[{"TitleName":"Jackal","Publisher":"Konami Ltd","Author":"Adrian Carless, David Whitehouse, Stephen Lockley","YearOfRelease":"1987","ZxDbId":"0002567","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 48, Jan 1988","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1987-12-10","Editor":"Barnaby Page","TotalPages":196,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Managing Editor: Barnaby Page\r\nStaff Writers: Dominic Handy, Lloyd Mangram, Ian Phillipson\r\nSubeditor: David Peters\r\nPhotographers: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\nOffice: Frances Mable, Glenys Powell\r\nTechnical Writers: Simon N Goodwin, Jon Bates\r\nAdventure Writer: Derek Brewster\r\nPBM Writer: Brendon Kavanagh\r\nStrategy Writer: Philippa Irving\r\nEducation Writer: Rosetta McLeod\r\nContributors: Robin Candy, Mike Dunn, Paul Evans, Dave Hawkes, Nick Roberts, Ben Stone, Paul Sumner, Bym Welthy\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nArt Director/Illustrator: Oliver Frey\r\nAssistant Art Director: Markie Kendrick\r\nDesign: Wayne Allen\r\nProcess and Planning: Jonathan Rignall (Supervisor), Matthew Uffindell, Nick Orchard\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Andrew Smales\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nEditorial and Production: [redacted]\r\nPlease address correspondence to the appropriate person!\r\n\r\nMail Order and Subscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypesetting by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow\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 - including written and photographic material, software and hardware - unless it is accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\n©1987 Newsfield Limited\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Konami\r\nRetail Price: £7.95\r\nAuthor: David Whitehouse, Stephen Lockley and Adrian Carless, from a Konami coin-op\r\n\r\nThose bounders have broken into our camp and caught us with our trousers down. Not only that, but they've also nabbed quite a few of our soldiers and are now holding them Ina prisoner-of-war camp. Our boys must be rescued and Bob, Grey, Quint and Decker are just the chaps for the job.\r\n\r\nThe four set off for enemy territory in a tank. At first, they encounter only soldiers, whom they can take out with their own machine guns or by running them over. But the soldiers can shoot back too...\r\n\r\nSoon your four good guys meet up with mightier opposition. Large gun emplacements work in unison, making it increasingly difficult to avoid fire from one gun without being hit by a second. Even this artillery can be taken out by the tank's weaponry, but only if you're prepared to take a chance - your range is limited.\r\n\r\nOn arriving at the enemy camp, the courageous quartet can blast their way through the outer gates and proceed to search for the prisoners, who are held in huts.\r\n\r\nOther huts contain extra ammunition and weaponry, so the rescue team can build up a very vicious arsenal. But even with more and nastier weapons, it's a tough job - if you lose a life all the freed prisoners are imprisoned again.\r\n\r\nAfter blasting down the walls of the prison huts and liberating the captured men, take them to helicopter pick-up points where they can escape.\r\n\r\nAnd if you can manage the impossible, the fearless four can go on to attack the enemy headquarters. It's certainly a man's life in the army.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nJoysticks: Kempston, Sinclair\r\nGraphics: simple, bad attribute problems\r\nSound: annoying tune and spot effects\r\nOptions: definable keys","ReviewerComments":["Every time a plan-view game appears, I live in hope. But once again it's a disappointment - the frantic jiggerings of Jackal's graphics really spoil it, the alternation of plan and side views of the tank is unrealistic, and the game itself is abysmal. The short range of your missiles means there's a very high risk of being shot in close encounters, so the game ends up brief and not very playable.\r\nBym Welthy\r\n61%","This could have been quite a smart Commando-type game, but presents no real challenge and requires no skill. It's just driving around a desert of disappointing graphics, and the only plus point is that it's fast-moving.\r\nDave Hawkes\r\n59%","What a disappointment - the scrolling is jerky, the graphics are dismal and colour clashes all the time, Now and again you get a smile from Jackal because of the ways you can die - for instance, if you run into a little stick man with your tank you blow up! But there's no playability here.