[{"TitleName":"Rebelstar Raiders","Publisher":"Red Shift Ltd","Author":"Julian Gollop, Ed Dovey","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0004064","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 28, May 1986","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1986-04-24","Editor":"Graeme Kidd","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Publishing Executive: Roger Kean\r\nEditor: Graeme Kidd\r\nTechnical Editor: Franco Frey\r\nTech Tipster: Simon Goodwin\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Editor: Sean Masterson\r\nStaff Writers: Hannah Smith, Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Robin Candy, John Minson, Rosetta McLeod\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nArt Director: Dick Shiner\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nProduction: Gordon Druce, Tony Lorton\r\nProcess Camera: Matthew Uffindell\r\nPhotographer: Cameron Pound\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nEditorial and Production: [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order and Subscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nInformation and Bookings [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted];\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 any written material sent to CRASH Magazine unless accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material which may be used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\n©1986 Newsfield Limited\r\n\r\nJULY-DEC 1985\r\nTotal: 93,356\r\nUK: 89,441"},"MainText":"REBEL STAR RAIDERS\r\n\r\nNow we're going back in time a bit. Red Shift were known for their science fiction strategy series. One of the best of these was Rebel Star Raiders. As is typical of games of the time, the program takes ages to load. The player is presented with a choice of four scenarios on loading: Moonbase, Starlingale, The Final Assault and Expansion. These need to be loaded from tape individually and the scenarios themselves take as long to get into the computer as most modern games do. Ah, but these were the days when such things mattered not.\r\n\r\nThe player is presented with a screen depicting a deck plan of an area of a ship or installation which has to be protected from attack by raiders. A few human operatives and a selection of droids is available to assist. Each deck is different, depending on the scenario, and some were designed to present a greater level of difficulty to the players than others.\r\n\r\nDuring play the defender deploys the crew one by one. Each crew member has a name and weapon, and weapons can include anything from pistols and sub-machine guns to lasers and grenades. Not unreasonably, each weapon has a different effect on the enemy - but these of course, are no more than variations on a theme!. They are all deadly if used properly! Once Raiders have been deployed, the game begins.\r\n\r\nMovement and combat are handled by a points system which dictates how far a character may move and what courses of action are available to him. Damage is dealt with in a similar manner. The Raider's forces outnumber the Defender's but the Defender's robots are armoured and consequently difficult to eliminate. The concept of the game is strikingly similar to that of a conventional board wargame called Azhanti High Lightning by Game Designers Workshop, which had deck plans for an 84 deck space cruiser and scenarios for shipboard combat. Both games are highly addictive, being well-devised tactical simulations with real variety in play. They provide a lasting challenge to the most persevering of tacticians.\r\n\r\nRed Shift no longer exists, which means it's unlikely that you'll catch one of their titles on your regular stockist's shelves. Rebel Star Raiders was another title which suffered from a lack of adequate exposure when it was released. Anybody with a copy of the game should treasure it - the game has its faults, but it was (and still is) way ahead of its time.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"86","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Sean Masterson","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"The battleground for the Moonbase scenario in REBEL STAR RAIDERS. Lots of bits of technology to hide behind if nothing else."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 9, Oct 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-09-27","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":128,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\nCirculation Manager: Tom Hamilton\r\nAll circulation enquiries should ring [redacted]\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Limited.\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nGeneral correspondence to: [redacted]\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nGeneral office [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [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 £10.50 (UK Mainland post free)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £17.50 (post free).\r\n\r\nWe cannot undertake to return any written or photographic material sent to CRASH Magazine unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"We have been conscious for some time that CRASH has had two weaknesses and these have been in the areas of adventure games and war/strategy games. The former problem was solved when Derek Brewster kindly agreed to write an adventure column and review the games. We are now able to overcome the second weakness - and this issue sees the start of our wargamers column put together for us by ANGUS RYALL. Angus is the Software Marketing Manager for Games Workshop Ltd. As such he brings with him his experience not only of software but also the over view of strategy games in general.