[{"TitleName":"Santa's Xmas Caper","Publisher":"Zeppelin Games Ltd","Author":"Ian Richards, John Cassells","YearOfRelease":"1991","ZxDbId":"0004331","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 73, Jan 1992","Price":"£2.2","ReleaseDate":"1991-12-05","Editor":"Andy Hutchinson","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"WHAT'S IN A NAME?\r\n\r\nLife, love and loofahs; the YS experience. So, just what's in a name we wonder?\r\n\r\nEditor: Andy (Manly) Hutchinson\r\nArt Editor: Andy (Manly) Ounsted\r\nGames Editor: James (He seized the heel) Leach\r\nStaff Writer: Linda (Serpent) Barker\r\nArt Assistant: Maryanne (Rebellion) Booth\r\nAdvertising Manager: Cheryl (Charity) Beesley\r\nProduction Coordinator: Lisa (My god is satisfaction) Read\r\nPublisher: Jane (God has favoured) Richardson\r\nPublishing Assistant: Michele (Who is like the lord?) Harris\r\nGroup Publisher: Greg (To be watchful) Ingham\r\nCirculation Director: Sue (Lily) Hartley\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair (Groovy), Future (That which is to come) Publishing [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: Pearl (A pearl) Stokes\r\nDistribution: MMC [redacted]\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Colin (A young dog) Jones\r\nISSN 0269 6983\r\nABC Jan-June 1991 65,444\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair is whittled out of Chinese Walnut by the same eternal twelve year olds who assemble (from Airfix kit form) Commodore Format, Amstrad Action, Amiga Format, 8000 Plus, PC Answers, PC Plus, Sega Power, Amiga Power, Amiga Shopper, Classic CD, Needlecraft, Mountain Biking UK, PC Format, Public Domain and ST Format.\r\n\r\nBut what we really want to know is... have you ever been sitting in class, felt the need to ask your teacher a question, and called him/her mum or dad?"},"MainText":"Zeppelin\r\n£3.99 cassette\r\nReviewer: Linda Barker\r\n\r\nIt's strange, it's true an it's an incey bit sad, but one of the things that I associate Christmas with is crapness. Like those awful shops that only appear at the end of November. You know, the ones that sell 57 varieties of advent calendar, pencil boxes with teddy bears on them and those wooden rocking horses that fall apart the minute you put them on the tree. They're crap and I love them.\r\n\r\nZeppelins', rather pathetic, attempt to corner the Christmas market is quite similar to those shops. It's complete and utter drivel. Santa's Xmas Capers just pure festive kitsch. (Sorry? Ed) it means pretentious, inferior or in bad taste. Now, my problem is that I'm quite fond of trashy things; plastic daisies, black china cats, religious pictures - I've got them all. So when I say that I quite like this game, don't for a minute think that it might be good. Cos it isn't. Have I made that clear enough? (Yep. Ed) Good.\r\n\r\nLAPP BY LAPP!\r\n\r\nThe plot sounds quite groovy and joyous. Read the inlay and you could be duped into believing that this is a fun, fun, fun game. Y'see, Santa's christmas pod has been spiked by those pesky pixies, so he has to go lie down in a darkened room for a bit. But what about all the children of the world? They'll be so upset if they wake up on Christmas morning to find their stockings empty. This is where you come in, for just one day you'll have to take over as that beloved and adored semi-mythical figure - old Mr Santa, himself. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and gooey inside? if it doesn't, then you're a heartless beastie and you don't deserve any presents.\r\n\r\nThere are three levels to get through before you can go home, put your feet up and have a mince pie. First up is Lapland; home to Santa, a few Lapps, loads of reindeer, a few fish and not much else. You've got to pick up the sleigh and get all those lovely gifts delivered. But! Those pixies are still feeling a bit restless and they've amassed a stockpile of toy trains and trumpets to throw at you. Be ruthless with tham and then make sure that all those American kids are kept happy. Whilst flying over the Atlantic you meet up with a few scientists who don't believe that Santa exists, they think you're some sort of alien, so you'll have to avoid their death-dealing rays. During these two levels you should collect all the little Santas and glasses of wine that fly past you. These are the presents and in the final level you have to drop them down various chimneys.