[{"TitleName":"Impossaball","Publisher":"Hewson Consultants Ltd","Author":"John M. Phillips, Peter Austin, Steve Weston","YearOfRelease":"1987","ZxDbId":"0002458","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 37, Feb 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-01-22","Editor":"Graeme Kidd","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Publishers: Roger Kean, Oliver Frey, Franco Frey\r\nPublishing Executive/Editor: Graeme Kidd\r\nSub Editor: Ciaran Brennan\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Lee Paddon, Hannah Smith\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Editor: Philippa Irving\r\nTech Tipster: Simon Goodwin\r\nContributing Writers: Jon Bates, Brendon Kavanagh, John Minson\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nArt Director: Dick Shiner\r\nAssistant Art Director: Gordon Druce\r\nIllustrators: Ian Craig, Oliver Frey\r\nProduction: Seb Clare, Tim Croton, Mark Kendrick, Tony Lorton, Nick Orchard, Michael Parkinson, Cameron Pound, Jonathan Rignall, Matthew Uffindell\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Nick Wild\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nEditorial and Production: [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order and Subscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nBookings [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistributed by COMAG, [redacted]\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.\r\n\r\n©1987 Newsfield Limited\r\n\r\nCover by Ian Craig\r\n\r\n101,483 Total\r\n92,992 UK and EIRE"},"MainText":"Producer: Hewson\r\nRetail Price: £8.95\r\nAuthor: John Phillips\r\n\r\nBall games were very popular during 1986. Hewson kickoff the New Year with a game of this type, written by a newcomer to the Spectrum programming scene. This latest spherical scenario Impossaball, features a ball travelling through a 3D scrolling environment.\r\n\r\nThis particular bouncing ball has to be negotiated down eight corridors, which become progressively more cluttered with obstacles. Cylinders protrude from the floor and ceiling and must be knocked level with the surface by bouncing onto them. The game is played against the clock, and the status area keeps track of the number of cylinders remaining, the amount of time left to complete the current level and the score so far.\r\n\r\nLeft to its own devices, the ball bounces up and down on the spot - pressing fire increases the height of the bounce up through the four levels available, while releasing fire allows the bouncing to subside. A shadow under the ball helps you judge its position in the corridor and the height of the bounce when manoeuvring. Bouncing the ball into stationary objects causes it to rebound - unless you choose a deadly artefact, in which case one of the four lives available is lost and the ball returns to the start of the current corridor. After an untimely death, cylinders that have been dealt with don't have to be tackled again - play resumes with the objects in the corridor remaining as they were when your ball burst.\r\n\r\nLife as a cylinder-bashing ball is complicated by deadly spikes and murderous plasma fields. Spikes tend to live on the top of poles - bouncing into a pole has no harmful side-effects, but the spiky orbs themselves are definitely dangerous. Plasma fields can be stationary or may move around, following preset patrol patterns. Fire bolts appear after the first level, leaping into the air at regular intervals from either the celling or the floor.\r\n\r\nOn the plus side, magic rings appear on the floor and ceiling. Bouncing into one while it is flashing earns some extra time on the current corridor, but once the magic power has been extracted the ring joins the spikes and plasma, becoming deadly to the touch.\r\n\r\nPoints are scored for cylinders that have been destroyed and for travelling down the length of a corridor: an extra life is awarded for every 5,000 points collected. When all the cylinders on a level have been destroyed it is possible to cross the finish line - you then automatically flip up to the next level where the going gets even tougher. It looks like 1987 is going to be a busy year for spherical heroes...\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: Left/Right-handed options - Q/O left, W/P right, P/Q 'into' screen, L/S 'out of' screen, X/M fire\r\nJoystick: Kempston, Cursor, Interface 2\r\nUse of colour: effective\r\nGraphics: smooth scrolling and animation; neat inertia effect after collisions\r\nSound: good title tune and tidy effects\r\nSkill levels: one\r\nScreens: eight scrolling levels","ReviewerComments":["I must confess that this one didn't really grab me, but the smooth, interesting graphics convinced me that it was worth playing a little bit. Indeed it was! Despite the slight boredom of the first few games, Impossaball really kept me at it for a long while. There is more to this than simple arcade reactions (though these are a major part of the gameplay), a bit of brain-power is also called for. The combination of these two elements makes the game highly addictive and well worth getting. Recommended.