\r\n\r\nOVERVIEW OF STRATEGY GAMES\r\n\r\nEveryone knows that wargamers thrive on 'complexity', and this is what has kept the hobby so elitist for so long. Traditional wargames/strategy games have been virtually impossible for mere mortals such as you or I to crack, and the small number of people playing them has also kept their prices ridiculously high. The arrival of home computers should have changed all that, by getting rid of the number-crunching and all those fiddly little card counters that always end up down the back of the settee. There should by now be as many decent strategy games available as adventures - but there aren't. Having just gone through a pile of strategy games I think I'm beginning to understand why. The people writing them for the Spectrum are giving the sector a bad name - it's the same old idea, of making the players bust a gut to play the game, that has kept traditional wargaming such a minority pastime. Most of these games have abominable graphics, laughable points systems, and unintelligible instructions. They tend to be long winded and very slow, and one or two are just plain idiotic. Only a couple here were actually enjoyable to play.\r\n\r\nDODOS\r\n\r\nThese were the real pits - don't even waste your tape on copying them.\r\n\r\nBISMARK (ASP)\r\n\r\nYou are in the South Atlantic in WWII. You have 12 battleship groups of varying strengths. You have to find and destroy the Bismark in a grid about 1 units square. It took me three minutes. Lucky maybe, but I'm not going back for another go - I've got too much sleeping to do. This comes, incidentally, from Argus Press, who publish all sorts of really naff computer magazines; but even they should know better than this.\r\n\r\nINVASION (ASP)\r\n\r\nAnother one from Argus. This one raised my hackles before it even started - You are the commander of the Western Alliance' it says, the Reds are attacking'. Then it says Reds are stupid' - I think this kind of thing is insulting the intelligence of the audience, like those badges which say Nuke 'em till they glow' - it's not really funny, just childish. Anyway, the game is played on the same sort of grid as BISMARK, and the evil Reds come creeping down towards you. Each turn you are given so many resource points, depending on how many cities you control, which you then use to buy units and attack points. The Reds are given overwhelming force by the program, which tends to make the game more an exercise in headbanging than a game of strategy and skill. Argus run away with this month's mouldy cheeseburger; and I run like hell in the opposite direction.\r\n\r\nDIEHARDS\r\n\r\nSlightly better but still terrible.\r\n\r\nCONFRONTATION (MC LOTHLORIEN)\r\n\r\nA couple of months ago we ran a feature on Lothlorien, who produce this turkey; in the piece they complained bitterly about the fact that they always had bad reviews. Frankly, looking at this, I'm not surprised. Confrontation is supposedly their classic wargame, and is the master program for a whole series of wargame scenarios. The game is above the Argus level at any rate: but it suffers from a problem which typifies virtually all strategy games - the presentation of the map and units is diabolical. In the Lothlorien interview, one of the directors, Roger Lees, said \"you have to make sure that the graphics don't get in the way of playing the game\". Or lack of them, Roger? The only way to gain any kind of overall view of what's happening is to make a note of where everything is each turn, because an enemy unit only appears as itself once you've moved right up next to it - which can be a little bit late, Otherwise it's all guesswork, which doesn't sound much like strategy to me. Despite a fair variety of unit types, a reasonable terrain system, and a generous scenario-builder program, the game still fails because of this 'guesswork or paperwork' problem.\r\n\r\nREICHSWALD (MW GAMESWORLD)\r\n\r\nThe map supplied with CONFRONTATION, Twin River, is in fact amazingly similar to that in REICHSWALD - only the Reichswald one is even more primitive. The only feature on this map which bears any resemblance to what it's supposed to be is the river. Merry & Wallis Gamesworld is only a small firm, so I can almost forgive them for that; but Big John Merry is a wargamer who goes back years and years (and outwards yards and yards, my spies tell me) and it certainly shows. They've managed to turn what could have been a nice, compact little exercise into a sprawling numeric animal that keeps tripping over its fifteen legs. Each unit has three strength values, for tank, anti-tank and infantry, which are determined by the computer and awarded randomly at the beginning of the game. There don't seem to be any set movement values (I may be wrong about this but this was one aspect of the game which proved impenetrable). There are terrain differences and victory points, but again, you can't see the enemy (computer controlled this time, by the way) and the combat just sort of happens when you move too close to the invisible huns. Definitely another pencil and paper job, and very ssssslllllooooowwwww so only really recommended for those about to embark on a term of life imprisonment. Generally about as action-packed as a bowl of semolina.