[{"TitleName":"Eliminator","Publisher":"Hewson Consultants Ltd","Author":"John M. Phillips, John Wildsmith, Nick Jones, Stephen J. Crow, Steve Weston, Tim White","YearOfRelease":"1989","ZxDbId":"0001600","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 63, Apr 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-03-30","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, Richard 'smasherooni' Eddie, Paul Evans, Ian Lacey, Barnaby Page\r\nEditorial Assistants: Caroline Blake, Vivienne Vickress\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nSenior Designer: 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 Team: Robert Hamilton, Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris\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\nAssistants: Jackie Morris [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\n©CRASH Ltd, 1989\r\n\r\nISSN 0954-8661\r\n\r\nCover Design & Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"High quality blasting from Hewson\r\n\r\nProducer: Hewson\r\nET Benefit: £7.99 cass, £12.99 disk\r\nAuthor: John Wildsmith\r\n\r\nCor, this eliminating business is great fun! it all started six months ago when I saw a job vacancy in the window of the local Inland Revenue office: 'Young xenophobic maniac needed to travel to various planets and eradicate their populations. Certificate of mental instability welcome but not obligatory.' Well, I kicked in the door and shot the smiling receptionist (I always shoot first and ask questions afterwards, not that I get much sense then). After about ten minutes a young chap in a bulletproof vest turned up, 'You're applying for the Eliminator job,' he said.\r\n\r\nI was, and ET (Employment Training) still had a place for me. So here I am, rocketing down the highways and zapping all that moves. Whenever I land on a new planet I start off with just a single-tire weapon, but pods can be collected to add-on weapons or replenish ammo.\r\n\r\nOf course I always travel at top speed, and the chequered road zooms by incredibly smoothly. Watching the road disappear round bend is most fun. The aliens are pretty slick too, popping up off the road and swirling at me with all guns blazing. To start off with they seem a bit indistinct, but once you get used to them you just can't stop blasting 'em. Have to be accurate too though, there's not much ammo and no energy recharging until the end of the level. I also have to be careful about collisions - since I never wear a safety belt it's instant death if I hit an alien. Then there's all the barriers they put up, some of them block the road completely and you have to use a ramp to flip over and travel along the roof! Others have segments you can shoot out with a steady aim. It's a great life, eliminating things, and that's why I decided to take part in this ad for ET!\r\n\r\nMARK 84%\r\n\r\nTHE ESSENTIALS\r\nJoysticks: Kempston, Sinclair\r\nGraphics: fast 3-D scrolling\r\nSound: loud 128k ingame tune","ReviewerComments":["Eliminator looks a lot like Trailblazer, or even Plexar, but it's superfast and very slickly presented with a neat 128K ingame tune and some nicely-drawn graphics. My only reservation that, unlike other versions of the game, there's no password system so that once you've completed a few levels you no longer have to keep playing through them. A fun game for a while, it might eventually prove repetitive.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n83%","Although Mark loves this (probably because it's even faster than Afterburner) I've got my doubts. The graphics are fast and fairly smooth, but the screen often looks a bit cluttered. Still, the concept is OK, and the general feel is that of a well-polished and playable game which somehow falls short of being brilliant.\r\nMike Dunn\r\n78%"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: A fast and playable 'roadblasting'shoot-'em-up.","Page":"11","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"84","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"83","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Mike Dunn","Score":"78","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Everything's gone topsy-turvy!"},{"Text":"Watch out for those lethal barriers!"}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"SKIP THOSE LEVELS \r\n\r\nUse the grid pattern to line yourself up when approaching the barriers.\r\n\r\nLots of the later weapons are pretty useless really; collect lots of ammo instead!\r\n\r\nDon't waste ammo; you need some to shoot your way through some of the bafflers.