[{"TitleName":"Puffy's Saga","Publisher":"Ubi Soft Ltd","Author":"Chris Jones, Claude Sablatou, JAM, James Hartshorn, Jonathan Medhurst, Nigel Kenward, William Byrd","YearOfRelease":"1989","ZxDbId":"0003931","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 71, Dec 1989","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1989-11-16","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":76,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nSoftware Co-ordinator: Mark Caswell\r\nStaff Writers: Nick Roberts, Lloyd Mangram\r\nEditorial Assistants: Viv Vickress\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION DEPARTMENT\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell (Supervisor), Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard\r\n\r\nDesign: Mark Kendrick, Melvin Fisher\r\nSystems Operator: Ian Chubb\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Lee Watkins\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 Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - 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 [redacted] 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":"Ubi Soft/Ashminster Computing\r\n£9.99 cass, £14.99 disk\r\n\r\nPreviewed several eons ago, Puffy's Saga finally hits the Spectrum.\r\n\r\nFreedom is the name of the game: Puffy and his sweetheart Pufyn attempt to escape a world of mazes containing all manner of very unfriendly denizens. Start by choosing your sex(!), in other words play either Puffy or Pufyn. Time to inadvertently stumble into the first level. The monsters aren't too chuffed at two beach ball shaped interlopers invading their territory, however accidentally and set about 'welcoming' them.\r\n\r\nTheir attacks knock down Puffy/Pufyn's energy levels, but guzzling food found lying around revitalises body and mind. The best way not to be caught is to hit the fire button, which gets our little hero to spit at attackers (not a very hygienic way of combat). Special objects can be collected to aid survival: extra firepower, increased speed, invisibility etc.\r\n\r\nA couple of games is all it takes to realise this is a Gauntlet style 'solve the puzzle of the maze' game which honestly bored me within a few minutes play, because I've seen this game type so many times before. Graphically it's okay with sprites monochromatic but fairly detailed. Sound consists of a twee little tune that soon annoyed me, and some barely understandable speech.\r\n\r\nMARK 50%","ReviewerComments":["The second Spectrum game from Ubi Soft, Puffy's Saga is very Gauntletified! The game layout and graphics look almost identical, with just ol' Puffy himself bringing the differences. Most of the screen is monochrome with walls having just the odd splash of colour, giving the overall look a very washed out feeling. There are some new ideas in Puffy's Saga though. Unlike Gauntlet and it's many clones large animated pictures of Puffy appear on right of screen while playing, there are also larger sprites in the game itself, which have to be battled against to win. Sound is the game's strongest point with an above average tune and loads of digitised speech for that extra special touch. Puffy's Saga obviously isn't the most original game to burst onto your Spectrum screens, but if you are a fan of the style you will like this.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n66%"],"OverallSummary":"Gauntlet meets Pac-Man in this average maze game.","Page":"56","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"50","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"66","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"67%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"63%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"66%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictivity","Score":"59%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"58%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 48, Dec 1989","Price":"£2.2","ReleaseDate":"1989-11-16","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Catherine Peters\r\nDeputy Editor: Jackie Ryan\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nStaff Writer: David Wilson\r\nDesigner: Martin Sharrocks\r\nTechnical Consultant: Jonathan Davies\r\nContributors: Robin Alway, Marcus Berkmann, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Kati Hamza, Duncan MacDonald, Rich Pelley, Phil South\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Lynda Elliott\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Caroline Day\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Chris Skinner\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Claire Baker\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nNewstrade Circulation Manager: Stephen Ward\r\nSubscription Manager: June Smith\r\nPublisher: Teresa Maughan\r\nGroup Publishing Director: Richard Howell\r\nGroup Creative Director: Tony Spalding\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: Point Five [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinted By: Riverside Press [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1989 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":"Ubi Soft\r\n£9.99 cass/£14.99 disk\r\nReviewer: Kati Hamza\r\n\r\nZut alors! Imagine un peu de Gauntlet addez une dash de PacMan avec une sprinkling liberal de Ms PacMan, throw in some frog's legs, a couple of escargots, a touch of garlic et there we 'ave it - Puffy's Saga.