[{"TitleName":"Lazer Tag","Publisher":"Go!","Author":"Probe Software Ltd","YearOfRelease":"1988","ZxDbId":"0002833","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 53, Jun 1988","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1988-05-26","Editor":"Steve Jarratt","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Steven Jarratt\r\nSoftware Editor: Dominic Handy\r\nStaff Writers: Katharina Hamza, Nick Roberts, Lloyd Mangram, Mark Caswell\r\nTechnical Writers: Jon Bates, Simon N Goodwin\r\nEditorial Assistant: Frances Mable\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\nContributors: Julian Rignall Paul Evans, Roger Kean, Raffaele Cecco, Rosetta McLeod, Brendon Kavanagh, Paul Sumner, Robin Candy\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nArt Director: Mark Kendrick\r\nAssistant Art Director: Wayne Allen\r\nDesign & Layout: Yvonne Priest, Melvyn Fisher\r\nPre-Print Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics/Film Planning: Matthew Uffindell, Nick Orchard, Ian Chubb, Robert Millichamp\r\n\r\nPublishing Controller: David Western\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\n\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nSales Executive: Andrew Smales\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypesetting by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group. Distribution 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 Frances Mable a line at the [redacted] 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.\r\n\r\nNo 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. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\nTotal: 96,590\r\nUK/EIRE: 90,822\r\n\r\n©CRASH Ltd, 1988\r\n\r\nCover Design & Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Go!\r\nRetail Price: £8.99 cassette, £12.99 disk\r\nAuthor: Probe\r\n\r\nFresh from its success as a light game, Lazer Tag makes its appearance in computerised form.\r\n\r\nOne or two alternating players take the part of a cadet undergoing rigorous instruction at the Lazer Tag training school. Training is divided into two disciplines: Shoot Out and Target. Both take place against the background of a vertically scrolling, futuristic practice arena.\r\n\r\nIn Shoot Out, 'tagger' opponents advance from all sides firing leers. The player attempts to make his way through the complex within a given time limit, shooting as many of his opponents as possible.\r\n\r\nThe arena features spinning terminals which deflect the lazer and double or quadruple the beam when hit, and certain walls ricochet shots around the arena.\r\n\r\nTarget is designed to test shooting accuracy. The player is automatically transported through the arena and attempts to shoot as many taggers as possible. He controls the direction in which he fires but not the route taken through each room.\r\n\r\nAt the end of each practice session the player is given a rating: his skill determines the degree of promotion obtained.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nJoysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair\r\nGrpahics: poor on the first stage, but improve as you progress\r\nSound: average title tune and spot effects\r\nOptions: definable keys","ReviewerComments":["Lazer Tag is an extremely plain game that holds nothing new - a few little nasties that look like garden gnomes shooting at you isn't my idea of fun. The whole play area is monochromatic which merely changes to red when you've been tagged. The majority of the graphics are simply made up of different types of shading and the tiny enemies and vehicles make it look worse. The only way you can tell where you are on the screen is by looking for the lazer tagger with the flashing helmet, otherwise you look like the opponents! Coming from Probe, who also did Trantor The Last Storm Trooper, this is a great disappointment. I'd stick to the real thing if I was you!\r\nNick Roberts\r\n44%","Perhaps GO! Should have renamed this Rubber Bullet - it seems to be closer to firing rubber projectiles than the sophisticated later system on which it's based. Lazer Tag is no more than a monochromatic Ikari Warriors - albeit an above average one. The main section of the game is fun to play and mildly addictive, but the real skill is exercised on the target section, in which accuracy takes over from mayhem. Here lies a competitive and compelling test of skill and judgement. Lazer Tag is immediately addictive and enjoyable to play for a couple of hours (which cannot be said of most games nowadays) but whether it'll hold an attraction for more than a few weeks is another matter.\r\nPaul Sumner\r\n70%","When they were first introduced, light games like Lazer Tag came across as a comparatively original concept. In the form of a computer game none of these innovations really have much impact and Lazer Tag turns out to be a fairly standard shoot 'em up. The graphics are finely detailed but create no real sense of tension. The original Lazer Tag simulates the sound of a beating heart - had this been included it might have contributed to a more motivating atmosphere of suspense. Target practice is the only slightly unusual feature and even this only generates a small amount of curiosity. Otherwise Lazer Tag is carefully programmed, scrolls smoothly and plays quite well. You could do worse than this unexceptional, but competent tag 'em up.\r\nKati Hamza\r\n60%"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Nothing more than a simple shoot 'em up.","Page":"12,13","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"44","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Paul Sumner","Score":"70","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Kati Hamza","Score":"60","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"57%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"58%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"50%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"59%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 32, Aug 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-07-12","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Darrell King\r\nDeputy Editor: Marcus Berkmann\r\nTechnical Editor: Phil South\r\nProduction Editors: Jackie Ryan, Sophie Moorcock\r\nDesigner: Catherine Higgs\r\nContributors: Richard Blaine, Owen & Audrey Bishop, Ciaran Brennan, Jonathan Davies, Mike 'Skippy' Dunn, Mike Gerrard, Sean Kelly, Graeme Kidd, David McCandless, Duncan McDonald, John Minson, Nat Pryce, Peter Shaw, Ben Stone\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Stansfield\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nArt Director: Hazel Bennington\r\nPublisher: Kevin Cox\r\nPublishing Director: Roger Munford\r\nFinance Director: Colin Crawford\r\nManaging Director: Stephen England\r\nChairman: Felix Dennis\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":"Go!