[{"TitleName":"Hot Rod","Publisher":"Activision Inc","Author":"David Fish, Graham Stafford","YearOfRelease":"1990","ZxDbId":"0002361","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 76, May 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-04-26","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":52,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nFeatures Editor: Richard Eddy\r\nStaff Writer: Mark Caswell\r\nEditorial Assistant: Viv Vickress\r\nPhotography: Michael Parkinson\r\nContributors: Nick Roberts\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nProduction Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nArt Director: Mark Kendrick\r\nReprographics: Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Rob (the Rev) Hamilton, Jenny Reddard\r\nDesign: David Western, Melvin Fisher\r\nSystems Operator: Ian Chubb, Paul (Charlie) Chubb\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Caroline Blake\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nSubscriptions\r\n[redacted].\r\n\r\nDesigned and typeset on Apple Macintosh II computers using Quark Express and Adobe Illustrator '88, output at MBI [redacted] with systems support from Digital Reprographics [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by BPCC Business Magazines (Carlisle) Ltd, [redacted] - a member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters relating to adjudication and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens (like a game that has been offered as a prize being scrapped) we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. We'll do our very best to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the published closing date. Winners names will appear in a later issue of CRASH. No correspondence can be entered into regarding the competitions (unless we've written to you stating that you have won a prize and it doesn't turn up, in which case drop the Viv Vickress a line at the main address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for either Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions. No material may be reproduced whole or in part without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into CRASH - including written and photographic material, software and hardware - unless it is accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. We regret that readers' postal enquiries cannot always be answered. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. Colour photographic material should be 35mm transparencies wherever possible. The views expressed in CRASH are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nCopyright CRASH Ltd 1989 A Newsfield Publication. ISSN 0954-8661. Cover Design by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Activision\r\n£9.99 cass only\r\n\r\nOne of the more obscure Sega coin-ops around, Hot Rod is basically a rip-roaring racing game. At the start you're alloted a supply of fuel which must last you throughout the race. Supplies can be picked up, but be the first to grab them or the other competitors will. Other cars aren't your only worry: as you race round the track the screen scrolls with you. If you move too slowly it swallows you up and deposits you further down the track (twenty units of fuel lighter)! Plenty of obstacles both natural and man made try to prevent you reaching that finishing line too.\r\n\r\nReach it and you collect a hefty dosh, and points, bonus and move into the parts store. Buy bumpers, tyres, front and rear engines and wings to continue the race in better form. If you can be bothered, that is. It just does not work. The cars are monochromatic, so you never know just which vehicle is yours. And when that confusion is sorted, you lose track of the direction it's pointing in ('cos both ends look the same). What a pointless exercise! After the excellent Hammerfist last month it's a shame to see this escape from the Activision stables.\r\n\r\nMARK 30%","ReviewerComments":["Hot Rod is a very basic car racing game. I used to play this type of thing for 5p at the Ludlow May Fair! A badly drawn car would slide around an even worse drawn race track, colliding with everything. Yes folks, this is that bad. The graphics may be a little better drawn than those early arcade machines, and this version may sport a bit of colour, but the basic idea is the same. The cars control in a similar way to the CodeMasters BMX Simulator series. You can improve on your car's performance between stages at a special parts shop. Items such as tyres, engines and wings (don't remind me! - my poor car) can be added on, but if you ask me they don't make the slightest difference! Hot Rod would suit a budget label. The game style is just out of date, even though it may bring back a few memories.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n48%"],"OverallSummary":"One of the worst Sega licences Activision have produced. What happened guys?","Page":"39","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"48","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"30","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"38%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"34%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"42%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"35%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictivity","Score":"32%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"39%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 54, Jun 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-05-10","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Kevin Hibbert\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nDesign Assistant: Andy Ounsted\r\nContributors: Robin Alway, Marcus Berkmann, Joe Davies, Jonathan Davies, Cathy Fryett, Mike Gerrard, Duncan MacDonald, Paul Morgan, Jon North, Rich Pelley, David Wilson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertising Executive: Simon Moss\r\nPublisher: Greg Ingham\r\nAssistant Publisher: Jane Richardson\r\nManaging Director: Chris Anderson\r\nProduction Manager: Ian Seager\r\nProduction Coordinator: Melissa Parkinson\r\nSubscriptions: Computer Posting [redacted]\r\nMail Order: The Old Barn [redacted]\r\nPrinters: Riverside Press [redacted]\r\nDistributors: SM Distribution [redacted]\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair is published by Future Publishing Ltd [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Future Publishing 1990. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission."},"MainText":"Activision\r\n£9.99 cass/£14.99 disk\r\nReviewer: Jonathan Davies\r\n\r\nHot Rod - it's a flipping driving game. And if you thought scrolling driving games were bad enough, flipping ones are miles worse, I can tell you. Especially when they flip just when you're not expecting it. (Actually, I just exaggerated a bit. Hot Rod isn't really flip-screen in the same way that Cybernoid is flip-screen, but then again it doesn't scroll as such either. Well, it does, but in sort of short jerky bursts. I'll explain in a minute.)\r\n\r\nThe whole impression of the game is a lot like Supersprint really, just not so much fun, Using the usual Left, Right and Accelerate controls you've got to send your little car hammering round the track, trying to beat Player Two (if there is such a person) and the computer's car(s). You get an overhead view of the track as usual (it's not a 'loop' though, more of a long, bendy thing with a beginning and an end). The difference is that you only get to see a bit of the track at a time. As soon as whoever's in the lead gets to the edge of the screen, zzziiiip! The next bit's whizzed on. A bit unsightly really.