[{"TitleName":"Psycho Soldier","Publisher":"Imagine Software Ltd","Author":"Ross Harris, Bob Wakelin","YearOfRelease":"1987","ZxDbId":"0003922","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 49, Feb 1988","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1988-01-28","Editor":"Barnaby Page","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Managing Editor: Barnaby Page\r\nStaff Writers: Mark Caswell, Dominic Handy, Gordon Houghton, Lloyd Mangram, Ian Phillipson\r\nSubeditor: David Peters\r\nPhotographers: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\nOffice: Frances Mable, Glenys Powell\r\nTechnical Writers: Simon N Goodwin, Jon Bates\r\nPBM Writer: Brendon Kavanagh\r\nStrategy Writer: Philippa Irving\r\nEducation Writer: Rosetta McLeod\r\nContributors: Robin Candy, Mike Dunn, Paul Evans, Dave Hawkes, Nathan Jones, Nick Roberts, Ben Stone, Paul Sumner, Bym Welthy\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nAssistant Director: Markie Kendrick\r\nDesign: Wayne Allen\r\nProcess and Planning: Jonathan Rignall (Supervisor), Matthew Uffindell, Nick Orchard\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Andrew Smales\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nEditorial and Production: [redacted]\r\nPlease address correspondence to the appropriate person!\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\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 anything sent into CRASH - including written and photographic material, software and hardware - unless it is accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. Competition entries and letters to the CRASH Forum, to other sections and to staff are always read with interest but cannot be acknowledged even if an SAE is included, and letters submitted for publication may be edited for length and style.\r\n\r\n©1988 Newsfield Limited\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Imagine\r\nRetail Price: £7.95\r\nAuthor: Source Ltd\r\n\r\nYou can't keep a good goddess down - in this sequel to Imagine's Athena (75% Overall in Issue 45) the voluptuous Athena is once again battling through a dangerous six-level world, rescuing humanity from a race of demons.\r\n\r\nThe 30 screens of each level are inhabited by these lethal beasts begging for a blast from Athena's laser or her bombs. She gathers points by destroying them, and the power of both laser and bombs can be increased by gathering icons which Athena reveals by destroying rock formations.\r\n\r\nBut some of these rocky blockages hide icons that can quickly drain Athena's energy - even the humble mushroom has its malevolent magic...\r\n\r\nThe dashing damsel must leap and jump from platform to platform, thinking quickly when anything blocks her way - if she just stands still she'll be outrun by the constantly scrolling landscape and crushed against an obstruction. This goddess isn't immortal, though she can acquire temporary indestructibility by shooting the globe which hatches from inside of an egg.\r\n\r\nAnd Athena must destroy the building at the end of each level to move to the next - to face another monstrous army.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nJoysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair\r\nGraphics: Intricately and smoothly animated; but the colour is terrible\r\nSound: tune and spot effects","ReviewerComments":["Why is Athena being chased by the Keystone Cops? Perhaps she's being hunted down for impersonating Sindy Doll. Whatever the crime, the slow scrolling screens aren't letting her run fast enough to escape the deadly touch of her cute pursuers. But once you've mastered the strange controls Athena is fun\r\nBym Welthy\r\n75%","Athena was great fun but Psycho Soldier is nowhere near the mark. The graphics are unimaginative, the sound is grinding, and playability suffers from the eponymous star's slow reactions. Psycho Soldier also needs much more variation: the first level is a terrible bore, requiring very little thought.\r\nPaul Sumner\r\n69%","Psycho Soldier has all the fun and frolics of Athena, though it's a bit too similar. The graphics aren't as good as the original's, the colour is dismal and the number of bombs whining around your head can be confusing; but challenging gameplay and well-defined characters make Psycho Soldier a worthwhile follow-up to a brilliant game.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n83%"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: A playable but lacklustre follow-up to the successful Athena.","Page":"86,87","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Bym Welthy","Score":"75","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Paul Sumner","Score":"69","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"83","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"It's Athena again - she's back, she's bad and she's Psycho Soldier."