[{"TitleName":"E-motion","Publisher":"U.S. Gold Ltd","Author":"Leigh Christian, The Code Monkeys, David Bracher","YearOfRelease":"1990","ZxDbId":"0001617","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 76, May 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-04-26","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":52,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nFeatures Editor: Richard Eddy\r\nStaff Writer: Mark Caswell\r\nEditorial Assistant: Viv Vickress\r\nPhotography: Michael Parkinson\r\nContributors: Nick Roberts\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nProduction Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nArt Director: Mark Kendrick\r\nReprographics: Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Rob (the Rev) Hamilton, Jenny Reddard\r\nDesign: David Western, Melvin Fisher\r\nSystems Operator: Ian Chubb, Paul (Charlie) Chubb\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Caroline Blake\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nSubscriptions\r\n[redacted].\r\n\r\nDesigned and typeset on Apple Macintosh II computers using Quark Express and Adobe Illustrator '88, output at MBI [redacted] with systems support from Digital Reprographics [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by BPCC Business Magazines (Carlisle) Ltd, [redacted] - a member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters relating to adjudication and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens (like a game that has been offered as a prize being scrapped) we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. We'll do our very best to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the published closing date. Winners names will appear in a later issue of CRASH. No correspondence can be entered into regarding the competitions (unless we've written to you stating that you have won a prize and it doesn't turn up, in which case drop the Viv Vickress a line at the main address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for either Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions. No material may be reproduced whole or in part without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into CRASH - including written and photographic material, software and hardware - unless it is accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. We regret that readers' postal enquiries cannot always be answered. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. Colour photographic material should be 35mm transparencies wherever possible. The views expressed in CRASH are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nCopyright CRASH Ltd 1989 A Newsfield Publication. ISSN 0954-8661. Cover Design by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"US Gold/Code Monkeys\r\n£9.99 cass\r\n\r\nUS Gold claim this is the beginning of a 'New Age' of stress free programs designed for easy living. With that in mind E-Motion was loaded after a hard day's blasting - and caused widespread consternation! Games don't come much more frustrating than this! Wow..!\r\n\r\nIn a sub-atomic universe filled with atoms, protons, neutrons and other particles smarty-pants egg-heads rave on about, you control a sphere which you use as a vehicle to nudge other spheres into one another. But be careful, bounce only like atoms together: judge them by their markings. If you accidentally knock unlike, smaller spheres are created. And if left to their own devices they grow and cause even more of a headache.\r\n\r\nTime is of the essence too: if the atoms are left too long before collision, they explode and knock a large chunk off your energy. So bang those balls together and pray you don't tear all your hair out. The vehicle is so anarchic that many expletives unprintable in a family mag were heard ringing round the CRASH offices. But after calming down, I tried again and slowly gaining more control began to enjoy playing this frustrating but ultimately rewarding game. One piece of advice: don't panic. Many times I've been knocked out because the wildly erratic ball shot round the screen at Mach speeds. E-Motion won't do anything for your nerves, but may just push up the sales of strait jackets.\r\n\r\nMARK 92%","ReviewerComments":["E-Motion is a strange game, and definitely not one you can play without any instructions. The basic idea is to push the icons with the same signs on them together before they explode. This is not as easy as you may think: they're linked by elastic band type connectors that stretch and pull them all over the place. If icons of a different sign hit each other they make a new one (ooo, icon reproduction, oo-er), and you then have the trouble of getting rid of this too. Leave them too long and they explode, taking all your energy. Simple, but totally addictive: You control your little ship thingy in an asteroids way by turning it around and using a thrust to move forward. This makes moving about the screen quite a skill in itself. To make things worse you get confused when you go off one side and come back on the other, bouncing off the other icons. Graphic detail is just right, with a surprising amount of colour on screen, and tunes and effects are good too. E-Motion is surprisingly addictive, once you start playing you won't be able to pull yourself away!