[{"TitleName":"The Prize","Publisher":"Arcade Software","Author":"","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0003885","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 6, Jul 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-06-21","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":112,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nGeneral office [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\n\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\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\nPhotosetting by SIOS [redacted]\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted].\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post free)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post free).\r\n\r\nWe cannot undertake to return any written or photographic material sent to CRASH MICRO unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Arcade\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £5.50\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\n\r\nThis game takes its name from the fact that Arcade Software are offering a prize of £5,000 to the first person to locate the innermost chamber of a massive maze and discover its secret. You are in control of a space ship armed with laser torpedoes to be used against the various guardians in the maze. These include Death Drones, Mutants with vulnerable pads which you must discover as they won't just die by being shot anywhere, and Crushers, large ladder shaped objects that work in threes and which kill on contact - and keep on killing!\r\n\r\nOn each level of the maze there are energy bases which charge your ship so that it can withstand contact by the guardians and destroy them instantly. Once charged, the ship alters colour and will remain in this super-state for a random time. Time running out is indicated by the force field flashing. Whilst in this stage also, you can search for the coded pods to aid your progression to the next level. The pods are numbered 1 to 5, 5 being the transporter pod. These must be collected in the correct numerical order. Photographing the special code off the screen on level 4 is required for entry into the competition for The Prize.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: cursors\r\nJoystick: Kempston, AGF and Protek\r\nKeyboard play: responsive, though made harder by use of cursors, and generally better with a joystick\r\nUse of colour: very good\r\nGraphics: good\r\nSound: above average\r\nLives: 5\r\nOriginality: standard giant maze type game","ReviewerComments":["This is a huge maze game with each 'chamber' taking up one screen - I don't know how many there are (perhaps that's the secret at the centre), but there are a lot. Graphics are well animated, parts of the guardians moving within themselves. Different aliens have different firing techniques to try and destroy you. Colour shading for the walls of the chambers is used very well, and is quite varied. Keyboard layout (only the cursors) is not so good, but the keys are very responsive. Finding your way around this maze is a considerable task - never mind finding numbered. An amazing game with an incentive of £5,000.\r\r\nUnknown","The Prize is nothing special as games go except for its sheer size and the fact that the graphics are of a high standard. The aliens are very variable, well animated and imaginative in design. The way they behave is also varied, and it's a nice touch that on clearing a chamber and entering another only to find it packed so that you retreat back the way you came, you find the once empty chamber you originally left is now packed again. That sort of mistake can cost lives! The game keeps you busy which gives it its addictive qualities. I must say, I enjoyed playing this game.\r\r\nUnknown","At last Arcade have brought out a game that is addictive to play and not just graphically pleasing. The game has several difficulty factors built in - the Crushers are particularly hard to get past, requiring nerve and some skill in timing. I also enjoyed the energy base idea. This not only looks quite effective as it charges your ship up, but it also gives you a few moments of carefree fun as you charge where you like, sweeping everything before you. Colour is well used throughout the game, especially in the solid areas behind the edging walls, and the graphics are large and move smoothly. Quite an addictive game.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Fairly addictive, playable and with good incentive.","Page":"59","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"There's a lot of money at stake in the mammoth maze shoot 'em up - in fact, it's quite a prize."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"75%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"69%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"70%","Text":""},{"Header":"Originality","Score":"55%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"69%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"69%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 10, Dec 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-11-15","Editor":"Roger Munford","TotalPages":106,"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: John Torofex, Tony Samuels, Trevor Merchant, Ross Holman, Dave Nicholls, Roger Willis, Ian Beardsmore, Martin Evans, Robert Stockton, Max Phillips, Terry Bulfib, Mike Leaman, Toni Baker\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 ©1985 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 PRIZE\r\nArcade Software\r\n£5.50\r\n\r\nDave: The Prize is a variation on the maze theme. You have to control your spacecraft through the maze, collecting 'code pods' as you go. The pods are numbered and must be gathered in the correct order; reaching number five promotes you to the next level.\r\n\r\nThose hitting the fourth level are asked to find the 'special code', photograph it, and send the evidence to Arcade Software. This entitles you to enter the competition that goes with the game. The competition has a prize (cunning title isn't it!) of £5000, but the catch is that the money will be divided between all the people who send in correct answers before January 1985.