[{"TitleName":"Hellfire","Publisher":"Melbourne House","Author":"Chris Edwards, Gavin Wade, Russell Comte, Steinar Lund","YearOfRelease":"1985","ZxDbId":"0002287","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 14, Mar 1985","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1985-02-28","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nAssistant Editor: Graeme Kidd\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\nColour 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\nCirculation Manager: Tom Hamilton\r\nAll circulation enquiries should ring [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."},"MainText":"Producer: Melbourne House\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £6.95\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\nAuthor:\r\n\r\nGreek mythology seems to have become a computer game vogue just recently, what with Ocean's Gift from the Gods and now this new game from Melbourne House in which the player re-enacts the trials of Ulysses. This three-stage game has the player guiding the ancient Greek hero up the slopes of Mount Olympus, whilst avoiding falling boulders and the stony stare of the Gorgon. Then he has to outwit the minotaurs in the Temple of Knossos and finally avoid being trapped in a maze with a Reptilian Assassin and a Fireball Thrower. The ancient Greeks were a fun-loving lot and would probably have approved of the violence in computer games.\r\n\r\nIn Hellfire you effectively have three very different one-screen games. They have different graphics and require a different sort of thinking and arcade skill. On the first screen the hills are described rather as a child might draw them and Ulysses can run and jump to get from hill top for ledge) to hill top. He can only stand on the darker bits. Meanwhile boulders bound down the hills threatening to knock him off. Occasionally a Gorgon, possessed of the power to turn men to stone with a single stare, will appear and Ulysses must raise his shield to reflect her gaze.\r\n\r\nGetting safely to the top sends you into the second screen, a temple made of three tall columns and three levels plus the floor. The exit is at the top but the way is blocked by dashing minotaurs. Running behind a pillar transports you to another floor and another pillar. The trick is to discover the correct route without getting speared by a nasty. Fortunately there is an ancient Greek trampoline which enables you to jump to any level. The third screen is a scrolling 3D maze from which you must find the exit. You can use a mace to kill your opponents and more maces can be found in chests scattered through the maze. The maces can also be used to smash open exits.\r\n\r\nIncidentally, the cover of this game has been designed by Steinar Lund, on whom we carry an article in this issue.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys Q/S,A up/ down, I,O,K,L/P,ENTER left/right, Z-V raise shield, B-SPACE jump\r\nJoystick: Kempston, Sinclair 2\r\nKeyboard play: responsive, although a bit of a handful in tight spots on screen 1\r\nUse of colour: very simple\r\nGraphics: excellently drawn and animated\r\nSound: none\r\nSkill levels: progressive\r\nLives: 5\r\nScreens: 3","ReviewerComments":["Hellfire is a highly original platform/maze game. It has very good graphics (Melbourne Draw) and all the characters are well drawn and animated. Unfortunately there is no sound which makes the game slightly less playable. The first two screens are really just to warm you up for the last one in glorious 3D, as they are quite simple. But once you do get to the final screen you find it impossible to complete as the chests, which are supposed to contain extra maces, don't (or if they do, I don't know how to get them)? When your last mace is used up you get transported back to the first screen again.\r\nUnknown","Melbourne House always seem to go for games which are slightly different to what everybody else is doing, and Hellfire is no exception. It has the usual great graphics you would expect from them, and the game's not too bad either. The colour is a bit sparse but is used to complement the 3D effect on the third screen quite well. Hellfire is quite addictive, but it can be off-putting if you totally fluff up the first screen. Overall quite a good game, which is hard at first, but after you've got into the game, I don't think it will take too long to complete it.\r\nUnknown","First off, I think it should be said that the three little screen shots on the inlay are misleading, because they show all the screens in glowing colour, which simply doesn't exist in the game. There is colour but it is much flatter and more simple than Melbourne House are pretending on the inlay. The first screen, for instance is only in black and white with a tiny strip of blue and grey at the top, while the second is black and white with a pale blue background. Despite this, the graphics are extremely good, especially the animated characters. The first screen is hard until mastered, which takes a bit of doing. The second is a visual puzzle which also takes time, but then is simple once done. Whereas the third screen seems simply baffling to me. Obviously that's going to take a little longer. But to be honest there isn't a hellfire of a lot here to do. The maze screen is obviously the main part of the game, but if it is any bigger than you can see when you first enter it, I think it would have been more clever of Melbourne House to suggest it, because without knowing that I would have to say that this game has great graphics but is a poor game.