[{"TitleName":"Pipe Mania","Publisher":"Empire Software","Author":"Brian Rogers, Kevin R. Ayre, The Assembly Line, Steve Purcell","YearOfRelease":"1990","ZxDbId":"0003729","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 77, Jun 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-05-24","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 Roberts\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nProduction Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nArt Director: Mark Kendrick\r\nReprographics: Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Rob (the Rev) Hamilton, Jenny Reddard\r\nDesign: David Western, Melvin Fisher\r\nSystems Operator: Ian Chubb, Paul (Charlie) Chubb\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Caroline Blake\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nSubscriptions\r\n[redacted].\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":"Empire\r\n£9.99/£14.99\r\n\r\nA plumber's lot - in this game - is not a happy one. Pipe Mania sees you in the guise of an unfortunate plumber who must construct a continuous pipeline on the playing grid through which the ever-flowing green Flooz is channeled. To the side of the grid you're provided with a starting point and a dispenser loaded with differing pieces of pipe. The idea is to set down a preset number of piping before the Flooz reaches you. You only have a head start of a few gaconds, so building is a matter of some urgency!\r\n\r\nPipe Mania has three different playing modes: basic one piayer, expert one player and if a friend is to hand, competitive two player. The training mode for all three options is the best to start with as the Flooz fiows much slower. If you set a piece of pipe down that won't fit you can always 'bomb' it, though it takes time to replace and you lose 50 points: if you find the next piece in the dispenser doesn't fit, the best thing to do it set it in a different place and try to head the Flooz flow towards it. Forward thinking counts for a lot in this game.\r\n\r\nTo end the level fit the set amount of piping together and watch the Flooz go, simple as that - but on later levels things become more hectic. One way sections pop up (the Flooz can only head in the direction of the arrows), end sections appear into which you must guide the finished pipeline. Indestructible obstacles force you to go round them. If you get a long way and die, a helpful password system shows you to get back into the action.\r\n\r\nAnd Pipe Mania is certainly action all the way: amazing how a simple idea can create a mega-playable game (as in Klax too). The graphics are very simple, but as there aren't any beefy character sprites charging round the screen this doesn't really matter. The sound livens up the game no end with a great tune and stacks of sound effects. Whether plumbing strategy is your scene or not, Pipe Mania will get your adrenalin Flooz flowing!\r\n\r\nMARK 91%","ReviewerComments":["Pipe Mania is wickedly addictive. Once you start playing you just won't be able to put it down. It's one of those games that is really simple, but still catches you out. Just make a pipeline as long as you can, using the pieces of pipe given to you in random order. The trick is to plan ahead, knowing exactly where you want to stick a four way mega pipe with triple bend. The graphics are very simple, nothing to shout about at all, but the sound is more exciting with a groovy tune and plenty of spot effects. Sheer playability will keep you busy for a long long time.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n90%"],"OverallSummary":"A manic puzzle game - it's the fun way to drive yourself round the bend!","Page":"42","Denied":false,"Award":"Crash Smash","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"91","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"90","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"70%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictivity","Score":"92%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"90%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 54, Jun 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-05-10","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Kevin Hibbert\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nDesign Assistant: Andy Ounsted\r\nContributors: Robin Alway, Marcus Berkmann, Joe Davies, Jonathan Davies, Cathy Fryett, Mike Gerrard, Duncan MacDonald, Paul Morgan, Jon North, Rich Pelley, David Wilson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertising Executive: Simon Moss\r\nPublisher: Greg Ingham\r\nAssistant Publisher: Jane Richardson\r\nManaging Director: Chris Anderson\r\nProduction Manager: Ian Seager\r\nProduction Coordinator: Melissa Parkinson\r\nSubscriptions: Computer Posting [redacted]\r\nMail Order: The Old Barn [redacted]\r\nPrinters: Riverside Press [redacted]\r\nDistributors: SM Distribution [redacted]\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair is published by Future Publishing Ltd [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Future Publishing 1990. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission."},"MainText":"Empire\r\n£9.99 cass/£14.99 disk\r\nReviewer: Jonathan Davies\r\n\r\nLaying a pipeline is quite a thought-provoking business. First of all you've got to decide where you're going to put it, and then there's all that dreadful, noisy digging-up-the-roads nonsense. Dust everywhere. And why do they always seem to pick my house to do it outside? Eh? Hardly an ideal subject for a fab Speccy game, you might think. But you'd be wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong.\r\n\r\nPipe Mania is one of those really good puzzle games. They're very much the thing to be seen playing at the moment, what with Tetris, Klax and probably loads of others topping the charts. In fact, they're brill! And Pipe Mania is quite possibly the best yet. At first glance it looks a bit like one of those sliding block puzzles, except that there aren't actually any blocks to slide. Not to start with anyway. And even when there are you can't slide them. So what do you actually do?\r\n\r\nStart the game, study the screen carefully, and you'll notice a pipe marked 'S'. This is where the 'flooz' will start flowing from within a few seconds. What you've got to do is take sections of pipe, one at a time, from the dispenser at the side and place them onto the screen. In doing so you'll hopefully extend the pipeline from its humble beginnings to a huge great big thing, winding its way round the screen. If, in fact, you don't manage this, and the flooz hits the end of the pipe before it's gone through a specified number of sections, you're a gonner. If you make it, however, you'll clock up a score according to how many pieces of pipe have been flowed through. Any unused ones lying around will count against you.\r\n\r\nThere are loads of levels (with passwords to access them), and as you progress through them strange things start to happen. Objects appear on the screen. Sometimes they're special sections of pipe (like reservoirs which slow down the flooz, or bonus sections which give you lots of points if you route the flow through them). You may also suffer one-way pipes appearing in the dispenser. What's more, you may find holes in the walls around the screen - if you direct the flooz through one of these, you'll find that it reappears on the opposite side of the screen.\r\n\r\nAnd it gets harder and harder. Not only does the length of time before the flooz starts flowing decrease, and the length of pipe you must make increase, but the order in which the pieces appear in the dispenser gets more and more awkward. Towards the end you'll find yourself having to plan the route ages in advance and fill up every last square on the screen. It's a toughie all right. There's even a two-player option. Each player gets a dispenser to him/herself, and the game becomes a competition to see who can get the most gunge through their pipe.\r\n\r\nPresentation-wise. the game is well up to scratch. Admittedly there's not much that can be done to make pieces of pipe look terribly exciting, but there are a few tunes to brighten things up.\r\n\r\nAbove all, Pipe Mania is a 'fun' game. It's hugely addictive, horribly frustrating and all-round edge-of-the-seat stuff - recommended to anyone prepared to put a bit of brain-work into their game-playing. It's a Megagame okay.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"An ultra-addictive puzzler. Conclusive proof that because a game looks square doesn't mean it is.","Page":"31","Denied":false,"Award":"Your Sinclair Megagame","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jonathan Davies","Score":"90","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Eek! This is one of the later levels, and there are yellow blocks all over the place getting in the way! Yikes!"},{"Text":"Here's a quick Pipe Mania lesson - look to the left there, that's your pipe dispenser. 'S' is where you start and the red stuff is the flooz. Now get going!"},{"Text":"Look at this - the water's going crazy, but we've already got it flowing through 40-odd pipes - mega points ahoy!"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"88%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"89%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"75%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"93%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"90%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 86, Feb 1993","Price":"£2.5","ReleaseDate":"1993-01-14","Editor":"Linda Barker","TotalPages":52,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"YOUR SINCLAIR\r\nABC 40,648\r\n\r\nEditor: Linda Barker\r\nArt Editor: Andy Ounsted\r\nStaff Writer: Jonathan Nash\r\nEditorial Contributors: Steve Anderson, Craig Broadbent, Dave Golder, Tim Kemp, Simon Cooke\r\nArt Contributors: Phil McCardle\r\nCover Artwork: Colin Jones\r\nLemon: Arthur Lemon\r\nSenior Sales Executive: Jackie Garford\r\nProduction Co-ordinator: Lisa Read\r\nProduction Technicians: Chris Stocker\r\nScanning: Simon Windsor, Jon Moore, Simon Chittenden\r\nPublisher: Colin Campbell\r\nPromotions Manager: Tamara Ward\r\nGroup Publisher: Greg Ingham\r\nCirculation Director: Sue Hartley\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair, Future Publishing [redacted]\r\n\r\nManaging Director Chris Anderson\r\n\r\nPrinters: Riverside Press [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: Future Publishing Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Future Publishing 1992. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the permission of Alan Rickman. (If you manage to find him, send him along to the Shed!).