\r\n\r\nDIAMONDS\r\n\r\nWell, having trashed everyone so far, I feel honour-bound to give a bit of praise to someone, and the only people I can think of that really deserve it are Red Shift whose two games Apocalypse and Rebelstar Raiders are still far and away the best strategy games for the Spectrum, even though Apocalypse is now over a year old. Unfortunately, a series of problems at Red Shift earlier this year led to the departure of most of the programmers to form the SLUG co-op; this means that there is an improved version of Apocalypse which will probably never see the light of day. But even the old Apocalypse is great if you can get hold of it. Before I say anything about it, I'd better make it clear that it is an anti-war game (in view of what I said earlier!) but its subtle in its methods - it really works by forcing the players to think about the consequences of aggression. The game comes with four maps, and the distribution of cities can be done either manually or automatically. In addition to the main map to the chosen area, say Europe, there is a close-up of the cursor position giving unit strengths in each square. As the game plays through, the players (up to four) make decisions as to whether they are going to use aggression, whether to use conventional forces to expand their empires, or whether to use the ultimate sanction of nuclear weapons. There's a lot more to this game than simply blasting away at your opponents, yet you don't have to sit up all night with a calculator in order to know what's going on.\r\n\r\nREBELSTAR RAIDERS (RED SHIFT)\r\n\r\nEven better than Apocalypse is REBELSTAR RAIDERS, where one player commands a team of space pirates in an attempt to destroy the control centres of three different installations (each loaded separately). The other player, naturally, has to defend the installations. The graphics are quite superb, and the installations, which appear as plans or cross sections are designed for maximum game flexibility. Cursor movement is fast and smooth, although the keyboard layout takes a bit of getting used to. The wide variety of weapons available and the manual deployment of the characters create a great mix of strategic thinking and general blasting power. The only things I really dislike about RAIDERS are the irritating sound effects (which seem to be something of a Red Shift trademark) and the packaging - which is so amateurish it could have come from Merry and Wallis.\r\n\r\nREBELSTAR RAIDERS and APOCALYPSE prove that it is possible to write good strategy games for the Spectrum: but they also highlight the great gulf that there is between strategy games, and arcade and adventure games. Whey you consider that state-of-the-art in arcade and adventure changes almost month by month (look at the GREAT SPACE RACE) it is incredible that one of the two best strategy games is over a year old. This is one of the few areas where American software, for Ataris and Commodores, wipes the floor with us. Perhaps it's about time that some of the software houses renowned for their arcade and adventure work took a long hard look at the strategy games desert - the demand is there, when the right game arrives.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"78","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Angus Ryall","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"The killing ground for Rebelstar Raiders."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer Games Issue 9, Aug 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-07-19","Editor":"Chris Anderson","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Chris Anderson\r\nProduction Editor: Roderick George\r\nArt Editor: Ian Findlay\r\nTechnical Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nStaff Writers: Steve Cooke, Peter Connor, Bob Wade\r\nEditorial Assistant: Samantha Hemens\r\nSoftware Consultant: Tony Takoushi\r\nCartoons: Kipper Williams\r\nScreenshots: Chris Bell\r\nCover Illustration: David Hine\r\nGame-of-the-month poster: Jeff Riddle\r\nGroup Editor: Cyndy Miles\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nGroup Publisher: John Cade\r\nPublisher: James Scoular\r\nAssistant Publishing Manager: Jenny Dunne\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Satchell\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Jan Martin\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Pete Goldstein\r\nAdvertisement Production: Simon Carter\r\nSales Executives: Ian Cross, Marion O'Neill\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]. Typesetting by Spectrum Typesetting, [redacted] Origination by Fourmost Colour [redacted]. Printed and bound by Chase Web Offset [redacted]. © VNU Business Publications 1984."},"MainText":"MICRO WARS\r\n\r\nFancy yourself as a latter-day Napoleon, staging intergalactic time-travelling battles or controlling the Roman Empire? Stuart Cooke surveys the latest in war games.\r\n\r\nIf you have bit blasted too many aliens for one day, or have got lost in that dratted maze in the new adventure you've bought and are about to see just how well your computer will fly through the window, why not give these 'normal' computer games a rest. Load in a strategy game and find Out just how well you would have run the Roman Empire. Take control of a group of soldiers or travel through lime and fight out battles in outer space or on planets you have never heard off.