[{"TitleName":"Robber","Publisher":"Virgin Games Ltd","Author":"Keith Mitchell","YearOfRelease":"1983","ZxDbId":"0004174","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: machine code compiled\r\nAuthor: Keith Mitchell\r\n\r\nRobber is subtitled, 'A 3-part criminal escapade to warn you off a lifetime of crime!' According to one of our reviewers they should have warned you off Robber. In many respects this game is a good sketch for a much better presentation at a later date.\r\n\r\nTHIS IS WHAT YOU DO\r\n\r\nThere are really three screens in this game, although the second contains four different sections. The first screen depicts a large room with two L-shaped cupboards in it. You're at the bottom right, a chess pawn shaped thing. In the two cupboards are a door key and a stethoscope. A third and vital object is the hidden safe key (why a stethoscope?) This safe key only becomes momentarily visible in the beam from the guards torch. He's at the right of screen, moving erratically up and down. If you get caught in the beam you're nicked.\r\n\r\nHaving collected the three objects you proceed to the second screen, a two-part collapsing and reappearing bridge, which you must cross without falling to your death on the spikes below. Once across, the third screen presents you with a simple maze; first section under water, infested with poisonous jelly fish (watch the falling oxygen rating), second part through a dark room where you can't see the path of the maze, and infested with man-eating birds; third part a narrow corridor with deadly bouncing balls; and lastly a maze which disappears as soon as you see it, so it must be memorised. The whole thing takes places against a timer on the safe which shuts off the whole complex, trapping you if you're not quick enough.\r\n\r\nGENERAL\r\n\r\nThe instructions on the inlay say Z/A for up/down and Q/W for left/right. They're wrong. It's actually Z/X for left/right and K/M for up/down. Objects are collected by moving onto them. One of the reviewers noted a serious problem, not so much of crashing the program as terminally freezing it. Twice in a row it froze on hitting the Z key and had to be reloaded.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nKeyboard positions: sensible\r\nJoystick options: none\r\nKeyboard play: very slow\r\nUse of colour: average\r\nGraphics: fair\r\nSound: hardly any","ReviewerComments":["An awful lot depends on luck rather than any playing skill. The collapsing bridge is very random, and the jelly fish just pop up and then disappear again, so it's luck that gets you through. Neither jelly fish nor man-eating birds pose any real danger in the sense that they go for you.\r\nUnknown","The response to pressing a key is so slow that skill plays very little part in this game. I thought the graphics were primitive and there was no sound to speak of. Surely more could have been done with 48K than this?\r\nUnknown","Although you only get one life in the first screen, once into the second and third there seems to be no limit, you can go on and on.\r\nUnknown","Overall the graphics are very basic looking, though adequate for the idea, but they move at a very BASIC speed. In fact it's such a slow process that the game becomes frustrating and not in a good way.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Poor.","Page":"100","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"50%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"45%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"43%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"50%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"35%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"48%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 2, Mar 1984","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1984-02-16","Editor":"Roger Munford","TotalPages":98,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Munford\r\nContributing Editor: Bruce Sawford\r\nTechnical Editor: Ron Smith\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSub Editor: Nik Lumsden\r\nContributors: Toni Baker, Simon Goodwin, Mike Lord, Ian Beardsmore, Max Philips, Guy Kewney, Henry Budgett, Gary Marshall, Dilwyn Jones, Phil Manchester\r\nArt Editor: Jimmy Egerton\r\nArt Assistants: Steve Broadhurst, Mike Wilkes\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Jeff Raggett\r\nAdvertisement Managers: Shane Campbell, Gill Harris\r\nProduction Editor: Derek Cohen\r\nTypesetters: Anne Ashby, 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\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 bi-monthly publication and the third issue will be available during the second week of April 1984."},"MainText":"ROBBER\r\nVirgin Games\r\n£5.95\r\n\r\nAn original idea that involves you in stealing the loot, and avoiding the searchlight as it scans the screen.","ReviewerComments":["Basically, very slow. Not bad overall and an original idea but frankly, a rotten presentation.\r\nCorrie Brown","Unbelievably slow, this game is a long way behind the times graphically, and generally leaves a lot to be desired.\r\nStewart McPherson","Although this program was put together using the Softek compiler, it's still awfully slow and the graphics have taken a backward leap in time to the simple block graphics of the ZX81. It did seem that Virgin Games were improving their software selection...\r\nPeter Shaw"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"56","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Corrie Brown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Stewart McPherson","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Peter Shaw","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"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: Virgin Games, 48K\r\n£5.95 (1)\r\nAuthor: Keith Mitchell\r\n\r\nThis is a 3-part game. In the first section you must cross a room to 2 Cupboards and collect a doorkey and a stethoscope. A guard moves about with a torch and you are caught if you appear in his beam. There's also a safe key hidden in the room. Getting through this dumps you onto a collapsing bridge with spikes beneath. The third part is a maze where you must swim under water, avoiding fish and get out before your oxygen runs out, then cross an invisible maze avoiding man-eating birds, get through narrow passages avoiding the bouncing balls, and lastly a maze which disappears as soon as you've seen it. Sounds exciting but it isn't. This is a good sketch for a much better game. The inlay instructions are incorrect and the game has a tendency to freeze terminally at odd times. Primitive graphics and unresponsive control don't help. Poor. CRASH rating overall 48%. Compiled M/C.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"52","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"48%","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: Virgin Games, 48K\r\n£5.95 (1)\r\nAuthor: Keith Mitchell\r\n\r\nThis is a 3-part game. In the first section you must cross a room to 2 Cupboards and collect a doorkey and a stethoscope. A guard moves about with a torch and you are caught if you appear in his beam. There's also a safe key hidden in the room. Getting through this dumps you onto a collapsing bridge with spikes beneath. The third part is a maze where you must swim under water, avoiding fish and get out before your oxygen runs out, then cross an invisible maze avoiding man-eating birds, get through narrow passages avoiding the bouncing balls, and lastly a maze which disappears as soon as you've seen it. Sounds exciting but it isn't. This is a good sketch for a much better game. The inlay instructions are incorrect and the game has a tendency to freeze terminally at odd times. Primitive graphics and unresponsive control don't help. Poor. CRASH rating overall 48%. Compiled M/C.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"69","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"48%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]