[{"TitleName":"Dragons of Flame","Publisher":"U.S. Gold Ltd","Author":"Jeremy Nelson, John May, Jeff Easley","YearOfRelease":"1990","ZxDbId":"0001500","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 58, Oct 1990","Price":"£1.85","ReleaseDate":"1990-09-06","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Sal Meddings\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nDesign Assistant: Andy Ounsted\r\nContributors: Robin Alway, Marcus Berkmann, Joe Davies, Jonathan Davies, Cathy Fryett, Mike Gerrard, Duncan MacDonald, Jon North, Rich Pelley, Jon Pillar, Claire Thomas, David Wilson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertising Executive: Simon Moss\r\nPublisher: Greg Ingham\r\nAssistant Publisher: Jane Richardson\r\nPublishing Assistant: Michele Harris\r\nManaging Director: Chris Anderson\r\nProduction Director: Ian Seager\r\nProduction Coordinator: Melissa Parkinson\r\nSubscriptions: Computer Posting [redacted]\r\nMail Order: The Old Barn [redacted]\r\nPrinters: Riverside Press [redacted]\r\nDistributors: SM Distribution [redacted]\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair is published by Future Publishing Ltd [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Future Publishing 1990. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission."},"MainText":"US Gold\r\n£9.99 cass\r\nReviewer: David Wilson\r\n\r\nDragons Of Flame is the latest addition to US Gold's series of games inspired by TSR's Advanced Dungeons And Dragons. Remember Heroes Of The Lance? Well, that was the first AD&D game which appeared way back in March '89 and received a hearty thumbs-up (a Megagame no less, fact fans) from Phil 'Snouty' South. Dragons Of Flame is another one in the series, and continues the scenario established in that title. And what a scenario it was...\r\n\r\nEverything takes place on the Planet Krynn. It's been 300 years since the old gods deserted the populace and left them at the mercy of the evil Queen Takhisis. I guess the folks lust had to Krynn and bear it (groan), especially after the Companions (a bunch of heroes upon whom everyone was pinning their hopes) went and got trapped by the Draconians. To cut a long story short, the chums were rescued by Elvis just in the nick of time - er, sorry, that's Elves. Anyway, this is where you come in, getting to control the Companions, via whoever you elect as their leader. In the meantime, Krynn is in a right old two-and-eight. There's all manner of man and beast wandering around, you can't turn corners for bumping into chests (good news for Maria Whittaker fans) and evil is most definitely afoot. (I quite like feet. Why do they always have to be evil?)\r\n\r\nThe game system tries to emulate the D8D system, except with only one player and with the computer as Dungeon Master. All the characters have the familiar list of attributes (strength, wisdom, dexterity, intelligence) and these help you to strategically employ the 'best man for the job' (to coin a phrase, but let's not be sexist - there are 'Companion chicks' as well). (Sexist! Ed) With trillions of spells and numerous commands at your disposal (accessed via menus) you set out on your quest to unite the good folk of the land and duff up loads of baddies.\r\n\r\nSounds good, doesn't it? Er, the only problem is the game doesn't live up to expectations. The graphics aren't anything to write home about (you only ever see one character, ie the same sprite, a rather slim masculine warrior type - even if you choose to control Tasselhoff Burrfoot, a rather fat mamma with ginormous ears), and I found the control system infuriating to say the least. Basically, you press the usual Up/Down/Left and Right keys in the combat sequence (along with diagonal jumps and high or low blows) but - and here's the tricky bit to get to grips with - when you're not in combat your Left/Right keys move you physically left and right on the screen, while the Uppie/Downie keys toggle your viewpoint to east west again. So going left or right takes you, er... east or west. All this probably sounds totally clear (unusual but clear) and I'm sure you're thinking I'm a right old simpleton, but, believe me, it is very easy to go around in circles. With only about three basic backgrounds wandering around corridors soon becomes tedious.\r\n\r\nFighting monsters is okay. You keep having to flick to character charts to check physical and magical weapons etc then hack. There is some variety in that you can hack up, down or in the middle and that you've got both close-combat weapons (swords and the like) and range weapons (arrows and spears). However to kill a few you'll be wandering around uninspiring corridors for ages. Although these computer interpretations can't compete with real D&D (with loads of chums, maybe some little lead characters, and those jolly little pointy multi-sided dice), D&D strategy addicts probably won't think it's too bad. Sadly, I suspect your average Spec-chum (like humble ol' me) will be left uninspired.