[{"TitleName":"Scramble Spirits","Publisher":"Grandslam Entertainments Ltd","Author":"Fred O'Rourke, Mark Edwards, Matt Furniss, Steinar Lund","YearOfRelease":"1990","ZxDbId":"0004380","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":"Grandslam/Teque\r\n£9.99 cass, £14.99 disk\r\n\r\nOne of two Grandslam Sego coin-op based releases this month, Scramble Spirits is set in the 21st century and is a six level, vertical scrolling shoot-'em-up that pits either one or two players against a mysterious enemy. Your craft looks outdated for this technologically advanced time, but its weaponry isn't too bad: spray bullets and bombs for ground based targets. And you need all the weaponry you can get your gloved hands on - the enemy literally pour at you in a wide range of deadly air and ground craft.\r\n\r\nLife would be short indeed if it weren't for some unexpected help: occasionally enemies, when shot, drop useful little gadgets called Outriders - small drones which can be picked up (a maximum of two at any given time). Use them to boost your firepower, or in sticky situations hold down the fire button to hurtle them at the enemy with explosive effect. No game of this type would be complete without end of level abominations, in this case huge mechanical monsters: make sure you're equipped with Outriders!\r\n\r\nIf enemies make life difficult just wait for the graphics - where are the sun glasses? Hunt for the character sprite seems to be the programmers' motto: planes, guns, tanks etc are monochromatic, but the background colours are so garish it's difficult to keep track of yourself.\r\n\r\nBeing a sucker for punishment even this drawback did not quite kill the fun for me, and if this sort of shoot-'em-up format gets to you, Scramble Spirits is worth a try.\r\n\r\nMARK 72%","ReviewerComments":["Hmm, remember Dragon Spirit? Well, Scramble Spirit is basically it with different graphics! A shoot- 'em-up in the same style as billions of others. One good thing about the game is that all the graphics are of really good quality, with lots of detail on all the sprites. Where it's let down is in the colour department. Monochrome all round I'm afraid, and this of course makes it difficult to see what's going on in the game. Sound is a bit better with a reasonable tune and spot effects. Scramble Spirits is totally unoriginal, but then so was the arcade machine, so perhaps it's a brilliant conversion! if you fancy a frantic bash at a fire button then try this.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n69%"],"OverallSummary":"An eye-wrecking version of a hackneyed theme with enough thump for fire-button addicts.","Page":"41","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"72","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"69","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"75%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"74%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"71%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"68%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictivity","Score":"68%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"70%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 51, Mar 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-02-18","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":92,"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: Marcus Berkmann, Robert Corradi, Jonathan Davies, Tony Dillon, Mike Gerrard, Ivan Hawksley, Duncan MacDonald, Tanya Maldem, David McCandless, Jackie Ryan, Wag, Louise Willers\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\nMarketing Services Manager: Zoe Ringrose\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 ©1990 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":"Grandslam\r\n£9.99 cass/£14.99 disk\r\nReviewer: Duncan MacDonald\r\n\r\nImagine you're piloting a World War II aeroplane, you're flying along happy as can be, when all of a sudden there's a giant spirally hazy shape in front of you. \"What on earth can that be?\" you cry, wrenching the joystick to the left in an attempt to avoid it. \"Surely it can't be...\" And then you hit it.\r\n\r\nYes, as you regain consiousness, you realise that your earlier fears have been confirmed. The giant spirally hazy thing was in fact a Time Warip (straight out of The Twilight Zone), you've jumped forward a century or two and you're now flying at angels two zero above a rather futuristic-looking landscape. There are turrets that fire deadly beams of light at your plane, And what have you got in the way of a reply? Lots of little pieces of lead that come out of tube things on the underside of your wings, that's what. Oh dear. Bullets are rather useless sometimes, aren't they?! (Yes, sometimes they are. Ed)\r\n\r\nSo that's pretty much the gist of Scramble Spirits, Grandslam's new viewed-from-above vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up.