\r\nNick Roberts\r\n90%"],"OverallSummary":"Physics lessons in school are never as fun or as frustrating as this exercise in motion.","Page":"39","Denied":false,"Award":"Crash Smash","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"92","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"90","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"84%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"83%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"87%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictivity","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"91%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 53, May 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-04-12","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":92,"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, Amanda Cook, Joe Davies, Jonathan Davies, Cathy Fryett, Mike Gerrard, Simon Goggin, Duncan MacDonald, David McCandless, Paul Morgan, Rich Pelley, David Wilson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertising Executive: Simon Moss\r\nPublisher: Greg Ingham\r\nAssistant Publisher: Jane Nolan\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":"US Gold\r\n£10.99 cass\r\nReviewer: Kati Hamza\r\n\r\nOnce upon a time (well, during that grey and rather murky decade they call the '70s actually) a horrible little factory somewhere began producing some equally horrible little lamps. These lamps were filled with mobile oil bubbles which floated in a bright orange solution of hideous greasy gloop, and they quickly became the most ultra-hip 'sitting room' accesory of the period. They were foul, they really were.\r\n\r\nWell, E-Motion is nothing like that. (Well, okay, they've both got a load of floating spherical objects but nothing else.) In fact, E-Motion isn't really like any other game I've ever seen so describing the blooming thing might prove a tad difficult. Oh well, here goes.\r\n\r\n(Long pause.) Imagine a big black space. Now put in a few round balls inscribed with different geometrical shapes and add a funny round little geezer as a control pod. Then link them together with funny string things (A bit like Klackers actually. Ed). A doddle so far. Okay, here's the tricky bit. The little round control pod has to zoom around the black screen bumping and shoving identical balls into one another. \"Why?\" I hear you ask. Because if it doesn't manage it in time the balls start flashing like crazy and explode, zapping all the pod's energy and leaving you minus one life.\r\n\r\nAnd there's more. For starters, the pod suffers from inertia so unless you're a bit of a whizz-kld with the old twizzle-stick you're much more likely to go sailing straight past your target (whizz) and swearing (%'@!) than actually hitting the er... balls. Secondly, if two different spheres collide by accident (and this tends to happen rather a lot at first) they generate a cute little baby ball. These turn into bigger pubescent balls after a few seconds but if you get them while they're small they pop a bit extra onto your energy bar. Thirdly, the screen actually wraps around itself so the snappiest route from ball to ball isn't always the most obvious one. For example, if you want to get a sphere on the left over to the right, it might actually be quicker to shove it off the left-hand side of the screen (a bit like Asteroids actually). Clever, eh?\r\n\r\nAnd there's even more! in the interests of some really major trickiness, those cheeky chappies at US Gold have conjured up loads of extras, like impassable barriers and natty little pick-up pills which have a sort of absorbent effect. Instead of going round bashing the balls you just kind of suck them up. And even more confusing are the pieces of elastic. These connect some of the balls and both the control pods to each other in two-player mode. Pulling one end usually results in the other sproinging like crazy all around the screen, making a general pig's ear of the whole thing.\r\n\r\nIt all adds up to an extremely spanky little puzzler with a multitude of levels and some very spiffy game design. There's not much to comment on in the way of sound or graphics but the crucial thing is the physics and, by crikey, have they got it right. The spheres move exactly like they should, especially when they're tied to the 'rubber bands', and the collision detection is absolutely on the ball. Unfortunately, there is one irritating tendency in that it plays a snip too s-l-o-o-o-w when there are lots of sprites about, but that's not too much of a handicap.