[{"TitleName":"Rock 'n Roll","Publisher":"Rainbow Arts","Author":"Barry Leitch, Gavin Wade, Celal Kandemiroglu, Anthony Rosbottom","YearOfRelease":"1989","ZxDbId":"0004202","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 74, Mar 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-02-22","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":52,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nFeatures Editor: Richard Eddy\r\nStaff Writer: Mark Caswell\r\nEditorial Assistant: Viv Vickress\r\nPhotography: Michael Parkinson\r\nContributors: Nick Roberts\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nProduction Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nArt Director: Mark Kendrick\r\nReprographics: Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Rob (the Rev) Hamilton, Jenny Reddard\r\nDesign: David Western, Melvin Fisher\r\nSystems Operator: Ian Chubb\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Caroline Blake, Christian Testa\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":"Rainbow Arts\r\n£8.99 cass, £12.99 disk\r\n\r\nBabam-balooma-showap-diwop has nothing to do with this: it's a rolly ball game much in the mould of Bounder, Incredible Shrinking Sphere and Mad Balls. You are the ball which must escape from 32 tortuous mazes that threaten to destroy it. Well the mazes don't, but some of the obstacles in its path have a damn good try. Magnets, energy barriers, bombs, bottomless pits, doors et al, all gang up to ensure a right balls up.\r\n\r\nBut programmers are nice people really - scattered around each level are useful, and indeed essential objects. Keys to open doors, bombs, eyes (to see more of the level map), spikes (to get a grip on ice), diamonds and money are found lying on the ground. Money is essential to purchase goods from the 'shopping centers': icons set into the floors of the maze. Roll over them with the right change and pick up the goods, or if cash levels are low sacrifice some precious energy to get the goods. Whatever happens, get a move on: the mazes are all tough.\r\n\r\nI've always had a soft spot for this game type, and although Rock 'n' Roll isn't stunningly special I like it. The going is certainly challenging. Even with the handy objects the obstacles are nasty to negotiate and only careful planning has you succesfully whizzing around the maze in search of the exit. Satisfying for maze freaks.\r\n\r\nMARK 79%","ReviewerComments":["Rock 'N Roll is a weird game. It's a bit like rolling a marble down a maze of tubes, holes and gates, - but this marble has a brain - yours! The different icons you need to collect to remove different gates and allow you to go over certain types of shading confuse you at first, well, they did me, but you soon get used to them (after reading the instructions!). It's a pity more of the screen hasn't been used for the play area. Only a square in the middle gives a view of the maze, the rest is there purely for presentation - what a cop out. Presentation is of a good standard, until you find out the game is a multi-load, even in 128K mode. Tunes and fancy effects throughout make up for this though. All the graphics are small but clear, let down somewhat by the monochrome used in the play area.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n79%"],"OverallSummary":"Old fashioned bouncy balls prove they can still be rollickin' jolly.","Page":"44","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"79","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"79","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"78%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"74%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"75%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictivity","Score":"78%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"79%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 50, Feb 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-01-18","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Catherine Peters\r\nDeputy Editor: David Wilson\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nDesigner: Martin Sharrocks\r\nTechnical Consultant: Jonathan Davies\r\nContributors: Robin Alway, Marcus Berkmann, Richard Blaine, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Kati Hamza, Tim Harding, David McCandless, Richard Morris, Rich Pelley, Phil South, Wag\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Lynda Elliott\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Caroline Day\r\nClassified Advertisement Executive: Chris Skinner\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Claire Baker\r\nNewstrade Circulation Manager: Stephen Ward\r\nSubscription Manager: June Smith\r\nPublisher: Teresa Maughan\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":"Rainbow Arts\r\n£8.99 cass/£12.99 disk\r\nReviewer: Robin Alway\r\n\r\nGames starring cute ball-like creatures have always seemed to go down Marks-And-Sparks-Chicken-Baguette-like with Speccy owners (ie. pretty well), not to mention reviewers who've got book loads of double entendres out of them. No doubt conscious of this. Rainbow Arts has finally caught up with the decrepit ball game bandwagon, kicked the band off and jumped back on with Rock 'N' Roll, a very ballsy game indeed.