\r\n\r\nSend ten million pounds In used notes to Skippy, CRASH, PO Box 10…"}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"79%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"78%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"79%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"81%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"82%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 41, May 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-04-17","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa 'You're Fired' Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Catherine 'Head in Bucket' Higgs\r\nDeputy Editor: Matt 'Hi It's Mattie' Bielby\r\nProduction Editor: Jackie 'I Want It Yesterday' Ryan\r\nStaff Writer: Duncan 'What Time Do You Call This' MacDonald\r\nDesigner: Thor 'No Worries' Goodall\r\nEditorial Assistant: David 'Yo' Wilson\r\nTechnical Consultant: David McCandless\r\nContributors: Marcus Berkmann, Richard Blaine, Ciaran Brennan, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Sean Kelly, Catherine 'Nosebag' 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\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\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [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":"Hewson\r\n£9.99\r\nReviewer: Sean Kelly\r\n\r\n'From underground there came a machine encircled by death, that kills but cannot be killed... The Eliminator. A war machine whose solitary quest is to eradicate all forms of life.' Oo-er! Bit unsociable, what? Still, being an intergalactic games tester does involve battling some really evil types. Here... hang about though. I am the Eliminator. Gosh!\r\n\r\nPlaying Eliminator is a good way to achieve involuntary genocide. Finding yourself at the helm of the Eliminator you hurtle down the road at break neck speed - there's no accelerate or brake on this game, and just one speed - gigafast. As you will see from the screenshots, this is 'into the screen'scrolling, and the speed and smoothness of the scrolling in Eliminator is excellent. The chequered track fair zooms toward you, and the impression of speed, specially when the road is climbing, descending, or veering left and right, is very impressive.\r\n\r\nHurtling along admiring the scrolling isn't all, however, for on your travels you will encounter many obstacles, which must be either avoided, or, much more fun, blasted, zapped, totalled, and wiped-out. Whatever you want to call it - just keep firing! Waves of aliens will annoy you by weaving and lurching all over the road and firing missiles which will deplete the shield of your Eliminator. And though walls are fairly easy to dodge the 'cones' on level one are a little tricky. Set up in a zig-zag pattern, getting round these entails split-second timing and tons of dexterity.\r\n\r\nOf course, a shoot 'em up wouldn't be a shoot 'em up these days if it didn't have the now bog standard 'collect the blob to get a bigger weapon' system, and Eliminator is no exception. Occasionally, a revolving pyramid and cube on opposite sides of the road will be encountered, and only one can be grabbed. The cubes will boost the supply of ammunition, whilst the pyramid will give a bigger weapon. The weapons range from a single fire weapon, right through to a triple fire cannon, which uses tons of ammo dead fast. And it's best to see whether you need ammo or armoury more - before making your choice. There's also the occasional ramp, which will lift you over an otherwise impenetrable wall, or flip you up to the ceiling if in a tunnel section - most disconcerting.\r\n\r\nI often find that 'into the screen' 3D limits shoot 'em ups, as there is not much room for manoeuverability on the road, and so trying to shoot at things and steer proves impossible. On first playing I suspected that Eliminator was about to fall into the same trap. Fortunately, after a few plays, the addiction was setting in and Eliminator was proving to be a happy exception. The vehicle has a high level of manoeuverability, there's plenty to shoot at and dodge, and many surprises along the way - you really don't know what's going to appear next.\r\n\r\nHewson has once again released an excellent game with everything a shoot 'em up fan will need - pointless and crap scenario, colourful megafast graphics, edge of the seat excitement and tons of carnage. Simply brilliant!","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Hewson maintains its high standards with this rootin', tootin', killin', maimin', shoot 'em up. Not to be missed by arcadey types.","Page":"74,75","Denied":false,"Award":"Your Sinclair Megagame","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Sean Kelly","Score":"90","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"87%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"90%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 63, Mar 1991","Price":"£1.85","ReleaseDate":"1991-02-07","Editor":"Andy