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n20%"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: A boring and bad looking arcade conversion.","Page":"164","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Bym Welthy","Score":"61","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Dave Hawkes","Score":"59","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"20","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Jackal: hide."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"38%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"42%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"36%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"43%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"47%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 25, Jan 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1987-12-10","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":126,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Peter George\r\nDeputy Editor: Marcus Berkmann\r\nProduction Editor: Lucy Broadbent\r\nTechnical Editor: Phil South\r\nDeputy Art Editor: Darrell King\r\nContributors: Richard Blaine, Audrey & Owen Bishop, Jonathan Davies, Chris Donald, Mike Gerrard, Gwyn Hughes, Joe King, Tony Lee, John Minson, David Powell, Nat Pryce, Rick Robson, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith, Mischa Welsh, Tony Worrall\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Stansfield\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nPublisher: Kevin Cox\r\nPublishing Director: Roger Munford\r\nManaging Director: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Dennis Publishing 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 ©1988 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":"Konami\r\n£7.95\r\nReviewer: Tony Worrall\r\n\r\nJack-Jack-Jack your body with Jack-Jack-Jackal, hot off the duplicator from the makers of the arcade original, Konami. Is Jackal a bit of a dog? After Konami's poor showing with the Speccy versions of Jailbreak and Nemesis, I was expecting something just as tacky. But no! Jackal is actually quite playable. No masterpiece to be sure, but in a funny kind of way it isn't half bad.\r\n\r\nWe're back in classic Commando land here, but in place of the lone soldier of fortune, substitute an army jeep. This vehicle is controlled by tough guys, Bob and Grey. If you play the two player option, Quint and Decker join in the fun. The idea is very simple: using the firepower of the jeep, destroy everything and everybody. You've got an endless supply of bombs so there's no need to go easy. Along the way several of your buddies have to be liberated from enemy camps, and in true Rambo fashion you have to take them to a helicopter pick-up point further along in the game. Your payment for this is the usual 'super-weapon' option, which you most certainly need in the higher levels.\r\n\r\nGraphics are average to sloppy, with a good dose attribute clash, but they work all right. The dozy collision detector is another matter though. Animation is far from smooth and the scrolling landscape has the jitters! Jackal's certainly fast enough but at £7.95 it's overpriced. Day of the Jackal? Nearly, but not quite.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A fair attempt at converting the coin-op. Fast, playable, but let down by poor graphics.","Page":"92","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Tony Worrall","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 69, Dec 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-11-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":148,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: David Kelly\r\nDeputy Editor: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nStaff Writer: Tamara Howard\r\nArt Editor: Gareth Jones\r\nDesigner: Andrea Walker\r\nAdventure Help: Gordo Greatbelly\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nHelpline: Andrew Hewson\r\nContributors: Richard Price, Chris Jenkins, Tony Dillon, Gary Rook\r\nHardware Correspondent: Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mike Corr\r\nSales Executive: Steve Prescott\r\nClassified Sales/Production: Alison Morton\r\nPublisher's Secretary: Debbie Pearson\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Angus Fieldhouse\r\n\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1986 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nABC 84,699 July-Dec 1986"},"MainText":"Label: Konami\r\nAuthor: Cyclone\r\nPrice: £7.95\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Tamara Howard\r\n\r\n'Left. Right. Left. Um. H-A-L-T!!!! Abo-o-o-ut Face!! Stand easy, no talking in the ranks, listen 'ere you 'orrible lot! You got to rescue these 'ostages! You got to blow up the gun towers! Sgt Murray was a cruel man.\r\n\r\nSo off the team wandered to play Jackal, long awaited conversion of the ever-so-popular coin-op. We set off after fighting over who was to drive our tastefully camouflaged jeep. Trying to stop Jim from murdering small furry animals with the submachine gun was no easy task.