\r\n\r\nThere are some people who wouldn't like a puzzle game if it jumped up and bit them on the bottom. E-Motion won't be everybody's mug of steaming Rosie Lee but with so much variety and manic action this is an excellent excuse to give your lil' ol' trigger finger a hard-earned rest.\r\n\r\nDon't be a turkey - go check it out.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A triffic load of balls which tests your mental and your manual skills. A real love it or hate it game.","Page":"20","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Kati Hamza","Score":"80","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"It's the first screen and I'm not doing too well. I've already created a couple of extra balls, and that weird h-shaped doofer's getting in the way too. Drat."},{"Text":"Now, if I can just run over that smaller ball before it grows any bigger, then get the pair in the triangle to touch, I'll be laughing..."},{"Text":"Yikes! It's the two-player game and I'm tied to my partner and some other balls with a piece of knicker elastic. Look at all those new ones I've managed to create over there on the right! (Not doing too well, am I?)"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"87%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"77%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"50%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"80%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 57, Sep 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-08-09","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":84,"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, Kati Hamza, Duncan MacDonald, Jon North, Rich Pelley, Jackie Ryan, 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 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":"E-Motion\r\nUS Gold\r\nReviewer: Rich Pelley\r\n\r\nThis ones a bit on the weird side to say the least.\r\n\r\nBasically it starts off with all these coloured balls simply floating about in space (some are on their own, others are connected together by elastic), and you're in there floating pathetically amongst them whilst in command of this little ship. Controls are of the Asteroids 'twizzle yourself around and fire to slow down or stop' type, and the screen wraps around on itself in a similar sort of a way as well (so, as you might expect, staying in control is always a bit of a fight).\r\n\r\nThe idea is for you to knock two balls of the same colour together and get them to disappear, otherwise they'll explode and you'll lose a life. It you knock two different coloured ones together by mistake a third one will appear. (Yikes!) Of course. there are squillions of different levels which get harder as you get better (if you see what I mean).\r\n\r\nGraphics-wise, this one's a treat as the spheres rotate about and the elastic stretches to and fro. The two-player mode is pretty natty too - your two ships are tied together making things less than easy (ie hard). Yep - it's a bit weird, but brill all the same.\r\n\r\nAND FINALLY...\r\n\r\nThere we have it! As I predicted (and Matt and Jonathan got totally wrong) it took me absolutely blooming ages. And most of that time was spent arguing about what a puzzle game actually is and what qualifies and what doesn't (which is one reason why we don't have a giant list of all the ones ever made - we just couldn't agree what they were!).\r\n\r\nNext month - Flight Sims. (Something everyone can agree on.) Hurrah!","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"65","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Rich Pelley","Score":"83","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"From US Gold's blurb about E-Motion (that it was the first 'new age computer game', and that you could enjoy it simply watching the spheres wobble about) we though it'd be crap. (We were wrong.)"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Fiendishness","Score":"85%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lack Of Sleep Factor","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Pull Your Hair Out Factor","Score":"22%","Text":""},{"Header":"Variation","Score":"69%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"83%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 98, Apr 1990","Price":"£1.85","ReleaseDate":"1990-03-18","Editor":"Jim Douglas","TotalPages":84,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Jim Douglas\r\nDeputy Editor: Garth Sumpter\r\nProduction Editor: Alison Skeat\r\nDesigner: Osmond Browne\r\nAdvertisement Manager: James Owens\r\nSenior Sales: Martha Moloughney\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nMarketing Manager: Dean Barrett\r\nMarketing Assistant: Sarah Ewing\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\n©1990 Sinclair User, [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted by Kingfisher Web Ltd, Peterborough."