[{"TitleName":"Karate Ace","Publisher":"Gremlin Graphics Software Ltd","Author":"","YearOfRelease":"1988","ZxDbId":"0011823","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 34, Oct 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-09-13","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nDeputy Editor: Ciaran Brennan\r\nArt Editor: Darrell King\r\nStaff Writer: Duncan MacDonald\r\nProduction Editor: Jackie Ryan\r\nDesigner: Catherine Higgs\r\nContributors: Guy Bennington, Marcus Berkmann, Richard Blaine, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Graeme Kidd, Rachael Smith, Phil South\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Stansfield\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Claire Leggitt\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nPublisher: Kevin Cox\r\nPublishing Director: Roger Munford\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 ©1988 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":"Star Games\r\n£14.99 cass/£17.99 disk\r\nReviewer: Jonathan Davies\r\n\r\nKarate Ace is a whole bunch of games with one thing in common, and it's not necessarily karate, strangely enough.\r\n\r\nHowever, if martial arts sounds like your idea of fun, this could be your lucky day, 'cos this compilation contains some of the bestest oriental-type games around (and some of the worstest too). Glancing down the list below you'll see that most of them date from the early Mesozoic Era, but why let a minor point like that spoil the fun?\r\n\r\nSo, chop chop, lets not hang about. With no discernible attempt at an eastern accent, here's the rine up...\r\n\r\nThe Way Of The Exploding Fist:\r\nNeed I say more? Oh really? Sigh. Known as 'Fist' to its friends, this is the great-grandaddy of them all, and looks none the worse for wear. Okay, well a bit then. The graphics have since been bettered, and there's very little variety.\r\n\r\nBut oh how that beeping intro tune brings back memories! And that eye-watering kick in the goolies, probably the all-time greatest move ever. However, the opponents aren't too bright, and repeating a certain move a few times gets you through every time. It's definitely best with two players.\r\n\r\nYS hadn't learnt to count way back in '85 when this one appeared, so there's no rating for it, but we liked it all right.\r\n\r\nKung Fu Master:\r\nThe only coin-op conversion in the collection, and the worst of the lot in my opinion. The idea is to battle through the five floors of a temple to rescue the poor damsel held captive at the top (sorry ladies!).\r\n\r\nThis involves beating up the obligatory crowd of baddies with the various moves available to you. The graphics really turned heads when the game first appeared - away mainly - and today they look worse still. Slow, stodgy, tons of colour-clash. Playability isn't too bad, but the whole thing seems so vague it's unlikely to hold your interest for long.\r\n\r\nKung Fu Master managed an eight first time round, but things have changed around here.\r\n\r\nWay Of The Tiger:\r\nMaintenant vous parlez. This is a three-part multiloader, but don't hold that against it.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are what really makes this one, and they look good, even over two years later. The attention to detail is fantastic, particularly in the backgrounds, where fish plop out of rivers, owls fly overhead and peasants walk past pushing carts. Also worthy of a mention is the 3D parallax scrolling, which works vertically as well as horizontally. A little sluggish perhaps, but it brings a whole new dimension to the game thence '3D' Gottit?).\r\n\r\nThe three chunks are Unarmed Combat, Pole Fighting (Warsaw this about, then? Ho-ho) and the grand finale... Samurai Sword Fighting. They're all good fun, although you'll be lucky to get a whack in edgeways on the last part.\r\n\r\nA Megagame in its time, and it still looks triffic today.\r\n\r\nAvenger:\r\nBilled as WOTT II (or Wotty), it's really nothing like the first part. But its still darned good.\r\n\r\nGauntlet is what first springs to mind. Same overhead view same maze, same scrolling, but otherwise totally different. Continuing the beat 'em up theme, in order to dispatch the various nasties that come your way, you can punch and kick in the traditional manner or, if things get desperate, let loose with the shuriken. There are loadsa objects to pick up too, so you won't get bored.\r\n\r\nOnce again, graphics are First class (yuk, I hate that programme...) with nice smooth scrolling and there are plenty of sound FX and tunes.\r\n\r\nOnce again, a Megagame originally, and it holds onto its title on the curtain call.\r\n\r\nBruce Lee:\r\nIf you thought Fist was going back a bit, how about this? I'm amazed the British Museum let Star Games have the master copy back!