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Good potential, but doesn't deliver the goods. D&Ders probably won't find it that bad though.","Page":"82","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"David Wilson","Score":"65","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Here I am, leading a couple of blokes along a corridor. They're the small, hunchback ones, and I'm the noble, upright, six-foot warrior. (Strange really, since I chose to play Goldmoon, the sultry cheiftains daughter!)"},{"Text":"Hmm. There's something funny about this message. (I know, it's spookily appropriate to the game in hand!)"},{"Text":"Oops! I seem to have turned into a dead end (that's why I'm leaping about in frustration). Better head back the way I came, guess."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"68%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"65%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 78, Jun 1992","Price":"£2.5","ReleaseDate":"1992-05-17","Editor":"Andy Hutchinson","TotalPages":84,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"HERE COMES THE SUMMER!\r\n\r\nFor him in vain the envious season rolls, who bears eternal summer in his soul. What are you most looking forward to the summer?\r\n\r\nEditor: Andy (Dreamy days dangling a leg in the water while drifting down the Avon in a punt & snogging French exchange students. Or both at the same time) Hutchinson\r\nArt Editor: Andy (Going to America, hopefully) Ounsted\r\nDeputy Editor: Linda (Glastonbury festival) Barker\r\nStaff Writer: Jon (Leaving his duck shaped brolly at home) Pillar\r\nArt Assistant: Maryanne (Picnics in Vicky Park) Booth\r\nAdvertising Manager: Alison (Looking sexy & brown) Booth\r\nSenior Sales Exec: Jackie (Drinking ice cool beers at the Crystal Palace) Garford\r\nProduction Coordinator: Lisa (Ice cream sundaes with Martini) Read\r\nPublisher: Jane (Barbies & Pimms) Richardson\r\nPromotions Manager: Michelle (Cycling to Mrs Miggins' bun & tea shop) Harris\r\nPromotions Assistant: Tamara (Riding a horse through a field of long green grass) Ward\r\nGroup Publisher: Greg (Peace, love & understanding) Bingham\r\nCirculation Director: Sue (Windsurfing) Hartley\r\nAssistant Publisher: Julie (Cream teas) Stuckes\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair (Champion the Wonder Horse repeats), Future (The Company Weekend) Publishing, [redacted]\r\n\r\nManaging Director: Chris (Strawberries and cream on the front lawn) Anderson\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: Future Publishing Ltd [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Future Publishing 1992. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission from Charlie Footstool from Dingley Dell.\r\n\r\nISSN: 0269 69683\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair leaps onto passing cars with it bottom a-waving with notables periodicals like: Commodore Format (The scuba-diving season), Amstrad Acton (Sitting in the beer garden of The Brewers Arms in the evening), Amiga Format (Beetle Bash and the beach), PCW Plus (Wimbledon), PC Answers (Winter), PC Plus (Reptile dayy), Sega Power (Softball in Vicky Park on a Thursday), Amiga Power (Sailing, snogging and softbaallll!), Amiga Shopper (Cold beers by blue seas), Classic CD (Watching us stuff Pakistan in the test matches), Needlecraft (Myxomatosis), Cycling Plus (Going saddle-less), Photo Plus (Hampstead Heath of an evening), Mountain Biking UK (Outdoor rumpy-pumpy), PC Format (See Mountain Biking UK), Public Domain (Sun), ST Format (Fire Walk With Me: The Film), Total! (Driving an MR2 with the top up) and Today's Vegetarian (Two weeks of sun,sea, sand and sex in Greece) and coming soon... Calculator Operator's Chronicle.\r\n\r\nBut what we really want to know why is... who the hell elected Mary Whitehouse as defender of public morals anyway?"},"MainText":"DRAGONS OF FLAME\r\nKixx\r\n£3.99\r\n[redacted]\r\nReviewer: Jon Pillar\r\n\r\nEyebrows the Dwarf surveyed the game with interest. \"Why, by the beard of my adopted grandmother, it appears to be another of those Dungeons and Dragons thingumajigs,\" he declaimed. Fetlock the Elf nodded. \"Aye. It features the same party of characters, voluminosity of instructions, depth of play and style of graphics as its predecessor Heroes Of The Lance - a game that was reviewed in the seventy-third issue of this very magazine.\" The two companions loaded the game on Whoaboi's magical Speccy. After struggling with the pedantic control method and becoming hopelessly lost in the first set of badly-illustrated locations, they smote the artefact with Paula the magic sword. \"I daresay the fans may get something out of this,\" growled Eyebrows, \"but for the rest of us tis a production of stultifying dullness and ineptitude.