Ide","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Andy Ide\r\nArt Editor: Sal Meddings\r\nGames Editor: James Leach\r\nStaff Writer: Linda Barker\r\nDesign Assistant: Andy Ounsted\r\nContributors: Marcus Berkmann, Jonathan Davies, Cathy Fryett, Mike Gerrard, Jon North, Rich Pelley, John Pillar, David Wilson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Simon Moss\r\nPublisher: Jane Richardson\r\nPublishing Assistant: Michele Harris\r\nCirculation Director: Sue Hartley\r\nGroup Publisher: Greg Ingham\r\nManaging Director: Chris Anderson\r\nProduction Manager: 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: MMC [redacted]\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair is published by Future Publishing Ltd [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Future Publishing 1991. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission."},"MainText":"ELIMINATOR\r\nPlayers\r\n£2.99\r\nReviewer: Rich Pelley\r\n\r\nOne good thing about Hewson is that almost all of their games have been and are of very high standards, and pretty original into the bargain. And luckily, their latest re-release, which has come our way with a little help from Players, is no exception.\r\n\r\nIt's an into-the-screen jobby, where for some odd reason you find yourself hurtling down a track in a strange-looking spaceship, both on the floor, and at times on the ceiling too. You have no control over your speed, so the idea is to survive as long as possible before crashing and losing a life. You'll no doubt encounter plenty of things as you go, some stationary such as walls and parking cones which have to be avoided, and some moving, mainly baddies which can be shot, preferably, before they shoot you. If you crash or your energy runs out then you lose a life - which is rather disgruntling as you get plonked back miles. You do fortunately have a gun, which can be upgraded to multi-fire guns and bombs, but the ebtter the weapon, the faster it uses up your ammo so for this reason you can swop between the add-on weapons you've picked up to choose when you want to use which one.\r\n\r\nIn its day, a mere two years ago actually, fact-fiends, this one was a bit of a corker, and a YS Megagame to boot. But today, and today being Tuesday, I can't help finding the whole thing just a little too boring - and getting sent back miles when you die is extremely frustrating. A definite \"Try before","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"81","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Rich Pelley","Score":"64","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Blast down this tunnel thing avoiding as much debris as possible. (Basically.)"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"64%","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: Hewson\r\nAuthor: John Wildsmith\r\nPrice: £8.95\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Jim Douglas\r\n\r\nYou are the Eliminator, a compassionless monster out to destroy destroy destroy! You race along an apparently infinite 3D track, round bends and up hills, past barriers, killing everything that moves while continually collecting more and more advanced weapons systems. Fab.\r\n\r\nThe nature of this sort of game prohibits any astounding graphics - since about ten sprites are needed for each shape of alien depending on how far away it is - though the bad guys look as menacing as they can. After a while you'll learn to live with the rather hypnotic eternal checkerboard effect on the floor and the ceiling.\r\n\r\nCeiling? Yes indeed. During parts of the game you can jump off ramps in the road and cling to the ceiling. Since all the features of the ground-level game are included on the ceiling, life isn't any easier; there are still aliens and traps, but you may be able to collect some extra bonuses before bouncing back down to earth again.\r\n\r\nAlien attack waves are pleasingly varied. Some swoop in quickly while others circle in the distance in front of horrid spiky traps, concealing them from view. Depending on which weapon you've got at which stage, you'll either be completely invincible or dead within seconds. A weapon that fires at 45 tangents to your ship isn't much use when the bad guys stream down the centre of the screen in single file.\r\n\r\nThe fact that every time you lose a life you go back to a specific market point is good. Obviously it's better than going all the way back to the start. Eliminator, though, seems to have the most madly selected set of start points ever. You always go back to the start of the most difficult bit you've passed. Once you've fought for hours to get past a tricky bit, it's unfair to be forced to go through it again. Not fair. Lucky owners of other machines will have a password system enabling them to jump beyond levels they've already completed. Not so on the Spectrum version of Eliminator.