[{"TitleName":"Mike Read's Pop Quiz","Publisher":"Elite Systems Ltd","Author":"Byron Nilsson, Ian Upton, Mark Cooksey, Nick Acton, Paul D. Walker","YearOfRelease":"1989","ZxDbId":"0003196","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 65, Jun 1989","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1989-05-25","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":36,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nFeatures Editor: Richard Eddy\r\nContributors: Robin Hogg, Mark Caswell, Mike Dunn, Nick Roberts\r\nEditorial Assistants: Viv Vickress, Caroline Blake\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION DEPARTMENT\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell (Supervisor), Robert Hamilton, Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard\r\n\r\nDESIGN\r\nDavid Western, Mark Kendrick, Melvin Fisher\r\n\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nGroup Advertisement Director: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Lee Watkins, Wynne Morgan\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nPromotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: [redacted]. Designed and typeset on Apple Macintosh II computers using Quark Express.\r\n\r\nColour 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 the Viv Vickress 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. No 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. We regret that readers' postal enquiries cannot always be answered. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. Colour photographic material should be 35mm transparencies wherever possible. The views expressed in CRASH are not necessarily those of the publishers. Copyright CRASH Ltd 1989 A Newsfield Publication. ISSN 0954-8661. Cover Design by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Elite Systems\r\n£7.99/£11.99\r\n\r\nObviously, the questions are about music, but I'm not sure that opera and classical questions really fit into a pop quiz. Still.\r\n\r\nThere is a one- or two-player option, but the computer opponents aren't brilliant (I can beat them!), and the game improves a bit if you've got a friend who knows a lot about music (or, failing that, Nicko).\r\n\r\nA game's divided into six rounds. There are two jukebox rounds, one at the beginning and one at the end, in which you have to pick one of twelve squares. Behind each square sits an icon representing one of the six subjects - each team member selects one in each round. If a player gets it wrong, or is too slow, it's passed to the other team for one point instead of two.\r\n\r\nIn the second section - spot the star - of Mikey gives you three clues to a star's identity; if you get it right on the first clue, that's three points, the second, two, and the third, one.\r\n\r\nThe third round, your scene, lets you choose a difficulty level. Easy is your player's specialist subject, Hard is a different one, for two points. If you get the question wrong, it gets passed over to the other team for one point.\r\n\r\nName the year is the fourth round - you get given a clue to a year, and round five is the quickfire round - answer up to nine questions in 45 seconds. Getting an answer wrong results in a two-second penalty. Then it's back to the jukebox again...\r\n\r\nPop Quiz is a really poor effort; the graphic presentation isn't bad, but there are only 1,000 questions in six blocks; each block doesn't take long before it starts repeating questions. It's very like A Question Of Sport in style, but despite, Elite's effort to make it rewarding and addictive, it turns out a bit of a turkey.\r\n\r\nMIKE","ReviewerComments":["If you want a review of Mike Read's Pop Ouiz, just read the review of A Question Of Sport, also from Elite. The only difference seems to be the questions and the graphics, everything else is identical. I'm not trying to put the game down, though. It's great fun to play in parts. The only things wrong are the time you have to spend waiting for the computer team to answer all their questions and the large amounts of blank space on the screen. Being a game about music you would think the sound would be pretty good wouldn't you? But no, it's pretty average.\r\nNick Roberts"],"OverallSummary":"The lack of questions catches up and makes the game repetitive.","Page":"15","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Mike Dunn","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"64%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"61%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"15%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"59%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"56%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"52%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 79, Aug 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-07-19","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":52,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nFeatures