[{"TitleName":"Rider","Publisher":"Virgin Games Ltd","Author":"Roy Poole, Terry Murray","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0004144","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 1, Feb 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-01-19","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":112,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nDesigner: Oliver Frey\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Rod Bellamy\r\nAdvertisement Manager: John Edwards\r\nProduction Designer: Michael Arienti\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\n\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\nMono printing, typesetting & finishing by Feb Edge Litho Ltd. [redacted]\r\nColour printing by Allan-Denver Web Offset Ltd. [redacted].\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Wells Gardner, Darton & Co. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post included)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post included).\r\nSingle copy: 75p\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to CRASH please send articles or ideas for projects to the above address. Articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope\r\n\r\nCover Illustration:Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Virgin Games\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRecommended Retail Price: £5.95\r\nLanguage: basic with some machine code\r\nAuthor: Roy Poole & Terry Murray\r\n\r\nThe authors of Virgin's Yomp have again come up with a quasi-military theme. The object of this two-part game is to parachute into enemy territory (you're an agent from MI5) and land on a motorbike, then escape on the bike, checking out the enemy's mined roads. You do this by weaving in and out of the mines which fortunately still have their markers on so you can see where they are.\r\n\r\nA sensible menu appears, towed on behind a plane which lets you choose between one and five players, and skill levels ranging from 001 to the coveted 007! The game commences with the plane roaring across the screen and you falling out. It then cuts to a second screen where you are seen floating erratically down under your parachute. Along the base riderless motor bikes slowly pass by. These have been provided by the Resistance, although how they get so many riderless bikes to move along and without the enemy seeing them is not explained! The idea is to land neatly on one of the bikes.\r\n\r\nThis isn't as easy to do as it sounds. At the last moment, just when you think you've got yourself lined up, the harness is released and you drop. If you miss a bike it's back to the top.\r\n\r\nThe second part starts immediately you land on one. Here you get a head on view as the bike with 'you' on it races down the heavily mined road. You can swerve left and right, accelerate or brake. If you hit a mine, that's it. On the higher level of difficulty the speeds increase and more of the mines are live. Although the patterns of mines remain much the same from game to game, the mines which are active are never the same.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nKeyboard positions: reasonable\r\nJoystick options: none\r\nKeyboard play: responsive but you can't brake or accelerate while veering left or right\r\nUse of colour: average\r\nGraphics:average\r\nSound: continuous but unadventurous\r\nSkill levels: seven\r\nLives: one","ReviewerComments":["Both sections contain large graphics, although I'm sure a much better job could have been done with the clouds which resemble those you used to get in old Atari combat games. Landing on a bike is less a question of skill than luck and only having one life is extremely irritating as you have to go back through the menu again.\r\nUnknown","Although the rider veers across the road, nicely, banking on the turns and so on, it seems silly having a brake and accelerate key which can't be used while you're pressing left or right. In the end this isn't very playable and I can't see anyone coming back to it after the first time.\r\nUnknown","The graphics are reasonably drawn but overall the colours aren't pleasing. There's quite a lot of jerkiness to the movement, and despite all those bytes on the loading one wonders why they had to put a self-destruct in the program if you try to break in. Would we see more BASIC than code?\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Fair, could have been better.","Page":"42,43","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"My Kingdom for a Harley! The riderless bikes await."},{"Text":"Screen 2 - dodging the marked mines, RIDER."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"45%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"55%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"50%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"45%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"45%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"50%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 4, Jun 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-05-17","Editor":"Roger Munford","TotalPages":90,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Munford\r\nContributing Editor: Bruce Sawford\r\nDeputy Editor: Tina Boylan\r\nEditorial Assistant: Pete Shaw\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nContributors: Ian Beardsmore, Ron Smith, Stephen Adams, Damir Skrgatic, Simon Goodwin, Toni Baker, Peter Jackson, Paul Walton, Andrew Pennell, Max Philips\r\nArt Editors: Jimmy Egerton, Hazel Bennington\r\nArt Assistant: Steve Broadhurst\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Jeff Raggett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Shane Campbell\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Jason Wood\r\nTypesetting Manager: Derek Cohen\r\nTypesetters: Beverley Douglas, Maggie Kayley, Velma Miller\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nGroup Art Director: Perry Neville\r\nPublisher: Stephen England\r\nDistribution Manager: Colin James\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 ©1984 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.