[{"TitleName":"Pitfall II: Lost Caverns","Publisher":"Activision Inc","Author":"Software Conversions Ltd","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0003741","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 35, Feb 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-01-17","Editor":"Bill Scolding","TotalPages":148,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Bill Scolding\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nConsultant Editor: Mike Johnston\r\nStaff Writer: Chris Bourne, Clare Edgeley\r\nIllustrator/Designer: Craig Kennedy\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Rob Cameron\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executive: Kathy McLennan\r\nProduction Assistant: James McClure\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Claudia Viertel\r\nEditorial Assistant: Colette McDermott\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nAssistant Publisher: Neil Wood\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\n96,271 Jan-June 1984\r\n\r\nTelephone\r\nEditorial and advertising departments\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to Sinclair User please send programs or articles:\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nOriginal programs should be on cassette and articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included.\r\n\r\nWe pay £20 for the copyright of each program published and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nAll subscription enquiries to\r\nMagazine Services,\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1985\r\nSinclair User\r\nISSN NO. 0262-5458\r\n\r\nTypeset by Saffron Graphics Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted by Peterboro' Web, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd."},"MainText":"PITFALL II\r\nActivision\r\nMemory: 48K\r\nPrice: £7.95\r\nJoystick: Sinclair, Kempston, Cursor\r\n\r\nDo you ever get that sinking feeling? Seven flights of flickering yellow ladder and a cold bath in a subterranean river should be enough to give you the shivers, and that is about all you will get from Pitfall II.\r\n\r\nA gigantic playing area of straight tunnels and dead ends, peopled by fuzzy white bats, dwarf condors, and spermatozoic sea snakes awaits you, as you guide Pitfall Harry on his quest to rescue Rhonda, his niece.\r\n\r\nControl is not easy, and when Harry reaches ladders and pits he falls at a frightening speed. You must keep holding the joystick to the right or left and watch him inch sideways as he plummets, hopefully avoiding bats and finding a safe ledge before he hits the bottom. There is clearly scope for strategy here, but there is so little you can do to avoid the nasties that the exercise will probably become boring long before the problem is solved.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"29","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Chris Bourne","Score":"5","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Gilbert Factor","Score":"5/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair Programs Issue 28, Feb 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-01-17","Editor":"Rebecca Ferguson","TotalPages":68,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Rebecca Ferguson\r\nStaff Writer: June Mortimer\r\nDesign/Illustration: Elaine Bishop\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Howard Rosen\r\nEditorial Assistant: Colette McDermott\r\nProduction Co-ordinator: Claudia Viertel\r\nSubscription Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nAssistant Publisher: Neil Wood\r\nPublisher: Gerry Murray\r\n\r\nSinclair Programs is published monthly by EMAP Business and Computer Publications.\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nIf you would like your original programs to be published in Sinclair Programs, please send your contributions, which must not have appeared elsewhere, to:\r\nSinclair Programs\r\nEEC Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrograms should be on cassette. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included. We pay £25 for the copyright of listings published and £10 for the copyright of listings published in the Beginners' section.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1985 Sinclair Programs\r\nISSN No. 0263-0265\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by: Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nAll subscription enquiries:\r\nMagazine Services,\r\nEMAP Business and Computer Publications\r\n[redcated]\r\n\r\nCover Design: Craig Kennedy"},"MainText":"GAME TYPE: Arcade\r\n\r\nSomehow there is more disappointment in encountering a bad game with a misleadingly good write-up on the cassette sleeve than there is in simply encountering a bad game. Pitfall 2 sounds very promising. Vampire bats, poisonous frogs and deadly electric eels all sound exciting and challenging.\r\n\r\nIn point of fact, the game is not much fun. The frogs are OK, although they hardly move. The scorpions have all the convincingly animated reality of a picture being dragged along the ground, and the bats are little more than shapeless blobs recognisable as bats only because they move around in the air rather than on the ground.\r\n\r\nYour aim is to move around the underground caverns, collecting the gold bullion in order to gain points, and finally collecting the Raj diamond. Some of the graphics are good, for example the underground rivers and waterfalls. Scrolling from screen to screen is not smooth, but performed in a series of jerky steps.\r\n\r\nPitfall 2 is produced for the 48K Spectrum by Activision.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"15","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"June Mortimer","Score":"35","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Rating","Score":"35%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 19, Jun 1985","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-05-30","Editor":"Ray Elder","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Ray Elder\r\nEditorial Assistant: Cliff Joseph\r\nGroup Editor: Wendy J Palmer\r\nSales Executive: Jonathan McGary\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Barry Bingham\r\nDivisional Advertising Manager: Chris Northam\r\nCopy Controller: Sue Couchman\r\nPublishing Director: Peter Welham\r\nChief Executive: T J Connell\r\n\r\nOrigination and design by MM Design & Print, [redacted]\r\nPublished by Argus Specialist Publications Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing is published bi-monthly on the fourth Friday of the month. Distributed by: Argus Press Sales & Distribution Ltd. [redacted]. Printed by: Garnett Print, Rotherham and London.\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication including all articles, designs, plans, drawings and programs and all copyright and other intellectual property rights therein belong to Argus Specialist Publications Limited. All rights conferred by the Law of Copyright and other intellectual property rights and by virtue of international copyright conventions are specifically reserved to Argus Specialist Publications Limited and any reproduction requires the prior written consent of Argus Specialist Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Argus Specialist Publications Limited 1985"},"MainText":"Activision\r\n£6.95\r\n\r\nThis is a nifty little number and is of the Arcade Adventure sort. Pitfall Harry must find his niece Rhonda, his cat, Quickclaw, and the Raj Diamond as well as gathering up all the gold along his journey. You are Pitfall Harry and travel through many scenes containing balloons, caverns and various dangers such as bats, frogs, and scorpions. You start off with 4000 points and aim for a perfect score of 199,000.\r\n\r\nThe best thing about this game is that if you happen to die along the way, you are transported back to the previous red cross, which you pass over during your mission. This means that the game is virtually endless and although your score declines when you get killed, once it reaches zero, that's it. With a lot of practice, the ideal score could perhaps be reached. As with all these games, annoying tunes are played along the way, but luckily there is an on/off button. Pitfall iI is also compatible with all major joysticks.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are adequate, but I feel could be a lot better to match the standard of the rest of the game, but all in all, a good buy and stimulating.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"33","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"David Howard","Score":"8","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Instructions","Score":"95%","Text":""},{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"85%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictability","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"85%","Text":""},{"Header":"ZXC Factor","Score":"8/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]