[{"TitleName":"BBC Mastermind Quizmaster","Publisher":"Mirrorsoft Ltd","Author":"Ivan Berg Software Ltd","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0014818","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 18, Apr 1985","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-03-28","Editor":"Ray Elder","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Ray Elder\r\nEditorial Assistant: Cliff Joseph\r\nGroup Editor: Wendy J Palmer\r\nSales Executive: Jonathan McGary\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Barry Bingham\r\nDivisional Advertising Manager: Chris Northam\r\nCopy Controller: Sue Couchman\r\nPublishing Director: Peter Welham\r\nChief Executive: T J Connell\r\n\r\nOrigination and design by MM Design & Print, [redacted]\r\nPublished by Argus Specialist Publications Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing is published bi-monthly on the fourth Friday of the month. Distributed by: Argus Press Sales & Distribution Ltd. [redacted]. Printed by: Garnett Print, Rotherham and London.\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication including all articles, designs, plans, drawings and programs and all copyright and other intellectual property rights therein 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 Argus Specialist Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Argus Specialist Publications Limited 1985"},"MainText":"A few issues ago I reviewed Blockbusters. Well, here is Mastermind, another quiz game taken from a television program.\r\n\r\nThe complete game comes in two separate parts. The first part is a twin cassette pack which contains the program on one tape and the data or questions on the other. This package can be bought separately and played without the use of the other cassette, which I will come to later. From the twin pack you first load the program tape and you'll soon come to realise, that it's just like the Mastermind on the box.\r\n\r\nOnce this tape is loaded, you are asked how many contestants wish to play. You can have up to four players. Then, the first contestant is called and you are asked to enter your name, occupation, and specialist subject. This is where the second tape comes in. The second tape holds questions about films on one side of the tape and sport on the other. Each set of specialised questions is followed by general knowledge questions. Of course, you can only answer the questions that are on the data tape. So when asked to enter your subject, you then load the appropriate questions. There are about 100 questions per subject, so if four persons are playing you get 25 different questions each. As you are playing against the clock it would be rare to answer all 25. When the data is loaded you are given 2 minutes to answer the questions. You also have the ability to 'pass' by hitting the enter key and are told the correct answer at the end of your go.\r\n\r\nOne of the features I like was the computer's ability to recognise key words in your answers. If, for example, you answered Shakespeare, and the correct answer was William Shakespeare, it would in fact give you the point, and the words, \"I can accept that\" appear on the screen, if the second contestant wants to answer questions on a different subject then you will have a load separate data each time. The loading of data takes about three minutes. If four are playing and you all have different subjects it tends to take the fun out of the game as you are forever loading data. A microdrive version of the game is not planned, but if there's enough demand.... who knows.\r\n\r\nAfter the first round you then load the general knowledge questions and answer in the same way. Scores are shown after the first round and a hard copy can be made if needed. Now, back to the other package I mentioned. This is called Mastermind Quizmaster and is made to be used in conjunction with the Mastermind game. This is a single cassette which enables you to write your own questions. Once loaded, this is easy to do using the menu-driven system. You can also use keywords, as in the prerecorded tapes. I'd just like to mention that although it follows the TV version very closely it does not come with a leather chair.\r\n\r\nThe Mastermind twin pack will cost you £9.95 and the Mastermind Quizmaster will set you back £5.95. Both are written for the 48K Spectrum.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"52","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Clive Smith","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]