\r\n\r\nCover photography by Ian McKinnell"},"MainText":"RIDER\r\nVirgin Games\r\n£5.95\r\n\r\nAn MI5 agent parachutes into enemy territory, collects a Resistance motor bike and checks out the mined roads ready for the invasion - ta-rah and toodle-pip!","ReviewerComments":["This one really wasn't my cup of tea at all. I think it was the long intro that put me off the most. There's some you love and some you don't. Say no more.\r\nDilwyn Jones\r\n4/10","The parachute bit at the beginning is too slow and long, especially when you consider this game's meant to be about riding a bike- which, by the way, is by far the most interesting bit.\r\nGerralt Jones\r\n6/10","Good colour and graphics throughout. The game also improves in speed after you've managed to get over the first stage - watch out for the sound effects too.\r\nBrian Pedlar\r\n7/10"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"54","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Dilwyn Jones","Score":"4","ScoreSuffix":"/10"},{"Name":"Gerralt Jones","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"},{"Name":"Brian Pedlar","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 2, Mar 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-02-23","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":112,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nDesigner: Oliver Frey\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Rod Bellamy\r\nAdvertisement Manager: John Edwards\r\nProduction Designer: Michael Arienti\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\n\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\nMono printing, typesetting & finishing by Feb Edge Litho Ltd. [redacted]\r\nColour printing by Allan-Denver Web Offset Ltd. [redacted].\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Wells Gardner, Darton & Co. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post included)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post included).\r\nSingle copy: 75p\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to CRASH please send articles or ideas for projects to the above address. Articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope\r\n\r\nCover Illustration:Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer Producer: Virgin Games, 48K\r\n£5.95 (1)\r\nAuthors: Roy Poole & Terry Murray\r\n\r\nThe writers of 'Yomp' have come up with another quasi-military theme game in two parts. First screen you leap from a plane on a parachute and try to land on one of a stream of riderless motorbikes below. These have been supplied by the resistance movement of the occupied country you are spying on. If you succeed in landing on one it cuts instantly to the second screen. This is a 3D view of a country road, heavily sowed with visible mines, down which you must guide your careering bike. Although the details and large graphics are quite good the game ends up being unplayable. You can't brake and turn at the same time for instance. It all palls very quickly and ends up being much slower than it should. Reasonable control keys, seven skill levels, no joystick option. Only a fair game. Overall CRASH rating 50%. Mixture of BASIC and M/C.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"60","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"50%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 3, Apr 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-03-16","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\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nEditorial [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studio, [redacted]\r\nPrinted in England by Plymouth Web Offset Ltd, [redacted].\r\nDistribution by Comag, [redacted]\r\nAdditional setting and process work by The Tortoise Shell Press, [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 Producer: Virgin Games, 48K\r\n£5.95 (1)\r\nAuthors: Roy Poole & Terry Murray\r\n\r\nThe writers of 'Yomp' have come up with another quasi-military theme game in two parts. First screen you leap from a plane on a parachute and try to land on one of a stream of riderless motorbikes below. These have been supplied by the resistance movement of the occupied country you are spying on. If you succeed in landing on one it cuts instantly to the second screen. This is a 3D view of a country road, heavily sowed with visible mines, down which you must guide your careering bike. Although the details and large graphics are quite good the game ends up being unplayable. You can't brake and turn at the same time for instance. It all palls very quickly and ends up being much slower than it should. Reasonable control keys, seven skill levels, no joystick option. Only a fair game. Overall CRASH rating 50%. Mixture of BASIC and M/C.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"78","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"50%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 22, Jan 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1983-12-15","Editor":"Nigel Clark","TotalPages":172,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Managing Editor: Nigel Clark\r\nDeputy Editor: Nicole Segre\r\nConsultant Editor: Mike Johnston\r\nManaging Production Editor: Harold Mayes MBE\r\nSoftware Editor: John Gilbert\r\nProgram Reviewer: Rebecca Ferguson\r\nIllustrator/Designer: Brian King\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: John Ross\r\nSales Executive: Annette Burrows\r\nProduction Assistant: Dezi Epaminondou\r\nEditorial Assistant: Colette McDermott\r\nManaging Director: Terry Cartwright\r\nChairman: Richard Hease\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by ECC Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nTelephone\r\nAll departments\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to any of the Sinclair User group of publications please send programs, articles or ideas for hardware projects to:\r\nSinclair User and Programs\r\nECC Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrograms 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 will pay £10 for the copyright of each program published and £50 per 1,000 words for each article used.