[{"TitleName":"Mighty Magus","Publisher":"Quicksilva Ltd","Author":"Ivan, Neil D. Pawson, Susan Rowe","YearOfRelease":"1985","ZxDbId":"0003194","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 16, May 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-25","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":148,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nAssistant Editor: Graeme Kidd\r\nTechnical Editor: Franco Frey\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nSoftware Editor: Jeremy Spencer\r\nAdventure Reviewer: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Reviewer: Angus Ryall\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey, Robin Candy, Ben Stone\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\n\r\n©1985 Newsfield Limited.\r\nCrash Magazine is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]; Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted].\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCirculation Manager: Tom Hamilton\r\nAll circulation enquiries should ring [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £10.50 (UK Mainland post free), Europe: 12 issues £17.50 post free. Outside Europe by arrangement in writing.\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. The opinions and views of correspondents are their own and not necessarily in accord with those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Quicksilva\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £6.95\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\nAuthor: Ivan & NDP\r\n\r\nMighty Magus can be best described as an arcade D&D game set in the 30 levels of the Rising Sun Temple. The temple is the haunt of warlocks, wizards and fierce dragons. There is an element of Jet Set Willy in as much as the various platform levels are connected by stairways up or down which you can walk, or jump through to ignore them. The overall object is to descend to the depths to confront your arch enemy, the dragon Fraugy The Fierce, and then escape by returning to the spot at which you commenced the game. There is no fixed exit, and each game resets the entire layout of the temple.\r\n\r\nThe screens scroll along with the movement of your hero, the Mighty Magus, a graphical cousin to The Alchemist from Imagine's game. On his travels he will encounter many hazards, some less obvious than others. The large nasties can be taken care of either by running away, fighting them or casting spells - you can jump on top of them too. Fighting and spell casting will rely on your strength versus that of the meanie. The floors are dotted with magic squares which may teleport you somewhere you didn't want to go, or knock you backwards. Other squares kill the unwary and some spring lethal traps. Chests and rubbish heaps will yield up various useful and not so useful goodies when they are searched. To the right of the playing area is a status panel with score, lives, power, magic levels and items collected.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: preset are A/D left/right, S to search, F to fight, J to jump and 1 - 9 to select spell strength, but the main control keys are also user-definable\r\nJoystick: almost any via UDK\r\nKeyboard play: you have to be quick making up your mind which strength keys to go for sometimes, generally responsive\r\nUse of colour: above average\r\nGraphics: reasonable although a bit on the small side, and the 'bricks' are purposefully confusing\r\nSound: poor\r\nSkill levels: 1 with progressive difficulty\r\nLives: 4\r\nScreens: 30 floor levels of scrolling horizontal screens","ReviewerComments":["Quicksilva haven't been very active for quite awhile now and I thought that they may have gone out of existence. Mighty Magus is one of the more complex platform games I've played for a while - more like a Jet Set Willy, but greatly enhanced. It's something of a weird idea to be thrown into dungeons all on your own, but it does add to the atmosphere of the game, with lively monsters ready to rampage against you. Attention to detail is very good and the flaming torches are excellently done, they do look as though they really are burning. One of the ideas I liked is the 'search' function, where an object may look innocent enough, but if you search further, more may be revealed - something to constantly keep your interest. The graphics and colour use is generally very good, although there is not much sound. This game has many levels, that is room levels, not skill levels, although it is obvious to state that it gets more difficult the lower you go down. Mighty Magus is quite original, and although it might resemble Jet Set Willy at first, it is in fact the first real departure in platform games from the JSW clone. I think most people are going to find this an entertaining game\r\r\nUnknown","At first sight, without reading the instructions, this game seems to be one of those that is absolutely impossible as you keep walking over traps and getting killed off. But on further examination of the Mighty Magus, I've found that although it is very complex, it is possible to complete. It has nice graphics - a shame some of them are very jumpy - its sound is very poor although there's a good tune. The traps on the floor are very infuriating, only a few kill you like the arrows and the walls closing in on you, the rest just drain you of power. The floor is also very confusing as there are different types of 'brick' with different patterns and they keep changing so you are always jumping over something that turns out to be harmless and often landing on a real trap. l enjoyed playing Mighty Magus as there was a lot of variation in play.\r\r\nUnknown","A bit like Imagine's Alchemist was my first thought, but the game is actually very different and much more complicated to play. It relies heavily on the fact that the dungeons are recreated every game, and that the tiny details of the 'brick' floors keep you literally on your toes in case you tread on a trap 'brick' and spring the trap. This can be bewildering at first and then annoying when you think you know what you are doing. But the game is original and engaging and I did find it moderately addictive.