\r\n\r\nBrucie got mixed reactions when he was let loose on our screens, oooh... must be three years ago now and I still feel that way now. On the one hand, it's great fun dashing around the wizard's fortress collecting lanterns for a while, but as I remember, this was the only game I managed to beat eight times in a row without losing a life. It really is incredibly easy once you get to know the routine. And there aren't that many rooms to explore, so that doesn't take long.\r\n\r\nThe graphics look pretty disgusting as well. They're primatively drawn, and exceedingly repetitive.\r\n\r\nUchi Mata:\r\nOoch! This one looks a bit rough round the edges. It also has the honour of being the only judo simulation I've ever come across.\r\n\r\nActually underneath all the tatty presentation, odd-looking, flickery sprites and utter, utter lack of sound there's quite a strategic little number lurking in there. The idea is to execute as many judo throws as you can, as well as possible and so pick up points. These moves are quite nicely animated, but the blokes flicker so much it's easy to lose track of them at times. Uchi Mata, incidentally, is another name for the pervy-sounding Inner Thigh Throw.\r\n\r\nUchi takes a while to get into, but could be quite fun once you get the hang of it. I think most people are likely to be put off by the sordid presentation before they get that far though. We gave it seven initially.\r\n\r\nSamurai Trilogy:\r\nThis is another Gremliny three-part ninja jobby, but not really in the same league as WOTT.\r\n\r\nThere are some very nicely done title screens, with a whopping great character set and a good tune, but after this things go sadly downhill. While the backgrounds are well- drawn the sprites themselves look decidedly limp-wristed, and animation is poor. As a result, the game isn't really terribly playable, and the three sections - Karate, Kendo and Samurai - don't contain enough variation to make the thing worthwhile. The training element, where you can choose three areas of ability to improve, doesn't help a lot either.\r\n\r\nSamurai Trilogy originally netted a seven.\r\n\r\nSo there we have it. A mixed bag, as the weather man would say. A couple of goodies, a few averagies and two or three that aren't really worth the bother.\r\n\r\nIt goes without saying that you'd have to be a pretty determined chop 'n'slasher to be interested, but then again I think that covers most of us. But I do have a couple of little queries (quiet at the back!) why's it so pricey, and why fill two tapes with largely identical games?\r\n\r\nStill, it does come in a nice big cardboard box, and being available on disk will make it very attractive to certain sections of society. If you haven't already got the gooduns, I'd give it a go if I were you.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Wide ranging in quality, but not in content. Could be interesting.","Page":"46,47","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jonathan Davies","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[{"Header":"The Way Of The Exploding Fist","Score":"7/10","Text":"The Way of the Exploding Fist"},{"Header":"Bruce Lee","Score":"4/10","Text":"Bruce Lee"},{"Header":"Kung Fu Master","Score":"4/10","Text":"Kung-Fu Master"},{"Header":"Avenger","Score":"9/10","Text":"Avenger"},{"Header":"Samurai Trilogy","Score":"5/10","Text":"Samurai Trilogy"},{"Header":"Uchi Mata","Score":"6/10","Text":"Uchi Mata"},{"Header":"Way Of The Tiger","Score":"9/10","Text":"The Way of the Tiger"}]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 60, Jan 1989","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-12-15","Editor":"Dominic Handy","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Dominic Handy\r\nAssistant Editor: Stuart Wynne\r\nStaff Writers: Mark Caswell, Philip King, Lloyd Mangram, Nick Roberts\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\nContributors: Jon Bates, Robin Candy, Raffaele Cecco, Ian Cull, Paul Evans, Ian Lacey, Barnaby Page, Paul Sumner\r\nEditorial Assistants: Caroline Blake, Vivienne Vickress\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nArt Director: Mark Kendrick\r\nAssistant Art Director: Wayne Allen\r\nProduction Team: Ian Chubb, Melvin Fisher, Robert Hamilton, Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Yvonne Priest\r\n\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nAdvertisement Director: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nSales Executives: Sarah Chapman, Andrew Smales\r\nAssistants: Jackie Morris, Lee Watkins [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\nHAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL CRASH READERS\r\n\r\nTotal: 96,590\r\nUK/EIRE: 90,822\r\n\r\n©CRASH Ltd, 1988\r\n\r\nISSN 0954-8661\r\n\r\nCover Design & Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"COLLECTABLE CONSUMABLES\r\n\r\nOne of the most popular complaints in LM's forum has always been the price of software, and it's often been used as justification for pirating software. People falling into this reprehensible habit should now make a New Year's resolution to stop because the excuse is utterly pathetic nowadays. Virtually all the big games, and many of the lesser ones, now seem to be automatically rereleased either on budget, or in a compilation. 