\" Fetlock nodded. \"Taking the human element out of Dungeons and Dragons is indeed a bit silly,\" he agreed wittily. Extinguishing the camp fire, the companions galloped off, trampling the tape with righteous indignation and large horses.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"74","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jon Pillar","Score":"39","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"\"Straighten up, that man on the right. For heaven's sake. Call that deportment?\""}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"39%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 125, Jul 1992","Price":"£2.2","ReleaseDate":"1992-06-18","Editor":"Alan Dykes","TotalPages":52,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Alan 'Excellent!' Dykes\r\nDesign: Yvette 'Babe!' Nicholls\r\nSU Crew: Garth 'Bogus' Sumpter, Steve 'Party On' Keen, Ed 'Head' Laurence, Pete 'Source of all knowledege' Gerrard, Graham 'Hate Mail' Mason, Phillip 'Missing in action' Fisch, Jason 'Good game' Baptiste\r\nAd Manager: Tina 'Foxy lady' Zanelli\r\nAd Production: Matthew 'Yin-Yang' Walker\r\nMarketing Man.: Mark '?' Swallow\r\nMarketing Persons: Sarah 'Hello dearie' Ewing, Sarah 'TNT' Hilliard\r\nPublisher: Mike 'Malibu' Frey\r\nManaging Director: Terry 'The professionals' Pratt\r\n\r\n(c)1992 EMAP IMAGES\r\nPhone: [redacted] (is there anyone out there?)\r\nFax: [redacted] (Information at the end of your eyelids)\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nColour by those wonderful Colourtech people\r\nPrinted by Kingfisher\r\nTypeset by Altyp Inc\r\n\r\nAbsolutely no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in an electronic retrieval system or copied, resold etc with the prior permission of the publisher. However, if anyone feels like putting a copy of SU in a deep space probe, sent out to seek other worlds and communicate examples of earth's wonderful things, of which SU is probably the best example (along with a well known brand of lager) to alien races in space, I don't think Mike will mind too much! Y'all have a nice day now."},"MainText":"Label: Kixx\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nPrice: £3.99 Tape\r\nReviewer: Alan Dykes\r\n\r\nDelve into the realms of the mythical land of Krynn with this, the latest sword and sorcery escapade, and most recent installment in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons saga.\r\n\r\nThe sequel to Heroes of The Lance, Dragons Of Flame pits your characters against the might of the evil Draconian forces and their monstrous allies. Fight a vast assortment of nasty creatures; from trolls and zombies to griffins and even dragons, as you push forward through a variety of playing areas with thoughts of destroying Takhisis - the Queen Of Darkness - embedded securely in your mind.\r\n\r\nThere is a large and sprawling map screen to shuffle around and search on, but watch out for wandering monsters. When you inevitably bump into a horde of meanies, the screen switches to a side-on view of the action and it's here where all of the fighting takes place. Your characters can use a variety of hand weapons though some also use magic, with spells such as powerful fireballs and magic missiles! Be careful though; some of your enemies are more than capable of using spells too - and many of them are far more powerful than you!\r\n\r\nKilling loads of baddies increases your experience, and hitting certain targets bumps up your experience level, which in turn gives the characters under your control more powers, better spells and suchlike.\r\n\r\nHeroes Of The Lance was a fun, if somewhat repetitive, slice of role playing fun and frolics, and Dragons Of Flame turns out to be more of the same. Graphics are impressive for this kind of game, and there's lots to see, do and, best of all, kill. It can be very easy to literally get lost in Dragons Of Flame, so make sure you have a piece of paper and a couple of pencils handy! While things become a little dreary after a while, this is ultimately a title with a lot of life still in it - certainly a lot more than some budget offerings doing the rounds.","ReviewerComments":["I really like Dragons Of Flame. It more than successfully bridges the gap between strategy and beat 'em up genres, just like its predecessor, Heroes Of The Lance. Darn fine title.\r\nAlan Dykes\r\n82%"],"OverallSummary":"Hackin', slashin' and baddy bashin' that gets a bit samey after a while but will still keep you going into the wee small hours.","Page":"43","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Alan Dykes","Score":"82","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Face up to them man!"},{"Text":"Who'd you call 'Big Nose'?"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"79%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"83%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"82%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]