[{"TitleName":"Gyroscope","Publisher":"Melbourne House","Author":"Dave Dew, Mark Alexander, Steve Lamb, Tony Mack, Steinar Lund","YearOfRelease":"1985","ZxDbId":"0002196","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 23, Dec 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-11-21","Editor":"Graeme Kidd","TotalPages":172,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Publishing Executive: Roger Kean\r\nEditor: Graeme Kidd\r\nTechnical Editor: Franco Frey\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nProduction Assistants: Gordon Druce, Matthew Uffindell\r\nSoftware Editor: Jeremy Spencer\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nSub Editor: Sean Masterson\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Chris Passey, Robin Candy, Ben Stone, John Minson, Mark Hamer, Gary Liddon, Julian Rignall, Gary Penn\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\n©1985 Newsfield Limited.\r\nCrash Magazine is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\n\r\nColour 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 £14.50 post included (UK Mainland); Europe: 12 issues £21.50 post included. 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\nMICRONET:\r\nYou can talk to CRASH via Micronet. Our MBX is 105845851\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Melbourne House\r\nRetail Price: £7.95\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\nAuthor: Steve Lamb and Tony Mack\r\n\r\nGyroscope puts you in a similar surrealistic situation to the arcade classic Marble Madness. The basic gameplay is very simple - you take control of a gyroscope with the task of getting from the starting post at the top of the course to the finishing post at the bottom within the allotted time. Each time the gyroscope topples, a life is lost. The course is very strange, presented with a surrealistic 3D effect featuring tall geometric buildings, ramps and steep slopes along and around which you have to guide your gyroscope. The course also provides a home for some rather strange (and vaguely familiar) aliens whose touch topples your spinner.\r\n\r\nThere are five courses in the run, each containing four screens. When you complete one screen the display turns purple and the next part of the course scrolls into view, replacing the section you've just traversed. The whole game is played against a clock, which ticks off the time relentlessly as you try to complete each quartet of screens. Completing each screen earns you bonus points, and completing a course of four screens earns you a bonus related to the amount of time remaining on the clock.\r\n\r\nYou begin the game with seven lives in store, and pick up a bonus life for each 1,000 points scored. If you fail to complete a screen course within the time limit, the gyroscope topples when the count hits zero, a life is lost and you resume play from the spot you'd reached at timeout with the clock reset to start a new run. If things are going badly, you can press fire at any time and restart the game from scratch.\r\n\r\nThere are some very thin catwalks between the buildings and here the main danger lies. If you stray too near the edge of a construction or catwalk your gyro will become unbalanced and totter over - another life gone. When this happens your gyro is put back to the top of the screen on which you died, and thus time is lost as well as a life.\r\n\r\nTaking control of a gyroscope takes some getting used to - once you start moving in one direction it takes a while to slow down. The beast will accelerate down slopes, and constant checks have to be made when you trundle down a slope to make sure you're not going too fast - if there's a sharp turn at the bottom you could find yourself in deep trouble, and run out of road.\r\n\r\nInanimate hazards on the course complicate matters further, and include glass slopes (which send you spinning in all directions), knobbly floors (which makes control of your gyro next to impossible), red discs (which send you completely out of control) and directional floors (which act like slopes only they're flat).\r\n\r\nThe landscapes are very deviously created; starting from relatively easy the y get more tricky very rapidly. Some of the difficult courses contain thin catwalks, horrendous slopes with tight corners, holes in the floor and combinations of all these with the aforementioned hazards - being a gyroscope isn't all just spinning around.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: Q up, Z down, I left, P Right, O to abort\r\nJoystick: Kempston, Cursor, Interface 2\r\nKeyboard play: responsive\r\nUse of colour: neatly done, minimising attribute problems\r\nGraphics: simple design which is remarkably effective\r\nSound: excellent, two channel simulation\r\nSkill levels: progressively more difficult\r\nScreens: twenty","ReviewerComments":["Although I'm not supposed to say it Gyroscope obviously owes a lot to the arcade classic Marble Madness. It's graphically very similar and some of the gameplay elements are identical to the coin-op machine. That aside it's a brilliant game in itself, difficult and frustrating at times, but well worth persevering with. The graphics are excel lent, with fabulous use of normal/bright. The sound is pretty good too, with a nice atmospheric tune and sound effects. In my eyes this is one of the most addictive games I've played on the Spectrum and is one that any games player just can't afford to miss.\r\r\nUnknown","Gyroscope is the nearest thing we've had to Marble Madness on the Speccy. The graphics are a bit mixed in quality - I noticed rather a lot of flicker apparently due to the sound - but the 3D playing area is excellent. Controlling your gyroscope takes a lot of practice, and the inertia takes a bit of in used to. The first couple of games are bound to lead to most of your lives being lost very swiftly. Care has to be taken at the beginning of each screen as you often start in a potentially hazardous position, like at the top of a steep slope or on a thin ledge. Generally I would strongly recommend Gyroscope as it is very playable and addictive.\r\r\nUnknown","I've never seen Marble Madness in the arcades but if this is the nearest thing on a Spectrum to it then I've obviously been missing something very good. The graphics in this game struck me as being simple but effective, and without too many attribute problems. The best thing about Gyroscope, though, is that it is very playable and proves quite addictive. On the whole it is an extremely good game - but it might just become a little repetitive after a while. A neat arcade type game. If you know you like this game type then buy it!