\r\n\r\nPLUM DUFF\r\n\r\nNow you know what it's all about, let's get in that sleigh and ride! This is where everything starts falling apart and you realise that, despite the jolly plot, you've just bought a bit of a duff game. Your sled is a tiny black thing with a reindeer attached to it which moves jerkily up and down across the screen. This sled is so much smaller than anything else on the screen that it's a blessing it's jet black - at least you can see it. Zeppelin seem to have completely ignored something called proportion, so the presents that the pixies throw at you are twice the size of your piddly sleigh. In fact, the whole thing looks like it's been made out of a load of old Christmas cards. It's also far too easy, I reached the end of Level Two on my first go. (And you're really crap. Ed) Exactly. Santa's Xmas Caper has the same sort of appeal as Chas 'n' Dave's Christmas album. The first time you hear it, it's ridiculously crap in a naff 'n' nice sort of way. Then, when you've heard Roll Out The Barrel for the third time, you realise just how mind-numbingly daft it all is. This game's a bit like that.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Imagine a class of infants making a Christmassy computer game and you'll have a good idea of what this is like.","Page":"32","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Linda Barker","Score":"14","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Festive, eh? It's a shame that it looks like a five pence Christmas card instead of one of those really expensive ones from Selfridges."},{"Text":"Oh dear, you've just been blasted out of the sky by a snowball. Never mind, just quit and go and something a little less mind-stretching. Like falling asleep, for example."},{"Text":"Okay kids, get a magnifying glass and take a look at the top left hand corner. See that tiny black thing? Well, that's you. If I said it was crap, I'd be telling the truth."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"Make your own Santa's Xmas Caper Screenshot\r\n\r\n1. Get a piece of card and draw a horizontal line halfway across.\r\n\r\n2. Colour the bottom half in white, and the top half blue with some white dots on it.\r\n\r\n3. Cut out loads of pictures from old cards and stick them randomly on the card.\r\n\r\n4. Draw a black dot and then another black dot with four legs. This is your sleigh.\r\n\r\n5. Well done. Give yourself a pat on the back and a slice of turkey."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"15%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"16%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"9%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"5%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"14%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 85, Jan 1993","Price":"£2.5","ReleaseDate":"1992-12-13","Editor":"Linda Barker","TotalPages":52,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"YOUR SINCLAIR\r\nABC 40,648\r\n\r\nEditor: Linda Barker\r\nArt Editor: Andy Ounsted\r\nStaff Writer: Jon Pillar\r\nEditorial Contributors: Steve Anderson, Craig Broadbent, Dave Golder, Tim Kemp, Stuart Campbell, Simon Cooke\r\nArt Contributors: Nick Davies, Phil McCardle\r\nCover Artwork: Mike Roberts\r\nSenior Sales Executive: Jackie Garford\r\nProduction Co-ordinator: Lisa Read\r\nProduction Technicians: Chris Stocker\r\nScanning: Simon Windsor, Jon Moore, Simon Chittenden\r\nPublisher: Colin Campbell\r\nPromotions Manager: Michelle Harris\r\nPromotions Assistant: Tamara Ward\r\nGroup Publisher: Greg Ingham\r\nCirculation Director: Sue Hartley\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair, Future Publishing [redacted]\r\n\r\nManaging Director Chris Anderson\r\n\r\nPrinters: Riverside Press [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions: Future Publishing Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Future Publishing 1992. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the written permission of W Scribo.\r\n\r\nISSN 0269 6983\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair has got more gold glitter in its little fingernail than Commodore Format, Amstrad Action, Amiga Format, PCW Plus, PC Answers, Mega, Super Play, PC Plus, Sega Power, Amiga Power, Amiga Shopper, Classic CD, Needlecraft, Cycling Plus, Photo Plus, Mountain Biking UK, PC Format, Public Domain, ST Format, Total! and Today's Vegetarian put together."},"MainText":"SANTA'S XMAS CAPER\r\nZeppelin\r\n£3.99\r\n[redacted]\r\nReviewer: Jon Pillar\r\n\r\nMine is Count Duckula 2. Andy's is Silly Invaders (mainly because he hasn't played anything else and still can't clear a screen), but Linda's all-time crap game is none other than Santa's Xmas Caper. By golly, our illustrious Ed gave this game a right old pasting. Fourteen percent was the final verdict. So it was with a heavy heart that I loaded this 'un up.