[{"TitleName":"Repton Mania","Publisher":"Superior Software Ltd","Author":"","YearOfRelease":"1989","ZxDbId":"0011346","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 64, May 1989","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1989-04-27","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, Paul Evans, Robin Hogg, Ian Lacey\r\nEditorial Assistants: Caroline Blake, Vivienne Vickress\r\nEditorial Consultant: Dominic Handy\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nSenior Designer/Illustrator: 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: Robert Hamilton, Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard\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\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nGroup Productions Executive: Richard Eddy\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":"Superior\r\nGil Johnson-Smith\r\n£7.95/£12.95\r\n\r\nAccording to Superior, on the BBC Micro Repton Mania is even more popular than Elite! In fact, the original Repton has been followed by six sequels together with Repton mugs, pens and cuddly toys! Even allowing for the weird nature of BBC owners it's obvious that the brightly dressed lizard is a bit special.\r\n\r\nThe introduction of Repton onto the Spectrum is via the bundling of Repton 1 and Repton 2 on a single tape or disk. Repton 1 is by far the easiest to start with, it's made up of 12 caverns and when you complete one you get the password for the next. To complete a cavern you have to run about collecting all the diamonds before the time limit runs out. To start off with there's just the diamonds, the earth stuff you move through, monsters and boulders (which crush Repton if they fall on him).\r\n\r\nWhile swift responses are vital to avoid the monsters, the heart of the game is solving the puzzles, eg how do I get the diamond without that boulder sealing off my exit? On the first cavern, puzzles can be solved instinctively, but later on a little thinking is necessary when safes (which need keys to be opened) and eggs (if they fall monsters appear) are added. On eight of the caverns a map will appear when fire is pressed, on the final four it won't.\r\n\r\nRepton 1 duplicates much of the addictive gameplay of Boulderdash, but lacks some of that game's inventiveness and graphic charm. Whereas in Bouldedash the diamonds have a greed-inspiring sheen, here they're unattractive and blocky. Even cruder is the large lizard itself, which has only about three frames of animation moving sideways. Sound is limited to a blip when you collect something and a simple tune on the front end. By way of compensation scrolling is fast and perfectly smooth. But if the generally disappointing presentation makes getting started difficult, once you've begun playing, stopping is extremely hard. The combination of time limits, tough puzzles and fast monsters makes for a really compelling game.\r\n\r\nRepton2 suffers from the same presentational problems as the original, but additional features such as transporters, meteors and skulls add variety, livening things up. The main difference though, is in gameplay - instead of there being 12 caverns there's just one immense puzzle, consisting of 16 levels linked by transporters. To complete it you have to collect 4744 earth sections, 42 jigsaw pieces, 1634 diamonds, kill all 18 monsters (by dropping boulders on them) and lots more besides, all without making a single mistake!\r\n\r\nAt first Repton Mania looks drastically over-priced, but once you begin to play the game it becomes apparent you get more than enough gameplay for your money. Unlike most blast-'em-ups this could easily keep you playing for months on end, so if you really do prize playability over graphics look out for the lizard.\r\n\r\nSTUART 79%","ReviewerComments":["I must admit that I was truly shocked when the first two Repton games sauntered into the CRASH office. I played them on the BBC ages ago but couldn't get very far on either (probably because the teachers at school kept kicking me off the computer!). But having now played them for longer I must admit that Repton is quite good fun. The graphics are basically abysmal and sound isn't much better with an ancient tune stuck on the front end and minimal effects throughout the game. But the gameplay is addictive and the frustration of dying at a critical moment or dislodging a vital piece of rock will keep you playing for ages. Both games could definitely have been better presented and the graphics and sound leave much to be desired. But as they stand, they should provide enjoyment for quite some time.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n71%"],"OverallSummary":"Fascinating, addictive gameplay more than makes up for the lacklustre presentation.","Page":"79","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"71","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Stuart Wynne","Score":"79","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"59%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"58%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"35%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"79%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"78%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"75%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 42, Jun 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-05-11","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Catherine Higgs\r\nDeputy/Production Editor: Jackie 'Do I get paid for two jobs?' Ryan\r\nStaff Writer: Duncan MacDonald\r\nDesigner: Thor Goodall\r\nEditorial Assistant: David Wilson\r\nTechnical Consultant: David McCandless\r\nContributors: Marcus Berkmann, Ciaran Brennan, Lis Clegg, Jonathan Davies, Phoebe Evans, Mike Gerrard, Sean Kelly, Catherine 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\nCirculation Manager: June Smith\r\nAssociate Producer: Teresa Maughan\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\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":"Superior Software\r\n£7.95 cass/£12.95 disk\r\nReviewer: Marcus Berkmann\r\n\r\nNow let's get this straight from the start: Repton is Boulderdash writ large. In fact 'writ' is probably the operative word, because the two are in places so similar that I'm amazed the lawyers haven't been on the phone.\r\n\r\nThat said, Repton is a cracking good game - or rather format, because there are two games here, Repton 1 and Repton 2 (imaginative titles, huh?). 'Large' is no less appropriate than 'writ', 'cos both games expand the old Boulderdash formula to bumper size. I mean, take a butchers: Repton's sprite is a sixth the height of the screen.\r\n\r\nThe name may be familiar, for indeed the two games were, in an earlier guise, two of the most successful games ever on the BBC Micro. No, stop laughing. A good game is a good game, whichever machine it's on, and both Speccy conversions look and play a treat.