Editor: Richard Eddy\r\nStaff Writer: Mark Caswell\r\nEditorial Assistant: Viv Vickress\r\nPhotography: Michael Parkinson\r\nContributors: Nick (Pie Scan!) Roberts, Lloyd Mangram\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nProduction Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nArt Director: Mark (Sparkie!) Kendrick\r\nReprographics: Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Rob (the Rev) Hamilton, Jenny Reddard\r\nDesign: David Western, Melvin Fisher\r\nSystems Manager: Ian (\"E\") Chubb\r\nSystems Operator: Paul (Charlie) Chubb\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Production Assistants: Jackie Morris, Joanne Lewis\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nUK Subscriptions and Back Issues enquiries Robert Edwards [redacted]. Yearly Subscription Rates UK £15.40 Europe £22 Air Mail Overseas £35.\r\nUS/Canada subscriptions and Back Issues enquiries Barry Hatcher, British Magazine Distributors Ltd [redacted]. Yearly Subscriptions Rates US$47 Canada CAN$57 Back Issues US$5.20 Canada CAN$6.20 (inclusive of postage). \r\n\r\nDesigned and typeset on Apple Macintosh II computers using Quark Express and Adobe Illustrator '88, output at MBI [redacted] with systems support from Digital Reprographics [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by BPCC Business Magazines (Carlisle) Ltd, [redacted] - a member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistribution 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 the Viv Vickress a line at the main 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. No 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. We regret that readers' postal enquiries cannot always be answered. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. Colour photographic material should be 35mm transparencies wherever possible. The views expressed in CRASH are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nCopyright CRASH Ltd 1989 A Newsfield Publication. ISSN 0954-8661. Cover Design by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"MIKE READ'S COMPUTER POP QUIZ\r\nEncore\r\n£2.99 re-release\r\n\r\n\r\nI really can't see the point of doing a pop quiz on a computer unless its music capabilities are really good. Mike Read's Pop Quiz on the radio relied on the players listening to pieces of music and answering questons on them, it's almost impossible to recreate this on the Spectrum!\r\n\r\nThe game is a straight forward quiz game with a digitized picture of Mike and the faces of the players you choose to be on your team. The screen is mainly blank most of the time with seemingly endless scrolling messages of Mike going on and on about points, and giving questions on bands you've never even heard of! I did get one question with the Pet Shop Boys in it though! Amazing.\r\n\r\nAfter you've played through the game once it gets pretty boring. There's the option of loading in new question blocks but it doesn't take long to get through these. This type of quiz game has never appealed to me. It seems all the programmers do is change the questions and the main digitized picture of the presenter.\r\n\r\nPlaying with friends may enhance playability a little, but if you know what's good for you, you'll stick to the board game or the radio programme.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"49","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"45","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"45%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 42, Jun 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-05-11","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Catherine Higgs\r\nDeputy/Production Editor: Jackie 'Do I get paid for two jobs?' Ryan\r\nStaff Writer: Duncan MacDonald\r\nDesigner: Thor Goodall\r\nEditorial Assistant: David Wilson\r\nTechnical Consultant: David McCandless\r\nContributors: Marcus Berkmann, Ciaran Brennan, Lis Clegg, Jonathan Davies, Phoebe Evans, Mike Gerrard, Sean Kelly, Catherine Peters, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith, Phil South, Ben Stone\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Alison Morton\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Stephen Bloy\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Katherine Balchin\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nCirculation Manager: June Smith\r\nAssociate Producer: Teresa Maughan\r\nPublisher: Terry Grimwood\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\nPrinted By: Riverside Press [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1989 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":"Elite\r\n£7.99\r\nReviewer: Sean Kelly\r\n\r\nHi Pop Pickers!! Alan \"Bum\" Fluff here, bringing you the latest 'pick an old wrinkly and slap a licence on him' game from Elite. Yes, it's Mr Grooviness and Fabbiness himself, Miiike READ!!! (Squeals of 'Who?' and 'Didn't he used to be famous?') with his Pop Computer Quiz.