'Wait and ye shall receive' seems to be the motto for anyone wary of splashing out £10 on a single piece of software.\r\n\r\nWhile compilations are around most of the year, Christmas and the New Year naturally draws the biggest releases with software houses showing off their 'greatest hits' - often with other companies' games to pad out a package. This practise is clearly vital to Gremlin who have no less than five anthologies coming out.\r\n\r\nGREEDY GREMLIN\r\n\r\nPerhaps due to the number of releases, Gremlin's titles show a distinct lack of imagination. 10 Great Games 3 is obviously the third in a ten game compilation series, but if the title doesn't set the blood racing some of the games should. From Hewson there's two written by Steve Turner; the acclaimed 1985 graphic adventure Dragontorc and the more recent Gauntlet-clone, Ranarama. Also from Hewson is Steve Crow's Firelord, a slightly more conventional arcade adventure.\r\n\r\nSomewhat more surprising inclusions than those from Hewson, for whom Gremlin are now distributors, are two Spanish games. These are the boxing simulation, Rocco by Dinamic, and a 1987 US Gold game, Survivors.\r\n\r\nMaking up the rest of the tape are the classic flight sim from Digital Integration - Fighter Pilot, Leader Board,Impossaball and the disappointing 10th Frame. While most of the big games here are rather old, if you haven't already got them this is pretty good value. Imaginative Gremlin title number two is Ten Mega Games which is a little more up to date with releases such as the flawed beat-'em-up Hercules and the well received Blood Brothers. The top two games are probably Northstar and Cybernoid, but Deflektor is an intriguing puzzle game well worth a look.\r\n\r\nStrangely, both Cybernoid and Northstar are also featured on Gremlin's Space Ace collection. The five other five games include the excellent Exolon, Dominic Robinson's horizontally-scrolling shoot-'em-up Zynaps and the third MASK game - Venom Strikes Back. While fairly expensive, and with some rather mediocre games as padding, the good games more than make up for this.\r\n\r\nAnother theme-based collection is Gremlin's Flight Ace. Also around the £15 mark this has just six games, most of which are quite long in the tooth. The only fairly recent game is the outstanding ATF which, with the helicopter sim Tomahawk, make this fairly respectable. Somewhat more dubious in value is the third in the 'Ace' theme trilogy - Karate Ace. This has the classic, clone-inspiring Way Of The Exploding Fist, the excellent two-player Bruce Lee and the epic Way Of The Tiger, but these are all quite old. Much of the rest of the games are not much more recent, and generally of distinctly inferior quality. Uchi Mata is truly awful for example. Unless you're a die-hard beat-'em-up fan, it's probably not worth the £12.95 asking price.\r\n\r\nTHE MIDAS TOUCH\r\n\r\nUS Gold may have just two compilations out, but one of them is the massive History in The Making, which at £24.95 is probably one of the most expensive Spectrum releases for ages. With 15 games the price-per-game is fairly reasonable, though, and the packaging with four tapes and a booklet is impressive. Unfortunately the games as a whole are weak. CRASH Smashes like the ancient Beach Head, Raid Over Moscow and the more recent Gauntlet fail to compensate for the mediocrity of the rest. This is an admirably wide-ranging history, but £24.95 seems a lot for the eight or so fairly good games - especially when most are now on budget.\r\n\r\nAlso from US Gold is the boastfully named Giants collection. Although all of the games are fairly recent releases, you only get five for just under 13 quid (tape version), while +3 owners have to fork out an extortionate 20 quid! Moreover the five are, under closer examination, a little dwarfish with only 720° and Out Run of much interest.\r\n\r\nA TOUCH OF CLASS\r\n\r\nFists 'N' Throttles is the tantalizing title for a potpourri Olive popular programs from Elite. You can bounce down the courses in Buggy Boy or perform dramatic motorbike leaps in Enduro Racer. Those feline cartoon stars, the Thundercats, also make an appearance. If you haven't got any of the games included then Fists 'N' Throttles represents good value for money. Unfortunately, if you live in Germany, you won't get Ikari Warriors, as it was banned by the West German government (yet German instructions for the game are included in the package!).\r\n\r\nNot to be outdone by their competitors, Ocean and imagine have some sumptuous compilations of their own. The sequel Game Set And Match 2 includes nine games ranging from a relaxing game of cricket in Ian Botham's Test Match to the bone-breaking grid iron action of American Football in Superbowl. Jon Ritman's fantabulous footy sim, Match Day II is also included along with the conversion of Sega's Super Hang-On. Burdened with some old and rather weak titles to fill it out this is still well worth considering.