\r\n\r\nDuring your mission of death and destruction, you will find pyramid shaped objects which allow you to use different weapons and square boxes which will replenish your supplies of ammo. Depending on the state of your energy/guns/ammunition, you'll have to make effective choices because these bonuses are set in parallel style on the track, making it impossible to get both.\r\n\r\nThe track winds and dips happily and without a hint of flicker. The movement of the player and aliens is iffy by comparison. The amazing smoothness of the backdrop highlights their \"small\" failings.\r\n\r\nThere are lots of good things about Eliminator; scrolling, speed, simplicity And there are a fair few niggling points too; lack of depth, silly \"start\" positions, etc. I'd check it out before you buy it.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Okay 3D game. Nice touches. Loads of shooting.","Page":"33","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jim Douglas","Score":"61","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"50%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"68%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"61%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 108, Feb 1991","Price":"£1.85","ReleaseDate":"1991-01-18","Editor":"Garth Sumpter","TotalPages":84,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Garth Sumpter\r\nDesign Editor: Andrea 'Hotlips' Walker\r\nDesign: Margaret Goldrick\r\nStaff Writer: Jason Nalk\r\nSU Crew: Chris 'Hateful' Jenkins, John Cook, Pete Gerrard, Gary Liddon\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Jim Owens\r\nAd Production: Jo 'Titters' Gleissner\r\nMarketing Manager: Dean Barrett\r\nMarketing Assistants: Sarah Ewing, Sarah Hillard\r\nPublisher: Graham Taylor\r\nManaging Director: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\n(c)1990 EMAP IMAGES\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nDISTRIBUTION; FRONTLINE\r\n\r\nTypesetting by Garthtype\r\nTypos by A.C.C. Ident\r\nColour work by Proprint. B&W filming by PRS.\r\n\r\nNo port of this magazine may be reproduced without permission. Sinclair User would like to express its deepest regrets at the recent death of Mike Johnston, who was the Consultant Editor on the initial launch of Sinclair User. He was first secretory of the Guild of Software Houses and was always a driving force within the industry. He will be remembered for his tireless work running ZX microfairs which he himself initiated and his loss will be felt by everyone that had contact with him."},"MainText":"Label: Players\r\nPrice: £2.99 48K\r\nReviewer: Chris Jenkins\r\n\r\nI dunno, there might have been a good idea in here somewhere, but it hasn't quite made it to the surface.\r\n\r\nEliminator is the heart-warming tale of a 'machine encircled by death, that kills but cannot be killed - the Eliminator!'. In fact, it's all too easy to get killed as you hurl your space flier left and right across a scrolling starlane. Basically, this is a car-racing game transferred into outer space, which has the advantage that the flickering raceway doesn't have to be accompanied by any background details. Every so often you get a password to the next level, but there isn't much variation between the various raceways and tunnels.\r\n\r\nDestroying obstacles such as flashing beacons and floating aliens scores bonus points, and there are ramps to leap over, weapon and ammo bonuses to pick up, and extra weapons such as dual-fire cannon, side-fire, bouncing bombs, double-fire cannon and - guess what - triple-fire cannon, imaginative. It's not.\r\n\r\nWith bland graphics and repetitive gameplay. Eliminator doesn't generate much excitement, even on budget. Eliminate it from your shopping list.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Unexciting space-race-shoot-'em-up fails to stir the adrenalin.","Page":"64","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Chris Jenkins","Score":"51","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"40%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"50%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"51%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"51%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) Issue 21, Jun 1989","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1989-05-04","Editor":"Graeme Kidd","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Future Publishing [redacted]\r\nTelephone [redacted], Fax [redacted], Telecom Gold 84:TXT152, Prestel/Micronet: 0458 74011\r\n\r\nEditor: Graeme Kidd\r\nReviews Editor: Bob Wade\r\nStaff Writers: Steve Jarratt, Andy Smith\r\nProduction