\r\n\r\nAs you can guess, this is the computer version of the TV pop programme (so good they cancelled it years ago) hosted by his wrinkliness himself, Mike Read. On first loading, you're faced with a number of choices, the first being whether to play in one or two player mode. Two player mode is the limit though, 'cos the other four players are controlled by the computer, and consequently one of the most tedious aspects of the game is taking your turn, and waiting for the computer to have the next four or five turns. Boring!\r\n\r\nNext you choose your fellow computer controlled team members from a nondescript selection of portraits of people too old to be in a pop band. Unless it's Genesis, of course. Your specialist area is chosen then, from six unlabelled icons, which makes it a case of guess the icon hope for the best as you can't tell what icon represents what. Sloppy programming already, and we haven't even started the game yet.\r\n\r\nAs in the TV Pop Quiz, there are six rounds. The first is a jukebox round, where each team member selects a box numbered from one to twelve, which will reveal on of the icons, and the area for the following question. Get it right and it's two points, wrong and it goes to the opposition for a try, and vice versa.\r\n\r\n'Spot The Star' follows, where three clues to the identity of a star are presented. Get it right after one clue for three points, after two for two, and three for one point. Get it wrong and it's over to the opposition again. 'Your Scene' is next, which for anyone under 25 means 'the area of music in which you are specifically interested.' Again, one question per team member, selected from 'easy' or 'hard.' Answer incorrectly and guess what? Yup. the opposition get a go at it.\r\n\r\nRound four is the self explanatory 'Guess The Year' and round five the 'Quick Fire' round, in which you must answer as many questions as possible in 45 seconds. Finally, it's back to the (yawn) jukebox for the last round.\r\n\r\nThe major component of any game like this is, of course the questions, and unfortunately they just don't measure up. In a attempt to make this 'family' game the questions go back as far as the early fifties. This is fine if you can drag your parents to the computer occasionally, but let's face it, the SDLP has got more chance of being elected than this ever happening.\r\n\r\nThere is also an incredible amount of metal questions. Presumably some muthah type person was in charge of question selection, and for every question about David Bowie, a major chart musician, there seemed to be about about ten on obscure metal bands who have probably never hit the Top 50. Hardly a representative selection, methinks. Not to mention the tons of classical questions which appear to have been chosen indiscriminately from some dictionary of classical music. Well, d'you know who wrote 'The London Symphony, or Les Sylphides?' Exactly.\r\n\r\nSimilarly, the gameplay is also not half as interesting or well thought out as it could be, firstly because you are limited to two players, and secondly because the attempt at faithful reproduction of the television version has been made at the expense of playability. It is, in effect, just an endless stream of similar questions, with little variety in form.\r\n\r\nSloppy design, uninspiring graphics, plus badly thought out and ill-researched questions let this game down. Not Elite's finest moment, and not something the programmers or designers can be particularly proud of.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"One for pop fanatics and Mike Read fans only. If there are any.","Page":"87","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Sean Kelly","Score":"46","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"45%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"48%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"51%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"42%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"46%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 87, Jun 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-05-18","Editor":"Jim Douglas","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"It's the SU All Stars! Yaaaaaaay!\r\n\r\nJIM \"The Natural\" DOUGLAS (Editor)\r\nA born superstar. Playing for the Boston Redsox team in the 1947 world series Jim received a near fatal injury at the hands of a jealous female fan. While details are a little fuzzy, it's known that Jim spent twelve years in traction and psychotherapy after the incident. Now a coach with many youth teams across the States, he makes regular appearances in game shows and sports quiz programmes in the US. He has been paralleled with Emelyn Hughes Once\r\n\r\nALISON \"Tin-legs\" SKEAT (Production Editor)\r\nIn shock developments this month, motorcycle stunt racer Skeat was both involved in a horrific accident during a display and a ghastly mix-up in the resulting hospital visit. After weeks of plastic surgery it became clear that something was wrong with the very nature of Alison's appearance. Is there any hope left? Er, no.