[{"TitleName":"It's the Wooluf!","Publisher":"Crystal Computing","Author":"Martin Bullar","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0002560","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 5, Jun 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-05-24","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":126,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nEditorial/office [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nPhotosetting by SIOS [redacted]\r\nColour origination by Scan Studio, [redacted]\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd, [redacted].\r\nDistribution by Comag, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post free)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post free).\r\n\r\nWe cannot undertake to return any written or photographic material sent to CRASH MICRO unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Crystal Computing\r\nMemory Required: 16K\r\nRetail Price: £6.50\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\nAuthor: Martin Buller\r\n\r\nSome time back Virgin Games released a game called Sheepwalk in which you had to guide Rex the sheepdog around and herd the sheep into a pen, avoiding various hazards and farm crops which the sheep ate. It wasn't a very good game with slow BASIC programming and unconvincing animals. It's the Wooluf! is a very similar idea, and somewhat better looking.\r\n\r\nThe screen is dissected by a river towards the bottom with a bridge crossing to the top two- thirds. At the start of each game the 10 sheep are 'floating' about on the bottom right-hand corner. First they must be herded along to the left and over the bridge. Being sheep and somewhat brainless, they will tall into the river and drown if you're not careful. Once over the bridge, your dog must get them safely into the pen at the top right. The landscape in the top section is heavily wooded and the sheep wandering into the trees tend to get stuck or lost. The other problem is that the woods are prowled by a red wolf who eats sheep.\r\n\r\nEach sheep safely herded into the pen is returned to the game for the next 'life'. After four goes, all the sheep are returned for the next stage, but trees appear below the river and attract the wolf, and everything starts moving faster too. Although the sheep drown, your sheep dog is a better swimmer, and he can be moved around the screen very fast as well. Unfortunately there's nothing he can do to frighten off the wolf, so it's as well to keep the sheep out of the trees where they are most vulnerable. When a sheep falls into water a big SPLASH flashes across the screen, and between games the Wooluf winks salaciously at you.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: N/M up/down, Z/X left/right\r\nJoystick: mpme\r\nKeyboard play: responsive, but oddly laid out keys in a straight line\r\nUse of colour: average\r\nSound: average\r\nSkill levels: progressive difficulty (speed and extra trees)\r\nLives: 10 sheep","ReviewerComments":["This sheepherding game is a lot better than the Virgin one of last year in several ways. The graphics look better and the game moves much faster. The sheep resemble summer clouds on legs and your dog at least looks like a dog, although the speed at which he can zoom about the screen seems a little unrealistic! Unfortunately, I was convinced at first that the wooluf was really a brown cow - until it ate a sheep. The woolly jumpers in this game are reasonable in their movements and prove easier to herd than in Sheepwalk. But at the end of the day this isn't a really exciting game, and to be honest, I was surprised that Crystal should have brought it out. I've come to think of them as rather more sophisticated than this game.\r\r\nUnknown","After the sophistication of games and programming that Crystal have become known for, it seems very odd to me that they should have released a game like this, nevertheless, it is a change from the usual shoot 'em up, and it is quite 'friendly'. The sheep react very sheepishly, as you would expect, the dog (probably a collie) is obviously extremely fit and looks as though he's being supercharged. The wooluf is twice the size of the dog, which is unrealistic, and looks more like a Hereford cow. It's easier to try and get one sheep at a time over the bridge and up to the pen, but if you get it stuck in the trees, you may just as well say Baa Baa to it! The colours tend to overwrite each other, for example, if you take the dog into the river he turns green and the surrounding river turns black. I think this is likely to appeal more to the younger player, although it is quite hard and is reasonably playable.\r\r\nUnknown","The graphics are all rather small, but quite detailed, overall it looks a bit primitive. The game will get boring very quickly, despite the increases in playing speed, because there isn't really much to do. I thought this was a poor offering from Crystal.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: May appeal to younger players, a bit lacking in content and not very addictive.","Page":"20","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Summer clouds on legs - and brainless with it."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"48%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"55%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"54%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"48%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"45%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"44%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Big K Issue 6, Sep 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-08-20","Editor":"Tony Tyler","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tony Tyler\r\nAssisted By: Richard Burton\r\nArt Editor: Ian Stead\r\nFeatures: Nicky Xikluna\r\nContributors: Andy Green; Kim Aldis (Features); Steve Keaton; Richard Cook; Richard Taylor; Bernard Turner; David Rimmer; John Conquest; Nigel Farrier, Paul Walton; Tony Benyon; Trevor Spall\r\nPublisher: Barry Leverett\r\nPublishing Director: John Purdie\r\nGroup Advertising Controller: Luis Bartlett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Robin Johnson [redacted]\r\n\r\nEditorial Address: [redacted]\r\nTelephone: [redacted]\r\nAdvertising: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPublished approximately on the 20th of each month by IPC Magazines Ltd. [redacted]. Monotone and colour origination by G.M. Litho Ltd [redacted]. Printed in England by Chase Web Offset, Cornwall. Sole Agents: Australia and New Zealand, Gordon& Gotch (A/sia) Ltd.; South Africa, Central News Agency Ltd. BIG K is sold subject to the following conditions, namely that it shall not, without the written consent of the Publishers first given, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade at more than the recommended selling price shown on the cover, and that it shall not be lent, resold or hired out or otherwise disposed of in a mutilated constitute or any unauthorised cover by way of trade or affixed to as part of any publication or advertising, literary or pictorial matter whatsoever. IPC MAGAZINES 1984."