[{"TitleName":"Fahrenheit 3000","Publisher":"Softstone Ltd","Author":"Chris Jones, Tim Williams","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0001710","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 13, Feb 1985","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1985-01-24","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Editor: Angus Ryall\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey, Robin Candy\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\n\r\n©1985 Newsfield Limited.\r\nCrash Magazine is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\nPhotosetting by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow; Colour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]; Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted].\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £10.50 (UK Mainland post free), Europe: 12 issues £17.50 post free. Outside Europe by arrangement in writing.\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced whole or in part without written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return any written material sent to CRASH Magazine unless accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material which may be used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. The opinions and views of correspondents are their own and not necessarily in accord with those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Softstone\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £5.95\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\nAuthor: Timothy Williams\r\n\r\nTimothy Williams is probably best known for his first commercial game Odyssey 1, which was reviewed in the very first issue of CRASH. That was produced by Perfection Software, now marketed by Softstone. Farenheit 3000 is set in a reactor, Dragon Reactor to be precise. What's happened is that the reactor has gone critical and is about to 'meltdown'. Visions of atomic bombs and mushroom clouds pass through the minds of the local residents. Luckily, the worst that could happen is an enormous radiation leakage that could wipe out half of the South Coast of England. The coast is in a panic, the ceramic coated Uranium Oxide core has reached Farenheit 3000! There is only one chance. You must locate and operate all the pressure valves in order to release the excess pressure and flood the core...\r\n\r\nFarenheit 3000 is a 64 screen platform game along the lines of Jet Set Willy. The screens are linked vertically and horizontally, each one filled with a different combination of platforms. Anything flashing is lethal with radiation and kills on the spot, except single flashing character blocks which are the valves. Each room is also filled with radioactive hazards, creatures bouncing up and down and from side to side, which are instant death if touched. In some rooms, enormous pools of radioactive water must be jumped. You are provided with a pretty giant leap and an immunity to long drops as long as you do not hit anything lethal on the way down.\r\n\r\nThe screen display includes a title for each room in hallowed tradition, as well as telling you how many valves are yet to be done, and what the radiation level is. This latter, acts as a time limit for the game.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\n\r\nControl keys: Q/W left/right and SPACE to jump\r\nJoystick: doesn't need one\r\nKeyboard play: very responsive, and simple to use\r\nUse of colour: uneven, ranging from very good to definitely odd\r\nGraphics: good, smooth, varied and detailed animation\r\nSound: nice tune and mild spot effects\r\nSkill levels: 1\r\nLives: N/A - limited by radiation level\r\nScreens: 64","ReviewerComments":["Farenheit 3000 is basically a JSW clone, and it follows the same game idea very closely. After playing it I felt that although the graphics were not quite as good, it was harder and had some nice features. Not giving the game away, I will mention but one, 'in the great desert, quick escape' you have only a few seconds before you die. Very intricate jumping is required in many cases. Although this is a JSW clone it is still very good and very playable.\r\r\nUnknown","On the presentation screen it states that the program was written by Tim Williams of Perfection Software. This game is very good - a difficult Jet Set Willy style. I wonder why Perfection could not have brought out a game such as this before Softstone apparently took them over? I must stress with this game that you must have a sense of extreme timing, a good TV and a great sense of distance, for all these skill elements come into their own here. This game is not for anybody who is not willing to spend time to realise what the game requires from them. Graphics have an odd colour scheme, some go back to the days of just black and white TV while others are multi-coloured. Animation is a particularly strong point in Farenheit 3000 and in quite a few different types of graphics the animation is quite superb. If you found JSW too easy, boring and unchallenging, but you liked the type of game, you will most probably enjoy this one.\r\r\nUnknown","There's certainly plenty of scope for going barmy in this platform jumping game with its 64 excruciatingly hard screens. The game plays heavily on timing jumps to perfection as well as judging distances and taking risks on that last pixel of toe grip. You jump very well, quite high, and another novel aspect becomes apparent - some jumps require a rebound effect to get up onto another platform. This rebound idea can play havoc with you though, bouncing you off into a nasty at the worst possible moment. I'm not sure I enjoyed all the graphics all the while, because some very strange colouring is used. On the whole they are pretty good though and the animated nasties are imaginative and detailed. For me it just slips from master class, but this is certainly no weak-kneed JSW copy and it should prove highly popular.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: A very good, hard game with its own features, good value for money.","Page":"60","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"In the Dead Zone, and now the jumping skills are being honed to a fine pitch - or are they?"},{"Text":"The start screen from FARENHEIT 3000, and the first one where you discover how hard this game can be."