[{"TitleName":"Crystal Castles","Publisher":"U.S. Gold Ltd","Author":"Andromeda Software Ltd","YearOfRelease":"1986","ZxDbId":"0001179","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":"CRYSTAL CASTLES\r\nKixx\r\n£2.99 (rerelease)\r\n\r\nBently Bear has a problem: he's mad on collecting gems. As you can imagine this obsession could get him into trouble, and it does in Crystal Castles. The gems are scattered about the floors of 18 3-D structures jam-packed full of lifts, ramps, tunnels and hidden passages. Each of these levels has its own name, like Tree Wave and Doomsdome. Old Bently's task would be a simple one if it weren't for the creatures roaming the structures in search of bear burgers. These include Mad Marbles, Tree Spirits, Skeletons, and there's Berthilda the witch, who can only be killed by wearing the magic hat. Speed is also important it you're going to succeed in Crystal Castles: spend too long on a screen and killer bees swarm up and sting you (ouch!).\r\n\r\n3-D graphics have been attempted over and over again on the Spectrum and the Crystal Castles version's almost unique to this game. It works really well too. Bently goes in and out of the tunnels and up and down ramps; in true 3-D style. Bonuses are collected for extra points, the honey pot and magic hat being the most common, with 11000 points each. Once all levels have been completed it's back to the start again. But don't moan, because this time' things speed up to provide a whole new challenge.\r\n\r\nCrystal Castles is an addictive arcade romp with pleasant graphics and sound. Well worth the asking price and great for all the family. Happy playying ladz!.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"48","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"68","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"68%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 48, Dec 1989","Price":"£2.2","ReleaseDate":"1989-11-16","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Catherine Peters\r\nDeputy Editor: Jackie Ryan\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nStaff Writer: David Wilson\r\nDesigner: Martin Sharrocks\r\nTechnical Consultant: Jonathan Davies\r\nContributors: Robin Alway, Marcus Berkmann, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Kati Hamza, Duncan MacDonald, Rich Pelley, Phil South\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Lynda Elliott\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Caroline Day\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\nGroup Publishing Director: Richard Howell\r\nGroup Creative Director: Tony Spalding\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":"CRYSTAL CASTLES\r\nKixx\r\n£2.99\r\nReviewer: Marcus Berkmann\r\n\r\nAn excellent game, which for some reason that long ago escaped me was never properly released by US Gold. Although previewed in the press in 1986 or '87, it appeared only on a long-forgotten compilation a year or so later (with a couple of stinkers). But now it's available in its own right at a very nice price indeed. The idea's straightforward enough. Your little bear (called Bentley for no less obscure reasons) is just crazy about gems - so much so that he's willing to risk his life blagging them. So he finds himself deposited on a series of 18 3D structures (all around the size of yer average Head Over Heels room), each one chock-a-block with lifts, ramps, tunnels and occasionally the odd hidden passage. Oh, and gems too. Chasing around after him are various sorts of missiles (Mad Marbles, which take the shortest route to you, Tree Spirits, which do the same but can be immobilised for a short time if you jump over them, Gem Eating Centipedes which, er, eat gems, and so on). And, well, that's it - but try dragging yourself away from the keyboard, that's all. It's viscously addictive, a sort of high-speed Bounty Bob and the 3D isometric games. And don't be fooled by the rather primitive presentation and simple graphics - this is as swift a game of its type as I've ever seen, with none of that dismal slow-motion chugging about that you usually get if there's more than one sprite on the screen. If playability's the final criterion, this is as good a game as you'll get - definitely worth a Megagame. Buy and enjoy.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"30,31","Denied":false,"Award":"Your Sinclair Megagame","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Marcus Berkmann","Score":"90","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"90%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 94, Jan 1990","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-12-18","Editor":"Jim Douglas","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"JIM \"Keyring\" DOUGLAS (Editor)\r\nLike all Editors, Jim's absolutely loaded with cash and his car is a luxury status symbol that goes with his high-flying ulcer-inducing job editing Sinclair User. You know you've hit it big when Jim asks if the keys to his Nissan Micra will fit in your handbag!\r\n\r\nALISON \"Toot Toot\" SKEAT (Production Editor)\r\nAl Drives the SU Bus! Every morning she honks the horn and collects the rest of the team and drives them off for another day at the office. Hera she is, bright and early on a Monday morning, ready to get 'on the case' (alright, so she's in the office on a Friday afternoon holding a plastic bin lid).\r\n\r\nOSMOND \"Brake, Brake!