\r\n\r\nOn the game front The Prize is quite good, the maze is very large and your ship moves nice and smoothly. This is, however, really a game that will appeal more to cartographers than to shoot 'em up freaks.","ReviewerComments":["A very colourful maze game with a large prize for the winner. The nasties aren't that clever, so only the overall size poses a problem. It loses its appeal very rapidly.\r\nRoss Holman\r\n2/5 MISS","Being quite unable to imagine what five thousand folding green drink vouchers will look like stacked next to my keyboard and as I've never had that much wonga in my short and miserable life, I find it hard to imagine this game holding anybody's interest...\r\nRoger Willis\r\n1/5 MISS"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"57","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Ross Holman","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"},{"Name":"Roger Willis","Score":"1","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"},{"Name":"Dave Nicholls","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Big K Issue 6, Sep 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-08-20","Editor":"Tony Tyler","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tony Tyler\r\nAssisted By: Richard Burton\r\nArt Editor: Ian Stead\r\nFeatures: Nicky Xikluna\r\nContributors: Andy Green; Kim Aldis (Features); Steve Keaton; Richard Cook; Richard Taylor; Bernard Turner; David Rimmer; John Conquest; Nigel Farrier, Paul Walton; Tony Benyon; Trevor Spall\r\nPublisher: Barry Leverett\r\nPublishing Director: John Purdie\r\nGroup Advertising Controller: Luis Bartlett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Robin Johnson [redacted]\r\n\r\nEditorial Address: [redacted]\r\nTelephone: [redacted]\r\nAdvertising: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPublished approximately on the 20th of each month by IPC Magazines Ltd. [redacted]. Monotone and colour origination by G.M. Litho Ltd [redacted]. Printed in England by Chase Web Offset, Cornwall. Sole Agents: Australia and New Zealand, Gordon& Gotch (A/sia) Ltd.; South Africa, Central News Agency Ltd. BIG K is sold subject to the following conditions, namely that it shall not, without the written consent of the Publishers first given, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade at more than the recommended selling price shown on the cover, and that it shall not be lent, resold or hired out or otherwise disposed of in a mutilated constitute or any unauthorised cover by way of trade or affixed to as part of any publication or advertising, literary or pictorial matter whatsoever. IPC MAGAZINES 1984."},"MainText":"The Prize is you actual maze game. The quest here involves putting the three types of Guardian under heavy manners and collecting the vital 'code pods' in the correct order in order to progress through the levels. Getting to the central maze chamber might give you even more than a gloat - Arcade are offering £5,000 cash money for a snapshot of the final screen. Could this be the final winkling of the walnut of life? Raj didn't think so.\r\n\r\n\"I think it's a real cheat. For starters it's too much like Berserk, and the graphics are poor and gaudy to the point of naff. It may have a few more screens, but it's basically a shoot 'em up , now what I'd call an adventure. The money is just a gimmick to entice you into playing what is basically an uninventive game. Even money won't make you play a dull game. I think it's boring.\"","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"27","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Raj Singh","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair Programs Issue 24, Oct 1984","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1984-09-20","Editor":"Rebecca Ferguson","TotalPages":60,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Rebecca Ferguson\r\nConsultant Editor: John Campbell\r\nStaff Writer: June Mortimer\r\nDesign: Elaine Bishop\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Howard Rosen\r\nProduction Assistant: Jim McClure\r\nEditorial Assistant: Colette McDermott\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 £10 for the copyright of each program published.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1984 Sinclair Programs\r\nISSN No. 0263-0265\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by: Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by Spotlight Magazine Distribution Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll subscription enquiries:\r\nMagazine Services,\r\nEMAP Business and Computer Publications\r\n[redcated]\r\n\r\nCover Design: Ivan Hissey"},"MainText":"THE PRIZE\r\n\r\nThe Prize is a phenomenally complicated maze game. The player's first task is to collect five code pods in numerical order. There are forty nine locations in this section of the maze, and each is populated by deadly monsters which must be avoided or killed. The death drones and mutants shoot at you, while the crushers block your way, squashing you to pieces.\r\n\r\nThere are only tWo points in your favour. Firstly, it is possible to find extra lives hidden in the maze. Secondly, somewhere in the maze is an energy base which provides immunity from enemies for a limited period of time.\r\n\r\nOnce you have mapped this level, avoided the drones, mutants and crushers, and collected the pods in order you find yourself transported to the next section of the maze, where you must repeat the process.\r\n\r\nPrize money will be awarded to the first person to send a copy of the code screen on level four to Arcade.\r\n\r\nThe Prize is produced by Arcade Software Technology House, [redacted] and costs £5.50.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"28","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"June Mortimer","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]