\r\n\r\nAnd was pleasantly surprised. Linda's main bone of contention seemed to be the ludicrous perspective - Santa and his sleigh were the smallest sprites on the screen, dwarfed by all the enemies and even their bullets. This is true, but there you go. The gameplay is basically shoot-'em-up city, with the jolly plot substituting naughty pixies and presents for aliens and lasers. Admittedly survival in the game is mostly a matter of luck - one broadside from the baddies and you've had it, cos there's no room to manouevre - but still. I quite enjoyed skimming the igloos of Lapland and zapping bouncing penguins. Santa is an appalling game - there's no denying that - but it has an endearingly tacky quality to it. Almost as if it were shouting 'I'm crap - and proud of it!' Tested on my personal scale of crap games, it comes out rather well. Leaving Duckula 2 standing (Santa's fun to play, y'see) it passes both Tilt and Shadow of the Beast (it's action-packed and easy to handle), coming to rest just behind the legendary Friday the 13th. For the connoisseur of crap, a necessary purchase.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"45","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jon Pillar","Score":"32","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"In the 'eighties there were lots of red trains everywhere. Yeah, in the 'eighties there lots of little red trains everywhere. Aawwwriiight!"},{"Text":"Right: Meteoroids"},{"Text":"Rolf Harris didn't like to disappoint the youngsters, so he tried desperately to catch up with the giant penguins from Palotoly. The crackers also proved difficult."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"32%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 119, Jan 1992","Price":"£1.85","ReleaseDate":"1991-12-18","Editor":"Garth Sumpter","TotalPages":60,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Commander Coloninabadway\r\nDesign: Captain Ooneneeky Cheeky\r\nSoftware Editor: Star Commander Angus Headrush\r\nAdditional Design: Earthling Jane Davies\r\nSU Crew: Garth 'Lost in Space' Sumpter, John 'Bad Boy' Cook, Alan 'Space Cruiser' Dykes, Pete 'Astro' Gerrard, Yvette 'Brightstar' Nichols, Phillip 'Black Hole' Fisch\r\nAd Manager: Jerry 'Astonomical' Hall\r\nAd Production: Jo 'Venus' Gleissner\r\nMarketing Man.: Mark 'Starman' Swallow\r\nMarketing Women: Sarah Ewing, Sarah Hillard\r\nPublisher: Graham Taylor\r\nManaging Director: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\n(c)1991 EMAP IMAGES\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nColour by Proprint\r\nPrinted by Kingfisher\r\n\r\nIncidentally, just before Garth disappeared into a spaceship, he said that he would always believe in Santa and wished all the readers (including his mum and dad) merry Christmas and the rest of the Crew wished a merry Christmas to mum and dads everywhere, without whom, nothing would be possible! Would it?"},"MainText":"Label: Zeppelin\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nPrice: £3.99\r\nReviewer: Big Al Dykes\r\n\r\nHey ho, merry Christmas. Splat! Poor Santa has just been charged by a red toy steam train and suckered by a toy dart gun. Luckily he has almost as many lives as a cat so with some skill and more than a little perseverance, he'll still be able to deliver presents to all the wailing kiddies (Ahhhhh!)\r\n\r\nYou are Santa on his sleigh flying through the air on a wing and a prayer, flinging snowballs at dangerous flying presents and spiteful snowmen. The object of the first two levels of the game is to battle through to the city where thousands of kids are waiting for their prezzies by finishing off end of level snowmen and reindeer. Then drop presents on the sleepy houses below in the last level while nasty gremlins try to foil your plan and bring misery to child-kind. (The rotters!)\r\n\r\nThe soundtrack is a sad, but seasonal version of \"We Wish You a Merry Christmas\" and the graphics, although cheerful and colourful cause some crazy sprite confusion.\r\n\r\nSanta's Christmas Capers will give a few short hours of enjoyment on the big day itself then get put away for another year and the next generation of games players. Really good for the younger ones though.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Come all ye faithful, Santa's Christmas Caper is just the sort of thing to keep your little brother away from your new remote control aeroplane on Christmas day!","Page":"42","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Alan Dykes","Score":"64","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Snow, fun and Santa, those penguins are a little vicious though!"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"64%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"53%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"71%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"61%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"64%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]