[{"TitleName":"Perils of Bear George","Publisher":"CheetahSoft Ltd","Author":"Kevin Williams","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0003663","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 9, Nov 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-10-18","Editor":"Roger Munford","TotalPages":90,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Munford\r\nDeputy Editor: Tina Boylan\r\nTechnical Editor: Peter Shaw\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nContributors: Ron Smith, John Torofex, Dr D C Threlfall, Roger Willis, David Lester, Ian Beardsmore, Ross Holman, Dave Nicholls, Clive Gifford, Mike Leaman, Henry Budgett, Simon Goodwin, Sue Denham\r\nArt Editor: Hazel Bennington\r\nArt Assistant: Steve Broadhurst\r\nGroup Advertising Manager: Jill Harris\r\nAdvertising: Dave Baskerville\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint\r\nGroup Art Director: Perry Neville\r\nPublisher: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Sportscene Specialist Press Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England. Telephone (all departments): [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 ©1984 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":"THE PERILS OF BEAR GEORGE\r\nCheetahsoft\r\n£6.95\r\n\r\nDavid: Believe it or not, the idea behind this game is to eat as many apples as possible, so that you can build up enough fat to last out the Winter in hibernation. For those of you, like me, expecting a game based on Boy George, you're going to be disappointed!\r\n\r\nThe first (of three) screens shows the bear in an orchard, waiting with mouth agape for some apples to fall from the trees. It's not that difficult - the only thing that can hurt you is a magenta-coloured apple falling on your head and knocking you out for a few seconds. Then, after three types of apple have been consumed, you automatically move to the ski-piste (?) and have to manoeuvre Bear George to his cave while avoiding the skiers. Once at the mouth of the cave, the scene changes again and it's now your task to walk along the bottom of the cave without touching the spiders who've attached themselves to the ceiling to block your path. When you reach your bed, there's a couple of scconds rest for Winter (yawn) and it's back to the beginning again.\r\n\r\nAlthough the animation and graphics are superb, and the sound well above average too, there's little addictivcncss to this at all - I found it far too easy. Nevertheless, this could be commercial success.","ReviewerComments":["The thought of a game in which you've to force-feed a bear with over-ripe apples in a two-minute binge before hibernation suggests a crafty call to the RSPCA. Overall, one of the most unrealistic games I've seen.\r\nRoger Willis\r\n1/5 MISS","Bear George is a really odd game. I haven't quite got the hang of the storyline yet - I refuse to believe it's that simple - but the graphics and sound are above average.\r\nRon Smith\r\n3/5 HIT"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"60","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Roger Willis","Score":"1","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"},{"Name":"Ron Smith","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/5 HIT"},{"Name":"David Lester","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5 HIT"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 38, Dec 1984","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1984-11-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":212,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nDeputy Editor: Eugene Lacey\r\nEditorial Assistant: Clare Edgeley\r\nStaff Writers/Reader Services: Robert Schifreen, Seamus St. John\r\nArt Editor: Linda Freeman\r\nDesigner: Lynda Skerry, Ian Noble\r\nProduction Editor: Mary Morton\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Matthews\r\nAdvertising Executives: Bernard Dugdale, Sean Brennan, Phil Godsell\r\nProduction Assistant: Melanie Paulo\r\nPublisher: Rita Lewis\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES POSTAL SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. By using the special Postal Subscription Service, copies of COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES can be mailed direct from our offices each month to any address throughout the world. All subscription applications should be sent for processing to COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES (Subscription Department), [redacted]. All orders should include the appropriate remittance made payable to COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES. Annual subscription rates (12 issues): UK and Eire: £14. Additional service information including individual overseas airmail rates available upon request. Circulation Department: EMAP National Publications. Published and distributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nPrinted by Eden Fisher (Southend) Ltd, [redacted]. Typeset by In-Step Ltd.\r\n\r\nCover: Universal Lorimar Productions."