[{"TitleName":"Oriental Hero","Publisher":"Firebird Software Ltd","Author":"Michel Nass, Tommy Gardh","YearOfRelease":"1987","ZxDbId":"0003546","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 44, Sep 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-08-27","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nAssistant Editor: Barnaby Page\r\nStaff Writers: Richard Eddy, Lloyd Mangram, Ian Phillipson, Ben Stone\r\nPhotographers: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\nOffice: Sally Newman\r\nTechnical Editor: Simon N Goodwin\r\nAdventure: Derek Brewster\r\nPBM: Brendon Kavanagh\r\nStrategy: Philippa Irving\r\nLondon: John Minson\r\nContributors: Jon Bates, Robin Candy, Mike Dunn, Franco Frey, Dominic Handy, Nick Roberts, Mark Rothwell, Paul Sumner\r\nEducational Software: Rosetta McLeod\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nArt Director: Gordon Druce\r\nIllustrator: Oliver Frey\r\nLayout: Tony Lorton, Mark Kendrick\r\nProcess and Planning: Matthew Uffindell, Jonathan Rignall, Nick Orchard\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Nick Wild\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nEditorial and Production: [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order and Subscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypesetting by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistributed by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced whole or in part without written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return any written material sent to CRASH 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.\r\n\r\n©1987 Newsfield Limited\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Firebird (Silver)\r\nRetail Price: £1.99\r\nAuthor: Tron Software\r\n\r\nAfter many long months spent meditating on a mountaintop, following his victory in Firebird's Ninja Master games, the Ninja is once again ready - ready to challenge Zerwin The Wizard for the ultimate title of Supreme Oriental Combat Master.\r\n\r\nIf the Ninja fails, death will be his only reward. So mind and body must be one, and both must be all-powerful.\r\n\r\nThe Ninja's quest takes place on a horizontally-scrolling road which leads to Zerwin's palace. This road is protected by the Wizards, bloodthirsty armed guards who attack the unsuspecting Ninja and throw darts at him. He can jump or duck to avoid the darts, but three powerful kicks are needed to fight off these foes.\r\n\r\nWinged beasties also pose a threat - they rush up, arms stretched forward, and attempt to strangle the life from our hero. A single punch or kick will send one of the foul creatures flying off the screen.\r\n\r\nAt the end of each of the four levels a powerful guardian awaits the Ninja. The first to fight is a Terrible Indian Cobra; then come a Highly Technical Triple Armed War Unit, Ivan Dragovich, The Russian Master, and finally Supreme Oriental Combat Master Zerwin The Wizard himself.\r\n\r\nFirebird/Tron Software's Ninja Master received 64% Overall in CRASH Issue 30.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nJoysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair\r\nGraphics: large, crudely-animated characters\r\nSound: insipid title tune, and spot FX","ReviewerComments":["Oriental Hero is so incredibly bad it's almost worth a look. There's everything you'd expect from the authors of Ninja Master rubbish gameplay, poor graphics and no lasting appeal.\r\nBen Stone\r\n24%","Graphically Oriental Hero is excellent. And the tune for the title screen isn't bad either. But when you try to play, the tears set in! Wherever, whatever you do, you get killed before realising it. The terribly hard gameplay is a real shame, because otherwise Oriental Hero would be very addictive as kick-'em-ups go. As it is, you'll soon be bored.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n52%","I don't know why Firebird insists on throwing out all these martial-arts games -none are very good, and they're not presented well. Oriental Hero is totally unplayable; the graphics are very badly animated, with uninvolving backgrounds. Firebird should know better.\r\nPaul Sumner\r\n15%"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: A crude follow-up to Ninja Master with unwieldy gameplay.","Page":"18","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Ben Stone","Score":"24","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"52","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Paul Sumner","Score":"15","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Full of Eastern... promise? ... another battering scene from Oriental Hero."