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Quite and original idea and entertaining.","Page":"14","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"81%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"78%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"85%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"83%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"81%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"82%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 15, Jun 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-05-16","Editor":"Kevin Cox","TotalPages":74,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Kevin Cox\r\nArt Editor: Hazel Bennington\r\nDeputy Editor: Peter Shaw\r\nProduction Editor: Louise Cook\r\nArt Assistant: Martin Dixon\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nContributors: Stephen Adams, Dave Nicholls, Roger Willis, Ross Holman, Mike Leaman, Chris Somerville, B Herival, M Rapps, M Rai, Malcolm Paknadel, Adam Leonard, Chris Wood, Craig Rawstron, Penny Page, Peter Green\r\nAdvertisement Manager: David Baskerville\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Jill Harris\r\nGroup Art Director: Perry Neville\r\nArt Director: Jimmy Egerton\r\nManaging Editor: Roger Munford\r\nPublisher: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Sportscene Specialist Press Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England. Telephone (all departments): [redacted]\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 Spectrum ©1985 Felden productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Spectrum is a monthly publication."},"MainText":"MIGHTY MAGUS\r\nQuicksilva\r\n£6.95\r\n\r\nRoger: With a name like a make of German articulated lorry, a chap could almost hope for a new set of platform imagery but it's not to be found here. Sorcery is something we appear to be stuck with. At least this reel of software mystics is competently assembled.\r\n\r\nThe plot consists of negotiating our wizard-clone hero through thirty scrolling levels of the 'Rising Sun Temple', searching chests and scrabbling through interesting piles of garbage like a folkloric tinker. Spell-casting and fight options are available for defence and advancement as the quest for Fraugy The Fierce continues up, down and across a magical minefield of behaviourally unsporting geography. Traps and nasty surprises abound, whilst witty graphical images portray temporary concussion or funerals faster than the Co-op's cheapest, upon loss of life. Originality is not one of the Magus's strongest character traits but it kept me out of the pub - for a while at least.","ReviewerComments":["Wot, no joystick option? It's not exactly magic, but the randomly designed playing area makes it much more of a challenge, so even ace arcaders should take some time to crack it.\r\nDave Nicholls\r\n2/5 HIT","There's more sense of adventure than usual in this arcade/adventure, but there's little else to recommend it. And why spoil it with the unpredictable magic squares and the random generation of the playing area? Mighty it's not!\r\nRoss Holman\r\n2/5 MISS"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"56","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Dave Nicholls","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5 HIT"},{"Name":"Ross Holman","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"},{"Name":"Roger Willis","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/5 HIT"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 39, Jun 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-05-18","Editor":"Bill Scolding","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\nEditor: Bill Scolding\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nStaff Writer: Chris Bourne, Clare Edgeley\r\nDesigner: Craig Kennedy\r\nEditorial Secretary: Norisah Fenn\r\nPublisher: Neil Wood\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nAdvertising Manager: Rob Cameron\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executive: Kathy McLennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Jim McClure\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Maria Keighley\r\n\r\nMAGAZINE SERVICES\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\n\r\nTELEPHONE\r\nAll departments [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\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. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included.\r\n\r\nWe pay £20 for each program printed and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nTypeset by Saffron Graphics Ltd, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Peterboro' Web, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1985 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\n91,901 Jun-Dec 1984"},"MainText":"Publisher: Quicksilva\r\nPrice: £6.95\r\nMemory: 48K\r\n\r\nHwo the mighty are fallen. Quicksilva, which produced Ant Attack and Fantastic Voyage, has just released a platform and ladders game.\r\n\r\nEntitled Mighty Magus, the game is packed with the usual complement of spells, traps, monsters, and dragons.\r\n\r\nAs the Mighty Magus, you have to descend all 30 levels to the depths of the Rising Sun Temple, battle with monsters en route, avoid dozens of assorted traps and kill your arch-enemy Faugy The Fierce and escape back to your starting point.\r\n\r\nThe screen scrolls left, right, up and down with staircases leading to each level. Walking along the platform is dangerous in the extreme as they feature hidden traps - each one waiting for the wrong step to hurl you across the screen, make you disappear or to release a flight of poisoned arrows.\r\n\r\nTreasure chests are situated throughout the levels which when searched bestow upon you magic which can be used to cast spells to open entrances and jump off stairs.\r\n\r\nMighty Magus is not a difficult game, frustrating perhaps and a far cry from the quality of Fantastic Voyage. The graphics are outdated, unclear and flickery - a pity it was not released a year ago.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"28","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Clare Edgeley","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"2/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Computer Issue 6, Jun 1985","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1985-05-16","Editor":"Toby Wolpe","TotalPages":140,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Toby Wolpe\r\nAssistant Editor: Meirion Jones\r\nProduction Editor: Ian Vallely\r\nSoftware Editor: Simon Beesley\r\nCommercial Software Editor: Paul Bond\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lee Paddon\r\nEditorial Secretary: Lynn Dawson\r\nEditorial: [redacted]\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Nick Ratnieks\r\nSenior Sales Executive: Julian Bidlake\r\nAdvertisement Executives: Nigel Borrell, Kay Filbin\r\nNorthern Office: Geoff Parker\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Maxine Gill\r\nClassified: Susan Platts\r\nPublisher: Gavin Howe\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Shobhan Gajjar\r\n\r\nYour Computer, [redacted]\r\n©Business Press International Ltd 1985\r\n\r\nPrinted in Great Britain for the proprietors of Business Press International Ltd, [redacted].