\r\n\r\nEach of its five levels are in monochrome, so the first question you'll probably want answered is \"Does it suffer from the invisible-bullet syndrome?\" I can report, happily, that no, it doesn't. (Well, not much anyway.) While the aeroplane sprites are all on the small side, the bullets, proportionately, are quite large. So, what exactly do you have to do then? Quite simple really - shoot absolutely everything that moves. There are both ground-based and airborne enemy craft to destroy - planes, tanks and gun emplacements to name but a few. And I suppose you'll be wanting to know what other firepower you have at your disposal in order to bring about all this carnage and destruction, won't you? Um, just the bullets, actually. No power-up icons in Scramble Spirits, matey. Well, as a matter of fact there is one type of add-on to be collected, namely a smart bomb. This doesn't mean that it's particularly intelligent, it just means that when you let it off it blows everything in sight to kingdom come. These smart bombs certainly aid your progress, but, as you can only use each one twice (added to the fact that there are hardly millions of them lying around), they're best hung onto until you really need them. Mind you, this is easier said than done, because, once collected, the smart bomb attaches itself to the side of your plane. This makes you a bit wider, and therefore easier to hit, which means you might find the bomb getting blown up before you get the chance to use it to full effect.\r\n\r\nThe mega-nasties at the end of the levels get, as you might imagine, increasingly bigger and more deadly, but there's something you're not allowed to take into these battle arenas - the smart bombs. You're relegated to bullets again I'm afraid (like in Xenon). The mega-nasties' firing tactics are similar to those in Xenon as well, with stream up stream of bullets coming at you thick and fast. Dodge, dodge, dodge, fire into its 'mouth'. Dodge, dodge, dodge, fire into its 'mouth'. See?\r\n\r\nThere's a two player mode, which allows you and a chum to engage in shooting antics simultaneously. With one player guarding the left of the screen and the other the right, progress is made much simpler (and even more fun). Mind you, when a smart bomb icon comes into view it's going to be a bit of a scramble making sure that you're the one who actually gets it. In fact, you'll probably be killed for your troubles, so lean over and give your 'co-pilot' a quick back hander across the bridge of the nose. This should warn him off in the future.\r\n\r\nAll in all, Scramble Spirits is a rather enjoyable and absorbing little shoot-'em-up. For me, though, there's just one thing missing - and that's a few more extra weapons.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A monochromatic vertically-scrolling shoot-'em-up with the emphasis very firmly on, erm, aeroplanes. Quite good fun.","Page":"12,13","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Duncan MacDonald","Score":"75","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Above.\r\nWatch out for the trains! (Actually there aren't any that we saw, but we can but hope.)"},{"Text":"Here's where you start from (the little splodge on the landing pad is your plane). Let's go, Mr Pilot!"},{"Text":"Right.\r\nHere's a giant end-of-level aeroplane - it moves around all over (a bit like in Xenon)."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"75%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"75%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"73%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"77%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"75%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 98, Apr 1990","Price":"£1.85","ReleaseDate":"1990-03-18","Editor":"Jim Douglas","TotalPages":84,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Jim Douglas\r\nDeputy Editor: Garth Sumpter\r\nProduction Editor: Alison Skeat\r\nDesigner: Osmond Browne\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\n©1990 Sinclair User, [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted by Kingfisher Web Ltd, Peterborough."},"MainText":"Label: Grandslam\r\nAuthor: Tecque\r\nPrice: £9.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Garth Sumpter\r\n\r\nThere isn't much to say about Scramble Spirits that isn't obvious from the screen shots; it's a vertically-scrolling shoot-'em-up based on the Sega arcade game, it's as close as you could expect to the original, and it's not much fun. You wouldn't think so from the shots; but this is one of those games which look nice, but which turn out to be unplayable.\r\n\r\nThe small, detailed monochrome graphics might look good in a still, but once everything's flying around, and you're trying to keep track of your plane, your partner's plane (on the two-player game), all the enemy planes, missiles, bombs and bullets, the whole thing just gets frustrating.