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Two reviewers liked it, one thought it was lacking in game content.","Page":"13,14","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Screen one with a striding Gorgon at the top, a boulder half way down and a stationary Ulysses looking puzzled at the bottom."},{"Text":"The second screen from HELLFIRE. Ulysses is the one flying in the air after being hit by a rampaging minotaur."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"71%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"85%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"73%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"69%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"66%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"68%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"72%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 13, Apr 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-03-21","Editor":"Kevin Cox","TotalPages":74,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Munford\r\nArt Editor: Hazel Bennington\r\nDeputy Editor: Peter Shaw\r\nProduction Editor: Louise Cook\r\nArt Assistant: Martin Dixon\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nContributors: John Torofex, Stephen Adams, Roger Willis, Dave Nicholls, Ross Holman, Kevin Cox, AM Grant, Colin Barnsley, PJ Simmons, Chris Wood, Clive Gifford, Toni Baker, Craig Rawstron, Sue Dehnam, Mike Leaman, AJ Unwin\r\nAdvertising Manager: Joe Harrower\r\nAdvertisement Executive: David Baskerville\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Jill Harris\r\nGroup Art Director: Perry Neville\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":"HELLFIRE\r\nMelbourne House\r\n£6.95\r\n\r\nRoger: \"Re-enacting the trials of Ulysses\" through the good offices of arcadia should be cerebral and poetic, 'cos when Ancient Greeks did their derring-do, even a punch-up outside the boozer was worth about 48K of epic verse. But somewhere in this knockabout translation of stupendous and stirring stanzas into mundane machine code, excitement is lost and cultural dilution occurs on the same scale as the day you discover that doner kebabs contain nothing more than reconstituted donkey lung!\r\n\r\nOn-screen odysseys involve hopping up hummocks and dodging dangerous debris, to enter a sacred temple lurking inside the mountain. Erratic keyboard control suggests that our hero has already been at the Retsina. Once indoors, sneaking past terminal minotaurs by nipping from pillar to pillar is the business, followed by a maze in which monsters can be bonked on the bonce.\r\n\r\nIt took the 'real' Ulysses a fair few years of frenzied and fantastic fisticuffs to fight his way home to mum. Try to be a bit quicker, or you'll end up pulling the plug with boredom, as I did. There again, I'm only a legend in my own lunchtime...","ReviewerComments":["There's some very nice, thoughtful screens in this game but, overall, I'm not sure there's enough here for a hit.\r\nDave Nicholls\r\n2/5 MISS","it says on the cassette insert that it takes a week on average to complete. Well, it didn't quite take that long, but it's pretty good!\r\nRoss Holman\r\n3/5 HIT"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"43","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Dave Nicholls","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"},{"Name":"Ross Holman","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/5 HIT"},{"Name":"Roger Willis","Score":"1","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 37, Apr 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-03-21","Editor":"Bill Scolding","TotalPages":148,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\nEditor: Bill Scolding\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nStaff Writer: Chris Bourne, Clare Edgeley\r\nDesigner: Craig Kennedy\r\nEditorial Secretary: Norisah Fenn\r\nPublisher: Neil Wood\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nAdvertising Manager: Rob Cameron\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executive: Kathy McLennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Jim McClure\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Maria Keighley\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\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.