\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Up with the best arcade games available for the Spectrum.","Page":"40","Denied":false,"Award":"Crash Smash","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"GYROSCOPE from Melbourne House - pilot your spinner across a three dimensional landscape trying to avoid spills."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"93%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"94%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"92%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"89%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"92%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"93%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"92%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 1, Jan 1986","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-12-12","Editor":"Kevin Cox","TotalPages":122,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Kevin Cox\r\nArt Editor: Martin Dixon\r\nDeputy Editor: Peter Shaw\r\nProduction Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nContributors: Stephen Adams, Dougie Bern, Steve Colwill, Steve Cooke, Iolo Davidson, Nick Davies, Sue Denham, Simon Forman, Ian Hoare, Alison Hjul, Steve Malone, Max Phillips, Rick Robson, Graham Rydout, Rachael Smith, Phil South, Chris Wood\r\nWith Special Thanks To: Phoebe Evans, Mike Clowes, Andy Robson\r\nAdvertisement Manager: David Baskerville\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Neil Dyson\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Chris Talbot\r\nManaging Editor: Roger Munford\r\nArt Director: Jimmy Egerton\r\nPublisher: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Sportscene Specialist Press 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 ©1986 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":"Melbourne House\n£8.95\nReviewer: Alison Hjul\n\nIf you get your kicks from those fairground rides that have you reaching for the nearest brown paper bag, then Melbourne House has got a treat for you. Cos, with Gyroscope, those nauseous thrills have been transported to your Speccy.\n\nIt all sounds very easy - guide a giddy gyrating gyroscope across 20 screens - just five courses of four screens.\n\nBut don't be fooled! The gyro's got a will of its own and you'll need to be quick witted if you're to stop it falling off an edge or hitting an alien, while manoeuvring steep slopes, slippery glass or directional magnets. Gulp! Pass that paper bag...\n\nIn fact, I really thought I had it cracked after belting through the first course, but it's all downhill - literally! - after that. Shame you can't pick a course at random to get a bit of practice on those stickier screens.\n\nMelbourne House says a surprise awaits at the end of the game - getting to the end of the game would be surprise enough for me!\n\nGyroscope, with its stunning 3D graphics will have you hooked - especially if you're a devotee of Marbles Madness, its arcade twin. But remember to keep a bottle of aspirin by your side...","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"38","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Alison Hjul","Score":"8","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"8/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 45, Dec 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-11-18","Editor":"Bill Scolding","TotalPages":156,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\nEditor: Bill Scolding\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nStaff Writers: Chris Bourne, Clare Edgeley\r\nDesigner: Gareth Jones\r\nEditorial Secretary: Norisah Fenn\r\nPublisher: Neil Wood\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nAdvertising Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Shahid Nizam\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executive: Kathy McLennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Jim McClure\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Linda Everest\r\n\r\nMAGAZINE SERVICES\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\n\r\nTELEPHONE\r\nAll departments [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Photograph: Spitting Image Productions Ltd.\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to Sinclair User please send programs or articles to:\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nOriginal programs should be on cassette and articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included. Please write 'Program Printout' on the envelopes of all cassettes submitted.\r\n\r\nWe pay £20 for each program printed and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nTypeset by Saffron Graphics Ltd, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Peterboro' Web, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1985 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\n102,023 Jan-Jun 1985"},"MainText":"Publisher: Melbourne House\r\nPrice: £7.95\r\nMemory: 48K\r\nJoystick: Kempston, Cursor\r\n\r\nThose irrepressible Aussies at Melbourne House seem full of arcade games this Christmas, and are just about to release another, in Gyroscope.\r\n\r\nSomewhat less violent that the last two gladiatorial offerings, it casts you as a gyroscope, that small spinning toy which appears to defy the laws of gravity. You must guide the gyroscope down five four-screen courses of increasing difficulty, avoiding the cliff edges, walls, and various hazards which are set in your path.\r\n\r\nAmusement arcade fanatics may recognise it as a version of the successful Atari game, Marble Madness, but Melbourne House says there's no connection between the two, and Gyroscope is not based on it. Weird - but never mind, it's a remarkably addictive game of great difficulty.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are really impressive - a 3D landscape of gridded ramps and cliffs along which the gyroscope teeters, speeding up as it goes down hill, running out of steam when climbing. The secret is to build up just the right speed and angle of movement across each part of the course, so as to move smoothly into the next screen without wasting time. But if you go too fast, you'll fall over the edges - and some of the corners must be negotiated with single-pixel precision to stay spinning.