\r\n\r\nBut enough of this franglais banter. Back to ye plaine olde Englishe and ye game in hande. Just in case anyone didn't catch the rather obvious hint in the first paragraph. Puffy's Saga is a maze game. And a cute and cuddly maze game at that.\r\n\r\nPufyn is a smiling-faced, open-mouthed, PaccMan-shaped sort of monochrome being with a big bow on her head who looks just like her boyfriend Puffy - 'cept Puffy's had his bow surgically removed. Somehow, for reasons that shall remain nameless (like, erm, no-one's thought of them yet), our two globular chums have managed to get themselves imprisoned in the middle of a dungeon somewhere. Now you, as one or other of the circular couple, have to help them munch their way out.\r\n\r\nTop of the menu come dots. There's a specific number hidden on each aerially-viewed level and eating all of them sproings you instantly up to the next maze. As per usual, there's a load of meanies and monsters lurking blimmin' everywhere, waiting to bleed our disc-shaped hero's energy dry. They range from the fairly harmless sort to great stonking dragons with pointy teeth and little black leeches who latch on to you and knock off 90 energy points. So shooting the blighters comes top of your list. Some of them even have the very useful side effect of turning into energy-giving Puffy-sized steaks.\r\n\r\nIf you've seen Gauntlet (if you haven't, you, erm, haven't) you'll know what to expect - keys to locked doors, bonus food magic floors, transporters, supershots, temporary levitation. invisibility, invincibility, the lot. Not only that, if you feel the urge (oo-er) you can go around collecting a selection of magic goms (goms?) which give you the power to call up a map of the level or breathe fire in particularly tricky, monster-ridden spots. One rather spanky little feature is that Puffy and Pufyn have different abilities. Puffy's stronger so he doesn't need to pop so many pills to stay alive but Pufyn's a quicker, much more slippery customer so she's harder to catch. Cute, huh?\r\n\r\nCute, in fact, is definitely the operative word because the Puffies boast a whole selection of rubbery facial expressions. For extra syrupy cuteness factor, they even manage to talk. Puffy shouts \"Yum\" and even stretches to a sort of crackly giggle in glorious Speccy sound.\r\n\r\nAs for the gameplay. If you liked Gauntlet or PacMania you'll probably squeeze more than a couple of chuckles out of this. It doesn't have quite as many features as Gauntlet and, apart from the main characters, the graphics aren't exactly among the most corkendous ever to appear in a maze game. But it's good, squeaky-clean fun all the same. If maze-munchers are your 'thang', go for it before you run out of puffy (groan).","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A cute and cuddly Gauntlet-style thingy with lots of twee features to please Pacman fans. And it's not a bad little maze game either.","Page":"33","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Kati Hamza","Score":"78","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Eeek! Low energy! If I could just get to that steak round the corner... Aaargh! Too late!"},{"Text":"Ouf! Locked door. Now where did I leave that blimmin' key!?"},{"Text":"Pill-popping Puffy packs a powerful pop-gun. Pop!"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"76%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"83%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"73%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"79%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"78%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 79, Jul 1992","Price":"£2.5","ReleaseDate":"1992-06-18","Editor":"Andy Hutchinson","TotalPages":68,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"SCHOOL'S OUT FOR EVER!\r\n\r\nWhen you have nothing to say, say nothing. I did. Anyway, what was the first thing you did after your last exam?\r\n\r\nEditor: Andy (Got arrested for being drunk and disorderly while at college) Hutchinson\r\nArt Editor: Andy (Flicked the V's at a teacher and then skipped home) Ounsted\r\nDeputy Editor: Linda (Went baby sitting) Barker\r\nStaff Writer: Jon (Sat down with a cream tart and a nice cup of tea) Pillar\r\nArt Assistant: Maryanne (Tried Sherry for the first time) Booth\r\nAdvertising Manager: Alison (Sighed) Morton\r\nSenior Sales Exec: Jackie (Went shopping) Garford\r\nProduction Coordinator: Lisa (Burned her books) Read\r\nPublisher: Jane (Went for a wee) Richardson\r\nPromotions Manager: Michelle (Went to see David Bowie in concert) Harris\r\nPromotions Assistant: Tamara (Burst into tears) Ward\r\nGroup Publisher: Greg (I Went screaming off in a customised Beetle across Waterloo Bridge shouting along to Talking Heads' Psycho Killer & The Only Ones' Another Girl Another Planet)Bingham\r\nCirculation Director: Sue (Went and had a froffy coffee) Hartley\r\nAssistant Publisher: Julie (Left Coventry instantly and vowed never to return) Stuckes\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair (Went to bed for a week). Future (Considered a career as a dentist) Publishing [redacted]\r\n\r\nManaging Director: Chris (Drank most of a bottle of bubbly and then... can't really remember) Anderson\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: Future Publishing Ltd [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Future Publishing 1992. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission from Bertie Arbuthnot of Calcutta Deirdrie's motorway cafe.\r\n\r\nISSN: 0269 6983\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair fails its exams, but just doesn't care with other rebellious mags like: Commodore Format (Went on a Venture Scout jamboree), Amstrad Action (Burnt school books), Amiga Format (Went down to the beach in Bournemouth), PCW Plus (Dived fully clothed into a swimming pool), PC Answers (Signed up for re-sits), PC Plus (Cried), Sega Power (Won a race to get out of a three hour exam and into the bar first [winning time 45 mins]), Amiga Power (Asked everyone else what question five had actually meant), Amiga Shopper (Caught a plane to Venice), Classic CD (Listened to a nice symphony), Needlecraft (Stitched a noose), Cycling Plus (Went home), Photo Plus (Joined the moonies), Mountain Biking UK (Went to see a personal supervisor to explain why they'd only turned up for half an hour and written their name in the first exam of the season), PC Format (Fed school blazer to the dogs and watched them rip the thing to pieces), Public Domain (Broke wind), ST Format (Went inter-railing to Greece, France, Germany etc). Total! (Dossed in the sun until shoehorned out of the garden by mom and dad to go and get a job) and Today's Vegetarian (Went hurtling to the pub faster than you could say transcontinental plate tectonics) and coming soon... What Scart Lead.\r\n\r\nBut what we really want to know is... if Mickey's a mouse, Donald's a duck and Pluto's a dog, what the hell is Goofy?"},"MainText":"PUFFY'S SAGA\r\nThe Hit Squad\r\n£3.99 cassette\r\n[redacted]\r\nReviewer: Rich Pelley\r\n\r\nBack in the late eighties everybody was doing it. Gauntlet clones, that is, of which Puffy's Saga was the 'cute but weird' contribution from that reputable firm of French people, Ubisoft.\r\n\r\nImagine, if you will, the original Gauntlet and prepare to make a few notable changes. Firstly, reduce things to one player only. A tall order, one might think, especially as Gauntlet boasted one of the most fun two-player options ever on the Speccy, or at least it did until you just got rid of it. Next, fiddle about with the gameplay a bit; instead of aiming to locate the exit of each level, shooting things on the way, stick in a small number of Pac-Man type dots instead. Now to advance a level you have to scoff all the dots (with some dots rewarding you with maps or firepower) so feel free to considerably tone down the maze element of the game.\r\n\r\nBy now two pictures should have formed in your head - a gleaming, beautifully framed oil painting of Gauntlet, and a rather tatty, dog-eared preliminary sketch of Puffy's Saga. Tragically, a vicious circle seems to have formed. If you've played Speccy Gauntlet before then Puffy will seem slow, jerky and unexciting and graphically far inferior in comparison. If you don't already own Gauntlet then that along with Deeper Dungeons and Gauntlet 2 are available as a package for four quid on the Kixx label - as much overhead-scrolling shooting as you could ever get (and would probably ever want) for the money. My advice? Well. I haven't got any really. I just wouldn't bother with Puffy's Saga, that's all.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"60","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Rich Pelley","Score":"42","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"\"Ha ha!\" cackled the evil villain, his black cape a-fluttering in the breeze. \"I'll get you, my pretty!\" But Sarah was not a girl to be treated in this contemptible manner, so she ran him down with a handy tractor."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"42%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 94, Jan 1990","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-12-18","Editor":"Jim Douglas","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"JIM \"Keyring\" DOUGLAS (Editor)\r\nLike all Editors, Jim's absolutely loaded with cash and his car is a luxury status symbol that goes with his high-flying ulcer-inducing job editing Sinclair User. You know you've hit it big when Jim asks if the keys to his Nissan Micra will fit in your handbag!