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1984\r\nSinclair User\r\nISSN NO. 0262-5458\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by Spotlight Magazine Distribution Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCover Photograph: Peter Dawney"},"MainText":"EXTRA LIVES WOULD MAKE A MORE ExCITING RIDE\r\n\r\nTwo recent releases from Virgin Games are Rider and Angler, both for the 48K Spectrum. In Rider, you are an MI5 agent charged with a two-part mission. Stage one consists of parachuting into enemy territory and attempting to land on a moving motor-cycle. Thus mounted, you then move to stage two, which entails riding through a minefield to check the terrain prior to invasion.\r\n\r\nYou choose any level of difficulty from 001 to 007 and must avoid not only randomly-placed mines but obstacles which may cause you to crash. If you manage to stay the course you will be promoted.\r\n\r\nThe graphics in both stages of the game are lively and the second stage promises a fast and challenging ride. A major fault, however, is that if you crash during stage two, you have to go back to your original parachuting exercise. Extra lives for the motor-cyclist would have made the game more satisfying, as the second part is the more exciting and difficult to master.\r\n\r\nAngler could help confirm the low status of fishing as a spectator sport. In it you are at sea with your trawler, attempting to catch a variety of fish, all gaining different scores according to their type.\r\n\r\nThe trawler moves left and right and pressing any key casts the fishing line. According to the instructions, the length of time you keep the keys depressed determines the length of the line but, in the reviewer's experience, the line showed an infuriating tendency to stop short of any fish at which it was aimed.\r\n\r\nThe game features a scoreboard so that you can compete against your friends and a high score earns a certificate of merit. Fairly rudimentary graphics and slow responses, even if you choose an advanced level of difficulty, do not make it wildly exciting.\r\n\r\nRider and Angler are produced by Virgin Games, [redacted] and cost £5.50 each.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"44","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Gilbert Factor","Score":"6/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer Games Issue 3, Feb 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-01-19","Editor":"Chris Anderson","TotalPages":176,"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\r\nEditorial Assistant: Samantha Hemens\r\nSoftware Consultant: Tony Takoushi\r\nCartoons: Kipper Williams\r\nProgram Control Guardians: Jeff Riddle\r\nIllustrations: Mark Watkinson, Andy Bylo, Tony Hannaford\r\nPhotography: Ian McKinnel, Chris Bell, Tony Sleep\r\nGroup Editor: Cyndy Miles\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nPublishing Manager: Mark Eisen\r\nAssistant Publishing Manager: Sue Clements\r\nAdvertising Manager: Herbert Wright\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Jan Martin\r\nSales Executives: Joey Davies, Marion O'Neill, Louise Hedges\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":"MACHINE: Spectrum 48K\r\nJOYSTICK: No\r\nCATEGORY: Arcade\r\nSUPPLIER: Virgin Games\r\nPRICE: £5.95\r\n\r\nPlayers of Rider will be taken for a ride in more ways than one. It is based on the premise that, as a British agent, your mission is to find the location of mines on the roads of a country the UK is about to invade.\r\n\r\nThe first ride is a parachute one. You're dropped into the country above a line of motorbikes provided by the Resistance.\r\n\r\nBy manoeuvring left and right as you descend, you must land on a bike, different coloured bikes being worth different points. Once on a bike, it's off down the mined road, avoiding the mines as long as possible.\r\n\r\nThe game ends when you either explode on a mine, or crash into a bollard.\r\n\r\nThere's a lot of bollards to this game, starting with a ridiculous scoring system.\r\n\r\nLanding on a bike gets anywhere from 19 to 900-odd points. Landing on a red bike when red bikes are worth only 19 points means a brilliant ride score far less than crashing a good bike immediately.\r\n\r\nAnother thing is that the location of mines and bollards is the same every time, and soon becomes familiar. In programming terms, the RANDOMISE function is screamed for.\r\n\r\nRider is brought to you by the same programming team that did Yomp. Like that game, Rider has a military flavour, and one of its two stages is remarkably like Horace Goes Skiing - swinging left and right to avoid obstacles.\r\n\r\nThis is a widely used theme, so its probably coincidental that the best parts of Yomp and Rider are available with more charm and smoothness on Horace's Holiday.\r\n\r\nHowever, to be fair, Rider offers seven speed levels and a score table for up to five players, which Horace doesn't.\r\n\r\nPerhaps these will go down well at the barracks.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"54,55","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Wensley Dale","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"4/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"4/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Ease Of Use","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Originality","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Lasting Interest","Score":"3/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"3/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]