\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\n96,271 Jan-June 1984"},"MainText":"HELLFIRE\r\nMelbourne House\r\nPrice: £6.95\r\nJoystick: Kempston, Sinclair\r\n\r\nIt is surprising that nobody thought of producing a game based upon the trials of Ulysses a long time ago.\r\n\r\nHellfire takes you from the hills at the entrance of a sacred temple, past the minotaurs which guard its inner sanctum and through a complex adventure maze where you are continually hounded and your only weapon is a mace.\r\n\r\nThe game involves three distinct tasks each of which leads into the next. On the first level you must jump onto hills, avoiding boulders and the stony stare of Medusa. Once inside the temple you must use the trampoline to move nearer the top of the screen and dodge in between the pillars to avoid the minotaurs. Each pillar will transport you to a different level of the screen until you get the sequence correct and enter the door at the top of the temple into the labyrinth where the fireball thrower and the reptilian assassin await your arrival with glee.\r\n\r\nThe small degree of skill needed to complete the first level is sure to turn players off fairly quickly. If the early levels had been more difficult to complete its graphics and plot would have made it a candidate for a number one spot in the charts.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"30","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"John Gilbert","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Gilbert Factor","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 42, Apr 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-03-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nDeputy Editor: Wendie Pearson\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lesley Walker\r\nStaff Writer/Reader Services: Seamus St. John\r\nDesigners: Brian Cookman, Jerry Webb\r\nProduction Editor: Mary Morton\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Matthews\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Bernard Dugdale\r\nAdvertising Executive: Sean Brennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Melanie Paulo\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: £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.\r\n\r\nPrinted by Severn Valley Press. Typeset by In-Step Ltd.\r\n\r\nCover: Susan Rowe"},"MainText":"MACHINE: Spectrum/keyboard or joystick\r\nSUPPLIER: Melbourne House\r\nPRICE: £6.95\r\n\r\nHot on the heels of Gift from the Gods comes another game with its theme set firmly in the heart of Greek mythology.\r\n\r\nYou must re-enact the trials of Ulysses as he seeks to prove his worth to the Gods - who are a tough bunch if this game is anything to go by!\r\n\r\nThe game features three levels or \"tasks\". The first task involves climbing the slopes Mount Olympus, home of the Gods, while avoiding tumbling boulders and the gaze of the Gorgon, which can prove quite deadly.\r\n\r\nUlysses must use his shield to protect himself from the Gorgon's glare. Once through the cave entrance at the top of the slopes you'll find yourself in the temple of Knossos, packed full of minotaurs and an evil reptile creature called the Assassin - who attempts to practise his art on you!\r\n\r\nIf you manage to negotiate the minotaurs, the fireballs and reach the maze - which features Ant Attack style graphics - you are well on your way to reaching th Elysium Fields where you'll be able to rest for a while! However the maze is packed full nasties and Ulysses must fight them off using his mace. No easy task.\r\n\r\nHellfire is an interesting development of the platform game. It features nice graphics and a pretty good line in playability.\r\n\r\nHowever, I found the game difficult to get into. Climbing up the Olympian slopes is no easy task, but if you are a platform fan and like a challenge, take a look at Hellfire.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"35","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair Programs Issue 29, Mar 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-02-21","Editor":"Rebecca Ferguson","TotalPages":60,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Rebecca Ferguson\r\nStaff Writer: June Mortimer\r\nDesign/Illustration: Elaine Bishop\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Howard Rosen\r\nProduction Co-ordinator: Serena Hadley\r\nSubscription Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Neil Wood\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 £25 for the copyright of listings published and £10 for the copyright of listings published in the Beginners' section.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1985 Sinclair Programs\r\nISSN No. 0263-0265\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by: Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nAll subscription enquiries:\r\nMagazine Services,\r\nEMAP Business and Computer Publications\r\n[redcated]\r\n\r\nCover Design: Paul Carney"},"MainText":"PRICE: £6.95\r\nGAME TYPE: Arcade\r\n\r\nThe incongruity of the combination of literary epic and computer game appears to appeal to software houses. Melbourne House have taken up this genre once again with the release of Hellfire, a computerised version of the trials of Ulysses.