[{"TitleName":"Sam Stoat Safebreaker","Publisher":"Gremlin Graphics Software Ltd","Author":"Peter M. Harrap, David Bracher","YearOfRelease":"1985","ZxDbId":"0004318","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 15, Apr 1985","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1985-03-28","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nAssistant Editor: Graeme Kidd\r\nTechnical Editor: Franco Frey\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nSoftware Editor: Jeremy Spencer\r\nAdventure Reviewer: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Reviewer: Angus Ryall\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey, Robin Candy, Ben Stone\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\n\r\n©1985 Newsfield Limited.\r\nCrash Magazine is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]; Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted].\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCirculation Manager: Tom Hamilton\r\nAll circulation enquiries should ring [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £10.50 (UK Mainland post free), Europe: 12 issues £17.50 post free. Outside Europe by arrangement in writing.\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. The opinions and views of correspondents are their own and not necessarily in accord with those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Gremlin Graphics\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £6.95\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\n\r\nMore alliterative arcade adventure from Gremlin. In this one you play Sam Stoat, a cunning cat-burglar for stoat-burglar if you prefer). The object is to enter one of the four houses on the start screen (house 1 easy, house 4 hard), then locate the bomb and the match to blow the safe, and escape. Escape is only possible if you have collected the diamond necklace carelessly left lying around on the floor. On finding the bomb it will follow you around. Points are awarded for picking up any other valuables you may come across.\r\n\r\nEach house has a series of rooms interlinked with each other, but as usual there is a lot of nightlife in them, vicious gnomes, drunks, bouncing bed springs, spiders, bats and more. These tend to eat away his energy, indicated at the bottom of the screen by a 'Bloodometer', but it can be replenished by finding Stoat Healing Elixir.\r\n\r\nOnce the diamond has been collected, Sam can leave the house through the mousehole, which turns out to be a large lake with five pillars standing in it. The three middle ones rise and fall in a rhythm which makes leaping from one to the other rather difficult. Falling into the water is fatal of course. The game is played over 80 screens, twenty per house.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: Q/W left/right, P/L up/down (L is not mentioned on the inlay) B to SPACE to jump or enter a house\r\nJoystick: Kempston, Sinclair 2\r\nKeyboard play: simple layout and responsive\r\nUse of colour: good\r\nGraphics: very good, some excellent animation and drawing\r\nSound: good start tune, lacking in spot effects\r\nSkill levels: 4 selectable by house choice\r\nLives: it says 4 on the inlay, but this seems a little silly as you have one life and an energy (Bloodometer) level\r\nScreens: 80","ReviewerComments":["Sam Stoat starts off after a heart-warming rendition of the 'Z Cars' TV theme. Remember that, no, good, because neither do I. The game is typical in layout to the recent Gremlin productions. I found the graphics okay but some of the moving characters, including Sam, were a little cumbersome. For some odd reason mouse holes were connected by separately rising pillars in a watery environment. As a game Sam Stoat was quite good, but the houses were not all that big (Barrat obviously). Gremlin, in my humble opinion, don't seem to have captured the appeal of their original Monty. But all in all Sam is a good game, pretty playable, but I have doubts as to its addictive qualities.\r\r\nUnknown","Gremlin Graphics seem to be pursuing this animal starring series. The character this time has turned to crime for his thrills and spills - if you always fancied yourself as a bit of a burglar then now's your chance. Safebreaker must be one of Gremlin's most difficult games yet, not in the game itself but in the link screen (the mousehole connection) where you have to jump over rising and falling columns - good timing is a MUST - and it does become frustrating after a while when you cannot get over the river and continue with the game. I'd even go as far as to say that it would be much better to make this part of the game easier and make the rest of the game more difficult. There doesn't seem to be much content to this game unless live missed something, you don't really even have to avoid the characters inside the houses as they do nothing more than slow you down. One major attraction is the detailed graphics; tomato plants and flower pots are wonderfully drawn, as are all the playing characters, each being individually animated. Gremlin don't seem to be producing games of as high a quality as Monty Mole - yes they've got the graphics right, but there's little game in it.\r\r\nUnknown","I'm not quite sure what the 'Bloodometer' is for in this game, unless there is some equation being made about Stoats and blood. is Sam a vampire? Or is he a heroin addict? Sam, of course, is the character who rescued Monty in Monty is innocent, and now we know why he is familiar with the insides of a prison - he's obviously been nabbed before! The graphics here are far better than in the previous game, much cleaner looking and far more interesting, they are exceptionally well animated too. Sam Stoat is a more involving and difficult game than Monty is Innocent, but most of the difficulty seems to come from the mouse hole leaping bit rather than the main game, and this form of connection is vital to get to all the other rooms in the house. I get the feeling that what is happening now is that game need games designers as well as programmers - they are not necessarily the same thing at all. Good, well animated graphics and a simple sort of idea longer holds the lasting appeal necessary to a great game, and this seems to me to be true of Sam Stoat Safebreaker. The game looks good, but is not, I think, very addictive.