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"57%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"47%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"21%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"22%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"30%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 22, Oct 1987","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1987-09-10","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Peter George\r\nActing Production Editor: John Leach\r\nTechnical Editor: Phil South\r\nSoftware Editor: Marcus Berkmann\r\nDesigner: Darrell King\r\nEditorial Assistant: Angela Eager\r\nContributors: Richard Blaine, Audrey & Owen Bishop, Chris Donald, Mike Gerrard, Gwyn Hughes, ZZKJ, Tony Lee, Rick Robson, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith, Mischa Welsh, Tony Worrall\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Julian Harriott\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nManaging Editor: Kevin Cox\r\nPublisher: Roger Munford\r\nPublishing Director: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Dennis Publishing Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England.\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1987 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":"Firebird\n£1.99\nReviewer: Rick Robson\n\nIf you've a yen for Kung Fu combat games which are full of Eastern Promise, then perhaps you'd like to nippon down to the chip shop for a few bytes of Firebird's latest, Oriental Hero.\n\nYour bruising mission is to become Supreme Oriental Combat Master, and to achieve this you'll need not only super skills, but mega stamina, as there's four rounds to fight through. You have all the usual powers, squatting, jumping, kicking and fly kicks, to be practised either on joystick or keyboard.\n\nWhat's more, you'll have to have hair trigger reactions, 'cos as your ninja wanders against a gently scrolling Outer Mongolian panorama (and I always thought the Far East was Billericay), your assailants will fly at you from various angles and differing speeds and directions. And when I say your enemies are speedy, there so preciptous they're the kind that can hit the switch and be under the sheets before the lights gone off. So be prepared for death by a thousand cuts (and kicks and chops) before you learn to deal with your foes.\n\nIf you win your way through to the end of a round, you must defeat the combat master at the level to go on to the next. For example, you must beat the Indian Cobra at the end of round one (worth 300 points) to get to round two, and at the end of that beat the war unit (worth 400 points) and so forth. Only with the defeat of Zerwin the Magician can you claim to be a true Ninja master.\n\nThere's nothing much wrong with Oriental Hero, it's fast with cheery graphics and ear thumping sound fix. But it sure lacks imagination. There's nothing new in it, and unless you're a fanatic or this is your first kung fu game, then it's probably not worth a dosh. But that certainly won't stop it being a hit!","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"No-frills beat 'em up that adds nowt to the 8 billion previous no-frills beat 'em up. Bound to do well, though.","Page":"74","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Rick Robson","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"6/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 66, Sep 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-08-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: David Kelly\r\nDeputy Editor: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nStaff Writer: Tamara Howard\r\nArt Editor: Gareth Jones\r\nAdventure Help: Gordo Greatbelly\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nHelpline: Andrew Hewson\r\nContributors: Richard Price, Andy Moss, Gary Rook\r\nHardware Correspondent: Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Mike Corr\r\nProduction Assistant: Alison Morton\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Linda Everest\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Lee Sullivan, Jerry Paris, James MacDonald\r\n\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypeset by PRS Ltd, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1986 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nABC 84,699 July-Dec 1986"},"MainText":"Label: Firebird\r\nAuthor: Tron\r\nPrice: £1.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Tony Dillon\r\n\r\nAh soo! Ret us return to ancient times, glasshopper, to a far off legion in Outer Mongolia where a stlanger has appeared and is after the title of Supleme Oliental Combat Master. Tly saying that with a mouth full of No 47 soy sauce. You are that masked stranger, and you must fight your way through four rounds of intense combat training.\r\n\r\nAt the end of each round you'll fight one of the masters but unfortunately you only have an armoury of three kicks to help you win through and basically you've got no chance.\r\n\r\nThis follow up to Ninja Master - probably the most successful trash title of all time - is all so fast, though, that winning starts being a matter of luck.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Follow-up to the very appalling Ninja Master. This one's so fast there's more luck than skill involved.","Page":"25","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Tony Dillon","Score":"4","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]