\r\n\r\nTwo sets of coin-op hits are being issued by Imagine. The first, Konami Arcade Collection, has been available for a few months now, and encompasses ten hits of yesteryear, numbering no less than four CRASH Smashes among them. At £9.95 it offers attractive value for money.\r\n\r\nAlso from Imagine comes a slightly newer selection of games, all Taito coin-op conversions. Taito Coin-op Hits contains eight such games, of which two - Flying Shark and Bubble Bobble - are fairly recent, highly-acclaimed Firebird releases. Breakout fans will be tempted by the inclusion of Arkanoid and its sequel, Revenge Of Doh, while beat-'em-up fans should be excited by Renegade.\r\n\r\nThe final Ocean release, The in Crowd, contains a real collection of street credible games. Primarily there's the beat-'em-ups Target; Renegade and Barbarian, along with the militarish, but very different, Combat School and Platoon. With Karnov adding a touch of colour, and Gryzor and Predator more jungle action it's well worth the usual Ocean asking price.\r\n\r\nLastly we come to those consistent suppliers of annual anthologies, Beau Jolly, 10 Computer Hits - Volume Five brings together ten middle of the road offerings, with only ...Traz standing out due to it being reviewed in this very issue! But Beau Jolly's pride and joy must be Supreme Challenge, a superb collection of three true mega games (Starglider, Elite and The Sentinel) plus one puzzling (Tetris) and, of course, the obligatory flight sim (Ace 2). At around £2.50 a game it can't be bad - even if you were only getting those three biggies! I dread to see what the documentation will be like: both Starglider and Elite had novellas and very detailed instruction manuals, in an A5 box!\r\n\r\nCRASH ISSUE FEATURED IN, AND REVIEW PERCENTAGE GIVEN. N/R DENOTES NOT REVIEWED.\r\n\r\n10 COMPUTER HITS - VOLUME FIVE\r\n£12.95c, £16.95d\r\nBeau Jolly\r\nDark Sceptre 47/88%\r\nTarzan 36/73%\r\nCatch 23 43/56%\r\nFrightmare 51/57%\r\nMystery Of The Nile 46/74%\r\nMega Apocalypse 52/58%\r\nMagnetron 51/57%\r\nNinja Hamster 43/60%\r\nTraz 60/81%\r\nEnlightenment: Druid II 49/68%","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"92,93","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 79, Oct 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-09-18","Editor":"Graham Taylor","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Graham 'Generalissimo' Taylor\r\nDeputy Editor: Jim 'Rourke' Douglas\r\nProduction Editor: Tamara '1st Traitor?' Howard\r\nArt Editor: Gareth Jones\r\nDesigner: Andrea '2nd Traitor' Walker\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nTechnical: Andrew Hewson, Rupert Goodwins\r\nContributors: Tony 'Bon Jovi or bust' Dillon, Chris 'Mr Blag' Jenkins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Katherine Lee\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Alison Morton\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nPublisher's Assistant: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\nMarketing: Clive 'Where have you taken my office?' Pembridge\r\n\r\nPhone: [redacted]\r\nFax: [redacted]\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis Month's Cover: Junior.\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1988 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: Star Games\r\nAuthor: Various\r\nPrice: £12.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Chris Jenkins\r\n\r\nSeven martial arts games in one package! How could any average violent lunatic resist? Although many of these titles have appeared on budget labels, it's a fair bet that there will be enough in Gremlin's Star Games Karate Ace package to attract most lovers of kung-fooey.\r\n\r\nMelbourne House's Exploding Fist was the original, and in some ways is still the best: classic two-player multi-move action. Uchi Mata from Martech wasn't such an immediate success; it involves too much strategy and too little violence.\r\n\r\nKung Fu Master from US Gold is a coin-op conversion, more of an arcade game than a simulation as you kick your way through a wizard's henchmen. Gremlin's Avenger, too, is a bit arcadey, a sort of cross between Gauntlet and, er, Gauntlet, with four-way scrolling. The sequel, Way of the Tiger, is a bit like Melbourne's Fighting Warrior; a series of encounters on a horizontally-scrolling background.\r\n\r\nUS Gold's Bruce Lee is a classic platforms-ladders-and-kicking game with dozens of screens and nicely-designed graphics, while the final title, Gremlin's Samurai Trilogy, is a three-part sim in which you have to master Kendo (stick-fighting), Karate, and Samurai (sword-fighting) in order to reach the rank of Warlord.\r\n\r\nA nicely-chosen selection, then, with no turkey amongst them, and at a decent price.