\r\n\r\nBut you may well be asking (I doubt it though), what happens if you're getting a bit left behind, and you get whizzed off the screen? Well, something slightly alarming happens. Your car starts flashing, and then gets picked up and dumped into the middle of the new screen that's just scrolled on. Hmmm. And then, just as you're getting sorted out and facing in the right direction to continue, the rest of the pack will inevitably have reached the next screen and it all happens again. Double \"hmmm\". That said, when you do get to grips with the controls you find that the computer's cars are hopeless. They keep getting stuck behind things and losing drastically.\r\n\r\nWhile we're having a good old go at Hot Rod, it's probably worth pointing out that the graphics are useless too. They look like something out of a horrible piece of Christmas wrapping paper, or even a Codies game, and all the cars are the same colour (black, actually) so you keep forgetting which is yours. Even at the beginning (although quite when the beginning is tends to be a matter of guesswork - there's no indication) you're in the dark as to which wheels are yours.\r\n\r\nBut there must be more to it than that, eh? And indeed there is. There's fuel to think about for a start. If you keep holding down Accelerate you'll run out of it fairly rapidly. And then there are the add-ons. Dotted all round the course are little icons, which give you various things if you pick them up. Money ones are the most handy, as you can cash them in after the race for new engines, tyres, that sort of thing.\r\n\r\nThere are lots of different tracks which, would you believe, multiload in. It's not that bad though, as they don't take long. The first couple are fairly straightforward - maybe a few bends or patches of exclamation marks to worry about. (These last things look like they might be oil or something - they make your car go a bit wibbly when you drive over them, but since your car is pretty wibbly anyway I couldn't quite suss them out.) Later, though, things get a bit more varied, with alternative routes and what look like bridges. I say 'look like' primarily to increase my word-count, but also because they're a bit spooky. They look like you can drive under them, but when you try you end up driving over them instead (if you see what I mean).\r\n\r\nHot Rod's one of those games where if you're doing really well you think to yourself, \"Blimey, maybe I've got it all wrong - this is quite good after all,\" and then as soon as you crash, run out of fuel or whatever you swear vividly, hurl the tape across the room and reach for the Reset button. That's what I did anyway.\r\n\r\nIt's sort of okay(ish). If the graphics were a bit better, and if it wasn't quite so irritating, Hot Rod might be perfectly acceptable. As it is though there are loads of other overhead-view driving games around, including many on budget, so why don't you check out a few of those instead? Try the Codies' Grand Prix Simulator for starters.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A pretty average driving game with a horrible flipping way of doing things.","Page":"28","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jonathan Davies","Score":"59","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Here we are at Kwik Fit. What shall we have? A bucket? Or maybe a pocket calculator with handles on the side?"},{"Text":"Pulling away from the starting grid, there's already a massive shock horror death carnage (I'm strategically hanging back). I'm sure they'll be okay though as you can drive over/under/through whoever you like."},{"Text":"Yikes! There are lots of exclamation marks in the middle of the road! Looks a bit 'significant'!!!"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"45%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"55%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"69%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"70%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"59%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"The Games Machine Issue 30, May 1990","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1990-04-05","Editor":"Richard Montiero","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"ALL DEPARTMENTS\r\nNewsfield, The Games Machine, [redacted]\r\n\r\nEDITORIAL\r\nConsultant Editor: Richard Monteiro\r\nDeputy Editor: Richard Eddy\r\nSub Editor: Dominic Handy\r\nStaff Writers: Robin Candy, Mark Caswell, Warren Lapworth\r\nEditorial Assistant: Vivien Vickress\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\nEditorial Director: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nProduction Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nReprographics: Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard, Robert Hamilton\r\nSystems Operators: Ian Chubb (supervisor), Paul Chubb\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAd Sales: Sarah Chapman\r\nProduction Assistant: Jackie Morris\r\nAdministration Assistant: Joanne Lewis\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions rates available from main address\r\n\r\nDesigned and typeset on Apple Macintosh II computers running Quark Xpress, Adobe Illustrator 88, with systems support from Digital Print Reprographics, [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by BPCC Business Magazines (Carlisle) Ltd, [redacted] - a member of the BPCC Group. Distribution effected by COMAG, [redacted].\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. List of winners are available after the closing date from Viv Vickress at the main address. No person who has any relationship to anyone who works for Newsfield Ltd or any sponsoring companies may enter the competitions. No material may be reproduced in part or in whole without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into TGM - including written and photographic material, hardware or software - unless it's accompanied by a suitable SAE. We regret that readers' postal enquiries cannot always be answered. Unsolicited written or photographic material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates - we reserve the right to edit any written material. The views expressed in TGM are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\n©1990 TGM Magazines Ltd\r\nA Newsfield Publication ISSN 0954-8092\r\n\r\nCover Design Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Spectrum Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99\r\n\r\nI really don't know why I'm wasting my time reviewing this pile of donkey doo. The cars are monochromatic; you never know which vehicle is yours, and once you've sorted out which car is which you lose track of the direction it's facing... aaaghh! Take my advice, if you buy this, Mr Mad will probably leap out of the packaging screeching 'you need a check up from the neck up!'","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"60","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"40","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"40%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]