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"84%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"79%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"79%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"81%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 17, Aug 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-07-18","Editor":"Kevin Cox","TotalPages":66,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Kevin Cock-up\r\nArt Editor: Phoebe Evans\r\nDeputy Editor: Rocky Horror Shaw\r\nProduction Editor: Louise Cook\r\nArt Assistant: Martin Dixon\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nContributors: Stephen Adams, Dave Nicholls, Roger Willis, Ross Holman, Mike Leaman, Toni Baker, Dougie Bern, Chris Cockayne, Paul Woof, Iolo Davidson, Tony Samuels, Chris Wood\r\nAdvertisement Manager: David Baskerville\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Chris Talbot\r\nManaging Editor: Roger Munford\r\nArt Director: Jimmy Egerton\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Chris Robur\r\nPublisher: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Sportscene Specialist Press Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England. Telephone (all departments): [redacted]\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 Spectrum ©1985 Felden productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Spectrum is a monthly publication."},"MainText":"FAHRENHEIT 3000\r\nFirebird\r\n£2.50\r\n\r\nRoss: How come the software houses are still churning out Jet Set Willy lookalikes? Who knows... but here's another one!\r\n\r\nThe scenario this time is to shut down the Dragon nuclear reactor and prevent it from melting down. To achieve this you've got to close off 64 (count 'em) pressure valves before the core reaches 3000 degrees. Time is obviously limited, what with all that leaking radiation hanging about, but all you've got to do to turn off a valve is to touch them. Of course, if it's already leaking you're in a spot of trouble...\r\n\r\nAt first glance, all of these games look fairly similar - but in play, few come up to the high standard set by Jet Set Willy or Manic Miner. Unfortunately, Fahrenheit 3000 is no exception. The incredible jumping power of our hero makes the game a bit tricky to play - probably the result of too much radiation. The graphics are fairly standard, a bit sparse and flickery too.\r\n\r\nIt's a shame that too much reverance has been placed on the MMs and JSWs of this world - a copy is never as good as the original.","ReviewerComments":["Yet another JSW lookalike, but with superior jumping abilities and smoother graphics. For £2.50 it's probably worth it but I, for one, am getting really bored with this sort of game.\r\nDave Nicholls\r\n1/5 MISS","Now where have I seen this little lot before? Good grief, JSWs got more clones than Boy George! Why can't someone come up with something original for a change?\r\nRoger Willis\r\n2/5 MISS"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"47","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Dave Nicholls","Score":"1","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"},{"Name":"Ross Holman","Score":"1","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"},{"Name":"Roger Willis","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer Games Issue 15, Feb 1985","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1985-01-17","Editor":"Chris Anderson","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Chris Anderson\r\nDeputy Editor: Steve Cooke\r\nProduction Editor: Roderick George\r\nArt Editor: Ian Findlay\r\nStaff Writers: Peter Connor, Bob Wade\r\nEditorial Assistant: Samantha Hemens\r\nCartoons: Kipper Williams\r\nScreenshots: Chris Bell\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nGroup Publisher: John Cade\r\nPublisher: Tony Harris\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Peter Goldstein\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Sarah Barron\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Phil Pratt\r\nSenior Sales Executive: Ian Cross, Alan Gibson\r\nProduction Manager: Noel O'Sullivan\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Andrea Lawrence\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]. Typesetting by Spectrum Typesetting, [redacted] Origination by Fourmost Colour [redacted]. Printed and bound by Chase Web Offset [redacted]. © VNU Business Publications 1985."},"MainText":"MACHINE: Spectrum 48K\r\nCONTROL: Keys\r\nFROM: Softstone, £5.95\r\n\r\nThis is a platform game with a social conscience. In the Winifreth Dragon Nuclear Reactor in Dorset core temperature is 2,990 degrees and rising. Meltdown is imminent. Pretty soon there will be an ecological disaster.\r\n\r\nSo, you've got to do something about it, such as switching off the valves in each of the game's 63 screens. Easier said than done, of course - this is a platform game, after all.\r\n\r\nYou get into the first screen after an excellent Bach introduction - J.S. must now be the most popular computer games accompanist.\r\n\r\n'Entrance to the Inner Sanctum' is the title of your introduction to disaster. Your man is a plump fellow in a hat, an unlikely-looking candidate for heroism, but very brave nonetheless.\r\n\r\nYou get unlimited lives, but there is a meter monitoring your radiation level: every time you bump into an obstacle your level goes up, until eventually you succumb to radiation sickness.\r\n\r\nThe first room, like the others, is full of platforms, steps and surreally nasty creatures. Things whirr and whine, float up and down and (here are even strange mutant pussy cats - presumably to catch strange mutant mice.\r\n\r\nKey control is quite straightforward - left, right, jump - and success is mainly a matter of timing and strategy. The rooms have a variety of problems to negotiate, and some will prove easier than others. Getting through all 63, however, will be a dangerous and time-consuming business.\r\n\r\nFahrenheit's colours and graphics are well above average and the game is large enough and good enough to keep you at it for a long time. But comparison has to be made with Jet Set Willy, and here Softstone's game loses out in terms of originality and wit. Plus, of course, the complete lack so far of any Pokes for infinite lives.","ReviewerComments":["Control, it must be said, is very difficult. jumping is particularly difficult to achieve and makes this game very frustrating. Half the time, executing a finely-timed jump is more luck than skill.