\r\n\r\nISSN 0269 6983\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair exchanges arrows and twangs lute strings with the forest folk of Commodore Format, Amstrad Action, Amiga Format, PCW Plus, PC Answers, Mega, Super Play, PC Plus, Sega Power, Amiga Power, Amiga Shopper, Classic CD, Needlecraft, Cycling Plus, Photo Plus, Mountain Biking UK, Games Master, PC Format, ST Format, Total! and Today's Vegetarian. Hey nonny nonny!"},"MainText":"PIPEMANIA\r\nTouchdown\r\n£3.99\r\n[redacted]\r\nReviewer: Linda Barker\r\n\r\nPipemania is an out and out Megagame. For me at least, few games come close to this one for sheer playability. In my perfect games collection, stripped down to the bare essentials, there's Columns, Klax, Pang, Rainbow Islands, Rodland and this one.\r\n\r\nPipemania is the everyday tale of a plumber who has to slot pipes together before the water comes rushing through them and floods the entire basement. Or whatever. It went down a storm when it was first released and appeared on nearly everybody's list of the year's best games. It was also converted to the NES and to a coin-op. Y'see, Pipmania works on every single format cos it's so simple yet so wonderfully playable. In fact - it's a bit like Othello. Well, it's not got any little round pieces or a green baize board, bit it does take a minute to learn and least a few lunch hours to master.\r\n\r\nYou might not know it yet, but what you really want is to sit in front of the Speccy for an evening forming long lines of pipes, blowing up parts of it and pulling your hair out when the water floozes out, despite your best efforts. If you don't already own a copy of this cunning little puzzler, then I suggest you pull on your wellies and splash off to the shops pronto. And I said pronto, Tonto. Hurrah!","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"42","Denied":false,"Award":"Your Sinclair Megagame","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Linda Barker","Score":"94","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Freddie hated bathtimes. He'd tried but his mum, Mrs Sylvia Pipe, always found him. Recently he'd started asking people to sponsor him for having a bath. His mum gave him two pounds a time."},{"Text":"Jake had always been a bit of a loner. Even when he was just a baby pipe he used to ignore the other little pipes at the kindergarten."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"94%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 57, Sep 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-08-09","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":84,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Sal Meddings\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nDesign Assistant: Andy Ounsted\r\nContributors: Robin Alway, Marcus Berkmann, Joe Davies, Jonathan Davies, Cathy Fryett, Mike Gerrard, Kati Hamza, Duncan MacDonald, Jon North, Rich Pelley, Jackie Ryan, David Wilson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertising Executive: Simon Moss\r\nPublisher: Greg Ingham\r\nAssistant Publisher: Jane Richardson\r\nManaging Director: Chris Anderson\r\nProduction Director: Ian Seager\r\nProduction Coordinator: Melissa Parkinson\r\nSubscriptions: Computer Posting [redacted]\r\nMail Order: The Old Barn [redacted]\r\nPrinters: Riverside Press [redacted]\r\nDistributors: SM Distribution [redacted]\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair is published by Future Publishing Ltd [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Future Publishing 1990. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission."},"MainText":"Pipe Mania\r\nDomark\r\nReviewer: Rich Pelley\r\n\r\nPipes, eh? Yep, Spec-chums, that's what this one's all about.\r\n\r\nYour task is to take pieces of pipe one at a time from this dispenser thing at the side of the screen (the pieces are lots of different shapes) and place them in a wiggly line around the screen, constantly extending your pipeline, so that when all this floozy red stuff starts flowing a few seconds later it can whoosh through the system you've created and won't make a big mess on the floor instead. (Perhaps you played the demo on the Smash Tape a few issues back? Hope you did - 'cos I can't really explain much further.) As you might expect, graphics are of the crisp, clean and simple type but gameplay is such that this makes no difference at all. In later levels all sorts of complications make themselves known. Suffice to say it's quite good fun (if you, erm, like that sort of thing, that is).\r\n\r\nAND FINALLY...\r\n\r\nThere we have it! As I predicted (and Matt and Jonathan got totally wrong) it took me absolutely blooming ages. And most of that time was spent arguing about what a puzzle game actually is and what qualifies and what doesn't (which is one reason why we don't have a giant list of all the ones ever made - we just couldn't agree what they were!).\r\n\r\nNext month - Flight Sims. (Something everyone can agree on.) Hurrah!","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"65","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Rich Pelley","Score":"89","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"One of the best and most original of the recent flood (well, trickle) of puzzle games. Pipe Mania benefits from the fact you can physically see time running out as the gunge creeps up on you. Yikes!"