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"76%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"77%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"73%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"76%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 27, Mar 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-02-11","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Darrell King\r\nDeputy Editor: Marcus Berkmann\r\nTechnical Editor: Phil South\r\nProduction Editors: Fran Husband, Jackie Ryan\r\nDesigner: Catherine Higgs\r\nContributors: Soo Abram, Richard Blaine, Audrey & Owen Bishop, Ciaran Brennan, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, David McCandless, Duncan McDonald, John Minson, David Powell, Nat Pryce, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith, Tony Worrall\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Stansfield\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nArt Director: Hazel Bennington\r\nPublisher: Kevin Cox\r\nPublishing Director: Roger Munford\r\nFinance Director: Colin Crawford\r\nManaging Director: Stephen England\r\nChairman: Felix Dennis\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 ©1988 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":"Imagine\r\n£7.95\r\nReviewer: Jonathan Davies\r\n\r\nIt's good to see there are still a few decent people left in the world, even if they do have daft names like 'Athena'. Having returned from her first quest, she's off to save humanity again. This time we've all been enslaved by a race of evil demons, and she's coming to bust us out!\r\n\r\nWhile the demon-infested world scrolls smoothly across the screen (yup, it's one of those!), you've got to dash to the end of each level and blow up the building you'll find there.\r\n\r\nNaturally the demons don't take too kindly to all this, and they'll do their best to stop you. Sadly for them, all they seem to be capable of is wandering backwards and forwards hoping to bump into you, so they're fairly easy to pick off with your standard issue laser weapon.\r\n\r\nAs you've probably guessed by now, there's more to this than just shooting things. That's right, you can collect things too! Bombs come in quite handy. For some reason, once picked up they'll orbit around Athena like flies around a copy of Sinclair User, but then whizz off and blow things up when fired.\r\n\r\nGraphically Psycho Soldier presents no problems. Everything is disgustingly slick 'n'smooth, with the sprites almost oozing around the screen. It's all monochrome, of course, as these days most programmers seem to have forgotten the Speccy works in colour too. So what's wrong with the odd attribute problem here and there?\r\n\r\nI'd have liked a bit more sound too. All you get, in fact, is the odd PHLOORP noise when your gun goes off - not the sort of thing to keep you bopping through the night.\r\n\r\nWhat you want to know, though, is how it plays. Happily Psycho Soldier's simple design pays off and other than the odd unfortunate moment (like the time I appeared in a wall and couldn't get out!) it's fun all the way. Nothing amazingly original, but a well-tried formula that'll keep the punters happy.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Yet another scrolling shooting job, but so what? It's fun fun fun! (Have you got the scrolls...?)","Page":"66","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jonathan Davies","Score":"8","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"8/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 71, Feb 1988","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1988-01-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"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, Tony Bridge, Chris Jenkins, Tony Dillon, Gary Rook\r\nHardware Correspondent: Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mike Corr\r\nSales Executive: Steve Prescott\r\nClassified Sales/Production: Alison Morton\r\nPublisher's Secretary: Debbie Pearson\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: Jim Davis\r\n\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1988 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nABC 84,699 July-Dec 1986"},"MainText":"Label: Imagine\r\nAuthor: Source Software\r\nPrice: £7.95\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Tamara Howard\r\n\r\nIt's got the lot. Sex. Violence. Giant insects. Bombs. Spaceships. Evil zombies. And Laser beams.\r\n\r\nWhy, then, is this arcade extravaganza - in which heroine Athena \"cuts a bloody swathe down through the demon-infested hell of an oppressed world\" - so pedestrian?\r\n\r\nOnce you've realised that the melon-breasted heroine on the cover is actually represented by a smurf-like gnome in the game, and that this sequel is basically the same idea as the original game Athena without the pretty background graphics there's not much left to be excited about.\r\n\r\nPsycho Soldier - a pretty inappropriate title if you ask me - is a three-level romp in which heroine Athena is armed with psychic blasts, bombs, and if you can find and pick up the appropriate icons, an invulnerable shield.