? The first thing that hits you in Cosmic Pirate is the excellent presentation. The Byte Back logo wobbles up the screen at the beginning, and the layout of the whole game is good. The actual space fighting scenes remind me of Hunter's Moon, a Thalamus game on the Commodore 64 (ooo, swear words!), the graphics and way the ship is controlled are very similar.\r\n\r\nThe game isn't just shooting aliens that attack you occasionally. You can pop down onto planets and clear them of aliens for extra points, collect extra equipment to improve your ships capabilities and view data on each space truck before you attack it. All this is quite fun for a while.\r\n\r\nCosmic Pirate is a good shoot 'em up that will appeal to fans of this style of game. Others may find it a bit boring if they don't get anywhere after the first few goes.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"49","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"67","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"67%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 47, Nov 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-10-16","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Catherine Higgs\r\nDeputy Editor: Jackie Ryan\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nStaff Writer: David Wilson\r\nDesigner: Catherine Peters\r\nTechnical Consultant: Jonathan Davies\r\nContributors: Marcus Berkmann, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Sean Kelly, Duncan MacDonald, David McCandless, Phil South\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Lynda Elliott\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Alison Morton\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Chris Skinner\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Claire Baker\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nNewstrade Circulation Manager: Stephen Ward\r\nSubscription Manager: June Smith\r\nPublisher: Teresa Maughan\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: Point Five [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinted By: Riverside Press [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":"COSMIC PIRATE\r\nByte Back\r\n£2.99\r\nReviewer: Jonathan Davies\r\n\r\nGuy Manly's your name and, predictably enough, killing people's your game. Innocent space traders, in fact, with the aim of nicking their cargo and selling them down the market, like, no questions asked.\r\n\r\nWhat this actually involves is flying around a rather bland scrolling grid and shooting things. There are various ways of doing this, which are selected from a series of menus. It's necessary to do this several times in order to build up enough skill to progress to more important things, such as inter- planetary travel. Everything, naturally, revolves around amassing credits;\r\n\r\nI didn't venture too far into the depths of the game, as it would seem to require a lot of patience, dedication, enthusiasm and all the other qualities I so visibly lack. The impression I got was of a graphically uninspiring but otherwise fairly sound strategy game which will probably appeal to a minority audience. I won't be returning to it, though, probably because I'm not a minority of any kind.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"47","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jonathan Davies","Score":"64","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"64%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 96, Nov 1989","Price":"£1.2","ReleaseDate":"1989-10-16","Editor":"Julian Rignall","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Julian Rignall\r\nArt Editor: Andrea Walker\r\nStaff Writers: Paul Glancey, Paul Rand\r\nArt Assistant: Osmond Browne\r\nAdvertising Manager: Nigel Taylor\r\nDep Ads Manager: Joanna Cooke\r\nSales Executive: Tina Zanelli\r\nProduction Assistant: Glenys Powell\r\nPublisher: Graham Taylor\r\nThis Month's Cover: Jerry Paris\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries to: EMAP Frontline, [redacted]\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]"},"MainText":"Byteback\r\nSpectrum/C64 £2.99\r\n\r\nByteback's first release is a set of 8-bit versions of Palace's Amiga and ST hit of earlier this year. You play a space pirate, patrolling the spaceways on lookout for fat merchants. Zap the indigenous space-slimes to earn cash, then warp out through the toll gates. Once you've captured your prey, take him back to base and get the megacreds to soup up your old star-strutter into something hot.\r\n\r\nSurprisingly enough, these three quid versions seem to have all the features of the twenty-odd quid 16-bit versions - even the ability to save games. Unfortunately, the Spectrum version has some nasty graphics glitches and moves ve-r-y sl-o-o-w-ly, so it doesn't get the thumbs up. The C64 version is much better - fast, smooth, and , pretty good fun - BUT it does crash occasionally, which is very annoying.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Gameplay is the same as the C64 version, only slightly slower and with more blotchy graphics. The high-pitched warbly music will give you a headache, too.","Page":"79","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"C64 SCORES\r\n\r\nOverall: 69%\r\n\r\nWould be a brilliant space shoot 'em up if it wasn't for a bug which causes it to crash. The fact that you can ave the game to tape is some small recompense."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"39%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]