[{"TitleName":"Factory Breakout","Publisher":"Poppy Soft","Author":"Stephen J. Crow","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0001709","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 6, Jul 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-06-21","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":112,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nGeneral office [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\n\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nPhotosetting by SIOS [redacted]\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted].\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post free)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post free).\r\n\r\nWe cannot undertake to return any written or photographic material sent to CRASH MICRO unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Poppy Soft\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £5.95\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\nAuthor: Steve Crow\r\n\r\nAliens have been blamed for a lot of things since Space Invaders replaced Tank, Pong and Tennis as a video game, but they haven't usually been blamed for causing strikes. In this new game from Poppy Soft, alien monsters have activated the self-destruct mechanism of the X-IAL robot factory. So all the other robots have gone on strike and only Zirky is left. Can you help him evade the monsters and break out of the factory?\r\n\r\nThe game has three different screens and gets harder with each successfully completed go. In the first, Zirky is in his egg capsule at the centre of the screen. The factory's self-destruct mechanism is already firing deadly laser beams at him from seven directions. The rays progress slowly, giving him time to swivel round to each in turn and fire back with his defence laser. This stops the deadly rays for a moment only. Below him, a column of energy is rising up under the egg - when it reaches him, Zirky is saved, and transported out as a fully fledged Zirconium Mk III robot.\r\n\r\nSadly, his transportation leads him on to the rejection line, where five overhead lasers keep firing. Zirky must pass them all safely. Each laser is made up of three vari-coloured beams, white being the fastest. If he spends too long in the rejection chamber a killer canary comes up to get him. In later screens this chamber may have conveyor belts.\r\n\r\nThe third screen is a platform type with seven levels. On the top six there are two or three connecting doors to the next level down. A lift on either side of the platform complex takes Zirky up. He can exit at only two (different) levels on either side before reaching the top. Three monsters (on the first screen) inhabit this area and chase Zirky like mad. The idea is to change the colours of all the doorways by passing through them. This has to be done three times. At the ends of some corridors there are force fields, rather like power pills in a Pacman game, once eaten they disappear but allow you to kill off the monsters for a few moments.\r\n\r\nIt all sounds quite simple, but on later levels, things are deteriorating in the factory - conveyor belts start up, not all in the same direction at the same time either - monsters are on the increase - in fact it begins to look like a normal day at any British factory.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: 5/8 left/right, 0 to fire\r\nJoystick: Protek, AGF and Kempston\r\nKeyboard play: simple keys and responsive\r\nUse of colour: very good\r\nGraphics: excellent\r\nSound: very good\r\nSkill levels: progressive through 5 levels\r\nLives: 3\r\nScreens: 3\r\nOriginality: highly original ideas","ReviewerComments":["Brill! Factory Breakout is one of the best Spectrum games I have seen over the past few months. It contains colourful, smooth graphics, it's got some pretty original ideas included and I really enjoyed it. This game will definitely be a winner in the Spectrum market and I would strongly recommend it for a game of the month - in fact MEGABRILL!\r\r\nUnknown","The graphics are of a high standard - in a way quite simple shapes, but imaginatively designed and ultra-smooth. There are nice touches like the mirror image of the ground over which Zirky travels. The skill level of the game has been really well pitched, with the easiest (Alpha) level still being very hard for the first few plays. The game demands a high degree of skill and timing, and because of the three very different screens, each type of skill is varied. Very playable and very addictive.\r\r\nUnknown","Basically this game includes three different types of game, each of which requires a different talent to get through them, each of them being excellent as well. Graphics are large and very smooth, not flickering one little bit. Aliens are well animated and are progressively more intelligent - I think they learn by their mistakes! The keyboard is nicely laid out with few controls (it's cursors, but only 5 and 8 are used for direction) and they are responsive. Sound is well used where appropriate and there are nice tunes. Factory Breakout is playable and very addictive with a good progression between skill levels so it builds up with your skill. A great game which I don't think will ever age.