\r\n\r\nTIM \"Slugger\" NOONAN (Art Editor)\r\nFrom the wrong side of the tracks, the boy with the Golden Gloves came to prominence in the late 50's. Noonan made a name for himself throughout the boxing world as one of the worst fighters ever to be allowed in the ring. While finding much public support, Noonan unfortunately received such a pasting in his much publicised light with Clubber Paris, he was forced to retire from boxing for good and took up a position running an occupational therapy daytime care centre for the slightly bewildered. His first book of poetry is die to be reprinted next month.\r\n\r\nCHRIS \"Black Avenger\" JENKINS (Contributor)\r\nJenkins was trained by Shaolin monks after being discovered in a pile of noodles at the back of a Chinese take-away in Gerrard St. Now he runs his own martial arts centre in the mountains of South Wales. Described by himself as \"the most dangerous man alive\", he can break a plank of wood with a sledgehammer, can withstand hours of slight chilliness and can run as fast as someone else who can't run very fast. Truly, a force not to meddle with.\r\n\r\nSpecial thanks this month: Tony 'Oh yes...' Dillon, Jerry Paris, Graham 'What?' Taylor.\r\n\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nDirty Tricks: Jon Riglar\r\nTechnical: Andrew Hewson, Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Katherine Lee\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Martha Moloughney\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nPublisher's Assistant: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Terry 'Power Haircut' Pratt\r\nMarketing: Clive 'Lovely' Pembridge\r\n\r\nWhere we're at: [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis Month's Cover: Jerry Paris\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nTypeset by Professional Reprographics Services [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Frontline.\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries: [redacted]\r\n24 Hour Order Line: [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: Back Issues Department (SU), [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1989 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nNo part of this magazine may be ripped off, or you're in deep trouble matey."},"MainText":"Label: Elite\r\nAuthor: In-house\r\nPrice: £8.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Jim Douglas\r\n\r\nNot arf! Oh, that's the wrong DJ. What does Mike Read say? Well, what does Mike Read say? I'll be blowed if I can remember. Perhaps this is the problem with Elite's conversion of the board game of the TV series of Mike Read's radio show. Mike Read himself isn't especially interesting.\r\n\r\nSo, the bonus factors which most licence game rack up by being associated with fab movies or coin-ops or TV shows are largely absent. Instead, it's more down to the fact that the questions are bloody tough that makes Pop Quiz a smashing game.\r\n\r\nJust as playing those Trivial Pursuit machines in pubs is far more exciting when you're with a roomful of lager frenzied dribbling idiots. Pop Quiz certainly comes into its own once you've reached hilarity level.\r\n\r\nFirst up is the Jukebox round. Each member of each team in turn is asked to select an icon indicating which musical style they want to answer questions on. Now the fun really begins. Uncle Mike's scrolling speech bubble presents the brain tinglingly tricky question. Usually something like \"Who could be found in the Imperial Bedroom in 1983?\" You're then shown four possible candidates, one of whom it's certain even your parents will never have heard of. Using all your skill and judgement (hem) you've got to \"plump\" in best TV quiz style for an answer. A correct answer incurs points. An incorrect means it's passed over to the opposing team. Ooh.\r\n\r\nAnd so the game goes on. While there are different rounds, the principles remain the same. Each round has a slightly new twist; allowing you to choose hard or easy questions and gambling for bigger bonuses. There's a race-against-the-clock round too, which is actually bloody exciting, though maybe for the panic involved in trying to highlight the correct answer than the interest in the question itself.\r\n\r\nPop Quiz is presented completely satisfactorily. There are semi-digitised pics of Mike Read (phurgh!) as well as members of the teams. Alas you can't digitise yourself and you have to suffer the insane grins of the Elite team. The questions seem to be alternately easy as pie and totally impossible, while some were simply so remarkably dull they weren't worth answering.\r\n\r\nIt's pretty fab. Of course, if you're not into \"pop\" or \"quizzes\" you'll think it's hopeless. Me? I reckon it's the best game Elite has done in ages.