},"MainText":"Label: US Gold\r\nAuthor: In-House\r\nPrice: £8.95\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: Various\r\nReviewer: Jim Douglas\r\n\r\nLet me get this straight. You've got a load of balls in space. And by bouncing similar balls together, you make them disappear. Dissimilar balls, when bounced together replicate into little balls. And if you don't manage to get rid of all the balls in a specific time frame, they explode and drain your energy. And that's it? Let's face it, E-motion sounds pretty rank doesn't it?\r\n\r\nFortunately, once you've got to grips with the rather silly premise behind the game, the astounding playability shines through. If you can stand to drag yourself away from your shoot outs and jump abouts, you'll be playing this for weeks.\r\n\r\nHowever, you should be aware of the dangers involved in playing. For a start, there's a very high probability that you'll go round the twist at some point. You see, if only life was as simple as just bouncing the similar balls together. Alas, as soon as you progress past the first couple of levels, the balls become connected with elastic cables. Sometimes they're connected to other bails of the same type. More often they're connected to opposites. And frequently you find them tied to your own spaceship (with which do all the bumping).\r\n\r\nJust when you thought you'd got to grips with simply moving round the screen and guiding the balls around, you have to learn a whole new skill. Not only is the elastic a bit difficult to predict, but since you scroll off the edge of one screen and onto another, the elastic suddenly changes position and everything all flies off in the opposite direction. The added pressure of really rather short time limits can turn it into a thoroughly maddening affair.\r\n\r\nOther versions of the game had different coloured balls to play with, but to avoid attribute problems, USG has opted to mark each different type with triangles, squares and circles. In the heat of the action, it's a little too easy to mistake one shape for an other and bounce them together, letting loose a whole screenful of little balls.\r\n\r\nOnce you bodge one screen you can pretty much say goodbye to the rest of your game. Since the time limits are so tight, the amount of time you waste haring around, trying to chase down the little balls is so great that you really haven't got a hope in hell of clearing them all up and then successfully going back and finishing off the big ones. Each screen has a subtley different layout of static bollards which everything bounces off. US Gold haven't made anything easy. Every start position presents you with a host of problems. If I go up really fast, am I likely to get up enough speed to pull the two triangle pieces together without dragging one of the squares into the way? Can I get through the gap and head off the drifting piece before it collides with anything else?\r\n\r\nAs I said before, I figure the biggest problem is the wrap-around screen. It's a completely bizarre way of thinking. Not only do you have to employ all the lessons learnt from games like Asteroids, but you've got to try and predict the other objects' movement in the light of your own. It's like chess played at 100mph.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Brilliant. But not for all tastes.","Page":"60,61","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jim Douglas","Score":"89","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"The dreaded elastic bands prepare their springyness to lure another hapless victim into a bouncy doom. Will you survive?"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"86%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"89%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) Issue 32, May 1990","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1990-04-05","Editor":"Steve Cooke","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EMAP B & CP [redacted]\r\nTelephone [redacted], Fax [redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Steve Cooke\r\nDeputy Editor: Rik Haynes\r\nReviews Editor: Laurence Scotford\r\nDesign Editor: Jim Willis\r\nContributors: Eugene Lacey, John Cook, Christina Erskine, Pat Winstanley, Mark Smiddy, Gordon Lee, Russell Patient, Nicola Broad, Jay Sacks\r\nAdditional Design By: Julia Wiseman\r\nIllustration: Geoff Fowler\r\nPhotography: Edward Park\r\nAdvertising Manager: Gary Williams\r\nDeputy Advertising Manager: Jerry Hall\r\nAdvertising Production: Melanie Costin\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nSUBSCRIPTIONS\r\nEMAP Frontline, Subscriptions Dept [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOLOUR ORIGINATION\r\nBalmoral Graphics [redacted]\r\nProprint Repro [redacted]\r\n\r\nTYPESETTING\r\nCXT [redacted]\r\n\r\nDISTRIBUTION\r\nEMAP Frontline [redacted]\r\n\r\nPRINTING\r\nSevern Valley Press, Caerphilly\r\n\r\n©EMAP B&CP 1990\r\nNo part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without our permission."