[{"TitleName":"Morris Meets the Bikers","Publisher":"Automata UK Ltd","Author":"Stephen N. Curtis, Robin Grenville Evans","YearOfRelease":"1983","ZxDbId":"0003281","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 1, Feb 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-01-19","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":112,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nDesigner: Oliver Frey\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Rod Bellamy\r\nAdvertisement Manager: John Edwards\r\nProduction Designer: Michael Arienti\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\n\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nMono printing, typesetting & finishing by Feb Edge Litho Ltd. [redacted]\r\nColour printing by Allan-Denver Web Offset Ltd. [redacted].\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Wells Gardner, Darton & Co. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post included)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post included).\r\nSingle copy: 75p\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to CRASH please send articles or ideas for projects to the above address. Articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope\r\n\r\nCover Illustration:Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Automata\r\nMemory Required: 16K\r\nRecommended Retail Price: £6.00\r\nLanguage: machine code\r\nAuthor: S Curtis\r\n\r\nAutomata aren't exactly noted for bringing out many arcade games, preferring their obscurantist misadventures like Pimania and Groucho. So it's really thrilling to get a zappo game from them - mind you, you can't get away from the PiMan that easily because he's the owner of Morris of the title. And as an added bonus, in answer to those record companies who keep boring us with their computer programs on the flip sides of hit records, Automata gives you, absolutely free, a tasteful rendition of Leader of the Pac by the incredible Lady Sinclive and the PiMen. If you're into biker songs and butchery then you'll love this hit single (say no more!)\r\n\r\nMorris has been abandoned in a multi-storey car park and he's desperate to get out (he gets claustrophobia). Your task as Morris is to drive around the car park collecting coins (you need ten) to feed into the slot on the closed barrier. Unfortunately the Phaantom, Phreaky, Phearsome kamikaze bikers from the planet of Morris Minor are loose in the car park and running into them causes severe loss of life (yours, of course). Additional hazards are walls, tyre clamps, carbon monoxide fumes, tin tacks and huge parking fees. All this drama is played out against a background of falling fuel supply and the hard concrete of an uncaring car park. The only way between multi-story levels is to use the rather unreliable lifts at either side.\r\n\r\nShould you be clever enough to collect sufficient coins you may leave the car park by the exit at the bottom right of screen which promptly dumps you in another car park. There are nine in all. You do have one weapon at least - a magic horn which zaps the bikers.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nKeyboard positions: user-defined five keys\r\nJoystick options: Kempston, although AGF and Protek with user-defined keys possible\r\nKeyboard play: responsive\r\nUse of colour: average\r\nGraphics: good\r\nSound: good\r\nSkill levels: gets harder with each screen\r\nScreens: nine\r\nLives: four","ReviewerComments":["Good packaging with clear and concise instructions leads you into this unique and very playable game. The hazards are everywhere, from tin tacks to fumes which knock you out for five to ten seconds. The lifts looked as though they had seen better days! Morris has a nice use of colour with good, detailed graphics, although there wasn't much use of sound, just the horn tooting and end of screen bleeping. Each screen is harder than the last.\r\nUnknown","Automata are trying to cash in on their much talked about Pimania by putting the PiMan into a Moggy (Morris Minor car). The graphics are good and the game is fast moving. Control keys are user-defined, which is always useful. The Leader of the Pac single on the other side is rather odd to say the least - even distasteful.\r\nUnknown","Lurching over the tin tacks, suffocating with car fumes, avoiding mad bikers from a bygone age and paying exorbitant parking fees, it almost sounds like real life! However, I think losing a life for illegal exits from a car park is a bit tough! Great graphics with a nice chunky look to them. This is definitely an original game and it can all be enjoyed with the volume full up on your cassette player as Leader of the Pac blares out!\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Good.","Page":"43","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"MORRIS MEETS THE BIKERS in the largest N.C.P. in the world."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"75%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"70%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"75%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"74%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 2, Mar 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-02-23","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":112,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nDesigner: Oliver Frey\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Rod Bellamy\r\nAdvertisement Manager: John Edwards\r\nProduction Designer: Michael Arienti\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\n\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nMono printing, typesetting & finishing by Feb Edge Litho Ltd. [redacted]\r\nColour printing by Allan-Denver Web Offset Ltd. [redacted].\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Wells Gardner, Darton & Co. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post included)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post included).