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General rating: Addictive, playable and highly recommended.","Page":"97","Denied":false,"Award":"Crash Smash","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"85%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"89%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"92%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"85%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"91%","Text":""},{"Header":"Originality","Score":"94%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"92%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"90%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 35, Sep 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-08-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":140,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"CREDITS\r\n\r\nEditor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nAssistant Editor: Eugene Lacey\r\nEditorial Assistant: Clare Edgeley\r\nStaff Writers/Reader Services: Robert Schifreen, Seamus St. John\r\nArt Editor: Linda Freeman\r\nDesigner: Lynda Skerry\r\nProduction Editor: Mary Morton\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Rob Cameron\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Louise Matthews\r\nAdvertising Executives: Bernard Dugdale, Sean Brennan, Phil Godsell\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Melanie Paulo\r\nProduction Assistant: Roy Stephens\r\nPublisher: Rita Lewis\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES POSTAL SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. By using the special Postal Subscription Service, copies of COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES can be mailed direct from our offices each month to any address throughout the world. All subscription applications should be sent for processing to COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES (Subscription Department), [redacted]. All orders should include the appropriate remittance made payable to COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES. Annual subscription rates (12 issues): UK and Eire: £14. Additional service information including individual overseas airmail rates available upon request. Circulation Department: EMAP National Publications. Published and distributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd. Printed by Eden Fisher (Southend) Ltd, [redacted]. Typeset by Camden Typesetters Ltd.\r\n\r\nCover by Blake Sears, Creative Consultants."},"MainText":"MACHINE: Spectrum\r\nSUPPLIER: Poppysoft\r\nPRICE: £5.50\r\n\r\nFactory Breakout takes a pinch of Pac-Man, a twist of Reactor and mixes it all up in a final screen of one of the fastest climbing games I have played in the last week - and I've played a lot.\r\n\r\nAlthough borrowing it and pieces from other games, the overall design is original and reasonably entertaining.\r\n\r\nYou are Zirky, the last remaining robot in a factory gone crazy. Can you help him escape?\r\n\r\nIt won't be easy, though, as the whole place is patrolled by three homicidal Pac-monsters. Unlike the ghosts in the Pac-you-know, these nasties reappear seconds after you have killed them.\r\n\r\nBefore duelling with the ghosts - which is the most enjoyable part of this game - you have to get through two preliminary screens which eventually become just a nuisance on your way to the main part of the game.\r\n\r\nThe first prelim screen challenges a embryonic Zirky to survive an attack on all sides by killer rays. He has to spin round in his shell blasting the deathly fingers before they make contact with the shell and crack it.\r\n\r\nWhen Zirky hatches out into a fully grown droid, he has to dash through a corridor of laser spitting nasties to get into the key room.\r\n\r\nThis is the fun part of Factory Breakout. It's quite tricky as your movements are limited - just left and right and up the moving lifts on the left and right of the frame. You can only go down by falling through the trap doors.\r\n\r\nThe key to escape from the factory will eventually appear on this screen - but first you have to run over all the trapdoors, making them turn red, then blue before they eventually disappear.\r\n\r\nSounds easy, but it's not. Mind you, I did get quite close after about two hours play which makes me slightly concerned about the lasting appeal of this game. Once you've got out of that factory, what does Zirky do next?","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"32","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair Programs Issue 24, Oct 1984","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1984-09-20","Editor":"Rebecca Ferguson","TotalPages":60,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Rebecca Ferguson\r\nConsultant Editor: John Campbell\r\nStaff Writer: June Mortimer\r\nDesign: Elaine Bishop\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Howard Rosen\r\nProduction Assistant: Jim McClure\r\nEditorial Assistant: Colette McDermott\r\nSubscription Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nAssistant Publisher: Neil Wood\r\nPublisher: Gerry Murray\r\n\r\nSinclair Programs is published monthly by EMAP Business and Computer Publications.\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nIf you would like your original programs to be published in Sinclair Programs, please send your contributions, which must not have appeared elsewhere, to\r\nSinclair Programs\r\nEEC Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrograms should be on cassette. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included. We pay £10 for the copyright of each program published.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1984 Sinclair Programs\r\nISSN No. 0263-0265\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by: Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by Spotlight Magazine Distribution Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll subscription enquiries:\r\nMagazine Services,\r\nEMAP Business and Computer Publications\r\n[redcated]\r\n\r\nCover Design: Ivan Hissey"},"MainText":"FACTORY BREAKOUT\r\n\r\nThe robot factory has been taken by aliens which have activated the factory's self-destruct mechanism. The only robot left is Zirky, and you must help him to evade the monsters and escape.