\r\n\r\nThe ball in question is nameless and looks like an old fashioned leather footie. Still, it rolls with beautiful panache and elegance under your control, through 32 large, viewed-from-above maze-like levels in order to find the magic chalice, rescue the ball princess and free fellow spherical compatriots from slavery. Or something like that!\r\n\r\nNeedless to say each of these levels is absolutely heaving with no end of nasty things, all out to puncture your ball's bladder once and for all! There are one-way arrows, crumbling bits of floor, acid pools, some attractive magnets, ice and bottomless voids which you'd do well to, erm, avoid.\r\n\r\nBladder deflation is prevented with the help of those incredibly handy objects that are always strewn all over the floor in computer games. For instance, there are parachutes to save your leather when you fall off a precipice, spikes that help you on ice and a repair kit so you can get over interrupted paths, to name but most of them. These have to be bought for varying amounts of greenbacks, supplies of which are also dotted across the landscape, or in emergencies traded for precious energy.\r\n\r\nCourse, you can't just roll your way around each level without so much of a by-your-leave. In fact even a by-your-leave wouldn't let you roll around unhindered through the four different types of door that block your progress. Collecting the right key would however, and it's this to-ing and fro-ing trying to find keys and taking existence endangering risks that makes up most of the gameplay.\r\n\r\nGraphics are never as important in these type of games as in most others, but even so the visuals in Rock N' Roll are a bit dodgy and, worse still, a disgusting yellowy colour throughout. Presentation's pretty tatty too and when compared to big budget arcade licences this looks like a pretty unprofessional product altogether. The animation of the ball's nicely done though, with a realistic feeling of momentum and the soundtrack's pretty groovy into the bargain which might just make up for it.\r\n\r\nAll in all, there seems to be just enough action to keep the variety of puzzle elements together, but if pressed I'd file this in my officially endorsed Shakin' Stevens Suspension Filing Cabinet™ under P for Puzzle rather than A for Arcade, which certainly makes a challenge. Then again, after experiencing the annoying habit the game has of either sending you right back to the start of the game or reinflating you in a position that's impossible to escape from maybe there's a more suitable word in the F section. Like Frustrating.\r\n\r\nIf frustrating is how you like them though this will give great value for money with 32 huge levels. Tight time limits on later stages and the promise of secret passageways and special bonuses help to keep you chained to your Speccy. Unfortunately there's no Save Game option, so solving the whole darn thing is going to take a veritable marathon playing session. But, heck, you're YS readers, you're up to it!","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Persevere with the unglossy look and there's lots here to do and see, even though it is in yellow.","Page":"93","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Robin Alway","Score":"74","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Oh damn, blast and other rude words (the most appropriate being balls)! I haven't got the right keys to get through these doors."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"This strip tells you the current level, the name of said level and whether a time limit applies or not.\r\n\r\nThese are one way arrows. The push you one away.\r\n\r\nOther way arrows.\r\n\r\nThe hero of the piece - the sphere which you control.\r\n\r\nAn example of the objects lying around that you can buy. This one's a pickaxe that lets you hack through some of the more flimsy walls.\r\n\r\nFrom top to bottom - amount of dosh, how much more time before your spikes and armour run out and remaining energy.\r\n\r\nThese stripey areas are bottomless voids that our rotund friend can fall down.\r\n\r\nThe various extras you've collected are displayed here.\r\n\r\nLets you know how many keys you've picked up on your travels."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"78%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"54%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"58%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"70%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"74%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 95, Feb 1990","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1990-01-18","Editor":"Jim Douglas","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"AaaChhhoo!\r\n\r\nJIM \"Black Death\" DOUGLAS (Editor)\r\nGood grief, he's looking pretty manky this month, eh readers? Poor Jimbly has been struck by the dreaded Flu epidemic. He's almost overdosed on Chloraseptic and is feeling very sorry for himself, and would like someone to give him a cuddle, please. Eurgh yuk, go away drippy bogey snout.