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Decent value-for-money compilation of chop-socky martial arts games.","Page":"68","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Chris Jenkins","Score":"75","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"75%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 87, Jan 1989","Price":"£1.2","ReleaseDate":"1988-12-16","Editor":"Eugene Lacey","TotalPages":156,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Eugene Lacey\r\nDeputy Editor: Julian Rignall\r\nArt Editor: Andrea Walker\r\nStaff Writer: Matt Bielby\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Garry Williams\r\nSales Executive: Joanne Cook\r\nCopy Control: Lora Clark\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries to: EMAP Frontline, [redacted]\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\n108,892 (Jan-June 1988)."},"MainText":"COMPILATION CITY\r\n\r\nThe festive season is a time of peace, joy... and compilations. This year is no exception, and there's a plethora of collections, assemblages and gift packs attempting to seduce a punter into parting with his pounds. Julian Rignall gives his advice on which ones offer the best value for money...\r\n\r\nOne version of each compilation has been judged, but since games often vary in quality from format to format, there's a full list of marks for all versions of the compilation at the end of this feature, presented as three 'league' tables: one for Spectrum, one for Amstrad and one for C64 owners, giving a clear indication about which compilations are the best on which machines.\r\n\r\nGIANTS\r\nMACHINES: Spec/Ams/C64\r\nSUPPLIER: US Gold\r\nPRICE: Spec/Ams/C64 £12.99 Cass, C64 £14.99 Disk, Spec £17.99 Disk.\r\nVERSION TESTED: C64\r\n\r\nCALIFORNIA GAMES: Seven whacky events from the West Coast. Superb stuff!\r\n\r\n720: Blocky, but competent skateboarding arcade conversion.\r\n\r\nGAUNTLET II: Good, but ageing conversion of the coin-op classic.\r\n\r\nOUTRUN: A big seller, but very average in all respects.\r\n\r\nROLLING THUNDER: Ghastly coin-op conversion.\r\n\r\nA reasonable collection with one outstanding game, and one bummer\r\n\r\nC64 Overall: 78%\r\nAmstrad Overall: 72%\r\nSpectrum Overall: 72%\r\n\r\nSTATE OF THE ART\r\nMACHINE: ST\r\nSUPPLIER: Ocean\r\nPRICE: £29.99\r\nVERSION TESTED: ST\r\n\r\nBARBARIAN: Great hack 'n' slash fighting game.\r\n\r\nCRAZY CARS: So-so race game that lacks challenge.\r\n\r\nENDURO RACER: Poor conversion of the Sega motocross arcade game.\r\n\r\nWIZBALL: Colourful and original horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up.\r\n\r\nRAMPAGE: Great conversion, but ultimately repetitive.\r\n\r\nFairly good value for money, with a mixture of good and bad titles.\r\n\r\nAtari ST Overall: 75%\r\n\r\nSPORTS WORLD 88\r\nMACHINE: C64\r\nSUPPLIER: U.S. Gold\r\nPRICE: £12.99 Cass, £14 99 Disk\r\nVERSION TESTED: C64\r\n\r\nCHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING: Novel and compelling, but the multiload is a pain.\r\n\r\n10TH FRAME: Superb bowling game with lovely graphics and feel.\r\n\r\nHARDBALL: Great American sports game with good graphics.\r\n\r\nLEADERBOARD: Classic golf game that's been done to death.\r\n\r\n4TH & INCHES: Simply the best American football game available.\r\n\r\nSNOOKER AND POOL: Alright if you like this sort of thing.\r\n\r\nGO FOR GOLD: Excellent six-event sports simulation.\r\n\r\nWATER POLO: Unusual, and it's playable too!\r\n\r\nA brilliant package; on absolute must for sports fans.\r\n\r\nC64 Overall: 91%\r\n\r\nFISTS 'N' THROTTLES\r\nMACHINES: Spec/Ams/C64\r\nSUPPLIER: Elite\r\nPRICE: £9.95\r\nVERSION TESTED: Amstrad\r\n\r\nIKARI WARRIORS: Ageing, but extremely playable and addictive shooting game.\r\n\r\nBUGGY BOY: Excellent off-road race game.\r\n\r\nTHUNDERCATS: Colourful and addictive horizontally scrolling hack 'em up.\r\n\r\nDRAGON'S LAIR: Mediocre multiload arcade game.\r\n\r\nENDURO RACER: Another excellent off-road race game — this time with bikes.\r\n\r\nA good all-round assemblage, with only one weak link.\r\n\r\nAmstrad Overall: 82%\r\nC64 Overall: 83%\r\nSpectrum Overall: 81%\r\n\r\nGOLD, SILVER, BRONZE\r\nMACHINES: Spec/Ams/C64\r\nSUPPLIER: US Gold\r\nPRICE: £12.99\r\nVERSION TESTED: Spec\r\n\r\nSUMMER GAMES I: Fairly good eight-event simulation marred by long multiload.\r\n\r\nSUMMER GAMES II: improvement over its predecessor, but still suffers with long loading.\r\n\r\nWINTER GAMES: The pick of the bunch with seven good events; multiload's a pain.\r\n\r\nIf you can stand the multiload, it's a reasonable package, but doesn't stand up to the likes of Game, Set and Match.\r\n\r\nSpectrum Overall: 63%\r\nAmstrad Overall: 74%\r\nC64 Overall: 88%\r\n\r\nTASTE OF AMERICA\r\nMACHINES: C64\r\nSUPPLIER: US Gold\r\nPRICE: £9.99 Cass\r\nVERSION TESTED: C64\r\n\r\nSIDE ARMS: Laughably grotty parody of the horizontally scrolling arcade game.\r\n\r\nSOLOMON'S KEY: Very addictive and enjoyable puzzle game.\r\n\r\nWORLD CLASS LEADERBOARD:\r\nThe best of the series — if you can take any more.\r\n\r\nSUPERCYCLE: Easy, but exciting motorcycle racing game.\r\n\r\nTaste of America offers three nice bites, and and a side dish that'll make you throw up.