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Above average to good.","Page":"13,14","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Sam has found the bomb inside a room in one of the houses. The bomb will follow wherever he goes."},{"Text":"Sam Stoat, swag bag on his back, encounters a few nasties. He could always pop into one of the two mouseholes...."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"63%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"74%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"64%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"63%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"51%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"63%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"68%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 14, May 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-18","Editor":"Kevin Cox","TotalPages":74,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Kevin Cox\r\nArt Editor: Hazel Bennington\r\nDeputy Editor: Peter Shaw\r\nProduction Editor: Louise Cook\r\nArt Assistant: Martin Dixon\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nContributors: Stephen Adams, Dave Nicholls, Roger Willis, Ross Holman, Terry Bulfib, Chris Wood, Sue Denham, SQ Factor, Tony Samuels, AM Grant, B Hobson\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Joe Harrower\r\nAdvertisement Executive: David Baskerville\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Jill Harris\r\nGroup Art Director: Jimmy Egerton\r\nManaging Editor: Roger Munford\r\nPublisher: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Sportscene Specialist Press Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England. Telephone (all departments): [redacted]\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint [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 ©1985 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."},"MainText":"SAM STOAT\r\nGremlin Graphics\r\n£6.95\r\n\r\nRoss: Sam Stoat, Gremlin Graphics' latest anti-hero is an evil little burglar. His beady eye is trained on four houses in a very select area and he's intent on purloining the jewels concealed within. The four houses are graded in difficulty and you can choose which one to start Sam off in. There are twenty rooms per house (see what I mean about a select area), one of which contains a safe, and each safe contains a diamond.\r\n\r\nTo get his mits on the diamond, Sam must blow up the safe with a bomb which he finds in each house. Then it's a ease of light the blue touch paper and retire rapidly. With the diamond and any other jewellery in his swag-bag, he can move on to case the next joint. At the bottom of the screen is an unusual timer (a bloodometer) which the aenemic Sam has to keep topped up by tippling at a bottle of Sam Stoat elixir. That's his excuse!\r\n\r\nSam's not alone on his blagging jaunt but has to contend with a variety of other creatures, most of them gnomes. Probably got bored with sitting round the pond with a fishing rod. The game's very colourful but the breaking and entering is needed to get the adrenalin running.","ReviewerComments":["What a rip off. The sleeve says there are four houses but they're just the same room with different meanies, so it really amounts to four skill levels.\r\nDave Nicholls\r\n1/5 HIT","Respectable, upstanding members of the community would, no doubt, disapprove of this glamorisation of lightfingeredness. Spectrum tea leafs will love it.\r\nRoger Willis\r\n3/5 MISS"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"48","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Dave Nicholls","Score":"1","ScoreSuffix":"/5 HIT"},{"Name":"Ross Holman","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"},{"Name":"Roger Willis","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair Programs Issue 31, May 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-18","Editor":"Rebecca Ferguson","TotalPages":60,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Rebecca Ferguson\r\nStaff Writer: Colette McDermott\r\nDesign/Illustration: Elaine Bishop\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Shahid Nizam\r\nProduction Co-ordinator: Serena Hadley\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Maria Keighley\r\nSubscription Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Neil Wood\r\n\r\nSinclair Programs is published monthly by EMAP Business and Computer Publications.\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nIf you would like your original programs to be published in Sinclair Programs, please send your contributions, which must not have appeared elsewhere, to:\r\nSinclair Programs\r\nEEC Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrograms should be on cassette. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included. We pay £25 for the copyright of listings published and £10 for the copyright of listings published in the Beginners' section.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1985 Sinclair Programs\r\nISSN No. 0263-0265\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by: Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nAll subscription enquiries:\r\nMagazine Services,\r\nEMAP Business and Computer Publications\r\n[redcated]\r\n\r\nCover Design: Elaine Bishop"},"MainText":"PRICE: £6.95\r\nGAME TYPE: Arcade\r\n\r\nGremlin Graphics' games. You either love them or you hate them. Nobody at Sinclair Programs loves them, but we may be unusual.\r\n\r\nSam Stoat Safe Breaker resembles Monty is Innocent in many ways and, if you liked one, you are likely to enjoy the other.\r\n\r\nSam Stoat is trying to break into a series of houses, to rob the owners of all their valuables. To do so, he must find the bomb in each house and take it to the safe, find the match in each house and take it to the safe, break into the safe, steal the diamond which it contains and then escape.\r\n\r\nEach of the screens is littered with the bizarre wandering enemies in which Gremlin specialises. Contact with any of these enemies will sap your energy.\r\n\r\nThe graphics for each screen are well drawn. In one room Sam must creep past the owner of the house or, at least, past his big toe, which is sticking out of the bath. Movement between series of rooms is done through mouseholes.\r\n\r\nAs usual, though, it is the flickering graphics which make this game an eye-straining problem to play. As the enemies move around, the background behind them takes on their colours. With six characters zooming around a room at once, you have to have good eye sight, a well-adjusted TV set, and a strong stomach to be able to watch the game.