},"MainText":"MACHINE: Spectrum\r\nSUPPLIER: Cheetahsoft\r\nPRICE: £6.95\r\n\r\nIf you down to the woods today, you'd better gobble up a lot of apples. That's my advice if you decide to purchase Cheetahsoft's latest game - the Perils of Bear George.\r\n\r\nThe idea of the game is to stock up on food and then get George safely back his cave where he can hibernate.\r\n\r\nGetting to the cave is no easy task as George has to dodge the poisonous apples, loony skiers and bear-eating spiders.\r\n\r\nIf you get to George's cave, he will fall into a deep sleep and the months will start to pass, represented by pages peeling off a calendar - month after month.\r\n\r\nIf you caught enough falling apples on screen one, George will survive the winter and wake up again in spring back in the woods where the cycle begins again.\r\n\r\nI have to say that it is not that difficult to get George through the winter. After a bit of practice at apple catching, you should be able to catch enough food to see our hero through until the spring each and every time.\r\n\r\nPerils of Bear George is one of the cutest games I have played for a long time. The animation is excellent and each screen has a nice jingle to accompany the action.\r\n\r\nThe children's song Teddy Bears Picnic accompanies screen one plus on screen three the music of in the Hall of the Mountain King.\r\n\r\nPerils of Bear George is a great game to buy for your little sister or brother but its four screens are not really challenging enough for the seasoned Spectrum gamer.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"36,37","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"6/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer Games Issue 12, Nov 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-10-18","Editor":"Chris Anderson","TotalPages":156,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Chris Anderson\r\nDeputy Editor: Steve Cooke\r\nProduction Editor: Roderick George\r\nArt Editor: Ian Findlay\r\nStaff Writers: Peter Connor, Bob Wade\r\nEditorial Assistant: Samantha Hemens\r\nSoftware Consultant: Tony Takoushi\r\nCartoons: Kipper Williams\r\nScreenshots: Chris Bell\r\nGame-of-the-month poster: Jeff Riddle\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nGroup Publisher: John Cade\r\nPublisher: Tony Harris\r\nAssistant Publishing Manager: Jenny Dunne\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Sarah Barron\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Phil Pratt\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Susie Cooper\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Peter Goldstein\r\nAdvertisement Production: Noel O'Sullivan\r\nSales Executives: Ian Cross, Marion O'Neill\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]. Typesetting by Spectrum Typesetting, [redacted] Origination by Fourmost Colour [redacted]. Printed and bound by Chase Web Offset [redacted]. © VNU Business Publications 1984."},"MainText":"MACHINE: Spectrum 48K\r\nCONTROL: Curs, Kemp, Sinc, Cheetah, R.A.T.\r\nFROM: Cheetahsoft, £6.95\r\n\r\nWhen I first heard the name of this game I did a double-take. I thought it was maybe going to be a game about the troubles of a pop star but it turns out to be far more run-of-the-mill.\r\n\r\nYou take the title role as a cute-looking red bear. It is autumn and you find yourself in a garishly-coloured forest. Apples are falling steadily from the trees and you must catch them to fatten George up, ready for hibernation.\r\n\r\nIt takes some degree of skill to do this as a squirrel is forever bombarding the poor bear with apples that stun him and reduce his energy level. While this is going on a jaunty version of 'Teddy Bear's Picnic' plays.\r\n\r\nAfter a while (there is no actual time display) you move on to a superb drawing of some mountain slopes. Here George must avoid the occasional skier on the path to his caves.\r\n\r\nThe setting for the third screen is a cave in which spiders are bouncing from floor to ceiling - a nasty hazard. In the fourth you finally arrive at Home Sweet Home where George settles down to sleep. The calendar months tick by in a display in the right-hand corner and the energy he has collected is used up.\r\n\r\nIf at any time the energy meter falls to zero George loses one of his three lives. After a long sleep it's back to the woods and the sequence starts again.\r\n\r\nExcept in the second screen, where two diagonal directions are added, it is only possible to move George left and right. The fire button is used to accelerate. In general the graphics are good and colour used well. Considering the poor sound facilities on the Spectrum, the tunes are quite impressive.\r\n\r\nBut the game requires very little effort to complete and does not increase in difficulty.\r\n\r\nI don't think many players will be able to bear George for long... ","ReviewerComments":["The idea is fine bu it's let down by poor control and a general lack of user-friendliness. For example, the squirrel just stuns you, and the skier stuns you but the spiders kill you instantly. Cheetahsoft seem to look on this as a 'feature' but as far as I'm concerned it's just plain annoying.