},"MainText":"US Gold's latest masterpiece is an arcade style puzzler that makes Newtonian physics look fun.\r\n\r\nSnooker games have proved how much fun there is to be had out of exploiting the laws of physics in a game - even with something as apparently mundane as the motion of a few balls. Now US Gold has managed to bag itself an original piece of software based around Newtonian physics, although for reasons known only to themselves the title and loading picture suggest that the game has more to do with Einstein than with his predecessor.\r\n\r\nThe idea behind the game is simply to knock spheres around a two-dimensional playing area, using a ball that can be steered, so that spheres of a similar colour collide and cancel each other out. It is most important that spheres of differing colours do not meet, as they will then form another smaller, embryonic ball. Run over this with your own sphere and you will gain extra energy. If you leave embryonic balls for too long, however, they will form full-size spheres that must be eliminated in the normal way.\r\n\r\nIn the early screens you only have to contend with bars that obstruct the motion of the spheres and cause them to bounce around dangerously. In later stages some of the spheres (possibly including the one you control) are attached by elastic lines which severely effect the motion of all the joined spheres. It is not uncommon for one sphere which is joined to another to disappear off one side of the screen and reappear on the other, still attached, but with a collection of bars separating the two.\r\n\r\nThe nice thing about E-motion is that it requires a fairly balanced combination of arcade skills and brain-work. Movement of your own sphere is controlled by rotating a pointer within the ball until it indicates the direction that you wish to move in, and then holding the fire button to apply \"thrust\" in that direction. You have to keep moving fairly swiftly too. As time goes on, the remaining spheres begin to vibrate - if they are left for too long then they explode draining your energy. If your energy should be exhausted then your own sphere will be atomised (or should that be pixelised?).\r\n\r\nThe brain-work gets involved every time you reach a new screen. It is certainly not advisable to plough straight in there knocking balls left right and centre. It is far better to sacrifice a bit of time in working out the best way to solve each stage before actually trying anything. Otherwise you will find that one false move could set up a chain of particularly nasty events. Sometimes too, you will find that it actually pays to create additional spheres (in a controlled way of course), but this will require some careful thought first.\r\n\r\nE-motion is very much an unclassifiable product. It is quite easy to get to grips with, but very difficult to master, so there is quite a challenge there. It is the sort of product that is unique to computer gaming, and therefore exactly the sort of thing that a computer game should be. If you like games like Tetris you will almost certainly have a ball with this one.\r\n\r\nReviewer: Laurence Scotford\r\n\r\nRELEASE BOX\r\nAtari ST, £24.99dk, Out Now\r\nAmiga, £24.99dk, Out Now\r\nSpec, £9.99dk, Out Now\r\nIBM PC, £24.99dk, Out Now\r\nAmstrad, £TBAdk, Imminent\r\nNo other versions planned.\r\n\r\nPredicted Interest Curve\r\n\r\n1 min: 3/5\r\n1 hour: 3/5\r\n1 day: 4/5\r\n1 week: 3/5\r\n1 month: 2/5\r\n1 year: 1/5","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Initially this is an intriguing product - unlike anything you've ever seen before. It proves to be very quick to get into, but it will take you several games to master the technique required to clear screens safely. I'm not convinced that this product has long term staying power. There is not really enough variety in the game play to keep you playing once you have solved most of the screens.","Page":"40","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Laurence Scotford","Score":"825","ScoreSuffix":"/1000"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"As you can see. E-Motion on the Spectrum is not quite as colourful as it's 16-bit counterparts, but there is still a good game in there."},{"Text":"E-Motion on the Amiga. Very nice ray-traced graphics and lots of atmospheric sound to go with them."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"AMIGA VERSION\r\n\r\nThis is the most colourful and attractive of the versions we played - 32 colour ray-traced images set against a nice colour-graduated background. The sound is suitably ethereal and, for once, actually adds something to the gameplay.