\r\nMike Dunn","Hewson have always come up with original and good games (with the exception of City Slicker) - Impossaball is the icing on the cake. Graphically, I would say that this is one of their most inviting products. The colour is cleverly used and avoids attribute problems. Unfortunately the sound is limited, but it serves its purpose. Impossaball is very easy to get into, and extremely playable. As with most Hewson games, it is very addictive and good fun to play. Hewson have done it again. You'll be playing this one for months.\r\nPaul Sumner","'Oh no!' I hear you cry 'Not another bouncy ball game'. Don't fret - this is different, it really does appeal to me - there isn't a scenario, but who cares? This is compelling enough without any plot. Graphically, Impossaball is very original. The playing area is superbly drawn, the scrolling is excellent and there is no colour clash. The sound is also very good, with a multitude of effects - and the tune on the title screen is worth listening to (which is more than can be said for most title tunes). Another ace from Hewson.\r\nBen Stone"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: An original, addictive game that is more than just another bouncy-ball program.","Page":"116","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mike Dunn","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Paul Sumner","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Ben Stone","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Disaster strikes on level two: Pop goes the ball as it makes contact with the spiky guardians that surround an encampment of cylinders."},{"Text":"Nne cylinders remain to be dealt with on the first level, as the spherical hero despatches another spike-guarded protuberance. Could this game have been partly inspired by the Spiky-haired Ones on ZZAP!..."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"89%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"89%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"88%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"89%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 15, Mar 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-02-12","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":98,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Caroline Clayton\r\nProduction Editor: Sara Biggs\r\nAssistant Editor: Phil South\r\nStaff Writer: Markus Berkmann\r\nDesigner: Darrell King\r\nContributors: Luke C, Mike Gerrard, Ian Hoare, Gwyn Hughes, ZZKJ, Tommy Nash, Max Phillips, Rick Robson, Rachael Smith\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Julian Harriott\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nManaging Editor: Kevin Cox\r\nPublisher: Roger Munford\r\nPublishing Director: 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 ©1987 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":"Hewson\n£8.95\nReviewer: Marcus Berkmann\n\nBouncy, bouncy! There's an awful lot of globoids boinging about at the moment, but none quite like this elastic little spherule from Hewson. Springing your ball through a course of classical terraces, you manoeuvre it around hazards both mobile and stationary to jump on small cylinders and batter them into the ground. Honest. You even get points for it all. But don't recoil, 'cos it's totally addictive.\n\nThere are eight levels in the course, which may not sound a lot, but each has its own special hazards to drive you barmy with frustration. The screen scrolls from left to right (and v. smoothly too. I may say), and you score points for each cylinder you bop on the bonce, as well as the amount of the course you cover. Cylinders tend to lie within puzzles of thought-provoking complexity, the sort of teasers you always get wrong the first time you try them.\n\nThe nasties don't vary a lot and they have much the same effect. The spikes are stationary but you'll have to be on the ball to avoid the patrolling plasma fields and two bolts. Magic rings complicate matters a little - the first time you hit them you'll gain extra time, but try it again and kerboom! Naturally, these feckless flashers crop up in all the most awkward places.\n\nIt all sounds very simple, and, like most of the best games, it is. Behind it all, of course, is some very slick and sophisticated programming, especially in the convincing 3D display. Impossaball will stretch the bounds of your imagination. You'd have to be a complete bounder not to enjoy it.