[{"TitleName":"Gold Rush","Publisher":"Thorn EMI Video Ltd","Author":"Martin Harris","YearOfRelease":"1983","ZxDbId":"0002080","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 1, Feb 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-01-19","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":112,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nDesigner: Oliver Frey\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Rod Bellamy\r\nAdvertisement Manager: John Edwards\r\nProduction Designer: Michael Arienti\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\n\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\nMono printing, typesetting & finishing by Feb Edge Litho Ltd. [redacted]\r\nColour printing by Allan-Denver Web Offset Ltd. [redacted].\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Wells Gardner, Darton & Co. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post included)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post included).\r\nSingle copy: 75p\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to CRASH please send articles or ideas for projects to the above address. Articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope\r\n\r\nCover Illustration:Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Thorn EMI\r\nMemory Required: 16K\r\nRecommended Retail Price: £6.95\r\nLanguage: machine code\r\nAuthor: Martin Harris\r\n\r\nGold Rush does not take place in California as you might expect but on the far off planet of Oron. The gold mines of Oron are bottomless caverns where gold nuggets rain from the roof. Oronians, it seems, have an odd way of collecting the gold. Two pots are placed in suspension between the walls and then girders are used to direct the falling nuggets into the pots. It's a dicey task because should a nugget hit an Oronian it kills him, and the mine is full of monsters that find Oronians make a tasty meal.\r\n\r\nThe playing screen is split into three vertical segments. In the centre is the mine shaft divided into an 8 by 9 character square checkerboard of red and black. At the base, evenly spaced, are the two collecting pots. To the right is a blue sector where the girders are positioned, ready for use. To the right is another blue area, a safe home from which your Oronians start off, but to which they cannot return. The monsters are gaping, yellow skulls which float up and down and from side to side, mouths agape.\r\n\r\nWhat you do is take an Oronian out into the mine and, using the directional keys, place him where you want a girder to be. Pressing the fire key then slots a yellow girder in position. When a nugget hits one, it will roll to the right or to the left, so the construction has to be well thought out to keep those nuggets a-comin' into the pots. Points are scored for every nugget that hits a girder and many more for getting one into a pot. In their efforts to prevent you collecting gold the skulls will move the girders about and, on the highest level, eat the nuggets.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nKeyboard positions: two options, both slightly odd, the Sinclair keys 6/7/8/9 and zero. or Q/O left/right, I/W up/down and P to fire.\r\nJoystick options: Kempston, Sinclair\r\nKeyboard play: very responsive and smooth\r\nUse of colour: fairly good\r\nGraphics: simple but smoothly moving\r\nSound: none\r\nSkill levels: 5\r\nLives: 3","ReviewerComments":["All these games have very good title pages, and Gold Rush in particular has an innovative looking hi-score table. The game itself is quite original in concept and one of those I would call silly but likable. It is quite frustrating to play and begins to get addictive the more you do. It starts off simply enough, with only one skull and not many nuggets to contend with, but as you progress more and more skulls appear. At the highest level of skill you can still move at the same pace but the nuggets come pouring down and it is very difficult. Not a bad game at all.\r\nUnknown","The graphics are good, with the heads of the Oronians and the skulls turning as they move. It's all quite smooth and colourful too. But once again this game has no sound which seems a terrible shame.\r\nUnknown","Sound would have helped, but in the end this is an engaging game to play, and not as easy as it first appears.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: average to good, and unusually addictive.","Page":"31","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Catch the nuggets, avoid the skulls - GOLDRUSH."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"58%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"68%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"75%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"58%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"63%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 2, Mar 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-02-23","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":112,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nDesigner: Oliver Frey\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Rod Bellamy\r\nAdvertisement Manager: John Edwards\r\nProduction Designer: Michael Arienti\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\n\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\nMono printing, typesetting & finishing by Feb Edge Litho Ltd. [redacted]\r\nColour printing by Allan-Denver Web Offset Ltd. [redacted].\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Wells Gardner, Darton & Co. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post included)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post included).\r\nSingle copy: 75p\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to CRASH please send articles or ideas for projects to the above address. Articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope\r\n\r\nCover Illustration:Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: THORN EMI, 16K\r\n£6.95 (1)\r\nAuthor: Martin Harris\r\n\r\nThe gold mines of Oron are bottomless caverns where gold nuggets rain down from the roof. The Oronian miners place girders across the caverns to catch the nuggets and direct them into buckets. Life would be pleasant were it not for the skulls that float about eating Oronians and moving the girders around - and of course the falling nuggets can be very painful to an unprotected Oronian head! The screen is split into three equal segments, a safe home to the right to which an Oronian cannot return, a store for the girders to be used on the left, and in the centre the cavern itself. Directional keys move the Oronian about and the firing key positions the girder. Nuggets may roll to the left or the right when hitting a girder, so some strategy is required to keep the structure working to your advantage. Points are scored for a nugget hitting a girder, and more for getting one into a bucket at the base of the screen. At the higher skill levels the skulls will eat the nuggets as they fall. Unfortunately, there's no sound, but the graphics are smooth and colourful, an unusual and medium addictive game, two keyboard positions. Overall CRASH rating 63% M/C.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"58","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"63%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 3, Apr 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-03-16","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":128,"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\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nEditorial [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studio, [redacted]\r\nPrinted in England by Plymouth Web Offset Ltd, [redacted].\r\nDistribution by Comag, [redacted]\r\nAdditional setting and process work by The Tortoise Shell Press, [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: THORN EMI, 16K\r\n£6.95 (1)\r\nAuthor: Martin Harris\r\n\r\nThe gold mines of Oron are bottomless caverns where gold nuggets rain down from the roof. The Oronian miners place girders across the caverns to catch the nuggets and direct them into buckets. Life would be pleasant were it not for the skulls that float about eating Oronians and moving the girders around - and of course the falling nuggets can be very painful to an unprotected Oronian head! The screen is split into three equal segments, a safe home to the right to which an Oronian cannot return, a store for the girders to be used on the left, and in the centre the cavern itself. Directional keys move the Oronian about and the firing key positions the girder. Nuggets may roll to the left or the right when hitting a girder, so some strategy is required to keep the structure working to your advantage. Points are scored for a nugget hitting a girder, and more for getting one into a bucket at the base of the screen. At the higher skill levels the skulls will eat the nuggets as they fall. Unfortunately, there's no sound, but the graphics are smooth and colourful, an unusual and medium addictive game, two keyboard positions. Overall CRASH rating 63% M/C.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"76","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"63%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]