\r\n\r\nGraphics: 8/10\r\nAudio: 8/10\r\nIQ Factor: 7/10\r\nFun Factor: 8/10\r\nAce Rating: 890/1000\r\n\r\nPredicted Interest Curve\r\n\r\n1 min: 4/5\r\n1 hour: 4/5\r\n1 day: 5/5\r\n1 week: 4/5\r\n1 month: 3/5\r\n1 year: 2/5"},{"Text":"ATARI ST VERSION\r\n\r\nA little less colourful than the Amiga version, and with slightly tinnier sound, but just as playable nonetheless. The background is nicely created with Fourier patterns, making the game look very nice indeed.\r\n\r\nGraphics: 7/10\r\nAudio: 7/10\r\nIQ Factor: 7/10\r\nFun Factor: 8/10\r\nAce Rating: 880/1000\r\n\r\nPredicted Interest Curve\r\n\r\n1 min: 4/5\r\n1 hour: 4/5\r\n1 day: 5/5\r\n1 week: 4/5\r\n1 month: 3/5\r\n1 year: 2/5"},{"Text":"PC VERSION\r\n\r\nGameplay is more or less identical to the other versions but sound is the usual tacky PC affair. The game caters for CGA (which doesn't look that bad considering the colour limitations), EGA, and VGA - which is just as attractive as any of the other versions reviewed here.\r\n\r\nGraphics: 8/10\r\nAudio: 5/10\r\nIQ Factor: 7/10\r\nFun Factor: 8/10\r\nAce Rating: 850/1000\r\n\r\nPredicted Interest Curve\r\n\r\n1 min: 4/5\r\n1 hour: 4/5\r\n1 day: 5/5\r\n1 week: 4/5\r\n1 month: 3/5\r\n1 year: 2/5"},{"Text":"SPECTRUM VERSION\r\n\r\nThis is a little more difficult to play than the other versions because the spheres are all the same colour and are identified by patterns. This doesn't help when the action hots up. The spheres are smaller too. Apart from these factors gameplay is more or less identical - sounds good too."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Audio","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"IQ Factor","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Fun Factor","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Ace Rating","Score":"825/1000","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 101, Apr 1990","Price":"£1.3","ReleaseDate":"1990-03-16","Editor":"Julian Rignall","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Julian Rignall\r\nArt Editor: Andrea Walker\r\nDeputy Editor: Paul Glancey\r\nStaff Writer: Paul Rand\r\nAdvertising Manager: Nigel Taylor\r\nDep Ad Manager: Joanna Cooke\r\nSales Executive: Tina Zanelli\r\nProduction Assistant: Glenys \"Teddy\" Powell\r\nPublisher: Graham Taylor\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries to: EMAP Frontline, [redacted]\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted By: Kingfisher Web, [redacted]\r\nColour By: Proprint, [redacted]\r\nTypeset By: Jaz and friends on one heack of a big printer\r\nDistributed By: EMAP Frontline\r\nMegadrive Software courtesy of SpectreSoft, [redacted]\r\n\r\n©C+VG 1990\r\nISSN No: 0261-3697"},"MainText":"US Gold\r\nSpectrum/Amstrad £9.99, ST £19.99, PC/Amiga £24.99\r\n\r\nIf someone told you that the first New Age computer game was something akin to \"bowls on pieces of elastics, you'd probably think \"Gawd, worra complete pleb\". But that's exactly what E-Motion is.\r\n\r\nThe game consists of fifty screens, each containing a number of coloured spheres and, sometimes, a solid structure. The idea is to obliterate all the spheres on screen by using a spaceship (or two if you're in dual-player mode) to bump like-coloured ones together. When different-coloured balls collide, another smaller ball appears which can be picked up and used to replenish the ship's energy. But be quick - energy balls soon grow to full size and of course, destroying them requires the creation of another ball of the same colour. If the screen isn't cleared within a time limit the balls explode, sapping the ships energy.\r\n\r\nThere - easy. Or at least that's what the programmers, Assembly Line (they did the smashing Interphase) thought, so they added the structures which need to be worked around, making things even trickier. They've also linked you to some of the balls via elastic bands, which calls for pixel-perfect maneuvering if you don't want to create more spheres.\r\n\r\nAfter a predetermined number of levels, one of three bonus stages can be tackled, allowing you to bump up those points before attempting the next screen.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Due to the machine's limitations, the coloured balls have been discarded and instead the object is to link spheres with the same shape imprinted on them. Although initially confusing, a few games is all it takes to get the hang of this method and you'll not want to leave it alone.","Page":"88,89","Denied":false,"Award":"C+VG Hit","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Paul Rand","Score":"89","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Oh dear, looks like someone's been bashing those balls willy-nilly!"},{"Text":"These kooky shapes don't help matters, either."