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"29","Denied":false,"Award":"Your Sinclair Megagame","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Marcus Berkmann","Score":"9","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"9/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 62, Feb 1991","Price":"£1.85","ReleaseDate":"1991-01-03","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":84,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Sal Meddings\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nStaff Writer: Linda Barker\r\nDesign Assistant: Andy Ounsted\r\nContributors: Marcus Berkmann, Jonathan Davies, Cathy Fryett, Mike Gerrard, Duncan MacDonald, Angela Neal, Jon North, Rich Pelley, John Pillar, David Wilson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Simon Moss\r\nPublisher: Greg Ingham\r\nAssistant Publisher: Jane Richardson\r\nPublishing Assistant: Michele Harris\r\nCirculation Director: Sue Hartley\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: MMC [redacted]\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair is published by Future Publishing Ltd [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Future Publishing 1991. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission."},"MainText":"IMPOSSABALL\r\nPlayers\r\n£2.99\r\nReviewer: Rich Pelley\r\n\r\nBoasting such delights on the cassette inlay as \"Inertial Control\", \"True perspective\", \"Auto Joystick Detection\". \"Screenshots may be from another version\" and \"£2.99\", it'll come as little surprise when I tell you that this one is a bit of a corker.\r\n\r\nBalls - that what it's all about. You have to bounce along The Corridor of Doom squashing cylinders, in fact. The Corridor of Doom consists of a 3D ceiling and a floor (see screenshot) which (by pressing Fire) you can bounce left and right along, as well as 'into' and 'out of'. By using the squares on the floor and ceilign (see screenshot again) to help, you can hopefully land on one of those cylinder things hence squashing it (squash them all to beat the game), without impaling youself on one of the those nasty-looking spiky things (see screenshot again) into the bargain. And that's it. Sounds crap, but it isn't. It's brilliant - the graphics look fab, it's easy to get into, it ain't too hard, it's compulsively addictive and pretty hard to fault. In fact, it's impossible (ho).","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"51","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Rich Pelley","Score":"85","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"And here it is - the caption (see review)."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"85%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 59, Feb 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-01-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: David Kelly\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nSenior Staff Writer: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nDesigner: Gareth Jones\r\nAdventure Help: Gordo Greatbelly\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nHelpline: Andrew Hewson\r\nContributors: Richard Price, Andy Moss, Gary Rook\r\nHardware Correspondent: Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nSenior Sales Executive: Jacqui Pope\r\nProduction Assistant: Alison Morton\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Linda Everest\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Stuart Hughes\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. Please write Program Printout on the envelopes of all cassettes submitted. We cannot undertake to return cassettes unless an SAE is enclosed. We pay £20 for each program printed and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nTypeset by PRS Ltd, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1987 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nABC 90,215 July-Dec 1985"},"MainText":"Label: Hewson\r\nPrice: £7.95\r\nJoystick: various\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nReviewer: John Gilbert\r\n\r\nImpossaball, aside from being a terrible name for anything, is the unfortunate title bestowed upon the latest game from Hewson.\r\n\r\nApparently, the program's author wished the game to be called Atomsphere (an infinitely superior name) but it was not to be. Like so many astonishingly enjoyable things in life, Impossaball is really simple. The aim of the game is to guide the ball you control through eight levels of absurdly difficult obstacles before, before what? Well, I haven't a clue. The first level is tough enough to keep anyone busy for a good few hours, and as for the eighth - I shudder to think!\r\n\r\nEach level, aside from the different layout of obstacles, has the same aim. You must race from one end of the course to the other before the time runs out. Obviously, things would be just too simple left at that. Dotted along the floor and ceiling of the corridor down which you are travelling are cylinders. Each cylinder must be depressed - by landing on it - before you can move to the next level.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are simple but extremely effective. The screen is presented side-on in real 3D. A chessboard pattern covers the ceiling and floor, adding to this illusion but the best effect is you can move into the screen by pushing the stick forward, and out by doing the opposite - and the ball swells and shrinks accordingly.