\r\n\r\nAs we hurtled through the scrolling desert night, we pondered our mission. What, we wondered, was the point?\r\n\r\nThe point hit us soon enough, when we discovered the first group of men. Marching jerkily towards us, guns at the ready, they looked brave, if small. David put a stop to their little tricks, by running them down with a quick handbrake turn and a nifty change into third.\r\n\r\nWe passed huge gun turrets with revolving cannon and dodged some pretty big really bullets. We evaded chunky tanks and blew up innocent looking huts. We rescued the odd prisoner and saw our helicopters take them safely home. We picked up bonus weaponry and crossed bridges. We got blown up quite a lot too.\r\n\r\nAnd then we had a bit of a rest and a Jaffa cake. And thought, \"Gosh, this is hard.\" (You know what wimps we are). Yes, Operation Jackal is what can only be described as \"A piece of tricky programming!\"\r\n\r\nIt's not a bad game. It's faithful to the coin-op, all the jeeps do the right things, blowing you up and so on, and you can even run over the little men, far more exciting than just shooting them. But it's soooo hard. The jeep you're driving nips about in a mad frenzy!\r\n\r\nPerhaps because it's so hard, there's a real feel of, \"just one moregowhathitmethattimethat'snotfairIneversawitcoming,\" about Jackal. If you're a die-hard player of all-action arcade games then you're going to love it. But if you're easily disheartened, inclined to wander off after only three goes because you just can't get past the third jeep, then you might leave Jackal thinking you've been swizzed.\r\n\r\nI rather liked Jackal. It is, as I've said, good solid arcade action, and you'll need lightning reflexes to really get into it. The graphics, although perhaps a touch sketchy, are adequate, and there's a good feel of the coin op about it.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Fast moving arcade action. Perhaps a little hard for the wimps among us, but a pretty good conversion nonetheless.","Page":"30,31","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Tamara Howard","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) Issue 4, Jan 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1987-12-03","Editor":"Peter Connor, Steve Cooke","TotalPages":148,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Advanced Computer Entertainment\r\nFuture Publishing [redacted]\r\nTelephone [redacted], Fax [redacted], Telecom Gold 84:TXT152, Prestel/Micronet [redacted]\r\n\r\nCo-editors: Peter Connor, Steve Cooke\r\nReviews Editor: Andy Wilton\r\nStaff Writer: Andy Smith\r\nArt Editor: Trevor Gilham\r\nPublisher: Chris Anderson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Jon Beales\r\n\r\nCOVER PHOTOGRAPHY\r\nStuart Baynes Photography [redacted]\r\n\r\nSUBSCRIPTIONS & SPECIAL OFFERS\r\nCarrie-Anne Porter [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOLOUR ORIGINATION\r\nWessex Reproduction [redacted]\r\n\r\nDISTRIBUTION\r\nSM Distribution [redacted]\r\n\r\nPRINTING\r\nChase Web Offset [redacted]\r\n\r\nCopyright - FUTURE PUBLISHING LTD 1987 - No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without our permission."},"MainText":"Konami koin-op konversion.\r\n\r\nTwo years too late is the initial feeling you get upon playing Konami's latest conversion; the game is basically the old Commando/Rambo idea in a jeep.\r\n\r\nThe plot is perfunctory, you land behind enemy lines in order to rescue your captured troops. You get a jeep which can fire either a machine gun or missiles. When you collect men you then go to a heli-pad so that they can be picked up by a chopper.\r\n\r\nAs you'd expect, the territory is infested with enemy troops and defences. Soldiers troll around with guns and grenades; pillboxes with rotating guns are all over the place; tanks are plentiful. It's a question of blasting all and sundry in order to survive.\r\n\r\nJackals playing area occupies only about half of the screen, and your jeep isn't even centred inside it, so that when you get to the edge of the area you're quite likely to get blasted by a gun-emplacement you couldn't see. Furthermore, the range of most of your weapons is such that you have to get dangerously close to things to shoot them.\r\n\r\nAs well as the unsatisfactory gameplay, Jackal also suffers from oddities in the presentation in particular, the packaging might lead you to think that there were elements of choosing characters with different capabilities or weapons; no such luck. You get what you're given - the jeep - and have to make do with it.