\r\n\r\nPicking up the odd special weapon, such as a drone which can be fired like a guided missile, adds a little to the fun, but basically if you have 1942 or Flying Shark, you won't get much extra out of Scramble Spirits. Indigestion, maybe.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Disappointing shoot-'em-up, looks nicer than it plays.","Page":"24","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Garth Sumpter","Score":"58","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"47%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"58%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 101, Apr 1990","Price":"£1.3","ReleaseDate":"1990-03-16","Editor":"Julian Rignall","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Julian Rignall\r\nArt Editor: Andrea Walker\r\nDeputy Editor: Paul Glancey\r\nStaff Writer: Paul Rand\r\nAdvertising Manager: Nigel Taylor\r\nDep Ad Manager: Joanna Cooke\r\nSales Executive: Tina Zanelli\r\nProduction Assistant: Glenys \"Teddy\" Powell\r\nPublisher: Graham Taylor\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries to: EMAP Frontline, [redacted]\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted By: Kingfisher Web, [redacted]\r\nColour By: Proprint, [redacted]\r\nTypeset By: Jaz and friends on one heack of a big printer\r\nDistributed By: EMAP Frontline\r\nMegadrive Software courtesy of SpectreSoft, [redacted]\r\n\r\n©C+VG 1990\r\nISSN No: 0261-3697"},"MainText":"Grandslam\r\nSpectrum £9.99, ST £19.99, Amiga £24.99\r\n\r\nFive levels of blasting action await the budding pilot in Scramble Spirits, where the task is to remove the threat posed by enemy squadrons by, well, blowing them up.\r\n\r\nStarting with only a measly gatling gun and unlimited bombs, drone planes can be collected along the vertically scrolling route which attach themselves to your aircraft and can be used either as extra firepower or smart bombs.\r\n\r\nIf you manage to reach the end of a stage, a large battle station lies in wait (sometimes guarded by heavy shielding which your fighter first has to disarm). Destroying this craft allows the pilot to land, refuel, resupply and carry on to the next level.\r\n\r\nAfter every other stage (there are five in all) is a bonus level; here, you have to fly up the screen and blow up the enemy craft which are dis played as expanded sprites Killing them all earns a hefty points bonus, while being shot down gives you nowt.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A simple game which works best on this machine, but even so there are much better scrolling shooters available.","Page":"50","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Paul Rand","Score":"57","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Aim for the turrets!"},{"Text":"The bonus game."},{"Text":"The end of level one, where three nasty bombers come out to play!"}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"AMIGA SCORES\r\n\r\nGraphics: 71%\r\nSound: 58%\r\nValue: 47%\r\nPlayability: 54%\r\nOverall: 53%\r\n\r\nThe Scramble Spirits coin-op isn't the best shoot 'em up in the world, so it's no surprise to find that the computer conversion isn't exactly a rip-roarin' bundle of fun either. The presentation is fine, although I thought the blown-up sprites on the bonus stage were sloppy. The music is tuneful, but doesn't fit the game - how would you like to be flying into almost certain destruction with a tune similar to the theme from the \"Love Boat\" (a crappy 70's American TV show) blasting into your ears? Then there's the game itself. Not only has it all bee seen before, it isn't particularly brilliant, either. I just sat there, mindlessly blasting away, and by time I came out of a day dream I found that reached the end of level three! If you want a good vertical scroller with loadsa killing to be done, check out Xenon II instead."},{"Text":"ATARI ST SCORES\r\n\r\nOverall: 52%\r\n\r\nApart from a drop in sound quality, there are no differences between this and the Amiga version. The same bland, tiresome game rears it's unattractive head."},{"Text":"UPDATE\r\n\r\nAmstrad and C64 versions are available soon - expect them to be marginally better than the Spectrum version."