\r\n\r\nOnce you have moved past the start (which looks like two ladders in fact) the time will begin to tick away, and you'd better get your butt in gear (man).\r\n\r\nAccelerating by pushing the stick to the right, the ball skitters along the ground at satisfying speed. Obstacles can be jumped by hitting the Fire button. The longer you depress the button, the higher you will jump. It's all great fun - and very frustrating at times.\r\n\r\nSome of the more unpleasant items you will encounter are the spikes. Invariably surrounding a couple of cylinders, these critters simply sit there, waiting for you to hurt yourself on to them. Sounds like a very unlikely thing to happen? Wait till you play the game. Also joining the ranks of the undesirables are plasma fields. These little blighters wibble about all over the place, getting into all sorts of unhelpful positions and being a general nuisance.\r\n\r\nMagic rings are very temperamental beasts too. One minute they are happily giving you extra time whenever you land upon them. The next and - whammee! They kill you without so much as a by your leave.\r\n\r\nYou can alter the direction of your ball in mid-air, but you will need to have a fair degree of deftness with your stick in order to make use of this feature.\r\n\r\nGameplay is fast and furious. The graphics are simple but you really get the impression of movement as the squares on the floor zoom past. The bouncing of the ball, too. is very convincing.\r\n\r\nImpossaball is a very good game. It's so frustrating, but equally addictive. Something similar has been attempted before in other guises, but Hewson has made the best attempt yet.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"It's fun. It manages to stand up as high-quality same that has more entertainment value than most.","Page":"40,41","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"John Gilbert","Score":"5","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"5/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 108, Feb 1991","Price":"£1.85","ReleaseDate":"1991-01-18","Editor":"Garth Sumpter","TotalPages":84,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Garth Sumpter\r\nDesign Editor: Andrea 'Hotlips' Walker\r\nDesign: Margaret Goldrick\r\nStaff Writer: Jason Nalk\r\nSU Crew: Chris 'Hateful' Jenkins, John Cook, Pete Gerrard, Gary Liddon\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Jim Owens\r\nAd Production: Jo 'Titters' Gleissner\r\nMarketing Manager: Dean Barrett\r\nMarketing Assistants: Sarah Ewing, Sarah Hillard\r\nPublisher: Graham Taylor\r\nManaging Director: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\n(c)1990 EMAP IMAGES\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nDISTRIBUTION; FRONTLINE\r\n\r\nTypesetting by Garthtype\r\nTypos by A.C.C. Ident\r\nColour work by Proprint. B&W filming by PRS.\r\n\r\nNo port of this magazine may be reproduced without permission. Sinclair User would like to express its deepest regrets at the recent death of Mike Johnston, who was the Consultant Editor on the initial launch of Sinclair User. He was first secretory of the Guild of Software Houses and was always a driving force within the industry. He will be remembered for his tireless work running ZX microfairs which he himself initiated and his loss will be felt by everyone that had contact with him."},"MainText":"Label: Players\r\nPrice: £2.99 48/128K\r\nReviewer: Chris Jenkins\r\n\r\nYes yes yes! This is a STONKER! If you didn't get Impossaball when it first appeared at full price on the Hewson label, get it now or you're a nebbish.\r\n\r\nSet in a strange 3-D world, Impossaball requires you to steer a spheroid through eight dangerous landscapes full of floating energy fields, fire bolts, deadly spikes and telescoping cylinders. The cylinders are your target; jump on each one on each level to complete the game. Of course, there's a time limit for each level so don't put your balls down for too long. (Oo-er)\r\n\r\nThe control method involves steering the ball in and out of the screen and to the right, and pressing Fire to build up \"bounce\". If you miss a cylinder the landscape scrolls around to let you have another go at it. Hitting a magic ring gains you a life, but hitting another one loses you a life, so watch it.\r\n\r\nExcellent realistic dynamics, unusual gameplay and smooth variable-speed scrolling make Impossaball an unmissable budget goodie. Bounce down to the shops at once.