Editor: Damien Noonan\r\nConsultant Editors: Jon Bates (Music), Brian Larkman (Graphics)\r\nAdventure Editor: Steve Cooke\r\nContributors: Tony Takoushi, Zog\r\nArt Editor: Trevor Gilham\r\nProduction: Diane Tavener, Claire Woodland, Vivien Dean, Naomi Steer, Louise Cockroft\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Simon Stansfield\r\nAdvertising Sales Executive: David Lilley\r\nPublisher: Kevin Cox\r\n\r\nCover by Steve Dillon\r\n\r\nSUBSCRIPTIONS\r\nAvon Direct Mail [redacted]\r\n\r\nSPECIAL OFFERS\r\n(Christine Stacey) [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOLOUR ORIGINATION\r\nSwift Graphics Ltd, Southampton\r\nD P Graphics [redacted]\r\nCover by Bath Graphics\r\n\r\nDISTRIBUTION\r\nSM Distribution [redacted]\r\n\r\nPRINTING\r\nChase Web Offset [redacted]\r\n\r\n© FUTURE PUBLISHING LTD 1989\r\n\r\nNo part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without our permission.\r\n\r\nKind regards to EMAP eejits"},"MainText":"Hewson, £9.99 cs, £14.99 dk\r\nST version reviewed Issue 13 - ACE rating 904\r\n\r\nAlthough the Spectrum copes quite well with the 3D nature of the game, the lack of colour often makes it difficult to differentiate between aliens, solid objects and collectibles. The coarser update also removes the pixel-precision which made the ST version so enthralling.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"78","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Ace Rating","Score":"755/1000","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"The Games Machine Issue 18, May 1989","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1989-04-20","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL AND HEAD OFFICE\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Roger Kean\r\nFeatures Editor: Barnaby Page\r\nStaff Writers: Robin Hogg, Warren Lapworth, Robin Candy\r\nEditorial Assistants: Vivien Vickress, Caroline Blake\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\nContributors: Mel Croucher, Don Hughes, Marshal M Rosenthal (USA), John Woods\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION DEPARTMENT\r\n[redacted]\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nSenior Designer: Wayne Allen\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nDesign Assistants: Yvonne Priest, Melvin Fisher\r\nProduction Team: Robert Millichamp, Robert Hamilton, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard\r\n\r\nADVERTISING AND ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENTS\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nGroup Advertisement Director: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Sarah Chapman, Lee Watkins\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nTypeset by the Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow and on our Apple Macintosh II running Quark Xpress 2.0. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset [redacted] - a member of the BPCC Group. Distribution effected 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 TGM. 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 Viv Vickress a line at the PO Box 10 address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions.\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in part or in whole without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into TGM - including written and photographic material, hardware or software - unless it's accompanied by a suitably stamped, addressed envelope. We regret that readers' postal enquiries cannot always be answered. Unsolicited written or photographic 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 TGM are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\n©TGM Magazines Ltd, 1989\r\nA Newsfield Publication ISSN 0954-8092\r\n\r\nCover Design and Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Spectrum 48/128 Cassette: £7.99, Diskette: £12.99\r\n\r\nThe atmospheric baseline and effects of the ST version are accurately reproduced along with the swift and effective 3-D 'road', albeit in monochrome. Aliens move smoothly and their missiles are easy to see, but the simplicity of movement options puts a question mark against the games longterm playability.