\r\n\r\nA flying saucer, which can shoot down a few enemies before it deposits Athena on the screen, starts each life. On the first level, Athena, surrounded by her revolving bombs, has to waddle through the caverns, jumping from level to level to avoid zombies. Stone walls can sometimes be blasted out of the way, and sometimes have to be avoided if you don't want to be crushed as the screen scrolls along.\r\n\r\nThere are six levels, each comprising thirty screens, and on each level some of the blocks are blasted aside to reveal icons which will augment your laser power, energy, or bombs. Each screen is displayed in a single colour. At the end of each level is a giant monster - on the first, a rapidlystriking snake - which can only be destroyed by a judicious combination of lasers and bombs. If you can find and destroy the egg, and shoot the globe which emerges from it, you will become indestructible until your energy runs out.\r\n\r\nAs you might have gathered, Psycho Soldier is competently done, nothing fantastic.\r\n\r\nThe sound effects, even on the 128K version which plays in in one go rather than having to be loaded level by level, are unremarkable, and the collision detection likes to please itself so you can't be too confident about finely-judged manoeuvres.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Much like Athena, but without the graphic invention. Fails to set the pulse racing.","Page":"54","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Tamara Howard","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) Issue 5, Feb 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-01-07","Editor":"Peter Connor, Steve Cooke","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Advanced Computer Entertainment\r\nFuture Publishing [redacted]\r\nTelephone [redacted], Fax [redacted], Telecom Gold 84:TXT152, Prestel/Micronet [redacted]\r\n\r\nCo-editors: Peter Connor, Steve Cooke\r\nReviews Editor: Andy Wilton\r\nStaff Writer: Andy Smith\r\nArt Editor: Trevor Gilham\r\nArt Team: Angela Neal, Sally Meddings\r\nPublisher: Chris Anderson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Jon Beales\r\n\r\nCOVER PHOTOGRAPHY\r\nStuart Baynes Photography [redacted]\r\n\r\nSUBSCRIPTIONS & SPECIAL OFFERS\r\nCarrie-Anne Porter [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOLOUR ORIGINATION\r\nWessex Reproduction [redacted]\r\n\r\nDISTRIBUTION\r\nSM Distribution [redacted]\r\n\r\nPRINTING\r\nChase Web Offset [redacted]\r\n\r\nCopyright - FUTURE PUBLISHING LTD 1988 - No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without our permission."},"MainText":"Athena again? Imagine!\r\n\r\nHaving escaped the clutches of the Dark Overlord, Athena once more plays lead sprite in this sequel to Imagine's game of the same name. Again it's a licensed coin-op conversion which sees the player controlling Athena as she battles through six levels of scrolling platform shoot-em-up.\r\n\r\nArmed with a front-firing gun and four bombs that float around her, Athena must make it to the end of each level's 30 screens that continually scroll from right to left. The levels are infested with demons, contact with whom costs Athena one of her four lives.\r\n\r\nAt the base of the screen is displayed an energy bar and red icons showing how many bombs she has left. The energy bar relates to the strength of the bombs and at various places throughout the levels extra bombs and energy can be gained by destroying large bricks. These bricks also hide some unpleasant icons that drain energy on contact, so you have to be careful to avoid these. Make it to the end of the level and you'll find a building guarded by a monster that has to be destroyed by a combination of bombs and laser fire - if you lose a life, you also lose any bombs and energy you picked up on the way, making life difficult if you happen to come up against the monster with only your laser.\r\n\r\nPsycho Soldier may have been an addictive and playable coin-op, but as a computer game it soon becomes tedious and boring to play.\r\n\r\nReviewer: Andy Smith\r\n\r\nRELEASE BOX\r\nC64/128, £8.95cs, £12.95dk, Imminent\r\nAms, £9.99cs, £14.99dk, Imminent\r\nSpec, 48k, £7.95cs, Out Now\r\nSpec +3, £14.95dk, Imminent\r\n\r\nPredicted Interest Curve\r\n\r\n1 min: 60/100\r\n1 hour: 70/100\r\n1 day: 30/100\r\n1 week: 10/100\r\n1 month: 0/100\r\n1 year: 0/100","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"41","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Andy Smith","Score":"505","ScoreSuffix":"/1000"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"SPECTRUM VERSION\r\n\r\nThis 128K program (multi-load in 48K mode) has well-animated colourful graphics but these cannot gloss over the tediousness of the game. It's no fun to play and has few if any addictive qualities The frequent death problem that marred Athena has been solved, true, but only by creating a game with minimum action."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Audio","Score":"4/10","Text":""},{"Header":"IQ Factor","Score":"3/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Fun Factor","Score":"3/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Ace Rating","Score":"505/1000","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]