\r\n\r\nThe first screen sees you, as Ulysses, jumping from slope to slope up to the top of Mount Olympus, avoiding the bouncing boulders which fall from time to time. If you delay your ascent for too long, the Gorgon will appear at the top of the screen and start giving you dirty looks, so it is best to move quickly. Classical Donkey Kong, whatever next?\r\n\r\nNext is an extremely original screen, you move into a maze-like sacred temple. It looks simple to negotiate, but running behind the first pillar brings you out on the fourth floor, and trying to run back again transports you to the third floor. To make matters worse, a minotaur, apparently oblivious to the maze-like qualities of the place, is charging around the first floor, and another one is likely to appear if you hang around for too long. Your route is likely to tend toward the circular unless you bear in mind that the temple door mat can be used as a springboard.\r\n\r\nHaving passed through the Temple of Knossos you then pass onto another maze which, this time, is inhibited by the reptilian Assasin and the Fireball Thrower. Solve this maze and you can join your friends in the Elysium Fields and make it into the ranks of the superhero gods.\r\n\r\nGreat fun, although probably slightly too easy for experienced arcade game players, Hellfire is produced for the 48K Spectrum by Melbourne House, [redacted].","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"19","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Colette McDermott","Score":"70","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Rating","Score":"70%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Computer Issue 4, Apr 1985","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1985-03-21","Editor":"Toby Wolpe","TotalPages":164,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Toby Wolpe\r\nAssistant Editor: Meirion Jones\r\nProduction Editor: Ian Vallely\r\nSoftware Editor: Simon Beesley\r\nCommercial Software Editor: Paul Bond\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lee Paddon\r\nEditorial Secretary: Lynn Dawson\r\nEditorial: [redacted]\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Nick Ratnieks\r\nSenior Sales Executive: Julian Bidlake\r\nAdvertisement Executives: Nigel Borrell, Kay Filbin\r\nNorthern Office: Geoff Parker\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Maxine Gill\r\nClassified: Susan Platts\r\nPublishing Director: Chris Hipwell\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Shobhan Gajjar\r\n\r\nYour Computer, [redacted]\r\n©Business Press International Ltd 1985\r\n\r\nPrinted in Great Britain for the proprietors of Business Press International Ltd, [redacted].\r\nISSN 0263-0885\r\nPrinted by Riverside Press Ltd, [redacted], and typeset by Instep Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: U.K. £12.50 for 12 issues.\r\nSubscription Enquiries: [redacted]\r\n\r\nABC 154,334 January-June 1984."},"MainText":"Spectrum 48K\r\nMelbourne House\r\nArcade Adventure.\r\n£6.95\r\n\r\nThose whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad. Melbourne House's part in this universal scheme of things is to produce \"Hellfire\", a game which purports to be based on the trials of Ulysses.\r\n\r\nWe start out with hill trials where, stabbing deftly at the Q,S,A etc keys you help the hard-pressed Greek hero negotiate the slopes of Olympus. Falling boulders conspire to reduce him to the consistency of a plate of squashed moussaka - then he has to duck the stony stare of the repulsive Gorgon. After this he finds himself in the temple of Knossos - nowadays beset no doubt by minor tourists, but then plagued by minotaurs - almost as bad, but not nearly as contrived as this last pun.\r\n\r\nStrong graphics, comparable with those in the definitive Tir Na Nog, but this program is rather more arcade than adventure, if you follow my drift.\r\n\r\nOn the final screen you must locate the exit and use your mace to kill monsters and break exists open. Extra maces can be found in the chests scattered throughout the maze.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"47","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Paul Bond","Score":"4","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 19, Jun 1985","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-05-30","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":"Melbourne House\r\n£7.95\r\n\r\nThis is the game I have been waiting for. I have not had so much excitement in all my life. A wonderful game. Steady on you might say, have you got shares in Melbourne House? Isn't this going a bit heavy AND before the game has been properly reviewed? Perhaps, yes, but HELLFIRE is a game that requires skill, concentration and nimble fingers and is the same as a 30 year old finding out what it is like to play space invaders for the first time. There are three tasks that have been set upon you by the gods, and you must complete all three to show your worthiness.