\r\n\r\nWar games with scenarios similar to the above as well as many others can be found for nearly every micro. Some games will allow you to play against the computer. In others you have to play against a partner: why not have a go at killing your beloved brother, wife etc? In fact buying war games could lead to the end of family arguments as we know them. Whole families could be crowded around the television waiting to see who will win the War of the Roses and settle the latest family feud.\r\n\r\nUntil very recently most of the computer-moderated war games were shipped over from the US. All of these, although of very good quality, tended to be of a very high price. A number of British manufacturers have now produced many excellent packages, all marketed at a price far lower than their American counterparts. This feature will concentrate on products from these companies.\r\n\r\nOne British company who have really made an impact on the war gaming market are Lothlorien. Titles from this company are available fur nearly every machine: Commodores, BBCs, Dragons etc. Most of them seem to make a first appearance on the Spectrum and are converted onto the other machines at a later date.\r\n\r\nCONVENTIONAL WARRFARE\r\n\r\nConfrontation is possibly one of the most popular games from this Stockport-based company. This is a two player game of conventional 20th century warfare. One player controls the Blue forces and the other player the Red. One nice feature of this game is the option to play on a black and white TV set. If you wish to play in black and white, the pieces of the player on the left hand side of the screen are shown in inverse to make them distinguishable from those of his opponent.\r\n\r\nEach player takes control of a number of forces. The forces consist of mobile units made up of tanks, mechanised infantry and engineers. Each type of unit has its own particular use, for example it would be of very little use trying to destroy a plane with a paratrooper, but the flak guns can easily inflict damage on enemy aircraft.\r\n\r\nThe playing area is very clear with rivers, mountains, cities, bridges and other useful landmarks displayed. Pieces on the board belonging to each player are only displayed when they are actually being moved, which means that if the players agree not to look at the TV while the enemy is moving you will not know which piece is what type of unit before it is adjacent. All pieces are represented by a little picture when they are being controlled. The number of squares they can be moved and their type are displayed at the bottom of the screen.\r\n\r\nOne of the nicest and fairly original features this game offers is the option to design your own scenario. Once the program has loaded there is no map held in memory and you can load the one supplied by Lothlorien or design one of your own. Map design is very easy: the cursor keys are used to move a cursor around the playing area and the designer can place cities, rivers, mountains etc by pressing the appropriate key.\r\n\r\nBecause the map can be designed by the user there are no set victory conditions. You can play until all forces have been destroyed for a set number of moves, until a particular point is captured; in fact the list of possibilities is almost endless. Since the finishing conditions are left to the players a game could last five minutes, five hours, or until you wish to end.\r\n\r\nConfrontation is an excellent game, available on a number of popular micros. Because the scenario is left up to the player it is an ideal program for both beginner and expert war gamer.\r\n\r\nZAP THE YANKEES\r\n\r\nJohnny Reb is another popular game produced by Lothlorien. This game can be played against another player or the computer. On the Commodore 64 version you can even get the computer to take both sides. The game is set in the American Civil War and is a fairly small skirmish at a river crossing between the Union and Confederate forces. To win at this game you must capture the enemy's flag. though it is possible to set a limit upon the number of possible moves, the winner being the person (computer) who has scored the most hits against the enemy.\r\n\r\nUnfortunately, this game lacks some of the polish you find in Confrontation. Numbers surround the playing area making it easy to judge distances when moving but making the display very messy. The only symbols found on the map other than the various pieces controlled by each player are the river, marshland, forest and a bridge. None of these graphics is used very well and the video display seems to lack a great amount of interest.\r\n\r\nEach player is supplied with a number of playing pieces. These have differing movement and fighting capabilities, depending on what they represent. Artillery pieces are the only ones that can fire at the enemy from a distance. Unfortunately you can only shoot in eight directions and therefore have to be fairly close to, or in line with, the enemy or the shot disappears off the screen before you can hit him. It would have been nice to be able to select your target by moving a cursor around to point at the destination square.\r\n\r\nFirst impressions led me to believe that this was a very simple and boring game. After a few sessions at the keyboard, however, I found there was a lot more to it than you would expect. To start with, a lot of forward planning is required so you can line yourself up with the enemy to shoot at him face to face. Secondly, you must make sure that whenever you do move one of your pieces you are not placing your man in the firing line of the enemy's guns.