\r\nISSN 0263-0885\r\nPrinted by Riverside Press Ltd, [redacted], and typeset by Instep Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: U.K. £12.50 for 12 issues.\r\nSubscription Enquiries: [redacted]\r\n\r\nABC 131,769 June-December 1984."},"MainText":"Spectrum\r\nArcade adventure\r\nQuicksilva\r\n£6.95\r\n\r\nMagus Delvin is too into matters cosmic to deal with Fraugy the Dragon, who is biting the knights, scrambling the damsels and pillaging the villages. So you, his humble acolyte must penetrate the fire-breather's lair and slay him in his place of power. And get out again.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"37","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"3/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 19, Jun 1985","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-05-30","Editor":"Ray Elder","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Ray Elder\r\nEditorial Assistant: Cliff Joseph\r\nGroup Editor: Wendy J Palmer\r\nSales Executive: Jonathan McGary\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Barry Bingham\r\nDivisional Advertising Manager: Chris Northam\r\nCopy Controller: Sue Couchman\r\nPublishing Director: Peter Welham\r\nChief Executive: T J Connell\r\n\r\nOrigination and design by MM Design & Print, [redacted]\r\nPublished by Argus Specialist Publications Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing is published bi-monthly on the fourth Friday of the month. Distributed by: Argus Press Sales & Distribution Ltd. [redacted]. Printed by: Garnett Print, Rotherham and London.\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication including all articles, designs, plans, drawings and programs and all copyright and other intellectual property rights therein 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 Argus Specialist Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Argus Specialist Publications Limited 1985"},"MainText":"Quicksilva\r\n£7.99\r\n\r\nIf it wasn't for one absolutely unforgivable design flaw, then I would give The Mighty Magus an unqualified 'thumbs-up', but as it is, that one flaw spoils the game.\r\n\r\nYou play the part of the aforesaid Magus. Starting at the topmost level of an underground dungeon, you must penetrate deep into the lowest levels to face your arch enemy, Fraug the Dragon. As you descend, you can move around various sets of stairs and platforms, and use a SEARCH option to look for useful objects along the way. You begin with a certain amount of power and magic which are depleted by falls from platforms and magical combat with the denizens of the dungeon but can be boosted by things you find along the way.\r\n\r\nThese underground monsters are well animated, though your own movement and the scrolling dungeon layout are fairly jerky. Also, some of the traps on the dungeon floor are quite difficult to avoid as they often look no different from the normal, safe, floor tiles.\r\n\r\nI was really enjoying playing this game until the fatal flaw that I mentioned earlier became apparent. The dungeon layout is randomly generated, which is fine as it provides plenty of variation but the drawback to this is that very often you can drop into a dead-end and find yourself with no way out. This means that you simply have to abort and start the game again from the beginning. This, as I said, is an unforgivable oversight, and makes the game incredibly frustrating. Surely some sort of check could have been built into the game to prevent this?\r\n\r\nMighty Magus is (or rather, could be) a very good game, but the 'dead end' syndrome could well result in the cassette being thrown out the window in frustration. It's up to you to decide if you're prepared to risk it.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"93","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"4/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictivity","Score":"3/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"3/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 108, Apr 1985","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-27","Editor":"Peter Worlock","TotalPages":46,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Peter Worlock\r\nDeputy Editor: David Guest\r\nProduction Editor: Lauraine Turner\r\nEditor's Assistant: Karen Isaac\r\nFeatures Editor: John Lettice\r\nSoftware Editor: Bryan Skinner\r\nPeripherals Editor: Kenn Garroch\r\nHardware Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nArt Editor: Dave Alexander\r\nPublisher: Tony Harris\r\nPublishing Manager: Peter Goldstein\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Sarah Barron\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Laura Cade\r\nSales Executives: Phil Benson, Mike Blackman, Jacqui Edmiston, Andrew Flint, Sarah Musgrave, Tony O'Reilly\r\nProduction: Richard Gaffrey\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Andrea Laurence\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":"PRICE: £6.95\r\nPUBLISHER: Quicksilva [redacted]\r\n\r\nImagine a cross between Quo Vadis, Booty and Sorcery and you've got Mighty Magus.\r\n\r\nIt's a platform game with adventure and mythology. As Magus, your quest takes you down thirty levels to a final encounter with Fraugy The Fierce in the Rising Sun Temple. The adventure ends when you return to the start.\r\n\r\nPlatforms are patterned squares, with the odd brick of a different colour, and beware a change of texture. Standing on some magic squares may throw you over, kill you or teleport you elsewhere in the great domain.\r\n\r\nLadders are staggered white diagonals, but you can jump through them by pressing the 'search' key. This is useful for checking piles of rubbish or chests for useful items such as shields or extra magic. Shields protect you as long as the screen border stays yellow (not long enough). Occasionally you confront a monster, like a giant spider. You can flee, fight or cast a spell (strengths 1 to 9).\r\n\r\nRegrettably I haven't yet caught sight of the deadly dragon-like Fraugy. Bonus points to Quicksilva for its 30-name, saveable high score and monochrome option. The graphics aren't brilliant, and the theme isn't novel, but it's addictive and none too easy.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"32","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Bryan Skinner","Score":"8","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"8/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]