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"57%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"The Games Machine Issue 29, Apr 1990","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1990-03-15","Editor":"Richard Montiero","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL OFFICE\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nConsultant Editor: Richard Monteiro\r\nDeputy Editor: Richard Eddy\r\nSub Editor: Dominic Handy\r\nStaff Writers: Robin Candy, Mark Caswell, Warren Lapworth\r\nEditorial Assistants: Vivien Vickress\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION DEPARTMENT\r\n[redacted]\r\nEditorial Director: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nProduction Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nReprographics: Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard, Robert Hamilton\r\nDesign: Mark Kendrick, Melvyn Fisher\r\nSystems Operator: Ian Chubb\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Caroline Blake (assistant), Jackie Morris\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions rates available from main address\r\n\r\nDesigned and typeset on Apple Macintosh II computers running Quark Xpress, Adobe Illustrator 88, with systems support from Digital Print Reprographics, [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by BPCC Business Magazines (Carlisle) Ltd, [redacted] - a member of the BPCC Group. Distribution effected by COMAG, [redacted].\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. List of winners are available after the closing date from Viv Vickress at [redacted] (please enclose SAE). No person who has any relationship to anyone who works for Newsfield Ltd or any of the companies offering prizes may enter one of our competitions. No material may be reproduced in part or in whole without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into TGM - including written and photographic material, hardware or software - unless it's accompanied by a suitable SAE. We regret that readers' postal enquiries cannot always be answered. Unsolicited written or photographic material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates - we reserve the right to edit any written material. The views expressed in TGM are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\n©1990 TGM Magazines Ltd 1990\r\nA Newsfield Publication ISSN 0954-8092\r\n\r\nCover Design Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Spectrum 48/128 Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99\r\nAmstrad CPC Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99\r\nCommodore 64/128 Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99\r\nAtari ST £19.99\r\nAmiga £19.99\r\n\r\nTHE WILD BLUE YONDER BECKONS...\r\n\r\nBased on the crusty old Sega coin-op Scramble Spirits is a six-level vertically-scrolling shoot-'em-up (similar to 1942).\r\n\r\nEven though this is supposed to be the 21st century, you are sent out in a bog-standard propeller plane - so much for technology! The plane is armed with a spray-bullet gun and bombs. Plenty of alien technology is waiting for you, so be grateful the ammo is unlimited. On the other hand, the enemy attack with state-of-the-art technology: jet planes, tanks and gun turrets etc. As is the norm with games of this type, you can soon even the stakes by shooting down a few enemy bombers and picking up the odd extra weapon or plane.\r\n\r\nAlso available are outriders: small airplane drones that can be collected from the shattered remains of the huge helicopters which occasionally buzz around. They flank your craft (two can be held at one time) and depending on their height destroy either air or ground targets. If the alien scum get too close for comfort, holding down the fire button will send one of the outriders zooming off on a kamikaze mission.\r\n\r\nOccasionally you'll enter a bonus screen. Here your over-sized character sprite has to destroy numerous enemy aircraft as they rush down the screen. A percentage rating is allocated depending on the amount of destruction you cause.\r\n\r\nOnce you have battled your way to the end of a level a guardian is faced. This can be either land-based or airborne, but whichever you encounter, it is sure to put up a fight. Earth is depending on you, don't let us down.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"The monochromatic sprites are difficult to distinguish on the garish backdrops. Sound, though not listenable, is functional. Difficulty significantly increased for hardened Spectrum gamers.","Page":"40","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"70","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Flying high with Scramble Spirits. Destroy enough enemy fighter planes and your craft is joined by an outrider - kinda bolt-on weapon thingy."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"AMIGA\r\n\r\nOverall: 75%\r\n\r\nGraphically, Scramble Spirits is rather good. Plenty of colour has been used on the wide variety of enemy craft. Sound can be toggled between an initially pleasant, but ultimately annoying, tune and spot FX. The two-player option is a good idea, but, like Silkworm, can become annoying if a friend uses up all the credits."},{"Text":"ATARI ST\r\n\r\nOverall: 75%\r\n\r\nSimilar to the Amiga but with poorer sound."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"70%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]