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Fiendishness","Score":"85%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lack Of Sleep Factor","Score":"86%","Text":""},{"Header":"Pull Your Hair Out Factor","Score":"13%","Text":""},{"Header":"Variation","Score":"89%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"89%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 132, Feb 1993","Price":"£2.5","ReleaseDate":"1993-01-18","Editor":"Alan Dykes","TotalPages":36,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Alan 'Doc Marten' Dykes\r\nDesign: Yvette 'Riding Boots' Nichols\r\nSU Crew: Garth 'Clogs' Sumpter, Steve 'Biker Boot' Keen, Philip 'Chelsea Boot' Lindey, Graham 'Sandal' Mason, Pete 'Slipper' Gerrard, Ed 'Bare Feet' Laurence\r\nAd Manager: Tina Zanelli\r\nAd Production: Tina Gynn\r\nMr Marketing: Mark Swallow\r\nMarketing Ladies: Sarah Hilliard, Sarah Ewing\r\nPublisher: Mike Frey\r\nManaging Director: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\n©1992 Emap Images Ltd\r\nPart of EMAP PLC\r\nTel: [redacted]\r\nFax: [redacted]\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nColour By Colourtech\r\nPrinted By Riverside Press Gillingham\r\nTypeset By Altyp Inc\r\nSubs: [redacted]\r\nBack issues: [redacted]\r\n\r\nAbsolutely no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in an electronic retrieval system or copied without the express written permission of the publisher. 'Oh I wish it could be Christmas every day... La la la la' Hope y'all enjoyed the festive season and are looking forward to another year of festive Speccing. I know all of us here at SU are!"},"MainText":"Label: Touchdown\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nPrice: £3.99 Tape\r\nReviewer: Big Al Dykes\r\n\r\nDear Santa, you're useless. I asked you for a massive Skalextric set, a surf board and a few puzzle games for my Speccy and all I got was three pairs of socks, a pink polo neck jumper and seventeen bottles of aftershave (which I don't use). Take my advice and find a new career...\r\n\r\nIf only Santa had realised that a good puzzle didn't mean wondering why all my aunts and uncles gave me silly things for Christmas. If only he had included Pipemania in my stocking this criticism would never have occurred.\r\n\r\nPipemania is a completely simple concept but incredibly addictive. Take a grid, seven squares by ten, put a tap somewhere on it and provide a ton of copper piping all bent in different directions. Then give someone 20 seconds to start connecting pipes away from the tap before slime, the top's contents, starts to flow. The idea being to make the slime go as far as possible in your plumbers masterpiece.\r\n\r\nYou can blow up undesirable sections of pipe, get help from reservoirs which slow down the slime, pick up icons and generally get completely wrapped up in playing Pipemania. To start with it can be annoying but once you get the hang of this game you'll love it and probably never leave it.","ReviewerComments":["It's been a long time since I've played Pipemania and it took me a while to start thinking the right way again. Not for the easily beaten or feeble of heart, Pipemania is challenging and worthwhile having.\r\nSteve Keen"],"OverallSummary":"Pipemania is one of those classic puzzle games. If you haven't got it I would strongly suggest going right out and buying it. Difficult at first but once you get used to it there's nothing more satisfying.","Page":"31","Denied":false,"Award":"Sinclair User Best Budget","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Alan Dykes","Score":"91","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Steve Keen","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"And he's almost made it and... Boom!"},{"Text":"Ever considered railroad planning?"},{"Text":"Plumbers must have great fun!"},{"Text":"The bonus game after four levels."},{"Text":"Watch out for the hedge clippers!"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"91%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"81%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"88%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"92%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"91%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 99, May 1990","Price":"£1.85","ReleaseDate":"1990-04-18","Editor":"Jim Douglas","TotalPages":84,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Jim Douglas\r\nDeputy Editor: Garth Sumpter\r\nProduction Editor: Alison Skeat\r\nDesigner: Osmond Browne\r\nAdvertisement Manager: James Owens\r\nSenior Sales: Martha Moloughney\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nMarketing Manager: Dean \"Boxers\" Barrett\r\nMarketing Assistant: Sarah Ewing\r\nPublisher: Graham Taylor\r\n\r\n©1990 Sinclair User, [redacted]\r\n\r\nTypesetting by J'n'G Print\r\nPrinted by Kingfisher Web Ltd, Peterborough.\r\nDistributed by BBC Frontline.\r\n\r\nAnd like, hey! While we're on the subject, thanks for participating in this infotainment experience. We value your input. Awesome."},"MainText":"This is one of THOSE games. You know - the ones that look awful, like 1979 vintage ZX81 efforts, but as soon as you start playing them, you turn into a dribbling, play-obsessed zombie. One of those games which should have a warning about rocketing electricity bills printed on the cover. One of those games which, in short, are madly addictive, despite not being based on an Arnold Schwarzenegger film.\r\n\r\nSo what's it all about then, you ask suspiciously, not expecting the answer \"laying pipes'. Actually it's about laying pipes. No, never madam! But yes, the big challenge is to lay as many connected-up pipes as you can before the time limit runs out the water comes splashing through and you get your shoes wet.