},{"Text":"Three balls, a piece of elastic and a spaceship. A recipe for confusion and disaster if ever there was one."},{"Text":"Two spheres and a ball on one elastic thread."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"AMIGA SCORES\r\n\r\nGraphics: 73%\r\nSound: 67%\r\nValue: 94%\r\nPlayability: 96%\r\nOverall: 95%\r\n\r\nPuzzle games are all the rage at the moment and E-Motion is, quite simply, one of the best I've yet seen. First impressions are, as with most games of the genre, very misleading - the screen looks bare and things seem somewhat boring. However, that first burst of movement and the eventual collision with the wrong sphere causes you to sit up, panic a bit, reevaluate your entire thoughts on the product and from that moment you're hooked. Like all the true greats, graphics are above average as opposed to spectacular, although the use of ray-tracing on the balls and structures is pretty impressive in itself. Similarly, sound is \"nice' but the plinkety-plink tunes and spot effects will soon have you twiddling your volume knob. Pretty soon someone is going to create a game which overtakes the addictiveness of Tetris, E-Motion doesn't quite manage it, but it comes very, very close."},{"Text":"AMSTRAD SCORES\r\n\r\nOverall: 92%\r\n\r\nE-Motion on the Amstrad obviously looks more basic than the 16 bits, but its colourful enough, and that same addictive urge exists as much as in the other versions."},{"Text":"ATARI ST SCORES\r\n\r\nOverall: 95%\r\n\r\nApart from ever-so-slight colour alterations, there is absolutely no difference between this and the Amiga version. An astonishing game which no self-respecting gamer should be without."},{"Text":"PC SCORES\r\n\r\nOverall: 95%\r\n\r\nThe PC game can be played in any of CGA, EGA or VGA modes but, no matter how much colour you have on-screen, there's no getting away from the fact that E-Motion is an unmissable experience."},{"Text":"UPDATE\r\n\r\nWe've yet to see the C64 version E-Motion, which will carry a price tag of £9.99 but fear not, we'll be running a review in the Update section the moment it comes in."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"89%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"The Games Machine Issue 30, May 1990","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1990-04-05","Editor":"Richard Montiero","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"ALL DEPARTMENTS\r\nNewsfield, The Games Machine, [redacted]\r\n\r\nEDITORIAL\r\nConsultant Editor: Richard Monteiro\r\nDeputy Editor: Richard Eddy\r\nSub Editor: Dominic Handy\r\nStaff Writers: Robin Candy, Mark Caswell, Warren Lapworth\r\nEditorial Assistant: Vivien Vickress\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\nEditorial Director: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nProduction Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nReprographics: Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard, Robert Hamilton\r\nSystems Operators: Ian Chubb (supervisor), Paul Chubb\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAd Sales: Sarah Chapman\r\nProduction Assistant: Jackie Morris\r\nAdministration Assistant: Joanne Lewis\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions rates available from main address\r\n\r\nDesigned and typeset on Apple Macintosh II computers running Quark Xpress, Adobe Illustrator 88, with systems support from Digital Print Reprographics, [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by BPCC Business Magazines (Carlisle) Ltd, [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 and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. List of winners are available after the closing date from Viv Vickress at the main address. No person who has any relationship to anyone who works for Newsfield Ltd or any sponsoring companies may enter the competitions. No 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 suitable SAE. 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 - we reserve the right to edit any written material. The views expressed in TGM are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\n©1990 TGM Magazines Ltd\r\nA Newsfield Publication ISSN 0954-8092\r\n\r\nCover Design Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Spectrum Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99\r\n\r\nOriginally reviewed: TGM029.\r\n\r\nBecause of the monochromatic nature of the sprites, the only way you can distinguish between atoms is to watch the symbols. This is annoying. The game in general, however, is fast and very, very playable.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"61","Denied":false,"Award":"The Games Machine Star Player","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"88","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"88%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]