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Unusual, challenging and exciting arcade fun with balls.","Page":"76","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Chris Jenkins","Score":"88","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"68%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"89%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"88%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 64, Feb 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-01-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nDeputy Editor: Paul Boughton\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lesly Walker\r\nSub-Editor: Seamus St. John\r\nDesign: Craig Kennedy\r\nAdventure Writers: Keith Campbell, Steve Donoghue, Matthew Woodley\r\nAmerican Correspondent: Marshall M. Rosenthal\r\nArcades: Clare Edgeley\r\nSoftware Consultant: Tony Takoushi\r\nPublicity: Marcus Rich\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Garry Williams\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Katherine Lee\r\nAd Production: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Rita Lewis\r\nCover: Mark Bromley (Who also did last months Space Harrier spectacular!)\r\n\r\n© Jerry Paris\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nJuly-December 98,258"},"MainText":"MACHINE: Spectrum\r\nSUPPLIER: Hewson\r\nPRICE: £7.95\r\n\r\nBouncing ball games seem to be all the rage right now. Quite how they've crept up on us all I don't know - but not to be left out Hewson have come up with Impossaball to join the ranks of Trailblazer, Marble Madness and the like.\r\n\r\nIt's from a programmer new to the growing Hewson stable, John Phillips. It's original, it's fast, and its a whole lot of fun.\r\n\r\nThe basic idea -like all good ideas - is pretty simple. You control a bouncing ball in a chequered corridor.\r\n\r\nYou have to knock out cylinders projecting from the floor and the roof of the corridor within a given time limit.\r\n\r\nThe cylinders are protected by nasty spikey things which are deadly to your ball plus other equally deadly moving thingies which hinder your ball on its mission to boldly bounce where no ball has bounced before.\r\n\r\nYou can flatten a cylinder - which often come in groups hidden behind each other - by jumping your ball on it.\r\n\r\nThese nasties come in several shapes and forms. Some static some moving.\r\n\r\nSpikes: These are stationary and consist of a spike on top of a column. The column is safe to touch, but touching the spikes causes instant death.\r\n\r\nPlasma Fields: These can be either stationary or moving and will destroy the ball if touched.\r\n\r\nFire Bolts: These appear first on the second corridor and will leap into the air at predictable intervals and again are deadly.\r\n\r\nMagic Rings: These appear either on the floor or ceiling. When they are flashing they will give you some extra time if touched. However, they will then stop flashing and become deadly.\r\n\r\nAt the beginning of each corridor is a start line. The game will not start until you cross this line so you have an opportunity to practice controlling the ball.\r\n\r\nOnce a level has been finished you then progress to the next level. If the ball is destroyed by contact with a deadly object then you will return to the start of the current level, but any cylinders which were flattened will remain flattened. The game will end if you don't complete a level within the time allowed.\r\n\r\nThe corridor is depicted as a side-on view in true-pespective 3D. The ball can be moved left or right and in or out of the screen and as it has built in inertia, it will slow down before stopping or changing direction,.\r\n\r\nIf the ball hits a stationary object it will bounce back. However, the front and back walls of the corridor will absorb the force of the ball.\r\n\r\nYou start the game with four lives, an extra life is awarded for every 5000 points scored.\r\n\r\nAll that and the little bouncing chap is followed around by a neat shadow that changes perspective as you move.\r\n\r\nJohn has even built in a special keyboard option for left handed players - how thoughtful. Now Paul will actually be able to beat me at something...\r\n\r\nImpossaball is totally addictive and very playable. A great debut game from Mr Phillips.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"28,29","Denied":false,"Award":"C+VG Hit","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Tim Metcalfe","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Impossaball is totally addictive and very playable."},{"Text":"Yet another excellent and original arcade game from Hewson."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"9/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 35, Mar 1987","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1987-02-19","Editor":"Bryan Ralph","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Bryan Ralph\r\nAssistant Editor: Cliff Joseph\r\nConsultant Editor: Ray Elder\r\nAdvertising Manager: John McGarry\r\nDesign: Argus Design\r\nA.S.P. Advertising and Editorial [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted by Chase Web, [redacted]\r\n\r\nAdvertisement Copy Controller: Andy Selwood\r\n\r\nDistributed by: Argus Press Sales and Distribution Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing Monthly is published on the fourth Friday of each month. Subscription rates can be obtained from ZX Subscriptions, [redacted]\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication, including all articles, designs plans, drawings and other intellectual property rights herein 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 the company.