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"55","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"ATARI ST Overall: 92% TGM011"}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"79%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 55, Jul 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-06-07","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":84,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Kevin Hibbert\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nDesign Assistant: Andy Ounsted\r\nContributors: Robin Alway, Marcus Berkmann, Joe Davies, Jonathan Davies, Cathy Fryett, Jo Fulton, Mike Gerrard, Kati Hamza, Kate Hodges, Duncan MacDonald, Jon North, Rich Pelley, David Wilson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertising Executive: Simon Moss\r\nPublisher: Greg Ingham\r\nAssistant Publisher: Jane Richardson\r\nManaging Director: Chris Anderson\r\nProduction Manager: 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":"Eliminator\r\nHewson\r\n\r\nThe sort of 'into-the-screen'scroller that does in fact work quite well, this was helped a great deal by the rolling road arrangement at the top and bottom of the screen that added a sense of speed. Movement was fairly restricted though, so quite why it earned a Megagame first time round I don't know.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"33,34,35,36,37","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Matt Bielby","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"EVERY SHOOT-'EM-UP EVER\r\n\r\nHa! You've got to be joking - I started working on it and got up to 150 names - and I was only half way through the poxy thing! Forget it!"},{"Text":"GIANT ALIEN MUTHAS FROM HELL\r\n\r\nA few good end-of-level baddies can make a shoot-'em-up, a lack of them break one. Let's look at a few typical monsters, shall we?\r\n\r\nDominator: Impressive pink mouth affair firmly in the R-Type mould, and nicely animated too - the eyes blink and teeth move. Unfortunately the rest of the game didn't live up to it.\r\n\r\nMr Heli: A giant eye thing with lobster claws - not bad, the grey and yellow graphics don't help it to stand out as much as they might, do they?\r\n\r\nSilkworm: This is the other way to do it - not a giant fixed mass (like the other two) but a moving baddy in the vein of stuff you've already met on that level, but bigger. This super chopper is delightfully guppy-like."},{"Text":"HOW TO DESIGN A SPACESHIP\r\n\r\nWe cant really express how important a good central sprite can be - after all, other sprites may come and go, but you're looking at this one the entire time!\r\n\r\nHalaga: Hmm. Your basic Space Invaders/Galaxians thing - not too impressive, is it?\r\n\r\nSidearms: Anyone able to tell me what's meant to be going on here? It just looks like a bit of a mess to me! Answers on a postcard please.\r\n\r\nDark Fusion: A-ha! Now this is more like it - simple, clean design, easy to see but not too distracting. It's the biz."},{"Text":"SHORTS\r\n\r\nBlimey! Space doesn't go very far when you've got a subject as big as this, eh? So, dotted across the next four pages, we've squeezed some mini (mini) reviews into snazzy white blobs (just like this) - not wham-bam classics, but all good representatives of a type…"},{"Text":"SO, YOU WANNA WRITE A SHOOT-'EM-UP?\r\n\r\nWould you believe it's not as hard as it looks? (Actually, the way loads of people seem to write shoot-'em-ups it doesn't actually look all that hard anyway!) Here are a few of your central ingredients...\r\n\r\nThe Main Spaceship\r\nA little square box thing with another square box on the front will do fine here - nice and simple and to the point. Alternatively you could go the whole hog and stick as many spikey bits as possible all over it so the sprite looks 'interesting' from all angles.\r\n\r\nEnemy Spaceships\r\nNothing wrong with a whole squadron of polo mints zooming through space towards you - after all, it's the cunningness of the attack formations that counts!\r\n\r\nThe Name\r\nSomething gun-like sounds good and hard (say Side Arms or Armalyte) though anything vaguely aggressive-sounding will do (Eliminator, Dominator, Xecutor, H.A.T.E). If you're desperate you can always go the pseudo-scientific route (R-type, P47, Ultima Ratio), opt for an animal name (Salamander, Silkworm) or go for that old standard, the meaningless, vaguely futuristic-sounding word (Triaxos, Xeno, Zynaps, Xarax, Sanxion, Uridium, Xevious). Lots of 'Z's and 'X's are good.\r\n\r\nBackground\r\nNice and complicated is fine - let your imagination go wild. Don't worry about bullets (or even smaller enemy squadrons) getting lost amongst the mass of background detail - you can always pass it off as 'challenging gameplay'.\r\n\r\nCollision Detection\r\nDon't make it too easy for them! It's perfectly all right if any alien coming within inches of the player kills him dead, while he needs to blast baddies six times for any effect to be felt Again, it's all in the cause of challenging gameplay!"},{"Text":"THE FLIP-SCREEN\r\n\r\nNot all that common, but these can work very well indeed - check out Raf Cecco's Cybernoid duo, for instance. The thing seems to be that if you dispense with trying to write decent scrolling routines (since the background doesn't move at all - you simply progress across the screen until you get to the far end, when a new one flashes up with your little ship in its new starting position) you can spend a lot more time making everything else very pretty and colourful and inventive. Thus flip-screen games have some of the best, clearest, most colourful graphics ever seen on the Speccy.