\r\nRobert Patrick","Well, Bear George does have some quite pretty graphics. Yes, the sound is reasonable and there are some nice touches. But the game is unplayable!\r\r\n\r\r\nIt took me many hours of mind-numbing boredom to discover that the apples can be eaten after all. But it is so difficult that starvation is a certainty, and the surprise for those who eat too much(!) seems reserved for supermen or people who enjoy playing monotonous games for hours on end.\r\nPeter Walker","This game has all the right ingredients to make it a winner: great graphics, great sound, great movement and an original idea. But there is one fault which spoils all this. IT'S TOO HARD!!!\r\r\n\r\r\n\r\r\nOn the first screen I found it impossible to eat enough apples. they kept hitting me on the head. Not one I would buy but still a very original game.\r\nRichard Boniface"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"72,73","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Martyn Smith","Score":"4","ScoreSuffix":"/10"},{"Name":"Robert Patrick","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Peter Walker","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Richard Boniface","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Originality","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Lasting Interest","Score":"3/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 81, Oct 1984","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1984-09-28","Editor":"Peter Worlock","TotalPages":58,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Peter Worlock\r\nProduction Editor: Lauraine Turner\r\nDeputy Production Editor: Leah Batham\r\nSub-Editor: Harriet Arnold\r\nNews Editor: David Guest\r\nNews Writer: Ralph Bancroft\r\nNews Writer/Sub Editor: Sandra Grandison\r\nFeatures Editor: John Lettice\r\nSoftware Editor: Bryan Skinner\r\nPeripherals Editor: Kenn Garroch\r\nHardware Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nPrograms Editor: Nickie Robinson\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nArt Editor: David Alexander\r\nAssistant Art Editor: Tim Brown\r\nLayout Artist: Bruce Preston\r\nPublisher: Cyndy Miles\r\nPublishing Assistant: Tobe Bendeth\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nGroup Advertising Manager: Peter Goldstein\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Bettina Williams\r\nAssistant Advertisement Managers: Sarah Barron, Phil Pratt\r\nSenior Sales Executives: Laura Cade, Claire Rowbottom\r\nSales Executives: Claire Barnes, Phil Benson, Mike Blackman, Paul Evans, Tony Keefe, Christian McCarthy, Amanda Moore, Sarah Musgrave, Tony O'Reilly\r\nProduction: Richard Gaffrey\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":"PRICE: £6.95\r\nPUBLISHER: Cheetahsoft, [redacted]\r\n\r\nThe Perils of Bear George is one of three games which Cheetahsoft is releasing with its new 'joystick', the RAT. In it you play the part of Bear George, and your object is to have a successful hibernation each Winter. You achieve this in stages, in a number of separate screens.\r\n\r\nThe first screen is set in a forest (well, there are three trees). You have to try and eat as many apples as you can which fall from the trees. As soon as you realise how to go about this, the screen becomes tedious - you can't really fail.\r\n\r\nThe worst thing that can happen to you is for a squirrel to drop something nasty onto your head, which knocks you out for a few seconds.\r\n\r\nThe graphics at this stage are quite nice. But they're not as detailed as the picture on the cassette inlay card and advert, which looks like a screenshot. A nice touch to the game is that you can see yourself get fatter as you eat more apples.\r\n\r\nThe second screen, which you automatically reach after a fixed time, has simpler graphics. Here, the object is to cross a ski-piste, avoiding the skiers. This is no great challenge since the skiers are few and far between.\r\n\r\nOn the third screen you're inside your cave, and you have to walk to the end without hitting any of the spiders bounding up and down. As with the last two screens, this is more a formality than a challenge, once you know when to move (which might take you five seconds to work out).\r\n\r\nWell, that's basically it - as you end up with a picture of a sleeping bear, who on waking, returns to the woods again.\r\n\r\nOn the whole, the graphics are above average, the first time you see them, and each screen has its own tune. But as a game, this program is hopeless; its lasting appeal is about the same as a ZX81 sound synthesiser program.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"46","Denied":false,"Award":"Personal Computer News MISS","Reviewers":[{"Name":"David Lester","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"6/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]