\r\n\r\nArgus Specialist Publications Limited. ©1987"},"MainText":"IT'S Impossaball! A NEW DIMENSION ADDED TO THE BOUNCING BALL PUZZLE GAME BY HEWSON.\r\n\r\nHewson\r\n£8.95\r\n\r\nLike all the best games Hewson's Impossaball is simple to play but hard to master. It's one of those games that sort of sneaks up on you after a couple of attempts - you may not get very far at first, but as you come up against each new obstacle you can almost see how to get through, so you go back to the start for one more try and before you know it you're hooked.\r\n\r\nThe basic idea behind the game is very simple but it's been excellently implemented by programmer John Phillips. You control the movements of a bouncing ball over a scrolling three dimensional obstacle in an attempt to complete the course within a time limit, and at the same time as avoiding the deadly obstacles you also have to 'squash' a series of cylinders that are scattered over the course and which are, of course, surrounded by some of the more deadly traps and barriers.\r\n\r\nThere are eight courses in the game, each harder than the last, though even the first of these isn't exactly a push-over. At the start of each game the ball is just behind the starting line for each course and, since the timer doesn't start until you've crossed the line this means that you're given an opportunity to bounce the ball around a bit and get the hang of controlling its movements before you start the game properly - a nice idea, and one which allows you to get started quickly (unlike a lot of games recently, Impossaball doesn't force you to read a 50 page manual before you can get started).\r\n\r\nAs you cross the starting line you move from right to left across the screen and the chequered landscape of the course scrolls smoothly along to reveal each new set of obstacles.\r\n\r\nPOLES APART\r\n\r\nOn the first course this consists of spike-topped poles which jut up from the ground or hang from the celling, and plasma bolts (which look like animated Ringos). The cylinders that have to be 'squashed' are column-like structures projecting from the floor and ceiling, and \"squashing' them simply involves bouncing onto them from above or below, forcing them to retract into the surface. On later courses though, there are all sorts of deadly traps (most of which are moving and require expert judgment and planning to get through).\r\n\r\nSurprisingly for a game where you're controlling a moving object and racing against the clock, Impossaball doesn't require dazzling arcade-trained reflexes. Despite the time limit there are places where you're better off taking things slowly and thinking your way through an obstacle rather than just barging through as fast as you can. But when the clock's ticking away and you need to hurtle down the home straight to the finishing line, control of the ball is very simple, and the way in which the pace of the game can vary makes it that much more addictive.\r\n\r\nOne of the really nice features of the game is that it presents you with each course and then just lets you get on with it. There isn't a single, fixed method of solving each obstacle and there's enough flexibility in the game to allow each player to develop his or her own style of playing. The only suggestion I can make that might improve the playability of the game is that after you've completed a course it might have been a good idea to give you a password that allows you to enter the next level whenever you want. As it is, you've got to go through all the course in a fixed order and even when you've got the first level sorted out you've still got to go through it each time in order to get onto the later ones.\r\n\r\nFLICKER FREE\r\n\r\nThe graphics and animation are about as good as I've seen on the Spectrum. All the objects are large and finely drawn, yet the animation is perfectly smooth. There's not the slightest flicker despite the fact that the whole screen display has to swing backwards and forwards very quickly in order to create the impression of bouncing movement. The chequered pattern on the landscape helps with the 3D perspective and also helps when it comes to judging distances and heights of jumps past obstacles, and, as the ball bounces along its shadow follows along, shrinking or growing as the height of the jumps varies.\r\n\r\nThere have been similar games released recently (Revolution and Action Reflex), but Impossaball beats them all in terms of graphics and playability, and it makes a nice change from shoot 'em ups too.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"54,55","Denied":false,"Award":"ZX Monster Hit","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]