\r\n£8.99\r\nReviewer: Ben Stone, Mike Dunn\r\n\r\nHas anyone ever noticed how Gateway supermarkets seem to have been designed specifically as Lazer Tag arenas? Forget the Saturday morning trip down to the shopping centre for your Sunday joint, vegeburger or whatever - replace your shopping lists with the latest in infra-red technology Granny; we're talking targets not trolleys herre! The creepy mist, the atmospheric music and the slippery floors, it's all at Gateway. The only problem is the store manager brandishing a leg of frozen lamb! Yes Ben 'n' Skippy are well and truly veterans of the light fantastic (albeit infra-red!). But what has blasting with Lazer Tag go to do with Go!'s game of the same name? Good Question...\r\n\r\nThe year is 3010 and you have roe been enrolled into the Laser Tag Training school - in the hope that, just maybe, one day you may be good enough to carry the title of Duelist and be entered in the Laser Tag games.\r\n\r\nAs all other cadets before you, you have to prove yourself in the vertically scrolling arena and thus be promoted through the six levels, from Neophyte to Duelist. Each level has a sightly different playing area and is played in two phases: the first, called Rabitoid, is a straight shoot out with other cadets, who are all just as eager as you to climb the ranks and just as nifty with their Laser Tag weapons too. Here the player races against the clock to the end of the arena, to gain a whopping great bonus tagging out as many opponents as possible on the way, and icons can be picked up for extra points, time, lives or increased firepower. The second phase, called Target, is a lot less hassle. The players follows a fixed path through the arena and picks off targets, who don't shoot back, as they pop up around the place. This time the bonus is calculated from the shooters accuracy.\r\n\r\nOn the whole Laser Tag plays like a mediocre Commando variant with insipid opponents (even on the higher levels), and a boring section in the middle that breaks up the gameplay drastically. The bouncy bullets/Laser blasts are a nice touch (and one of the few tie-ins with Laser Tag proper), but more often than not it's very difficult to see the surfaces that you can bounce your blasts off, or the things that you're supposed to shoot at, because the graphics are poorly coloured and detailed.\r\n\r\nWhen you consider that with a bit of shopping around, you can pick up an original Laser lag set for around twenty quid, the price tag of £8.99 on this seems to be well wide of the mark. I know which I'd rather spend my money on.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Unoriginal, unplayable, overpriced and generally unappelaing. Laser Tag has very little going for it - stay well away...","Page":"67","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Ben Stone","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/10"},{"Name":"Mike Dunn","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"3/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"3/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"3/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"3/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 75, Jun 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-05-18","Editor":"Graham Taylor","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nStaff Writer: Tamara Howard\r\nArt Editor: Gareth Jones\r\nDesigner: Andrea Walker\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nTechnical: Andrew Hewson, Rupert Goodwins\r\nContributors: Tony 'I'm a headbanger' Dillon, Chris '10 o'clock isn't late' Jenkins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Katherine Lee\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Margaret Caddick-Adams\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Alison Morton\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nPublisher's Assistant: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Terry 'Great idea, I'll put it on the back burner immediately' Pratt\r\nMarketing: Clive Pembridge\r\n\r\nPhone: [redacted]\r\nFax: [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions: [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: [redacted]\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis Month's Cover: Clive Goodyear\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1988 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458"},"MainText":"Label: Go!\r\nAuthor: Probe Software\r\nPrice: £8.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Jim Douglas\r\n\r\nNow, we all know that the public image of the typical computer user is a small, spotty youth in an anorak and tatty trainers, hunched in a semi-darkened room trying to blast the last space pixie on level 99 of Alien Brain Gobblers at one o'clock in the morning. But you're not like that, are you? (Cries of \"I am, I am!\" - shut up, Dillon.)\r\n\r\nNo, the real computer user is a tough, macho type who enjoys healthy physical exertion and getting duffed around a bit, 'cos it's all very character developing. So answer me this; what IS the point of taking an exciting, energetic game like Lazer Tag, which encourages you to get plenty of fresh air and exercise, and turning it into a spotty, pasty-faced computer game?\r\n\r\nNot that the game doesn't capture the spirit of the original, which, as you'll remember, involves jamming on big plastic helmets, light sensors and bandoliers, and racing around shooting light-pistols at each other or at robot targets.\r\n\r\nIn the game, you take the role of a lowly cadet at the Lazer Tag Academy, whose aim is to progress through the ranks so that you don't have to spend your free time cleaning other people's boots. To do this you must demonstrate your proficiency at two disciplines; Rabbitoid, a free-for-all shooting contest, and Target, a test of accuracy and skill.\r\n\r\nIn each game, you move through the lazer Tag arena, shown in a top-down perspective view with disappointingly little colour or detail. Your hero must blast the opposition as they emerge from cover. At this, they throw up their hands in horror and scuttle off the screen; no-one gets killed, remember, 'cos this is all very right on and socially conscious and not at all violent.