\r\n\r\nEven though the graphics of this game are simple. and it is simple to understand, a lot of skill is required. It will take quite a while before you can totally master the game, if ever. This program is also a little slow - you get the impression that when the computer is playing one of the sides and you are waiting for it to use some of its artillery fire against your men you could have overrun the whole of its army and returned home to your farmstead.\r\n\r\nLEGIONS ON THE MARCH\r\n\r\nASP Software is another firm which has begun to put a lot of strategy games on the market. Their latest release is The Fall of Rome, another game available for most popular micros.\r\n\r\nThe outside cover for this game states that you are supplied with a Free Colour Map, so you open up the box expecting to find some painstakingly drawn map of the Roman Empire only to find that the printed instructions are larger than the map. Don't go fixing the free map to your bedroom wall, you'll only lose it and it comes in very handy when playing the game.\r\n\r\nThe Fall of Rome bears a slight resemblance to the well worn Dictator type of game. Each game turn you have to enter the number of legions you wish to buy and maintain in each area of the Empire. Income varies from region to region and the presence of unfriendly tribes will reduce it. This games goes a step further than the normal buy or sell that you normally have to do in a Dictator game in that you are allowed to move your men around. During the movement phase you can move your forces into any neighbouring province. Once you have moved the computer will move the enemy tribes. By moving to an area controlled by the enemy you can fight against him.\r\n\r\nEven though the graphics are good and the responses to input faster than on some other games The Fall of Rome does not give you the feeling that you are actually in control. If you had a little more control of how each legion fought then you would have a better game. Instead you get the impression that you are having an exercise in entering numbers.\r\n\r\nHEAVY METAL\r\n\r\nKriegspiel from Beyond Software runs on the Dragon 32 and is one of the few games around that exploits graphic facilities to the full.\r\n\r\nThe scenario puts you in control of a heavy tank division. You have the option of your opponent either being another player or the computer. Whoever plays, the object of the game is to capture the other player's city HQ. All the action takes place on a high resolution map that scrolls around the screen, which means that the battlefield is actually much bigger than the small area you can see. Three different maps are supplied with the game, and it is very simple to choose the one you wish to use.\r\n\r\nEach player is put in control of 15 pieces. These consist of four heavy tanks, five light tanks and six infantry. It is possible to increase the number of playing pieces up to 25, after every round the player in control of the most friendly towns will gain extra men.\r\n\r\nIt is possible to enter all of your moves by either the keyboard or by using a joystick. Use of a joystick makes all entries to the computer very quick and speeds up play considerably.\r\n\r\nProbably one of the most original aspects of this game is the way in which the weather affects play. It's realistic - and very annoying. You just think that you are about to make a surprise attack on an enemy when it begins to rain and you find all your powers of movement halved. If it snows, for example, your movement is halved and you have no transport.\r\n\r\nThe instructions supplied with the game are very clear, therefore a beginner to war games should soon be playing. So that you can tell which area is which on the map a key is given on the instructions; remember it's a lot harder to move through a forest than through a desert.\r\n\r\nThis is a very well-presented game and its clear, colourful graphics should appeal to everyone. If you are a Dragon owner then you should buy this game just so that you can see what your machine is really capable of. For those of us who don't own a Dragon, would Beyond please bring out versions for other machines.\r\n\r\nProbably one of the most popular war games that you can buy is Apocalypse from Games Workshop. Red Shift are producing the computer game version of Apocalypse under licence.\r\n\r\nWORLD WAR III\r\n\r\nIf you are one of those unfortunate people who have never played Apocalypse then the subtitle given to the game should give you the whole story: The Game Of Nuclear Devastation. You are told, however, that use of nuclear weapons could cause a catastrophic chain reaction.\r\n\r\nApocalypse allows between one and four players to take part, however, if only one player is involved he will have to take two sides, the computer will not play against you.\r\n\r\nEach player is given a certain amount of power points, the number he gets depending on how many centres he occupies and the type of land that his centre is on.\r\n\r\nThere are three different maps provided with the game for your warfare to take place upon. These maps cover areas such as Britain, Europe and London. Red Shift have realised the potential of this game and are producing expansion cassettes containing more maps. Expansion maps cover areas such as US, Galactic, Napoleon's Campaigns and War in the Pacific. The BBC version does not yet have all the expansion packs available.