\r\n\r\nC64 Overall: 73%\r\n\r\nCOMMAND PERFORMANCE\r\nMACHINES: Spec/Ams/C64\r\nSUPPLIER: US Gold\r\nPRICE: Ams/Spec/C64 £12.99 Cass, C64 £14.99 Disk, SPEC £17.99 Disk, AMS £19.99 Disk\r\nVERSION TESTED: C64\r\n\r\nMERCENARY: Classic vector graphic exploration game.\r\n\r\nHARDBALL: Great American sports game with good graphics.\r\n\r\nARMAGEDDON MAN: Very tepid and pedestrian war game.\r\n\r\nLEVIATHAN: Uncontrollable and unaddictive three-level Zaxxon clone.\r\n\r\nBOB SLEIGH: Hum-drum simulation with some token strategy\r\n\r\nSHACKLED: Utterly dire Gauntlet clone.\r\n\r\nTRANTOR: Very average and unchallenging shoot and explore game.\r\n\r\nCHOLO: Slow, but fairly compelling vector exploration game.\r\n\r\nXENO: Rubbish future sport simulation that plays like a brick.\r\n\r\n10TH FRAME: Superb bowling game with lovely graphics and feel.\r\n\r\nA very mixed bag. Apart from Mercenary, there's nothing really outstanding, and Xeno and Shackled plumb the depths.\r\n\r\nC64 Overall: 67%\r\nAmstrad Overall: 75%\r\nSpectrum Overall: 72%\r\n\r\nHISTORY IN THE MAKING\r\nMACHINES: Spec/Ams/C64\r\nSUPPLIER: US Gold\r\nPRICE: Spec/Ams/C64 £24.99 Cass, C64/Ams £29.99 Disk\r\nVERSION TESTED: C64\r\n\r\nBEACHHEAD: Four-level combat game that has aged badly.\r\n\r\nBEACHHEAD II: Superb four-part combat game with great graphics and speech.\r\n\r\nBRUCE LEE: Classic arcade adventure with a little kick and chop.\r\n\r\nIMPOSSIBLE MISSION: Arguably the best-ever C64 game.\r\n\r\nKUNG-FU MASTER: Ageing arcade conversion that offers a bit of fun.\r\n\r\nGAUNTLET: Addictive conversion of the massive coin-op.\r\n\r\nGOONIES: Very droll puzzle/action game. Dire graphics.\r\n\r\nEXPRESS RAIDER: Pretty poor Kung-Fu Master game set on a train.\r\n\r\nLEADERBOARD: The ubiquitous golf game pops up yet again.\r\n\r\nSPY HUNTER: Enjoyable, but limited vertically scrolling blaster.\r\n\r\nSUPER CYCLE: Great motorbike racing game that's just a little too easy.\r\n\r\nWORLD GAMES: Eight weird events from around the world: ranks with California Games as the best of the series.\r\n\r\nRAID OVER MOSCOW: Fun-pack shoot 'em up with very fascist overtones.\r\n\r\nROAD RUNNER: Faithful conversion, but wrecked by an arduous multiload.\r\n\r\nINFILTRATOR: Competent arcade adventure.\r\n\r\nVery pricey, especially as most if the better games are already available on budget, or other, cheaper compilations.\r\n\r\nC64 Overall: 74%\r\nAmstrad Overall: 70%\r\nSpectrum Overall: 69%\r\n\r\nACTION SET\r\nMACHINE: ST\r\nSUPPLIER: Gremlin Graphics\r\nPRICE: £19.99\r\nVERSION TESTED: ST\r\n\r\nDEFLEKTOR: A rather easy puzzle game, but fun nevertheless.\r\n\r\nNORTHSTAR: Colourful and fairly addictive shoot 'em up.\r\n\r\nTRAILBLAZER: Average race game variant with a few frills.\r\n\r\n3D GALAX: A good exercise in 3D programming, but not much of a shoot 'em up.\r\n\r\nMASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: A game-of-the-film that should appeal to kids.\r\n\r\nPretty good value, even though the games themselves aren't particularly brilliant.\r\n\r\nAtari ST Overall: 74%\r\n\r\nGAME, SET AND MATCH II\r\nMACHINES: Spec/Ams/C64\r\nSUPPLIER: Ocean\r\nPRICE: Spec/Ams/C64 £12.95 cass, £17.95 disk\r\nVERSION TESTED: Spec\r\n\r\nMATCH DAY II: The best football simulation available on the Spectrum.\r\n\r\nSUPERBOWL: Average simulation that might appeal to fans of the sport.\r\n\r\nWINTER OLYMPIAD: Six-event simulation, similar to the Games series.\r\n\r\nIAN BOTHAM'S TEST MATCH: An unexciting and bland cricket simulation.\r\n\r\nBASKET MASTER: Fairly competent game with naff graphics.\r\n\r\nTRACK AND FIELD: Jolly waggling version from a few years back.\r\n\r\nNICK FALDO'S GOLF: Good a couple of years ago, but now looking very dodgy.\r\n\r\nSUPER HANG-ON: Super indeed; a motorbike race game par excellence.\r\n\r\nSTEVE DAVIS SNOOKER: Apparently the best of its kind. Who's arguing?\r\n\r\nCHAMPIONSHIP SPRINT: Super Sprint with a course designer: it's alright.\r\n\r\nSome of the games are a bit ropey, but there's plenty of variety and the whole package should keep a sports fan happy for weeks.\r\n\r\nSpectrum Overall: 82%\r\nAmstrad Overall: 81%\r\nC64 Overall: 87%\r\n\r\nTAITO COIN-OP HITS\r\nMACHINES: Spec/Ams/C64\r\nSUPPLIER: Imagine\r\nPRICE: Spec/Ams/C64 £12.99 cass\r\nVERSION TESTED: Spec\r\n\r\nRASTAN: A great exploration game with large map and plenty of enemies to hack.\r\n\r\nSLAPFIGHT: Tricky, but addictive vertically scrolling shoot 'em up.\r\n\r\nRENEGADE: Excellent conversion of the arcade beat 'em up.\r\n\r\nARKANOID: Addictive Breakout variant.\r\n\r\nARKANOID: REVENGE OF DOH: More of the some, and even more addictive.\r\n\r\nFLYING SHARK: Superb conversion of the arcade WW II shoot 'em up.\r\n\r\nBUBBLE BOBBLE: A totally faithful conversion of the amazing platform arcade game.\r\n\r\nLEGEND OF KAGE: The arcade game wasn't brilliant; neither is this.\r\n\r\nAll excellent games apart from Legend of Kage, and even that isn't too bad. A must for an avid arcade gamesplayer.