\r\n\r\nThe plot is thin, but this does not stop Factory Breakout being an enjoyable, if rather straightforward game. There are three playscreens. Each has an elaborate description but, basically, the idea of the first is to shoot the lines which grow around you. If you can prevent the lines from reaching you for a set period you move on to screen two which involves crossing the screen without hitting any one of three barriers.\r\n\r\nOn the first level it is screen three which proves a problem. Your movement is restricted, there are aliens chasing you, and you have to pass through all the doors on the screen a number of times in order to finally obliterate them.\r\n\r\nThe three screens become rather repetitive after a while, and the game does not have any features which make it outstanding among arcade-type games. Factory Breakout is produced for the 48K Spectrum by Poppysoft, [redacted] and costs £5.50.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"29","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"June Mortimer","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 76, Sep 1984","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1984-08-24","Editor":"Peter Worlock","TotalPages":50,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Peter Worlock\r\nSub-Editors: Harriet Arnold, Leah Batham\r\nNews Editor: David Guest\r\nNews Writer: Ralph Bancroft\r\nNews Writer/Sub Editor: Sandra Grandison\r\nFeatures Editor: John Lettice\r\nSoftware Editor: Bryan Skinner\r\nPeripherals Editor: Ken Garroch\r\nHardware Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nPrograms Editor: Nickie Robinson\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nArt Editor: David Alexander\r\nLayout Artists: Tim Brown, Paul Clarkson\r\nPublisher: Cyndy Miles\r\nPublishing Assistant: Tobe Bendeth\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nGroup Advertising Manager: Peter Goldstein\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Bettina Williams\r\nAssistant Advertisement Managers: Sarah Barron, Phil Pratt\r\nSenior Sales Executives: Laura Cade, Claire Rowbottom\r\nSales Executives: Claire Barnes, Phil Benson, Mike Blackman, Paul Evans, Tony Keefe, Christian McCarthy, Amanda Moore, Sarah Musgrave, Tony O'Reilly\r\nProduction: Noel O'Sullivan\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Karen Isaac\r\nSubscription Enquiries: Gill Stevens\r\nSubscription Address: [redacted]\r\nEditorial Address: [redacted]\r\nAdvertising Address: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]\r\n© VNU 1983. No material maybe reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\nPhotoset by Quickset, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Chase Web Offset, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Seymour Press, [redacted]\r\nRegistered at the PO as a newspaper"},"MainText":"NAME: Factory Breakout\r\nPRICE: £5.50\r\nSYSTEM: Spectrum 48K\r\nPUBLISHER: Poppysoft, [redacted]\r\nFORMAT: Cassette\r\nOTHER VERSIONS: None\r\nOUTLETS: Mail order/retail\r\n\r\nQUIRKY ZIRKY\r\n\r\nThe simplest games are often the best and this new release from Poppy Soft is a perfect example.\r\n\r\nOBJECTIVES\r\n\r\nYou must help robot Zirky break out of a factory, since alien monsters have activated its self-destruct mechanism.\r\n\r\nIN PLAY\r\n\r\nThere are three screens, but five skill levels. Alpha is the easiest and you'll certainly need low-level practice before attempting Beta, let alone Epsilon.\r\n\r\nThe first screen shows Zirky in a white egg capsule in the centre of the screen. Surrounding Zirky are seven tunnels, along which deadly micron rays approach. A successful hit from a ray loses one of Zirky's three lives. You can rotate the capsule using the five and eight keys, and pressing zero fires Zirky's short range defence laser. The key combination is awkward and at Epsilon level steady nerves are called for. During the action a power column beneath the capsule grows up and finally Zirky hatches out into the very latest Zirkonium Mark 3 robot to be taken via conveyor belt to the second screen - the reject line.\r\n\r\nHere Zirky moves right and left across a floor supported by yellow columns. Reject rays descend from the ceiling at different rates according to the skill level. A yellow bird flaps back and forth beneath the floor, rising a little on each pass. It may look like a grinning, canary, but contact with it is lethal so it doesn't pay to hang about. The columns turn from yellow to white as Zirky crosses the floor, and at harder levels the conveyor belt plays strange tricks, so controlling Zirky's movement is extremely tricky. A successful traverse takes Zirky to the final screen.\r\n\r\nThis is the lift room and consists of a sort of maze with openings left and right. Each level has coloured blocks which change colour should Zirky fall through. Moving Zirky to the sides of the room carries him up, and it's possible to slide him sideways onto one of the levels on the way.\r\n\r\nThe aim here is to make all the doors change colour, then start again with another colour as in Qbert and variants. If you can get Zirky to one of the flashing force fields, the aliens turn white and are temporarily vulnerable, giving Zirky extra time to manoeuvre. Once the doors are removed, a bonus life is granted and Zirky returns to the reject room. At some point Zirky may discover a key which allows him to escape the factory, but that still eludes me.\r\n\r\nVERDICT\r\n\r\nVery good value for money. The screens may be simple, but they're uncluttered, nicely drawn and the action is smooth.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"38","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Bryan Skinner","Score":"5","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Playability","Score":"4/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Lasting Appeal","Score":"5/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Use Of Machine","Score":"4/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall Value","Score":"5/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]