\r\n\r\nThe maps used in Apocalypse cover most of the screen and are very clear. The map shows all the occupied areas and under which player's control they are. When making moves it is possible to move a cursor around the screen and an exploded view of the cursor position is given, showing which forces are situated there. This is very easy to use but tends to be a little slow and it is easy to forget which forces you have where, it's a law playing area to try to find out every time.\r\n\r\nThe only 'major' flaw in this game was found in the BBC version. The symbol of each of the players is positioned on any area he owns. Quite regularly the background colour was the same as the character's piece making it difficult to see exactly who was in control of the square.\r\n\r\nApocalypse is a very involved game and it will take quite a time for a beginner to master play. The instructions are good and clear and give examples wherever possible. The fact that you can purchase extra maps should add to the length of time before this game is put on the shelf and forgotten about.\r\n\r\n25TH CENTURY RAIDERS\r\n\r\nRebelstar Raiders comes from the same stable as Apocalypse. This game takes place in the 25th century. You are given three different scenarios: Moonbase, Starligdale and the Final Assault. Two players are needed to play, each having control of between 20 to 30 characters. Every character in this game has his/its own name and weapon and characteristics.\r\n\r\nAll inputs to the computer are very easy. To get information on a particular character all you need to do is place the cursor over the player in question and press the I key. If you wish to find out about the character's weapon you press the P key.\r\n\r\nBecause each of the maps is different, the victory conditions differ although a specific object has to be destroyed or protected in each of them.\r\n\r\nThis is a game that you need at least an hour to play, but it is worth it when you guide one of your men around a corner and blast three of your opponent's men into little pieces. Rebelstar Raiders is a challenging and very enjoyable game.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"100,101,102","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Stuart N Cooke","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Rebelstar Raiders - a challenging game for two players."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 18, Apr 1985","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-03-28","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":"Red Shift\r\n48K Spectrum\r\nPrice: £9.95\r\n\r\nYet another excellent strategy program from the Red Shift guys. This one takes the Apocalypse war-game idea to new heights. The theme is a two-player tactical combat game, with three different scenarios to try out.\r\n\r\nThe setting is the 25th century, where the good guys (Joe Capricorn and his rebels) must battle against the tyranny of the Main-Comp and the operatives.\r\n\r\nEach player controls many individual characters. Those have varying weapons, armour, movement capabilities and unique names. The weapon carried by the character determines his usefulness during the game, varying weapons carried by the character determines his usefulness during the game.\r\n\r\nA game may take many hours to play, but is great fun and you don't seem to notice the passing of time! instructions for the program come in the form of a fully comprehensive manual.\r\n\r\nPlay consists of a number of phases:\r\n\r\nA) Deployment of troops: This is critical to the overall strategy of the game and is where experience really counts. Some troops are already deployed and one scenario even allows for reinforcements.\r\n\r\nB) Game turns: These are limited which is in effect a time limit to be considered during play. Each turn consists of a number of different modes.\r\n\r\n(i) Cursor mode which is used to gain information about a character or a weapon.\r\n\r\n(ii) Movement mode which uses the non-standard Apocalypse system. This is limited by the points system and varies with terrain being crossed.\r\n\r\n(iii) Combat mode which uses up movement points and sometimes the weapon tool Close-in fighting isn't too interesting. However, ranged combat is visually superb. You can hide being a wall and in one turn move out, attack an opponent and retreat again. The laser and graphical blast effects are well done.\r\n\r\nThe skill of the game comes in knowing which weapons to use and where to place (and move) specific characters.\r\n\r\nVictory is achieved by another points system; you may have to wipe out all of your opponent's men, or complete the object of the scenario successfully.\r\n\r\nAlthough the program is in BASIC it does have Machine Code sections and so is quite quick, and highly addictive too. Weapons vary in the three scenarios available and each game is totally different from the last. This makes it very hard to get bored with the screens. Like Apocalypse, further expansion tapes are planned.\r\n\r\nThe only minor quibbles I can think of are the tendency to continue to fire for too long, and sometimes you can miss an opponent and kill one of your own men!\r\n\r\nOtherwise a marvelous game that will get you thinking, but at the same time is highly enjoyable. A compulsory addition to any strategy fan's tape library.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"116,117","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Greg Turnbull","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]