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Fab TV/Board-game conv. Fingers on your buzzers!","Page":"63","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jim Douglas","Score":"79","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"79%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 103, Sep 1990","Price":"£1.85","ReleaseDate":"1990-08-18","Editor":"Jim Douglas","TotalPages":84,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Jim Douglas\r\nDeputy Editor: Garth Sumpter\r\nDesigner: The Great Osmondo\r\nAdvertisement Manager: James Owens\r\nSales Executive: Alan Dykes\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nMarketing Manager: Dean 'Timing' Barrett\r\nMarketing Executive: Sarah Ewing\r\nMarketing Assistant: Sarah Hilliard\r\nPublisher: Graham Taylor\r\nManaging Director: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\n©1990 EMAP Images, [redacted]\r\n\r\nTypesetting by J'n'G Type\r\nColour work by Pro Print.\r\nPrinted by Kingfisher Web Ltd, Peterborough.\r\nDistributed by BBC Frontline."},"MainText":"Label: Encore\r\nPrice: £2.99\r\nReviewer: Chris Jenkins\r\n\r\nWhen Mike Reed's Pop Quiz first appeared we quite liked it - gave it 79 or something, which is quite generous considering that Mike himself is one of the most nauseating media personalities in the universe, but so it goes. Now here it is on budget, and has the fact that it's two years old changed our opinion at all?\r\n\r\nWell, yes and no - it's hard to get enthusiastic about trivia quizzes any more, and this is a fairly typical game of the sort, featuring one and two-player options and a database of 1000 questions divided into six banks, loaded separately from tape. Once you've gone through these that's yer lot really, so there won't be any further incentive to play.\r\n\r\nThe worst part of the game is the horrid digitised faces which represent the members of the teams; I suppose they're meant to be typical pop fans, but they look like a real selection of mutants including Vincent Price, Shakin' Stevens and James Anderton. Even worse, Mike himself pops up every so often, leering hideously and posing the questions. You could always stick a piece of brown paper over the spot where his face appears.\r\n\r\nThe format of the game is basically the same throughout; a question scrolls across the screen, three alternative answers appear, and you have a short time to use the joystick or control keys to select the correct answer. If you get it wrong or run out of time, the question passes to the other team; if they get it wrong too, the game goes on to the next question, without telling you the correct answer.\r\n\r\nThere are, though, five different rounds, in which the questions appear in slightly different ways; Jukebox, where you pick a numbered question from a flashing grid on the screen; Spot the Star, where the challenge is to identify the hidden artist; Your Scene, which presents questions on particular subjects such as Heavy Metal, Country and Western, and so on; Name the Year, in which you have to, er, name the year; and the Quick Fire Round, in which the first to get his finger on the knob scores, oo-er.\r\n\r\nThe screen displays, scrolling captions, scorelines and so on are presented entertainingly, but while MRPQ is as good a way to waste your time as any other, it's nothing to get excited about (especially if you're expecting questions on anything that's happened in the last two years).","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Decent, if slightly outdated triv quiz featuring Mr Charisma himself.","Page":"20","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Chris Jenkins","Score":"58","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"And the EMAP team storm into a 6 point lead. But there are enough mystery pics left for a crushing defeat (boo!) Get ready."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"56%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"40%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"58%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"59%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"58%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) Issue 22, Jul 1989","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1989-06-01","Editor":"Peter Connor, Steve Cooke","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EMAP B & CP [redacted]\r\nTelephone [redacted], Fax [redacted]\r\n\r\nCo-editors: Peter Connor, Steve Cooke\r\nConsultant Editors: Eugene Lacey, Jon Bates (Music), Brian Larkman (Graphics)\r\nContributors: Ciaran Brennan, Tony Dillon, Mike Pattenden, Mark Patterson, Julian Rignall\r\nDesign: Vicky Higgs, Phil Hendy, Richard Slater\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Gary Williams\r\nAdvertising Sales Executive: Sean Thacker\r\nProduction: Mark Patterson\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nSUBSCRIPTIONS\r\nEMAP Frontline, Subscriptions Dept [redacted]\r\n\r\nSPECIAL OFFERS\r\n(Christine Stacey) [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOLOUR ORIGINATION\r\nPro-Print [redacted]\r\nScope [redacted]\r\n\r\nDISTRIBUTION\r\nEMAP Frontline [redacted]\r\n\r\nPRINTING\r\nSevern Valley Press, Caerphilly\r\n\r\n©EMAP B&CP 1989\r\n\r\nNo part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without our permission."