\r\n\r\nOn the minus side however there's the disconcerting, disorientating bit where your ship flickers off the right hand side of the screen, only to reappear on the far left of the next one.\r\n\r\nBut they can be incredibly addictive (it's always a temptation to try for 'just one more' screen to see what it looks like) and, in the case of the Cecco games at least, can strike a fine balance between mindless blasting and working out the best route past each new obstacle. They're still pure shoot-'em-ups, but slightly more cerebral ones.\r\n\r\nFlip screen a la NOMAD - no place to run to, no place to hide. (It's a bit like playing Murder In The Dark really.)"},{"Text":"THE HORIZONTAL SCROLLER\r\n\r\nThis is the other main option, and usually a much more sensible way to go about things. Not only is the screen the right shape, but you can have a very complicated and pretty bottom and/or top bit to it (the ground, or the edges of a tunnel, say), while leaving the bulk of the play area relatively free from obstructions. Most the great shoot-'em-ups (but by no means all) are built like this, including the Your Sinclair all-time fave raves like Uridium and R-Type.\r\n\r\nGame over, man! (Well, Game Over II to be precise.)"},{"Text":"THE 'INTO-THE-SCREEN' JOBBIE\r\n\r\nAlthough occasionally attempted with reasonable success by budgeteers like CodeMasters, these often constitute a less than satisfying experience. All too often someone responsible for coin-op licence acquisition will pick out an arcade favourite with a giant hydraulic cabinet - say an Afterburner or Thunder blade - with little thought as to how it's going to translate to the home computer. (Not very well, usually.) Thus most 'into-the-screen' shoot-'em-ups are technically impressive and rather brave attempts to reproduce the thrills and spills of the original, but almost inevitably doomed to failure. Robbed of 3D, moving cabinets, and whizzo graphics, the limitations built into the game become abundantly clear - there's little real feeling of speed (difficult enough to create even with a rolling road as reference point, let alone without one), oodles of almost identical levels and very little to actually do. Boring.\r\n\r\nVideodrome, here we come - it's 'into the screen' time with F-16 Fighting Falcon."},{"Text":"VERTICAL SCROLLERS\r\n\r\nOne obvious option for a shoot-'em-up, and one that's used all over the place, is the vertical scroller. This is where the action is viewed from a God-like perspective above it all, looking down on everything from a distance. The action scrolls up (or on the very odd occasion down) the screen. This has some advantages - it's easy to lay out complicated attack formations and the little spaceships can he the simplest blobby shapes and still function quite well but it can suffer from some rather major flaws too.\r\n\r\nThe first is that the shape of your average TV or monitor is all wrong. Think about it - you're trying to present portrait-shaped action (taller than it is long) on a landscape-shaped screen (wider than it is tall). In a coin-op, which is where 85% of vertical scrollers originate, there's no real problem with this because you can easily build a cabinet with a tall thin screen to contain the action, but in Speccyvision the programmers have to waste large portions of the side of the potential play area to reproduce it Subsequently, all the sprites have to be fairly small to fit in, and on most TVs become next to invisible. You've effectively castrated the game before you've even started.\r\n\r\nThere's one other major problem too - the background. Since most scrolling Speccy games have to be largely monochrome, any sort of backdrop (say a forest which you're flying over) can cause real problems. You'll be safe (but probably rather bored) if the programmer opts for a simple black starfield over which all the sprites will show up well, but anything beyond that courts disaster. All too often overzealous background artists, small sprites, even smaller bullets and the sort of slightly crappy TVs most of us use with our Speccies conspire to render your brand new vertical scroller virtually unplayable. Don't think I've got a total downer on them though - despite all the limitations some of the real classics use this design. Xenon, anybody?\r\n\r\nClear backdrops, that's what vertical scrollers need. (So Gemini Wing's a sorry loser.)"}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]