\r\nSingle copy: 75p\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to CRASH please send articles or ideas for projects to the above address. Articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope\r\n\r\nCover Illustration:Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Automata, 16K\r\n£6.00 (1)\r\nAuthor: S Curtis\r\n\r\nAutomata aren't noted for bringing out arcade games, but true to the company's mad hatter image, Morris is loopy and original. It's also a very good arcade game. Morris (a car) is shut in a nightmarish concrete multi-storey car park with several ramps connected by two creaky lifts. The car park is full of hazards like tyre clamps, tin tacks, parking fees and carbon monoxide fumes, all of which make Morris feel very sick. Worst of all are the kamikaze bikers of the title, who roar around the place. Morris has a weapon - a magic horn. You must make him travel the car park to collect enough coins to be able to get through the exit barrier. Unpaid-for exits result in sudden death. Should you succeed there are eight more car parks, each worse than the other. A dubious bonus is the hit single 'Leader of the Pac' on the reverse side of the tape by Lady Sinclive and Pimen. User-defined control keys, joystick: Kempston or AGF & Protek via user-defined cursors. A good game with an overall CRASH rating of 74%.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"54","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"74%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 48, Feb 1984","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1984-02-16","Editor":"Cyndy Miles","TotalPages":90,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Cyndy Miles\r\nDeputy Editor: Geof Wheelwright\r\nManaging Editor: Peter Worlock\r\nSub-Editors: Harriet Arnold, Leah Batham\r\nNews Editor: David Guest\r\nNews Writer: Ralph Bancroft\r\nHardware Editor: Ian Scales\r\nFeatures Editor: John Lettice\r\nSoftware Editor: Bryan Skinner\r\nPrograms Editor: Ken Garroch\r\nPeripherals Editor: Piers Letcher\r\nListings Editor: Wendie Pearson\r\nEditor's Assistant: Nickie Robinson\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nArt Editor: David Robinson\r\nAssistant Art Editor: Floyd Sayers\r\nLayout Artist: Nigel Wingrove\r\nPublishing Manager: Mark Eisen\r\nAssistant Publishing Manager: Sue Clements\r\nPublishing Secretary: Jenny Dunne\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Pat Dolan\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Sarion Gravelle\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Mark Satchell\r\nSales Executives: Christian McCarthy, Marie-Therese Bolger, Laura Cade, Julia Dale, Paul Evans, Deborah Quinn\r\nProduction Manager: Eva Haggis\r\nMicroshop Production: Nikki Payne\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Karen Isaac\r\nSubscription Enquiries: Gill Stevens\r\nSubscription Address: [redacted]\r\nEditorial Address: [redacted]\r\nAdvertising Address: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]\r\n© VNU 1983. No material maybe reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\nPhotoset by Quickset, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Chase Web Offset, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Seymour Press, [redacted]\r\nRegistered at the PO as a newspaper"},"MainText":"NAME: Morris Meets The Bikers\r\nSYSTEM: Any Spectrum\r\nPRICE: £6\r\nPUBLISHER: Automata UK Ltd, [redacted]\r\nFORMAT: Cassette\r\nLANGUAGE: Machine code\r\nOUTLETS: Mail order\r\n\r\nMORRIS ASKANCE\r\n\r\nWe're suffering from a case of Morris Invaders - after Maurice Minor for the Dragon 32 comes this arcade-type game in which the family favourite does battle with the leather-jacketed bikers.\r\n\r\nOBJECTIVES\r\n\r\nYou're in a six-storey car park and must exit at bottom right, avoiding hazards and collecting enough coins to pay your parking fees. There are nine screens to get through before you reach freedom.\r\n\r\nIN PLAY\r\n\r\nMorris begins at the top left of the screen, and down either side are travel lifts, which he uses to get from one floor to another. You choose which keys you want to use for moving Morris and firing or, in this case, parping.\r\n\r\nBefore you can exit to the next screen you must collect ten coins which appear randomly one at a time on the various levels. You have to collect each coin, and if you try to exit without all ten coins you lose one of your five lives. You have to keep an eye on the fuel gauge, of course, and collect the cans of fuel which appear.\r\n\r\nHaving worked out what to collect you must then work out what to avoid. Only by playing the game do you discover that the flashing horseshoe shapes are wheelclamps which hold you still fora few seconds, while the double-prongs are tin tacks which slow down your speed.\r\n\r\nThe two lifts start at slightly different levels but can be lined up simply by riding one of them to the top. Brick walls block off some levels on each screen, and there are 'P' for parking signs which remove some of your collected coinage when you drive over them. There's no way of avoiding the hazards completely as coins frequently appear between a hazard and a wall.\r\n\r\nAnd finally there are the bikers. These ride from side to side on all levels save the bottom one where you have a free run to the exit. They move at the same speed as Morris (unless he's been tin-tacked) and can be blasted out of existence with a beep from his horn. You can be almost at the safety of the lift when a biker appears from nowhere and you're a gonner. You can't continually sound your horn as you don't move while it's beeping.\r\n\r\nVERDICT\r\n\r\nAfter the pottiness of Pimania and the glories of Groucho I was disappointed to see Automata putting out a run-of-the-mill arcade game. After just a few plays I'd progressed to the fifth of the nine screens, so ace games players should polish this off in no time.\r\n\r\nIt's a silly game in the wrong sense of the word.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"57","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mike Gerrard","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Lasting Appeal","Score":"2/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"2/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Use Of Machine","Score":"3/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"2/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]