\r\n\r\nMy first task is the easiest, but requires a lot of initial thought. Once done, it appears to be quite easy. I suggest, switch off the computer, have a five minute break, and try again. It is still frustratingly difficult to... To what? The idea is to climb the ledges and arrive at the cave entrance. You jump from ledge to ledge avoiding the falling boulders, but one slip could quite easily see a life lost. Having completed the first task and given yourself a pat on the back, task two immediately arrives. You are in a sacred temple inside the mountain that you have just entered. Minotaurs are on guard and the idea is to reach the top right pillar to get to the next level. The fun comes when running from pillar to pillar as you are transported to another part of the temple and you have to crack the right combination to reach the exit. An added bonus was the springboard, which you can use to reach different levels.\r\n\r\nThe third and final task is to find your way through the maze and locate the exit. Your mace will kill any attacking monsters and break down the exit. The graphics in this game are faultless and so is the game.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"33","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"David Howard","Score":"10","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Instructions","Score":"95%","Text":""},{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"100%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictability","Score":"100%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"100%","Text":""},{"Header":"ZXC Factor","Score":"10/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 101, Mar 1985","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1985-03-02","Editor":"Peter Worlock","TotalPages":46,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Peter Worlock\r\nDeputy Editor: David Guest\r\nProduction Editor: Lauraine Turner\r\nDeputy Production Editor: Harriet Arnold\r\nEditor's Assistant: Karen Isaac\r\nFeatures Editor: John Lettice\r\nSoftware Editor: Bryan Skinner\r\nPeripherals Editor: Kenn Garroch\r\nHardware Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nArt Editor: Dave Alexander\r\nPublisher: Cyndy Miles\r\nPublishing Manager: Peter Goldstein\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Sarah Barron\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Laura Cade\r\nSales Executives: Phil Benson, Mike Blackman, Jacqui Edmiston, Andrew Flint, Sarah Musgrave, Tony O'Reilly\r\nProduction: Richard Gaffrey\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Andrea Laurence\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":"PRICE: £6.95\r\nPUBLISHER: Melbourne House [redacted]\r\n\r\nReturn to the days of brave Ulysses and do battle with the Gorgon and the Minotaur in this three-in-one arcade game from Melbourne House, which should know all about the classics, after publishing some of them.\r\n\r\nThis isn't quite in that league, and has good points and glaring faults - for instance, you're not told it's compatible with Kempston and Interface II till it's loaded, which makes for some confusion.\r\n\r\nThere's also no pause facility or wait between games, and as you're required to do different things with different controls on each of the three screens you find yourself initially losing lives while scrabbling to find the cassette cover for instructions.\r\n\r\nScreen one is a Greek Donkey Kong - bound up the slopes of Mount Olympus and avoid falling boulders. You leap from ledge to ledge heading for a cave at top right, and once you've worked out the route it's none too difficult, provided you judge just where to take off from before you leap.\r\n\r\nIt's eerily silent, too, like all three screens, the second of which counts as a pretty silly game. You make your way from bottom left to top right by running behind pillars. Go behind one from the left and you emerge on the right-hand side of a different pillar, so your aim is to discover which left-hand pillar brings you out from behind the pillar next to the exit.\r\n\r\nYou can bounce between floors thanks to an ancient Greek trampoline at one side of the screen, and must also avoid the Minotaur on the bottom level. Take too long and another appears.\r\n\r\nNaturally each screen is harder as you go round and round through the game.\r\n\r\nThe third screen is toughest, an Ant Attack style maze where you mash monsters with your mace and search for the exit. I soon found the first two screens tedious, and wished I could start on this one each time. Good graphics on all three, but this one's definitely not a Melbourne House classic.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"33","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mike Gerrard","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"6/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]