\" BROWNE (Designer)\r\nOz, our new design wizard is preparing for his test at the moment, and seems to be having trouble with reversing around corners, but he firmly believes that in no time he'll be behind the wheel of his vary own DeLorean Snowstorm.\r\n\r\nGARTH \"Firestone\" Sumpter (Staff Writer)\r\nAlways on hand to steady a sometimes rocky and panic-ridden ship, Garth soothes the worries of the team away with his stories of articulated lorry racing round Silverstone. \"Which reminds me of the time I hit the chicane at 90 with no steering...\"\r\n\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nI've Got This Problem: Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: James Owens\r\nSenior Sales: Martha Moloughney\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nMarketing Manager: Dean Barrett\r\nMarketing Assistant: Sarah Ewing\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nOur Address: [redacted]\r\nOur Phone Number: [redacted]\r\nOur Fax No: [redacted]\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Clive Goodyear\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nTypeset By Mr Douglas and Mr Sumpter at Jimmy's Setting Emporium\r\nDistributed by EMAP Frontline.\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries: [redacted]\r\n24 Hour Order Line: [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: Back Issues Department (SU), [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Copyright Sinclair User 1989/90 ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nNo part of this magazine may be reproduced/transcribed, stored in a data retrieval system etc etc, or you'll go to gaol forever. We will, however, be giving a special prize to anyone who can reproduce this issue in the smallest possible form. Send entries to the address above. Must be smaller than a cassette tape."},"MainText":"CRYSTAL CASTLES\r\nLabel: Kixx\r\nPrice: £2.99\r\n\r\nCrystal Castles. What a classic. What an epic.\r\n\r\nWhat a stinker. Yes! People used to get excited over this sort of thing! WHY??? All it consists of is a 3-D variant of Pacman, where the hero is a strangely paralysed fluffy bear, the objects to collect are gems and honeypots, the baddies consist of an assortment of marbles, trees, skeletons and bees, and moving platforms allow you to reach higher levels of the more complex castles. SOME PEOPLE - no names mentioned, - are quoted on the insert as calling Crystal Castles \"beyond description\". Indeed Crystal Castles is inevitably going to be bought by some fanatics, but I reckon it was a dodo even when it was first released three years ago.\r\n\r\nShow your maturity and pass it by.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A pile of wombat pooh, whatever the pundits say.","Page":"61","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"42%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"43%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"42%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) Issue 26, Nov 1989","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1989-10-05","Editor":"Steve Cooke","TotalPages":164,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EMAP B & CP [redacted]\r\nTelephone [redacted], Fax [redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Steve Cooke\r\nReviews Editor: Eugene Lacey\r\nStaff Writer: Laurence Scotford\r\nDesign Editor: Jim Willis\r\nContributors: Andy Wilton, Ciaran Brennan, Tony Dillon, Kati Hamza, John Minson, John Cook, Pete Connor, Tony Ruben\r\nAdditional Design By: Richard Slater, Phil Hendy\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Gary Williams\r\nDeputy Advertising Manager: Jerry Hall\r\nAdvertising Production: Sue Lee\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nSUBSCRIPTIONS\r\nEMAP Frontline, Subscriptions Dept [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOLOUR ORIGINATION\r\nLatent Image [redacted]\r\n\r\nTYPESETTING\r\nCXT [redacted]\r\n\r\nDISTRIBUTION\r\nEMAP Frontline [redacted]\r\n\r\nPRINTING\r\nSevern Valley Press, Caerphilly\r\n\r\n©EMAP B&CP 1989\r\n\r\nNo part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without our permission."},"MainText":"Kixx, £2.99\r\nAmstrad, C64, Spectrum\r\n\r\nAnother cult coin-op classic is about to sneak out on budget, and luckily for you if you missed it the first time - highly likely as its launch at full price three years ago was a strangely low key affair. Strange when you consider that this 3D Pacman style game was one of the most addictive cabinets ever to stand in an arcade. You play the part of Bentley the Bear who must gather all of the gems dotted around the floor of eighteen ice structures. Each level must be completely clear before progressing to the next and Bentley must make use of the lifts, pulleys, ramps and hidden passages if he is to succeed. The skeletons, bees, Gem Eaters and Berthilda the witch are keen to hang on to the gems. Ultimately pointless yet totally unputdownable arcade entertainment.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"114,115","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Crystal Castles - a classic 3D style Pacman with secret passages and a wicked witch in pursuit."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"5/5","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":"Kixx\r\nSpectrum/C64 £2.99\r\n\r\nAn elderly conversion of an even more crusty Atari coin-op which places you in the furry skin of Bentley, a bouncy bear with a fetish for precious stones. Today, Bentley's ambled into a witch's castle which is made up of 18 3D mazes all littered with gems. Cor! Poor Bentley nearly wets his knicks in excitement, and before you can say, \"Hold it Bentley. The place is full of mad marbles/tree spirits/skeletons/gem eaters/bees\", he's out there filling his pockets.