\r\n\r\nRepton 1 is unreconstructed Boulderdash - diamonds, boulders, nasties, the lot. You guide your little chap around the maze, collecting diamonds and trying to avoid being splattered by the boulders that lie around. Much of this is straightforward puzzlework - how to blag the sparklers without being crushed - but when eggs start cropping up, you have to be even more careful. Crack the eggs - and a lot of the time you don't have much choice - and out floats a nasty which sees you not as a jolly playmate, more as breakfast. Irritating-looking safes block the way too, and seem impossible to crack, but find the key (always hidden somewhere nasty) and the sales all open to reveal diamonds. There's a time limit for each screen, and for the first eight screens you also get a map you can toggle to which shows you the detailed layout of your level.\r\n\r\nAll very well, but for an even more sophisticated bit of fun, all you have to do is turn over the tape and load in Repton 2. This, originally the sequel in BBC land (or had you guessed?), bears the same relation to Repton 1 as Jet Set Willy did to Manic Miner. Suddenly the action is opened up to one multi-level puzzle, thanks to 64 transporters that lie around the place. The idea here is to collect 42 jigsaw puzzle pieces, which when picked up immediately reappear in a section of the first screen, eventually to spell out some sort of message. Meanwhile, though, you still have to pick up all the diamonds (1,634 of them, for heaven's sake), make sure you step over all 4,744 earth sections, use all the transporters and kill all 18 monsters. Not easy. Extremely hard, in fact.\r\n\r\nThe whole thing is about as complicated as I imagine a game like this could become, but it's devilishly addictive - one of the most compulsive games I've played in months. You're always visiting new screens, getting killed in exciting new ways and being presented with ever more devilish puzzles to solve. As well as all the hazards in Repton 1, there are spirits, which always follow to the left until they reach a cage, and must be avoided at all costs. There are meteor showers, which make things tricky in six of the 16 levels. And there are skulls, which may not move or fall on you but don't exactly like being disturbed either. It's up to you which locations you visit in which order, but you soon discover that unless you do one thing earlier on, your way may be irrevocably blocked a few minutes later.\r\n\r\nIf you manage to get through all this - and anyone who really gets into the game can look forward to weeks (if not months) of challenging play - you're eventually allowed to reach the last half dozen puzzle pieces (the surrounding skulls conveniently disappear), and the game is over. Needless to say, after two or three days' solid playing, I'm about 1% closer to that seemingly unreachable target.\r\n\r\nThe whole shebang is, in the end, one of the most addictive arcade adventures for ages - not wildly original (which is why it just misses a megagame), but a superb variation on a classic theme. Use Repton 1 to get you used to the controls and the gameplay, then leap straight in at the deep end and load up Repton 2. Arcade adventure fans (all eleven of us) are not well cared for by software companies these days (Aaaah! - Everybody else), but this is manna from heaven, or at least Leeds, where Superior Software is based. That's not to underestimate Reppy 1 - a perfectly adequate Boulderdash clone - but Reppy 2 is the business.\r\n\r\nPoke, anyone?","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Two games in one: one a servicable Boulderdash clone (with giant sprites), the other a quantum leap ahead, the best multi-screen arcade adventure we've seen for ages. Triffo.","Page":"45","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Marcus Berkmann","Score":"88","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"93%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"86%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"85%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"93%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"88%","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: Superior/Alligata\r\nAuthor: Gil Johnson-Smith\r\nPrice: £7.95/£14.95\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Chris Jenkins\r\n\r\nRepton and its sequels were among the most popular games ever released for the BBC B micro. If that isn't enough to put you off the Spectrum version, it certainly should be; the Beeb's reputation for unimaginative, graphically primitive and badly designed games is second to none. Tremble with horror, then, as you read these lines from the blurb for Repton Mania; \"The gameplay and screens are similar to the BBC version.\" AAARGHHH! Too right they are, matey!\r\n\r\nJust to make things worse, Repton is a variant of what must be the most over-rated game in the history of the Universe, Boulderdash. If moving around the screen picking up diamonds and trying to avoid rocks falling on your head is your idea of a good time, I suggest you submit to an immediate brain-scan.\r\n\r\nRepton Mania consists of the two games Repton and Repton 2. The two games have a lot in common; the central frog-like character Repton, the flat top-down graphics, the dreadful blocky designs, the awful Woodentops-style animation, horrid ragtime music, and the primitive sound effects. In each game the aim is to move Repton around a cavern, digging through the earth, picking up diamonds and avoiding hazards, aiming to complete each screen within a time limit, upon which you are given a code-word for the next level. There's a map display which is accessed by pressing ENTER/M.\r\n\r\nHazards including falling boulders which squash you if you dig out the earth beneath them; eggs which hatch out into Repton-seeking dragons; flying sparks and the like.\r\n\r\nIn the second game, the imaginatively-titled Repton 2, the main differences are the additional hazards; deadly skulls, meteors, monsters and spirits. The aim here is to collect all the earth (honestly), all the diamonds, all 42 pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and to kill all 18 monsters. To do this you must use all 64 transporters, which transfer you via a Spectrum Basic-style whirly screen effect into hidden sections of the labyrinth.\r\n\r\nIn Repton 2 there is no time limit to any of the sections, but some diamonds are hidden in safes which can only be opened by finding keys.\r\n\r\nIt would be nice to be able to find something nice to say about Repton Mania, but when even budget games now routinely feature excellent graphics, sophisticated sound and complex gameply, it's hard to see any virtue in this outmoded antique at £7.95. There may well be some people out there who love the Bouiderdash format so much that they're willing to overlook the failings of what is in effect a two-year-old 32K BBC B game, but if they are, they have my sympathy.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Really dreadful duo of Boulderdash balderdash.","Page":"88","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Chris Jenkins","Score":"33","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"32%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"32%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"34%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"34%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"33%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]