\r\n\r\nIn Target, you progress under computer control, and aim your gun manually to zap as many targets as you can along the way. Shooting spinning mirrors can increase your firepower by twice or four times, as ricochets zip around the arena. In both games, you're playing against a timer, and are awarded bonus points for speed and number of targets hit. You lose one of your six lives every time you are shot or run out of time.\r\n\r\nTechnically competent, Lazer Tag misses out on any sort of exciting or involving gameplay. A perfect example of the sort of licensing deal which, I'm afraid, gives licensing deals a bad name.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Unexciting blasting game based on the popular light-gun package.","Page":"40","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jim Douglas","Score":"5","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"5/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"The Games Machine Issue 8, Jul 1988","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1988-06-16","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nAssistant Editor: Nik Wild\r\nSoftware Co-ordinator: Richard Eddy\r\nStaff Writer: Robin Hogg, Stewart Wynne\r\nEditorial Assistant: Frances Mable\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\nContributors: Jon Bates, Robin Candy, Mel Croucher, Robin Evans, John Gilbert, Roger Kean, Barnaby Page, Marshall M Rosenthal, Rob Steel, John Woods\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n[redacted]\r\nArt Director: Markie Kendrick\r\nAssistant Art Director: Wayne Allen\r\nDesign & Layout: Yvonne Priest, Melvin Fisher\r\nPre-Print Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics/Film Planning: Matthew Uffindell, Nick Orchard, Ian Chubb, Robert Millichamp\r\nPublishing Controller: David Western\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nSales Executive: Andrew Smales, Sarah Chapman\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\n\r\nMAIL ORDER\r\nCarol Kinsey\r\n\r\nSUBSCRIPTIONS\r\nDenise Roberts\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypeset by the Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset [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 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 THE GAMES MACHINE. 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 Fran Mable a line at the PO Box 10 address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions.\r\n\r\nNo 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 THE GAMES MACHINE - including written and photographic material, hardware or software - unless it's accompanied by a suitably stamped, addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photographic material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\n©Newsfield Ltd, 1988\r\n\r\nCover Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Spectrum 48/128 Cassette: £8.99\r\nAmstrad CPC Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99\r\nCommodore 64/128 Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £11.99\r\n\r\nYOU'RE IT!\r\n\r\nOnce upon a time in America George A Carter III founded a company - Photon Entertainment - which used hi-tech to simulate Star Wars-type battles in franchised arenas for kids with lots of pocket money. Of the various systems which proliferated, Lazer Tag has proved one of the most successful (see feature in TGM001) and GO! picked up the computer game licence on the bizarre condition that there be no violence. The programming is by Probe Software (Outrun conversions.)\r\n\r\nApparently there is a Lazer Tag training school where cadets can learn how to be expert in the game and earn promotion. Training sessions are divided into two sections; tag and target. In the tag section you guide your character through the arena to the gate at its end. Other cadets may be shot for extra points, if they touch your character a life is lost.\r\n\r\nAlong the way equipment can be picked up for time and lives bonuses. Various vehicles drive across screen and have to be avoided, but towers can be shot at which reflect your lazer in numerous direction. Failure to reach the gate before the time limits runs out loses a lite. If the gate is reached, a target section begins which has the character automatically running through the arena again, invincible, with the player able to shoot other cadets for points. In two-player mode players take turns rather than both being on screen at the same time. Ultimately, however, Lazer Tag looks and plays like an inferior and repetitive Commando clone, with some irritating quirks on machines such as the C64.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"The Spectrum version is virtually identical in appearance to the Amstrad one - albeit in monochrome. Lack of colour and continuous tune are disadvantages on the Spectrum, but faster gameplay helps compensate.","Page":"62","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Not as colourful as the Amstrad version, but much faster - Spectrum screen."},{"Text":"The good guy tags his way up the screen so that he may tag his way up another - Amstrad screen."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"\"Lazer Tag looks and plays like an inferior, repetitive Command clone...\""},{"Text":"AMSTRAD CPC\r\n\r\nOverall: 54%\r\n\r\nThe Amstrad version has smaller but also more colourful graphics and a good continuous tune. Another plus point is that when cadets are shot they are instantly taken off screen much as in a conventional shoot-'em-up. Nevertheless lack of variety in gameplay and somewhat sluggish responses make this a below average Commando variant"},{"Text":"COMMODORE 64/128\r\n\r\nOverall: 32%\r\n\r\nThe Commodore version has big graphics but rather bland colours and tune. More importantly cadets when shot can still kill you as they slowly walk off screen, which is irritating, as is the stunned stupor the character goes into after being shot making control difficult for a few seconds. Unlike the other two versions, enemy cadets don't actually fire at you but must touch the character to kill."},{"Text":"OTHER VERSIONS\r\n\r\nGO! are not planning conversions to any of the 16-bit machines."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"53%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]