\r\n\r\nReviewer: Peter Connor\r\n\r\nRELEASE BOX\r\nC64/128, £8.95cs, £14.95dk, Imminent\r\nSpec, £7.95cs, Out Now\r\nAms, £8.95cs, £14.95dk, Out Now\r\n\r\nPredicted Interest Curve\r\n\r\n1 min: 60/100\r\n1 hour: 50/100\r\n1 day: 40/100\r\n1 week: 35/100\r\n1 month: 30/100\r\n1 year: 15/100","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Even for a coin-op conversion this has little in the way of long-term involvement. Sadly, it doesn't have much in the short term either.","Page":"90","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Peter Connor","Score":"487","ScoreSuffix":"/1000"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Spectrum version: Blast the gun, blast the tanks, blast the soldiers."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"CPC VERSION\r\n\r\nThe CPC Jackal is worse than the Spectrum in every respect; graphics are even more rudimentary, with miserable-looking soldiers you wouldn't really want to recruit if you were running your own army. Sound is very weak and it certainly wont tax your mind any more than on the Speccy\r\n\r\nGraphics: 4/10\r\nAudio: 4/10\r\nIQ Factor: 1/10\r\nFun Factor: 5/10\r\nAce Rating: 450/1000\r\n\r\nPredicted Interest Curve\r\n\r\n1 min: 50/100\r\n1 hour: 55/100\r\n1 day: 40/100\r\n1 week: 35/100\r\n1 month: 30/100\r\n1 year: 10/100"},{"Text":"SPECTRUM VERSION\r\n\r\nAs you'd expect from the scenario, there's nothing too intellectually demanding in Jackal. Graphics are rather poor by current standards; enemy soldiers are tiny and unconvincing stick figures, while backgrounds are standard issue stuff. The merely average sound does nothing to soup up the fun."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Audio","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"IQ Factor","Score":"1/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Fun Factor","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Ace Rating","Score":"487/1000","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 75, Jan 1988","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-12-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":164,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"C+VG TEAM\r\n\r\nEditor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nDeputy Editor: Paul Boughton\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lesly Walker\r\nSub-Editor: Seamus St. John\r\nArt Editor: 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: Clive Pembridge\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Garry Williams\r\nSenior Advertisement Executive: Katherine Lee\r\nAd Production: Lora Clark\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\nCover: Mark Bromley\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nJuly-December 106,571"},"MainText":"MACHINES: Spectrum/CBM 64/Amstrad/Atari\r\nSUPPLIER: Konami\r\nPRICE: £7.95 (Spectrum), £8.95 (CBM and Atari cass/disk)\r\nVERSION TESTED: Spectrum/Amstrad\r\n\r\nKonami had a really nice arcade coin-op with Jackal. It must have seemed a great idea to convert to the home computer. A sure-fire hit. So what happened?\r\n\r\nOkay, we know that any coin-op's graphics and sound suffer a little in the transition to the home micro, but this is ridiculous. Jackal on the Spectrum is in a sorry old state. And the Amstrad isn't much better.\r\n\r\nIt even pips that other Konami disaster, Jailbreak, in the dire game stakes.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are naff and the sound - apart from an annoying little tune which plays over the controls selection - is nonexistent.\r\n\r\nOnce again this game is about rescuing prisoners captured by the enemy. The rescue plan is codenamed Jackal and involves you rescuing the POW and dropping them off at various locations to be rescued by helicopter. You control, what is supposed to be a jeep. It looks more like a box to me. It's mounted with a machine gun which appears to fire spasmodically. Grenades, missiles - short and long range - and starburst missiles can be picked up after certain huts have been attacked and the occupant picked up.\r\n\r\nAnd that's it.\r\n\r\nI just hope the other versions turn out better than this offering. So far the only Konami game which we can give the thumbs up to is Nemesis. Of course, other software houses have converted Konami titles with much greater success.\r\n\r\nIronic, isn't it?","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"22","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Paul Boughton","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"AMSTRAD SCORES\r\n\r\nGraphics: 5/10\r\nSound: 3/10\r\nValue: 4/10\r\nPlayability: 5/10"}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"2/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"4/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"5/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]