},"MainText":"ELITE ask the same old question.\r\n\r\nSo who cares about clones? So what if Alien Death Blaster From Zarg looks just like any other blaster? It might still be a good game. At least it lies on a rock solid tried and tested idea. But this one? To say that Mike Read's Pop Quiz is similar to A Question of Sport can only be described as the understatement of the year.\r\n\r\nRight from the start, when you pick your team members (presumably staff members at Elite) you can feel Mike oozing his \"charm\" all over the place. The one thing you have to look out for when choosing your team is each person's specialist subject. After all, you don't want to end up with a team full of (supposed) classical music experts.\r\n\r\nSo, you've chosen your three ugly mugs and which of the five question blocks to load. Then you spot the familiar layout of A Question Of Sport; three team members on either side, Mike in the middle, and a speech bubble above Mike's head containing an almost endless scrolling message.\r\n\r\nThe format is the same all the way through the game. The question is printed on screen, and then you are shown four possible answers. You have five seconds to answer, but if you get it wrong or if you fail to answer in time, the question goes to the other team for a bonus point.\r\n\r\nThe interesting thing about Mike Read's Pop Quiz is that, not only does it look like A Question of.... and have the same format of game, but that the rounds are the same too.\r\n\r\nYou know, round one is the scoreboard thingy with all the photographs on it, then you have sport, the star/sporting personality, home or away/easy or hard, guess the year...the whole shooting match. Are Elite perhaps taking the mickey just a little bit?\r\n\r\nMike Read's Pop Quiz is dull as a one player game, and even as two player doesn't contain much of a challenge. It's nearly, but not quite, accurate - after all, everybody knows that 'Nuthin But A Good Time' was by Poison, not the Quireboys.\r\n\r\nReviewer: Tony Dillon\r\n\r\nRELEASE BOX\r\nAtari ST, £19.99dk, Imminent\r\nAmiga, £19.99dk, Out Now\r\nSpec 128 £7.99cs,£11.99dk, Out Now\r\nAmstrad £9.99cs, £11.99dk, Imminent\r\nC64/128 £9.99cs, £11.99dk, Imminent\r\nIBM PC £24.99dk, Imminent","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"49","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Tony Dillon","Score":"506","ScoreSuffix":"/1000"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"AMIGA VERSION\r\n\r\nWell digitised pics and a couple of happy, boppy little tunes fail to add much to an essentially dull computer quiz game. And it's got Mike Read in it."},{"Text":"POP QUIZ TEASERS\r\n\r\nWhy not try out a few of Mike's questions and see if you're up to the challenge? Answers in The Blitter End.\r\n\r\n1. WHO WERE WASTED IN 79 AND MADE A BIG COMEBACK IN 1987?\r\n(a) W.A.S.P.?\r\n(b) Metallica?\r\n(c) Def Leppard\r\n(d) Quireboys?\r\n\r\n2. WHO PROCLAIMED THAT 'SCHOOL'S OUT?\r\n(a) Black Sabbath?\r\n(b) Alice Cooper?\r\n(C) Dio\r\n(d) Scorpions?"},{"Text":"SPECTRUM VERSION\r\n\r\nHand-drawn pictures take the place of digitised ones, which when considering the Z80 resolution is no bad thing. Still, it looks like Elite have come up with a universal title here, because it plays identically across all formats, including certain question discrepancies."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Audio","Score":"4/10","Text":""},{"Header":"IQ Factor","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Fun Factor","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Ace Rating","Score":"506/1000","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"The Games Machine Issue 20, Jul 1989","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1989-06-22","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL OFFICE\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Roger Kean\r\nFeatures Editor: Dominic Handy\r\nStaff Writers: Robin Hogg, Warren Lapworth, Robin Candy, Mark Caswell\r\nEditorial Assistants: Vivien Vickress, Caroline Blake\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\nContributors: Mel Croucher, Jeffrey Davy, Don Hughes, Paul Rigby, Marshal M Rosenthal (USA), John Woods\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION DEPARTMENT\r\n[redacted]\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nSenior Designer: Wayne Allen\r\nReprographics: Matthew Uffindell (Supervisor), Robert Millichamp, Rob (The Rev) Hamilton, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard\r\n\r\nDESIGN\r\nRoger Kean, Mark Kendrick, Melvyn Fisher\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nGroup Advertisement Director: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Lee Watkins, Wynne Morgan\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nTypeset by the Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow and on our Apple Macintosh II computers running Quark Xpress, Adobe Illustrator 88 and PhotoMac, output at MBI, [redacted] with systems support from Digital Print Reprographics, [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset [redacted] - a member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistribution 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 TGM. 