\r\n\r\nOn the Spectrum at least. Crystal Castles is quite good fun, but not at all difficult, mainly because it's a bit slow. The best that can be said about the graphics is that they're clear, and there are a couple of beepy jingles which pop up now and again. All in all, not tops, but a \"bear\"able budget buy (yuk yuk!)","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A tidy arcade conversion, playable enough to keep you occupied for an hour or two.","Page":"75","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"C64 SCORES\r\n\r\nOverall: 78%\r\n\r\nMurky (but very fast) graphics, nicer jingles and even the secret warps from the arcade game. Good fun."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"70%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 35, Mar 1987","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1987-02-19","Editor":"Bryan Ralph","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Bryan Ralph\r\nAssistant Editor: Cliff Joseph\r\nConsultant Editor: Ray Elder\r\nAdvertising Manager: John McGarry\r\nDesign: Argus Design\r\nA.S.P. Advertising and Editorial [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted by Chase Web, [redacted]\r\n\r\nAdvertisement Copy Controller: Andy Selwood\r\n\r\nDistributed by: Argus Press Sales and Distribution Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing Monthly is published on the fourth Friday of each month. Subscription rates can be obtained from ZX Subscriptions, [redacted]\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication, including all articles, designs plans, drawings and other intellectual property rights herein belong to Argus Specialist Publications Limited. All rights conferred by the law of Copyright and other intellectual property rights and by virtue of international copyright conventions are specifically reserved to Argus Specialist Publications Limited and any reproduction requires the prior written consent of the company.\r\n\r\nArgus Specialist Publications Limited. ©1987"},"MainText":"A SOFTWARE 'LEGEND' FROM U.S. GOLD?\r\n\r\nU.S. Gold\r\n£8.99\r\n\r\nU.S. Gold are releasing this as a 'special limited edition' in an attempt to convince us all that if we don't rush out and buy it straight away we will all have missed our chance to experience this \"software legend\" (their advertising people certainly know their stuff).\r\n\r\nThe trouble with legends is that they don't always measure up to their reputations when you eventually get to see them in the flesh - especially when they're being translated from a dedicated arcade machine onto the Spectrum. I'd never seen the arcade original but someone told me that it was a sort of 3D Pac Man. That sounded promising, despite the fact that the main character is called Bentley Bear, so in went the tape.\r\n\r\nThe 3D Pac Man description was fairly accurate in that Bentley's task is to wander around a three-dimensional 'castle' which is made up of structures of ramps and walkways which become increasingly complex on each successive screen, collecting little pills which are dotted along the main pathways just as in Pac Man. As you'd expect there are various types of monsters that home in on Bentley (I hate that name), including things that look like centipedes, trees and ghosts, and also additional items of treasure that can be collected or left where they are in order to block the path of the pursuing monsters.\r\n\r\nOf course, as each screen is in three dimensions rather than the original Pac Man's two, the game is a little more complicated. Bentley has the ability to jump over monsters rather than simply moving left/right, forward/backward, and it quite often happens that he will move behind a section of the 'castle' structure. When this happens the program allows you to 'see through' the structure so that you can follow Bentley's movements although you are unable to see the actual path that he is on.\r\n\r\nThe drawback with using 3D structures is that the graphics are that much more complicated and in order to get everything onto the screen the moving figures and blocks which make up the structures all have to be quite small. This makes the game quite fiddly to control. Most of the paths around the screen are so narrow that it's not at all unusual for Bentley to shoot past one when you actually want him to turn into it. So you have to slowly double back and line him up precisely, before going down the path. By this time, of course, every monster on the screen has homed in on the hapless bear and sent him to bear heaven. As a result of this fiddliness the game's addictiveness suffers considerably. Instead of trying to do an exact conversion the programmers of the Spectrum version would have done well to keep the castle structures a little less complicated (along the lines of Addictive's Kirel, which had similar 3D structures but ones which were drawn larger and more clearly, yet were still complex enough to present a challenge).\r\n\r\nBy trying to pack a bit too much onto the Spectrum's screen the programmers have made the game too cramped to allow you to build up some speed and get really involved in it.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"41","Denied":false,"Award":"Globert","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"Good","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]