\r\n\r\nSpec Overall: 94%\r\nAmstrad Overall: 93%\r\nC64 Overall: 94%\r\n\r\nKARATE ACE\r\nMACHINES: Spec/Ams/C64\r\nSUPPLIER: Gremlin Graphics\r\nPRICE: Spec/Ams/C64 £14.99 Cass, £17.99 Disk\r\nVERSION TESTED: C64\r\n\r\nWAY OF THE EXPLODING FIST:\r\nThe grandad of computer beat 'em ups is still fun, but badly flawed.\r\n\r\nWAY OF THE TIGER: Similar to Exploding Fist, but not as good.\r\n\r\nSAMURAI TRILOGY: Exploding Fist with swords, and it's rubbish of the very highest order.\r\n\r\nBRUCE LEE: Ageing, but thoroughly enjoyable platform arcade adventure.\r\n\r\nKUNG-FU MASTER: Reasonable conversion of an old arcade game; still addictive though.\r\n\r\nAVENGER: Compelling arcade adventure-cum-beat 'em up.\r\n\r\nUCHI MATA: A noble attempt at a judo game, but it's sadly bugged.\r\n\r\nLoads of fightin' an' fumpin' on offer - although some of the games are very similar.\r\n\r\nC64 Overall: 64%\r\nAmstrad Overall: 63%\r\nSpectrum Overall: 61% \r\n\r\nTRIAD: VOLUME I\r\nMACHINES: ST/Amiga\r\nSUPPLIER: Triad\r\nPRICE: £29.99\r\nVERSION TESTED: Amiga\r\n\r\nSTARGLIDER: Thrilling vector shoot 'em up with plenty of depth.\r\n\r\nDEFENDER OF THE CROWN: A hit a couple of years ago; beginning to look ropey.\r\n\r\nBARBARIAN: Fairly good icon-driven arcade adventure.\r\n\r\nQuite expensive, especially as the games are all getting on.\r\n\r\nAmiga Overall: 66%\r\n\r\nSUPREME CHALLENGE\r\nMACHINES: Spec/Ams/C64\r\nSUPPLIER: Beau Jolly\r\nPRICE: Spec/Ams/C64 £12.95 cass, £16.95 disk\r\nVERSION TESTED: Spec\r\n\r\nELITE: Classic space trading game that no Spectrum owner should be without.\r\n\r\nSENTINEL: Absolutely brilliant 3D arcade puzzle/strategy game.\r\n\r\nTETRIS: Unbelievably addictive arcade puzzle game.\r\n\r\nSTARGLIDER: Superb 3D vector shoot 'em up with tons to do.\r\n\r\nACE II: Fairly good one-on-one combat simulator.\r\n\r\nA varied selection of very high quality games; don't miss out on this collection of classics.\r\n\r\nSpectrum Overall: 95%\r\nAmstrad Overall: 94%\r\nC64 Overall: 90%\r\n\r\nSPACE ACE\r\nMACHINES: Spec/Ams/C64\r\nSUPPLIER: Gremlin Graphics\r\nPRICE: Spec/Ams/C64 £14.99 Cass, £17.99 DISK\r\nVERSION TESTED: C64\r\n\r\nXEVIOUS: Very tepid version of an Atari's vertically scrolling shoot 'em up.\r\n\r\nVENOM STRIKES BACK: More MASK antics in this average arcade game.\r\n\r\nCYBERNOID: Addictive flick-screen blaster.\r\n\r\nNORTHSTAR: Run-of-the-mill trog-across-the-landscape-and-blast-the-aliens game.\r\n\r\nZYNAPS: Challenging and compelling horizontally scrolling blaster.\r\n\r\nTRANTOR: Shoot and explore game with awful playability.\r\n\r\nEXOLON: Similar to Northstar, but marginally worse.\r\n\r\nPlenty of shooting action, but none of the games are outstanding. Still, there's hours of potential blasting in store\r\n\r\nC64 Overall: 70%\r\nAmstrad Overall: 71%\r\nSpectrum Overall: 74% \r\n\r\nFLIGHT ACE\r\nMACHINE: Spec/Ams/C64\r\nSUPPLIER: Gremlin Graphics\r\nPRICE: Spec/Ams/C64 £14.99 Cass, £17.99 Disk\r\nVERSION TESTED: C64\r\n\r\nAIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: All the fun of a night shift at Heathrow!\r\n\r\nSPITFIRE 40: Relive the Battle of Britain in this average simulation.\r\n\r\nSTRIKEFORCE HARRIER: Fairly average simulation of the VTOL jet.\r\n\r\nTOMAHAWK: Reputedly very accurate, but rather dull in practice.\r\n\r\nATF: Not so much a simulation; more of a mediocre 3D shoot 'em up with extra bits.\r\n\r\nACE: Fairly good combat simulator, although it s rather old\r\n\r\nA fairly good buy for budding pilots, but not recommended to anyone else.\r\n\r\nC64 Overall: 65%\r\nAmstrad Overall: 77%\r\nSpectrum Overall: 78% \r\n\r\nAMIGA GOLD HITS\r\nMACHINE: Amiga\r\nSUPPLIER: US Gold\r\nPRICE: £24.99\r\nVERSION TESTED: Amiga\r\n\r\nBIONIC COMMANDO: Quite a neat conversion, but marred by push-scrolling.\r\n\r\nROLLING THUNDER: Nowhere near as good as it could have been.\r\n\r\nJINKS: Colourful, but repetitive scrolling Breakout game.\r\n\r\nLEADERBOARD: Same as the 8-bit, but with slightly improved graphics.\r\n\r\nNot a lot to shout about, None of the titles are particularly thrilling, even though the games work out quite cheap.\r\n\r\nAmiga Overall: 67%\r\n\r\nGO CRAZY\r\nMACHINES: Ams/C64\r\nSUPPLIER: Go!\r\nPRICE: Ams/C64 £14.99 Cass, C64 £17.99 Disk, AMS £19.99 Disk\r\nVERSION TESTED: C64\r\n\r\nSHACKLED: A Gauntlet clone of the most feeble kind.\r\n\r\nBAD CAT: Awful attempt at an \"alternative\" sports simulation,\r\n\r\nJINKS: Tedious and repetitive scrolling Breakout.\r\n\r\nSIDE ARMS: One of the worst horizontally scrolling shoot 'em ups around.\r\n\r\nDESOLATOR: Low-grade four-level Gauntlet game.\r\n\r\nBEDLAM: Boring and dull shoot 'em up that's devoid of action.\r\n\r\nAnd you certainly will go crazy if you buy this six-pack of turkeys.\r\n\r\nC64 Overall: 41%\r\nAmstrad Overall: 56%\r\n\r\nLEADERBOARD PAR 4\r\nMACHINE: C64\r\nSUPPLIER: US Gold\r\nPRICE:\r\nVERSION TESTED: C64\r\n\r\nLEADERBOARD: The classic golf game - incredibly playable.