},"MainText":"SHEEPISH\r\n\r\nMAKER: Crystal Computing\r\nFORMAT: cassette\r\nPRICE: £5.95\r\n\r\n\"It's the Wooluf,\" you may recall, was the title of a truly abysmal cartoon show that escaped from the Hanna/Barbera stable sometime during the late sixties/early seventies. Gruesomely animated and horrendously unfunny, it was one of the worst post \"Scooby Doo\" (original season) HB offerings ever and consequently marked the end of an area for the once highly-rated fun merchants.\r\n\r\nI tell you this simply for lack of anything else to say about this flat offering from The Home of The Things.\r\n\r\nAs far as I can see it's a straight reworking of Virgin's early clunker, Sheepwalk. The graphics are neater but the gameplay is strikingly similar. In it you must instruct your trusty collie to herd a flock of sheep across a bridge, through a wood and into the relative safety of the sheep pen. Meanwhile the hungry 'wooluf' patrols the forest in the hope of gobbling up some stray dinners. Clear the sheet and you're blessed with another flock of even more suicidal sheep. Woolly stuff indeed.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"28,29","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Steve Keaton","Score":"1","ScoreSuffix":"/3"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"1/3","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"1/3","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"1/3","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"1/3","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 72, Aug 1984","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1984-08-04","Editor":"Peter Worlock","TotalPages":50,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Peter Worlock\r\nSub-Editors: Harriet Arnold, Leah Batham\r\nNews Editor: David Guest\r\nNews Writer: Ralph Bancroft\r\nFeatures Editor: John Lettice\r\nSoftware Editor: Bryan Skinner\r\nPeripherals Editor: Ken Garroch\r\nHardware Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nPrograms Editor: Nickie Robinson\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nArt Editor: David Robinson\r\nLayout Artists: Tim Brown, Paul Clarkson\r\nPublisher: Cyndy Miles\r\nGroup Publisher: John Cade\r\nPublishing Admin: Jackie Searle\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nGroup Advertising Manager: Peter Goldstein\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Bettina Williams\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Sarah Barron\r\nSales Executives: Christian McCarthy, Laura Cade, Paul Evans, Tony O'Reilly, Yvonne Charatynowicz\r\nProduction: Noel O'Sullivan\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Karen Isaac\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":"NAME: It's The Wooluf!\r\nSYSTEM: Any Spectrum\r\nPRICE: £6.50\r\nPUBLISHER: Crystal Computing [redacted]\r\nFORMAT: Cassette\r\nLANGUAGE: Machine code\r\nOTHER VERSIONS: None\r\nOUTLETS: Retail/mail order\r\n\r\nWOLF AT THE DOOR\r\n\r\nYou must keep the wolf from the door literally in this low-key game.\r\n\r\nOBJECTIVES\r\n\r\nYou soon discover that the eponymous wooluf is merely a wolf with a funny name. You are a hard-pressed shepherd herding your flock into a pen and keeping them well away from the jaws of the wolf.\r\n\r\nIN PLAY\r\n\r\nThe keyboard controls a sheepdog which has ten sheep in its charge, and the action takes place on the one screen that you see, with the sheep starting off at bottom right of the farmland scene. You must get them across the one bridge over the river and up through the woods to the pen at top right.\r\n\r\nThe wolf patrols the top half of the screen in the main, moving between the various patches of woodland, though it does sometimes venture south.\r\n\r\nThe graphics of the game let it down rather badly, starting with the head of the wolf that appears at the start and every time a sheep gets nabbed. This is done in bulky block graphics and is most unrealistic.\r\n\r\nThe sheep look more like little white garden bugs, and they must be prize wool growers as you have to look very closely to see a head. They are also limited to two graphics characters, one facing left and one facing right, and they partly change colour should they venture too close to the river or trees.\r\n\r\nThe wolf is also very shimmery, which is a disappointment when you consider that the movements of the dog are well done, with it creeping along and crouching down, but the colour overlap is awful - sheep become dark if you put the wolf near them, as does the pen, and the sound too is minimal indeed: a tip-tap when the dog trots along and an unconvincing splash should one of the silly sheep fall in the river.\r\n\r\nAnother frustration is the lack of control. It's only really possible to take one sheep at a time, otherwise they run off all over the place, and even that one is hard to get going in the direction you want. There are no real instructions, and all you can do is try and vaguely chase the sheep generally in the right direction.\r\n\r\nYou score points for getting sheep in the pen, but once in, they later return to the start so the game continues till all the sheep have either drowned or been eaten.\r\n\r\nThe game then ends with a bald statement of your score and high score, and off you go to play again, should you have nothing more exciting to do.\r\n\r\nVERDICT\r\n\r\nA great disappointment from Crystal: counting sheep is, after all, a celebrated method for getting to sleep.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"38","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mike Gerrard","Score":"1","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Lasting Appeal","Score":"1/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"2/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Use Of Machine","Score":"2/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall Value","Score":"1/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]