\r\r\n\r\r\nSixty-four screens should present a long-term challenge and perhaps Willy fans who cannot wait for him to meet the taxman will buy this difficult game for practice!\r\nMartyn Smith","Graphics are reasonable and animation is smooth, even though some of the characters are a little difficult to identify. Colour is used fairly well, except on some of the screens where the backgrounds created a dreadful shimmering on my television set. Sound is limited to a good rendition of Toccata.\r\r\n\r\r\nFahrenheit 3000 is by no means a sub-standard game, but it's not the best of its kind.\r\nSteve Spittle","The music on this game is tremendous, it's a pity that it doesn't play all the way through. The game is very much like Jet Set Willy and equally as hard in places. The graphics aren't as attractive though and the colours don't seem to have been as well thought out.\r\nBob Wade"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"28,29","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Peter Connor","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"},{"Name":"Martyn Smith","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Steve Spittle","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Bob Wade","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Originality","Score":"4/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Lasting Interest","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 18, Apr 1985","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-03-28","Editor":"Ray Elder","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Ray Elder\r\nEditorial Assistant: Cliff Joseph\r\nGroup Editor: Wendy J Palmer\r\nSales Executive: Jonathan McGary\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Barry Bingham\r\nDivisional Advertising Manager: Chris Northam\r\nCopy Controller: Sue Couchman\r\nPublishing Director: Peter Welham\r\nChief Executive: T J Connell\r\n\r\nOrigination and design by MM Design & Print, [redacted]\r\nPublished by Argus Specialist Publications Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing is published bi-monthly on the fourth Friday of the month. Distributed by: Argus Press Sales & Distribution Ltd. [redacted]. Printed by: Garnett Print, Rotherham and London.\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication including all articles, designs, plans, drawings and programs and all copyright and other intellectual property rights therein belong to Argus Specialist Publications Limited. All rights conferred by the Law of Copyright and other intellectual property rights and by virtue of international copyright conventions are specifically reserved to Argus Specialist Publications Limited and any reproduction requires the prior written consent of Argus Specialist Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Argus Specialist Publications Limited 1985"},"MainText":"Now we come onto a game of bad taste. A nuclear reactor is about to meltdown and it is up to you to go through the works and operate all the pressure valves in order to release the excess pressure and flood the core, which will hopefully shut down the reactor. Having done all this, if you solve the puzzle presented to you, there is the chance of winning a Mystery Prize.\r\n\r\nWith the jesting in the instructions, \"Luckily, the worst that can happen is an enormous radiation leakage that could wipe out half of the South Coast\" and \"Shutdown the reactor before it shuts you down\", I was put off immediately. This sort of idea, much the same as war inducing games, is unnecessary and far better games can be produced without this overhanging threat.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, the game is not very good. The graphics are inferior to even the Manic Miner type and I could not get further than the first screen even after about 2 hours of painful trying.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"97","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"David Harwood","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Instructions","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictability","Score":"20%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"50%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"30%","Text":""},{"Header":"ZXC Factor","Score":"3/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 20, Aug 1985","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-07-25","Editor":"Ray Elder","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Ray Elder\r\nEditorial Assistant: Cliff Joseph\r\nGroup Editor: Wendy J Palmer\r\nSoftware Assistant: John Gerard Donovan\r\nSales Executive: Alice Robertson\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Barry Bingham\r\nDivisional Advertising Manager: Chris Northam\r\nCopy Controller: Sue Couchman\r\nPublishing Director: Peter Welham\r\nChief Executive: T J Connell\r\n\r\nOrigination and design by MM Design & Print, [redacted]\r\nPublished by Argus Specialist Publications Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing is published bi-monthly on the fourth Friday of the month. Distributed by: Argus Press Sales & Distribution Ltd. [redacted]. Printed by: Garnett Print, Rotherham and London.\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication including all articles, designs, plans, drawings and programs and all copyright and other intellectual property rights therein belong to Argus Specialist Publications Limited. All rights conferred by the Law of Copyright and other intellectual property rights and by virtue of international copyright conventions are specifically reserved to Argus Specialist Publications Limited and any reproduction requires the prior written consent of Argus Specialist Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Argus Specialist Publications Limited 1985"},"MainText":"FAHRENHEIT 3000 was originally a full priced program from the Softstone company and is a platform style game. Though nothing special it is a fair effort, and good value for money if you are a fan of this type of game.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"74","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]