\r\n\r\nThis is how it goes. The screen is laid out as a grid of squares, and each square can contain a section of pipe. You control a cursor, and must move it to whichever square you want before laying the next section. The catch is that there are many different shapes of pipe available - straights, left-hand bends, right-hand bends, crossovers and you have to take what you're given from the bottom of the column on the left. If you manage to lay out a sensible pipeline, when the water starts flowing from the main tank you carry on scoring points; if the water flows out of an unconnected end, you get damp and your turn ends.\r\n\r\nThe whole idea might sound a bit wet, tee-hee, but as the action gets faster and more frantic you'll find yourself refusing to switch off. If you put a bit of pipe in the wrong place you can \"bomb\" it out on your next go, but this loses you time and points. On later levels your pipeline is interrupted by wrenches, but you also get reservoirs which will delay the flow of the water.\r\n\r\nThere's also a bonus level interrupting the main game; this is a bit like Tetris, as bits of pipe fall from the top of the screen, and you have to move them left or right before they drop into place. You can't though, turn them around, as you can with the differently-shaped blocks in tetris, so if anything this is even more of a challenge. A counter at the side of the screen shows you how many pieces of pipe are remaining.\r\n\r\nAnimation, such as it is, is decent, screen colours are minimal and sound is too. Still, the fab news is that this attention-catching game is likely to be appearing on a coin-op near you in due course; nice to see the games industry creating ideas rather than pinching them from the coin-ops. So get your wrench out of your trouser pocket and get pipe-laying as soon as poss.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Amazingly addictive pipe laying fun. Not much to look at, but great to play.","Page":"70","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Chris Jenkins","Score":"88","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"And the scores on the doors today, Norris. Brian is the clear leader with a massive Million points!"},{"Text":"Oh yes! Well ahead of the flow of water on this early level, you've got to maximise your skills quickly."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"45%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"89%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"91%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"88%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"The Games Machine Issue 31, Jun 1990","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1990-05-28","Editor":"Richard Montiero","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"ALL DEPARTMENTS\r\nNewsfield, The Games Machine, [redacted]\r\n\r\nEDITORIAL\r\nConsultant Editor: Richard Monteiro\r\nDeputy Editor: Richard Eddy\r\nSub Editor: Dominic Handy\r\nStaff Writers: Robin Candy, Mark Caswell, Warren Lapworth\r\nEditorial Assistant: Vivien Vickress\r\nEditorial Director: Oliver Frey\r\nPhotography: Michael Parkinson\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nProduction Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nReprographics: Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard, Robert Hamilton\r\nSystems Operators: Ian Chubb (supervisor), Paul Chubb\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAd Sales: Sarah Chapman, Jackie Morris (assistant)\r\nAdministration Assistant: Joanne Lewis\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions rates available from main address\r\n\r\nDesigned and typeset on Apple Macintosh II computers running Quark Xpress, Adobe Illustrator 88, with systems support from Digital Print Reprographics, [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by BPCC Business Magazines (Carlisle) Ltd, [redacted] - a member of the BPCC Group. Distribution effected by COMAG, [redacted].\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. List of winners are available after the closing date from Viv Vickress at the main address. No person who has any relationship to anyone who works for Newsfield Ltd or any sponsoring companies may enter the competitions. No 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 suitable SAE. 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 - we reserve the right to edit any written material. The views expressed in TGM are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\n©1990 TGM Magazines Ltd\r\nA Newsfield Publication ISSN 0954-8092\r\n\r\nCover Design Roger Kean"},"MainText":"Spectrum Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99\r\n\r\nOriginally reviewed: TGM017.\r\n\r\nPipe Mania's divided square playing area means the Spectrum's limited colour capabilities have been easy to overcome. Although individual squares are monochrome - which makes them clear and easy on the eyes - others use two different colours to provide variety to the display. Gameplay is little different from other versions - it's hard to spoil it - and that means this is one mean puzzle game","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"56","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Warren Lapworth","Score":"82","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"82%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]