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 Viv Vickress 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 TGM - including written and photographic material, hardware or software - unless it's accompanied by a suitably stamped, addressed envelope. We regret that readers' postal enquiries cannot always be answered. Unsolicited written or photographic material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. Colour photographic material should be 35mm transparencies wherever possible. The views expressed in TGM are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\n©TGM Magazines Ltd, 1989\r\nA Newsfield Publication ISSN 0954-8092\r\n\r\nCover Design by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Spectrum 48/128 Cassette: £7.99, Diskette: £11.99\r\nCommodore 64/128 Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £11.99\r\nAmiga: £19.99\r\n\r\nLET'S TWIST AGAIN, LIKE WE DID LAST SUMMER\r\n\r\nThough Mike Read's extensive knowledge of music hasn't personally been tapped to supply the questions in the game, it's designed to test your melodic mastery from A-ha to Yazoo. (First person to write in with the name of a band beginning with Z wins a free cornflake.)\r\n\r\nTwo players, or one versus the computer, select three team members from a board of portraits. Each face has an area of music associated with it; rock, rock 'n' roll, classical music, pop, country and western, or a mystery selection.\r\n\r\nIn the JUKEBOX round each team member picks a number from one to 12, revealing an icon for one of the six musical subjects. A question in that area scrolls by and four answers displayed, one of which is correct. As is the case with most rounds, a correct answer gains two points and incorrect ones pass to the other team for a possible bonus point.\r\n\r\nClues are given as to the identity of a mystery star in round two, but more points are earned if the question is answered before all three are viewed. In YOUR SCENE you choose an easy of hard question - easy is on the team members specialised area, hard on any musical area. NAME THE YEAR is the same as round two except a year rather than a star has to be deduced.\r\n\r\nNine questions are tackled in 45 seconds in round five. Both sides play simultaneously beating one another to the answers, but a wrong reply automatically gives the opposition a point. (On the Spectrum, both sides get their won 25-second round, but two seconds are deducted for an incorrect answer.)\r\n\r\nFor the final round its back to the Jukebox where the last six numbers are chosen.\r\n\r\nIt's blatantly obvious that this game is a simple rehash of Elite's other licensed quiz game, A Question Of Sport. The screen layout, control system and even round formats are all the same - only names and of course the questions have been altered. The computer itself is a pretty mean opponent and can soon be a bore, so really it's a two-player game.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"The portraits are nicely drawn but are of a fixed style so tend to get rather samey. The important displays (picture board, answer panel and so on) are squashed into a quite a small area towards the top of the screen, but clarity doesn't suffer too much.","Page":"32,33","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Warren Lapworth","Score":"56","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"AMIGA\r\n\r\nOverall: 57%\r\n\r\nClear digitised portraits (of Elite staff) and screen surrounds are all there is to the graphics - the same as A Question Of Sport except a different colour scheme (and Mike Read near-constantly grinning out at you instead of Dave Coleman). The twee between-round jingle is the same as A Question Of Sport and the title music is no better."},{"Text":"COMMODORE 64/128\r\n\r\nOverall: 58%\r\n\r\nClear bas-relief screen surrounds are lightened by the portraits which, though they're blocky (and Mike Read looks like he's wearing lipstick), are semi-caricatures of pop personalities, from Bono to Whitney. Title music and effects jingles are jolly and fun."},{"Text":"OTHER FORMATS\r\n\r\nAtari ST (£19.99) and Amstrad CPC (£9.99, £11.99) out now."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"56%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]