\r\n\r\nALISON \"Toot Toot\" SKEAT (Production Editor)\r\nAl Drives the SU Bus! Every morning she honks the horn and collects the rest of the team and drives them off for another day at the office. Hera she is, bright and early on a Monday morning, ready to get 'on the case' (alright, so she's in the office on a Friday afternoon holding a plastic bin lid).\r\n\r\nOSMOND \"Brake, Brake!\" BROWNE (Designer)\r\nOz, our new design wizard is preparing for his test at the moment, and seems to be having trouble with reversing around corners, but he firmly believes that in no time he'll be behind the wheel of his vary own DeLorean Snowstorm.\r\n\r\nGARTH \"Firestone\" Sumpter (Staff Writer)\r\nAlways on hand to steady a sometimes rocky and panic-ridden ship, Garth soothes the worries of the team away with his stories of articulated lorry racing round Silverstone. \"Which reminds me of the time I hit the chicane at 90 with no steering...\"\r\n\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nI've Got This Problem: Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: James Owens\r\nSenior Sales: Martha Moloughney\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nMarketing Manager: Dean Barrett\r\nMarketing Assistant: Sarah Ewing\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nOur Address: [redacted]\r\nOur Phone Number: [redacted]\r\nOur Fax No: [redacted]\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Clive Goodyear\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nTypeset By Mr Douglas and Mr Sumpter at Jimmy's Setting Emporium\r\nDistributed by EMAP Frontline.\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries: [redacted]\r\n24 Hour Order Line: [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: Back Issues Department (SU), [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Copyright Sinclair User 1989/90 ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nNo part of this magazine may be reproduced/transcribed, stored in a data retrieval system etc etc, or you'll go to gaol forever. We will, however, be giving a special prize to anyone who can reproduce this issue in the smallest possible form. Send entries to the address above. Must be smaller than a cassette tape."},"MainText":"Label: Ubisoft\r\nAuthor: In House\r\nPrice: £8.95\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Garth Sumpter\r\n\r\nZut alors! Que-est-ce que? C'est Puffy's Saga from Ubisoft and it looks to all intents like a Gauntlet a la Francais. Problem is though, it doesn't play like one and the incredibly difficult gameplay makes it nearly impossible to want to play the game for more than half an hour.\r\n\r\nAnd what do you have to do with the time that you have during the game? Well, it's all a bit sketchy but let's be British about this and give it our best shot.\r\n\r\nAt the beginning of the game you choose either Puffy or Pufyn (who is the girly version of the two), and must then make your way along the Gauntlet like levels, avoiding various nasty monsters that range from Pac man lookalikes to ruddy great monsters that look as if they could eat a horse for breakfast and only leave the hooves. Puffy (or Pufyn), who both happen to look like Ribena blackcurrants, meander along the mazes and corridors firing at nasties as they home in on them. If an 'orrible petit monster catches our hero, then it will drain health points from them. Just like Gauntlet so far, so what's the problem then? Well I'm glad you asked that my petit bag of chicken giblets, 'cos the main problem with the game is that if even a single monster catches you then it's really difficult to shake them off. Whilst this may be an accurate simulation of your chances of releasing the grip of a homicidal maniac as he rips your throat open with his bare teeth, it never the less makes the game frustrating to the extreme and as I always want to be entertained by a game I find this just a little too hard to swallow (with or without an intact throat!)\r\n\r\nAnyway, on with the game. Try as I might. I can't say anything about later levels because I found it all far too hard for even a seasoned (salt and French mustard), veteran like myself. But, as you pick your merry way along, there are oodles of goodies to pick up - Magic Gom's, Supershots, Levitation, Keys, Invisibility potions, Legs of (British?) meat which add to your health. Health? Oh yes! I said it was like Gauntlet, perhaps I should have said it was Gauntlet but had been written in French. Problem being, as with the game's sampled speech, it's lost so much in the translation as to be virtually unrecognisable and sounds as bad as it plays.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"The game plays like a dead frog and no amount of resuscitation can breath any life back into it.","Page":"107","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Garth Sumpter","Score":"62","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"78%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"54%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"48%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"62%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]