\r\n\r\nLEADER BOARD TOURNAMENT: More of the same, but tougher.\r\n\r\nLEADER BOARD EXECUTIVE EDITION: Even more of the same, but tougher still!\r\n\r\nWORLD CLASS LEADERBOARD: Even more of the same, but this time modelled on real golf courses.\r\n\r\nIf you're into golfing games, this collection is an absolute must. If not, avoid it like the plague.\r\n\r\nC64 Overall: 78%\r\n\r\nKONAMI ARCADE COLLECTION\r\nMACHINES: Spec/Ams/C64\r\nSUPPLIER: Imagine\r\nPRICE: Spec/Ams/C64 £9.99 Cass\r\nVERSION TESTED: C64\r\n\r\nMIKIE: Very camp four-level arcade game; it's fun, though.\r\n\r\nJAILBREAK: Bileous mockery of the arcade original. Strictly for laughs.\r\n\r\nGREEN BERET: Very difficult, but additive stab 'n' roast arcade game.\r\n\r\nYIE AR KUNG-FU: Amusing beat 'em up, but it's getting a bit wrinkly.\r\n\r\nSHAO-LIN'S ROAD: Inept platform/beat 'em up.\r\n\r\nNEMESIS: Enjoyable conversion of the horizontal blaster, although it's a little long in the tooth.\r\n\r\nHYPERSPORTS: One of the original joystick wagglers, and it's still great fun.\r\n\r\nPING PONG: Playable table tennis game, with short-lived appeal.\r\n\r\nJACKAL: Grotting scrolling shoot 'em up.\r\n\r\nAll the games are old, but they're all good fun; even the bad ones are good for a laugh! Cheap, too.\r\n\r\nC64 Overall: 80%\r\nAmstrad Overall: 80%\r\nSpectrum Overall: 83% \r\n\r\nIN-CROWD\r\nMACHINES: Spec/Ams/C64.\r\nSUPPLIER: Ocean\r\nPRICE: Spec/Ams/C64 £12.95 Cass, £17.95 DISK.\r\nVERSION TESTED: C64\r\n\r\nGRYZOR: Tough and addictive conversion of the arcade blast.\r\n\r\nCOMBAT SCHOOL: Seven assorted events and a combat mission - brilliant stuff!\r\n\r\nLAST NINJA: Superb six-level arcade adventure with ace graphics.\r\n\r\nPLATOON: Atmospheric and highly playable four-part game-of-the-film.\r\n\r\nPREDATOR: Enjoyable run 'n' blast film tie-in.\r\n\r\nTARGET RENEGADE: Great graphics and playability; puts Double Dragon to shame.\r\n\r\nBARBARIAN: Gory, but very gratifying hack 'n' slash fighting game.\r\n\r\nKARNOV: Bileous arcade conversion of the very lowest quality.\r\n\r\nApart from one cabbage, In-Crowd is a marvellous compilation. Nearly all the games are multiload, and offer massive scope for long-term play.\r\n\r\nC64 Overall: 92%\r\nAmstrad Overall: 93%\r\nSpectrum Overall: 93% \r\n\r\nULTIMATE: THE COLLECTED WORKS\r\nMACHINES: Spec\r\nSUPPLIER: US Gold\r\nPRICE: £12.99 cass, £14.99 disk\r\nVERSION TESTED: Spec\r\n\r\nJETPAC: A landmark in Spectrum computing; simple, but addictive.\r\n\r\nKNIGHT LORE: The original 3D isometric forced perspective arcade adventure; brilliant.\r\n\r\nALIEN 8: Another superb arcade adventure.\r\n\r\nSABRE WULF: Another mould breaker; still as fresh and addictive as ever.\r\n\r\nGUNFRIGHT: Enjoyable and highly original 3D gunfighting game.\r\n\r\nLUNAR JETMAN: Utterly superb scrolling shoot 'em up; a classic.\r\n\r\nNIGHTSHADE: Innovative scrolling forced perspective arcade adventure.\r\n\r\nATIC ATAC: Yet another classic arcade adventure - still incredibly engrossing.\r\n\r\nPSSST: Whacky and addictive arcade game.\r\n\r\nTRANS AM: Odd hybrid collect 'em up with cars. Good fun, though.\r\n\r\nCOOKIE: Tough and frustrating, but very addictive arcade-style game.\r\n\r\nAn utterly superb collection of class games. A slice of computing history that no Spectrum owner should pass by.\r\n\r\nSpectrum Overall: 98%","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"110,111,113,114,115","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Julian Rignall","Score":"61","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"OVERALL TABLE: SPECTRUM\r\n\r\nUltimate: Collected Works: 98%\r\nSupreme Challenge: 95%\r\nTaito Coin-op Hits: 94%\r\nIn-Crowd: 93%\r\nTen Great Games: 89%\r\nKonami Arcade Collection: 83%\r\nGame, Set and Match II: 82%\r\nFists 'N' Throttles: 81%\r\nFlight Ace: 78%\r\nLeaderboard Par 3: 77%\r\nSpace Ace: 74%\r\nCommand Performance: 72%\r\nGiants: 72%\r\nHistory In The Making: 69%\r\nGold, Silver, Bronze: 63%\r\nKarate Ace: 61%\r\n\r\nOVERALL TABLE: AMSTRAD\r\n\r\nSupreme Challenge: 94%\r\nTaito Coin-op Hits: 93%\r\nIn-Crowd: 93%\r\nTen Great Games: 87%\r\nFists 'N' Throttles: 82%\r\nGame, Set and Match II: 81%\r\nKonami Arcade Collection: 80%\r\nFlight Ace: 77%\r\nCommand Performance: 75%\r\nGold, Silver, Bronze: 74%\r\nGiants: 72%\r\nSpace Ace: 71%\r\nHistory In The Making: 70%\r\nKarate Ace: 63%\r\nGo Crazy: 56%\r\n\r\nOVERALL TABLE: C64\r\n\r\nTaito Coin-op Hits: 94%\r\nIn-Crowd: 93%\r\nSportsworld: 91%\r\nSupreme Challenge: 90%\r\nGold, Silver, Bronze: 88%\r\nGame, Set and Match II: 87%\r\nTen Great Games: 86%\r\nFists 'N' Throttles: 83%\r\nKonami Arcade Collection: 80%\r\nGiants: 78%\r\nLeaderboard Par 4: 78%\r\nHistory In The Making: 74%\r\nTaste Of America: 73%\r\nSpace Ace: 70%\r\nCommand Performance: 67%\r\nFlight Ace: 65%\r\nKarate Ace: 64%\r\nGo Crazy: 41%"}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"61%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]