\r\n\r\nSam Stoat is produced for the 48K Spectrum by Gremlin Graphics, [redacted].","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"17","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Colette McDermott","Score":"35","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Rating","Score":"35%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Computer Issue 5, May 1985","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-18","Editor":"Toby Wolpe","TotalPages":148,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Toby Wolpe\r\nAssistant Editor: Meirion Jones\r\nProduction Editor: Ian Vallely\r\nSoftware Editor: Simon Beesley\r\nCommercial Software Editor: Paul Bond\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lee Paddon\r\nEditorial Secretary: Lynn Dawson\r\nEditorial: [redacted]\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Nick Ratnieks\r\nSenior Sales Executive: Julian Bidlake\r\nAdvertisement Executives: Nigel Borrell, Kay Filbin\r\nNorthern Office: Geoff Parker\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Maxine Gill\r\nClassified: Susan Platts\r\nPublishing Director: Chris Hipwell\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Shobhan Gajjar\r\n\r\nYour Computer, [redacted]\r\n©Business Press International Ltd 1985\r\n\r\nPrinted in Great Britain for the proprietors of Business Press International Ltd, [redacted].\r\nISSN 0263-0885\r\nPrinted by Riverside Press Ltd, [redacted], and typeset by Instep Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: U.K. £12.50 for 12 issues.\r\nSubscription Enquiries: [redacted]\r\n\r\nABC 154,334 January-June 1984."},"MainText":"Spectrum 48K\r\nArcade adventure\r\nGremlin Graphics\r\n£6 95\r\n\r\nThe latest character to emerge from the warren of the Gremlin Gang, Sam Stoat would appear to be as guilty as Monty was innocent. Intent on stealing a very valuable diamond he braves bouncing bedsprings, runaway pool balls, nasty green bottles, pogo gnomes and deadly gnomemobiles in his quest.\r\n\r\nRather like Statesoft's Icicle Works, you get four main scenarios to choose from. Sam prowls about in the dark below four houses ranging from easy to hard. Press the fire button and pop goes the stoat - you're in the house of your choice.\r\n\r\nThe basic scheme of the game is to locate the explosive bomb and match - then you can blow the safe. Having grabbed the diamond and whatever other jewellery may be lying around in the house, you can then move on. Each house contains 20 screens including the vital bottle of stoat elixir that boosts Sam's blood level - shown graphically in the form of a syringe at the bottom left hand side of the screen. At the top is shown high-score and how much money you personally have gained ill-gottenly.\r\n\r\nThe maximum score attainable is, we are assured, £64,384. This is not a game that I personally would go wild over. When all's said and done, it has to be remembered that the four houses with 20 screens are just the same house with different levels of difficulty. Some nice graphical possibilities are hinted at, but Gremlin have a little way to go yet if they want to mutate into something bigger and meaner. Keep trying though, lads.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"39","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Paul Bond","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Sam Stoat Safebreaker."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"3/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 107, Apr 1985","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-20","Editor":"Peter Worlock","TotalPages":54,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Peter Worlock\r\nDeputy Editor: David Guest\r\nProduction Editor: Lauraine Turner\r\nEditor's Assistant: Karen Isaac\r\nFeatures Editor: John Lettice\r\nSoftware Editor: Bryan Skinner\r\nPeripherals Editor: Kenn Garroch\r\nHardware Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nArt Editor: Dave Alexander\r\nPublisher: Tony Harris\r\nPublishing Manager: Peter Goldstein\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Sarah Barron\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Laura Cade\r\nSales Executives: Phil Benson, Mike Blackman, Jacqui Edmiston, Andrew Flint, Sarah Musgrave, Tony O'Reilly\r\nProduction: Richard Gaffrey\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Andrea Laurence\r\nSubscription Enquiries: Gill Stevens\r\nSubscription Address: [redacted]\r\nEditorial Address: [redacted]\r\nAdvertising Address: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]\r\n© VNU 1983. No material maybe reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\nPhotoset by Quickset, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Chase Web Offset, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Seymour Press, [redacted]\r\nRegistered at the PO as a newspaper"},"MainText":"PRICE: £6.95\r\nPUBLISHER: Gremlin Graphics [redacted]\r\n\r\nFollowing in the footsteps of its Monty Mole series, Gremlin has introduced a new character - Sam Stoat.\r\n\r\nSam, who comes complete with swag bag, aims to enter one of four mansions, each with 20 rooms, and crack the closely guarded safe. Each mansion gets progressively tougher.\r\n\r\nIn order to blow open a safe, Sam has to find a bomb and a match. Once he has the bomb, and it's as big as he is, Sam has to drag it around with him wherever he goes.\r\n\r\nThe rooms are attractively and colourfully depicted. There's no scrolling - the screen clears at the edge of one room and refills the next.\r\n\r\nAn alternative method of leaving a room is by walking through a mousehole in the skirting board. This takes Sam to the edge of a water-filled pit which he must cross, if he's clever enough, by leaping from one moving platform to another.\r\n\r\nThe game is similar in style to Monty is Innocent but more interesting. The animation is not as strong or smooth as some games, but it is effective.\r\n\r\nFor a zany challenge with bright colourful graphics, Sam Stoat fits the bill nicely.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"40","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Bob Chappell","Score":"8","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"8/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]