\r\n\r\nAs you progress, the paths become more treacherous. Directional magnets draw you unwillingly towards disasters, while certain sections of track are coated with glass to disrupt your movement. Then there are patches of what Melbourne House claims to be aliens - they chatter at you and bounce you around until, inevitably, it's over the edge again.\r\n\r\nThere's a time limit of 60 seconds on each spin, so even if you stay out of trouble you have to shift to make it in time. We managed the first run reasonably easily after a bit of practice, but the second is much nastier and the third - well, hair-raising isn't the word.\r\n\r\nLuckily, if you lose a life, you remain on that screen, instead of going back to the beginning of the run, so it is possible to achieve some success even if you use up all your lives to do it.\r\n\r\nMelbourne House should have another winner on its hands. It seems a pity that only 20 screens could be fitted into the game - but they're a pretty dazzling 20. Whether or not the game is as original as Melbourne House seems to think, we've never seen anything quite like it on the Spectrum. Buy it and go bananas.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"20","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Chris Bourne","Score":"5","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"5/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 50, Dec 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-11-21","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":148,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nDeputy Editor: Paul Boughton\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lesley Walker\r\nSub-Editor: Seamus St. John\r\nDesign: Craig Kennedy\r\nDesign/Editorial Consultants: Steve Bush, Vici MacDonald\r\nAdventure Writers: Keith Campbell, Paul Coppins, Simon Marsh, Jim Douglas\r\nAmerican Correspondent: Marshall M. Rosenthal\r\nArcades: Clare Edgeley\r\nSoftware Consultant: Tony Takoushi\r\nPublicity: Marcus Rich\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Matthews\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Bernard Dugdale\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Mike Core\r\nProduction Assistant: Melanie Paulo\r\nPublisher: Rita Lewis\r\n\r\n...and the Bug Hunters!\r\n© Jerry Paris\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPUTER + VIDEO GAMES POSTAL SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE\r\nBy using the special Postal Subscription Service, copies of COMPUTER + 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 + VIDEO GAMES (Subscription Department), [redacted]. All orders should include the appropriate remittance made payable to COMPUTER + VIDEO GAMES. Annual subscription rates (12 issues): UK and Eire: £15. 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 Severn Valley Press. Typeset by In-Step Ltd."},"MainText":"MACHINE: Spectrum\r\nSUPPLIER: Melbourne House\r\nPRICE: £7.95\r\n\r\nWell, here's something different. Gyroscope is like nothing you've ever seen before. Except maybe Marble Madness, the mega-arcade game.\r\n\r\nSo what's the idea? Well, basically you have to guide a gyroscope - a spinning top type thing - down five different courses, avoiding aliens, magnets and negotiating narrow ledges and staying away from deadly pits. The courses are set in a futuristic 3D grid style landscapes with weird folds and steep slopes.\r\n\r\nYou must manoeuvre your gyro around the hazards, down slopes and up hills to the end of each course using the keyboard or joystick. It's a difficult little machine to control.\r\n\r\nYou have five gyros to play with - and you'll need every last one of them. Gyroscope is definitely different - but difficult to get into. But DO give it a chance. It's worth getting hold of to stave off Marble Madness withdrawal symptoms while we wait for that game to be converted for home computers.\r\n\r\nBe prepared to spend some learning the game and the control system though... Oh yes, there's some really nice synthesised music to go with the game. Give it a go.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"23","Denied":false,"Award":"Blitz Game","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 23, Feb 1986","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1986-01-30","Editor":"Ray Elder","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Ray Elder\r\nEditorial Assistant: Cliff Joseph\r\nGroup Editor: Dave Bradshaw\r\nGroup Managing Editor: Wendy J Palmer\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Barry Bingham\r\nAdvertisement Copy Controller: Lynn Collis\r\nProduction Controller: Sue Couchman\r\nSoftware Assistant: John Gerard Donovan\r\nPublishing Director: Peter Welham\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 1986"},"MainText":"Melbourne House\r\n£7.95\r\n\r\nI remember owning one of these devices, you spun the wheel inside the frame and as long as it whirled fast enough or didn't hit anything, it would balance upright on virtually anything, a piece of string, a pencil point, or follow a ramp of books.\r\n\r\nWhy I mention this is because Melbourne House has created a program in which the movement of their gyroscope is incredibly accurate when compared to the real thing!\r\n\r\nWith some similarities to Marble Madness, now a hit in the arcades, you have to steer this awkward object down five maze-like ramps, each extending over four screens. These are beautifully created in solid 3D perspective and have walls and pits to crash into. As if that is not hard enough, there are steep slopes, slippery glass patches, directional magnets, aliens and narrow ledges to contend with. Oh, and you are racing against the clock, but at least you get seven lives with extra ones for every 1000 points.\r\n\r\nI played this game for far longer than I could really spare for the review and found gentle nudging of the joystick (or keys) game me the most control. Another tip - don't let the gyroscope build up too much speed. I completed the first screen after a few plays but only completed the second screen once, and after many attempts a tearing of the hair program.\r\n\r\nA mention here of the sound. I am sure they must have used their WHAM program because it is program because it is without doubt one of the most impressive bits of music I have heard so music I have heard so far.\r\n\r\nBrilliant. One of the state of the art programs awarded our rare six star award.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"41","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"5/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"5/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"6/6","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]