\r\n\r\nALISON \"Super Fit\" SKEAT (Production Editor)\r\nBig Al's looking well smug with herself as she's the only one who's managed to avoid the lurgie. That's because she's been holed up in her Michael Jackson-style oxygen tent munching on garlic pills and Halibo-range tablets. But naughty Oz has set about her bubble with his designer scalpel and all the germies are getting in, tee hee. Somebody pass All the Junior Disprin please.\r\n\r\nGARTH \"Firestone\" Sumpter (Staff Writer)\r\nAfter a major bout of Christmas jollies, poor Garthy is certainly a wee bit worse for wear. Jim made him attend every software house chrimbo doo because the rest of us were too \"ill\" to go, but it looks like he had a few too many beakers of Um Bongo. Quick lads abandon the loo, here he comes.\r\n\r\nOSMOND \"wibbly limbs\" BROWNE (Designer)\r\nPoor little Ossie. Wicked Uncle Jim has been working him so hard, that he's developed a rather severe case of Designer's elbow. He's been scribbling away so hard that both of his elbows have turned to gungey runny stuff and his arms have gone all loppy. What a shame, looks like he's headed for the Municipal home for crumblie old clapped out Designers.\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: Jerry Paris\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Copyright Sinclair User 1990\r\n\r\nNo part of this magazine may be reproduced/transcribed, stored in a data retrieval system etc, without permission of the publishers, EMAP B+CP. Special thanks this issue: Kevin at Nene, John Cook, Jaz Rignall and of course, old Santa himself for forcing us to produce this issue in two weeks flat. Hope you get terminal frostbite, fatso."},"MainText":"Label: Rainbow Arts\r\nAuthor: Imagitec\r\nPrice: £8.95\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Chris Jenkins\r\n\r\nRock'n'r-ooo-ooo-ll - HUH! Rock 'n' roll! Gary Glitter's camp classic turned into a computer game? No such luck, matey. Rock'n'Roll is Rainbow Arts' latest offering, and now that they're out on their own rather than going through US Gold, you'd expect something a bit special. Wee-ee-eee-lll... I wouldn't go that far. Good, it is. Special? Rather depends on whether you have any more appetite for rolly-ball games.\r\n\r\nYou might remember a spate of these a couple of years ago. First there was the original classic Marble Madness, the conversion of the coin-op which set new standards for sound and animation. The main attraction was the way the ball interacted with the 3-D landscape. Then there was Spindizzy, where the part of the ball was played by a top; then Bobby Bearing, where it was played by a ball bearing. And there were several budget imitations. So what does Rock'n'Roll add to the games on that list? Not much. actually it's a bit of a step backwards 'cos it's in 2D.\r\n\r\nThe central playing area (which is pretty small and monochromatic) scrolls around to show you a series of mazes in a top-down view; a sort of Marble Gauntlet. Through the mazes you steer your animated marble, which is subject to quite convincing inertia effects and which spins nicely. Mind you, it doesn't have the skateboard, sports cap, ghetto-blaster, sunglasses and chewing-gum I was expecting from the title screen.\r\n\r\nAt the bottom of the screen you'll see the inevitable timer, score count, energy level, and the number of objects collected. These objects such as eyes, keys, shields, energy tokens and diamonds lie around the maze; the most important objects are the keys, without which you can't get through the barriers which block your way to the higher levels (which load sequentially from tape or disc). Each barrier is marked with a number - the higher the number, the more keys you'll need to open the door. At one stage on Level One you find a whole series of keys and doors, and the trick, I suppose, is to know at what stage to stop and turn around. There are also flickering energy barriers and creaking crushers through which you have to dash with exact timing, and black holes which you must avoid at all costs. If you take the plunge into a black hole, you have the option to restart from the same point or go back to the start of the level.\r\n\r\nIf you seem to have picked up all the objects in one area, and can't find any way out to another, you have to look for a spherical transporter pad. Transporters zap you from one zone to another; sometimes you have to jump through one, collect a key, then jump back again to open a door. Of course, you can't just wander around as you please; one-way arrows prevent you from taking the easy routes around the mazes, and slippy slidey bits make you go out of control, just as you come up to a black ho-ho-hole!\r\n\r\nRock'n'Roll has some good points, but it's not exactly over powering in its originality.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Not a complete balls-up; plenty of Roll, just not quite enough Rock.","Page":"40","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Chris Jenkins","Score":"62","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"59%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"68%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"68%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"62%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]