[{"TitleName":"Aaargh!","Publisher":"Melbourne House","Author":"Ben Jackson, Danny S. Whelan, Tom Green","YearOfRelease":"1989","ZxDbId":"0000045","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 68, Sep 1989","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1989-08-24","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":52,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nFeatures Editor: Richard Eddy\r\nEditorial Assistants: Viv Vickress, Caroline Blake\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\nContributors: Nick Roberts, Mike 'Skippy' Dunn, Robin Hogg\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION DEPARTMENT\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell (Supervisor), Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Robert (the Rev) Hamilton, Jenny Reddard\r\n\r\nDESIGN\r\nRoger Kean, Mark Kendrick, Melvin Fisher\r\n\r\nSystems Operator: Ian Chubb\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Lee Watkins, Wynne Morgan\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":"Melbourne House\r\n£8.99\r\n\r\nIt's not easy being an ogre. Not in this Arcadia coinop conversion, anyway. Come to think of it, it ain't that dandy being a dragon either! These are the two monsters that have been chosen to battle against each other in The Search for Roc's Eggs.\r\n\r\nThe eggs are hidden in the towns and cities of the eland of Darance, but there is a snag. To find the eggs you must smash and bash through the houses ant statues of each place you search. You can destroy the buildings in two ways: Hitting them has a quick crumbling effect, but setting fire to them with your bad breath is also a good Idea.\r\n\r\nYou can pick up objects from the demolished houses to help you grow stronger. Hamburgers increase your strength, and bolts of lightning increase your fire power. This could all be very easy if it weren't for those pesky people who aren't keen on you re-landscaping their towns.\r\n\r\nThe inhabitants do their best to stop you by knocking down your energy with large catapults and cannons. To top this, once you've captured an egg, the other monster fights you for it. Win and you keep it, and once five are collected, you're off to the volcano for the big one, a golden egg to complete the game.\r\n\r\nIt all sounds jolly good fun, but sadly Aaargh! is badly programmed. Playing it is like stepping backwards in time to the early Spectrum days. The main sprites are small and uninteresting, and the people are about four pixels high! Nice in real life, but on the fighting section I just laughed my socks off! (poooo!). The larger sprites for each monster are made by (wait for it) expanding the original small sprites! The multi-load just makes the situation worse. Avoid.\r\n\r\nNICK 31%","ReviewerComments":["How's about this for a dire game? The storyline is fantastic; 'the monsters are on the loose... to cause chaos... to inflict terrible destruction!'. Honestly, it's not exactly original, is it? it wouldn't be so bad if Aaargh! brought some terrific new feature to the games playing world, but it doesn't. At budget price, it might just make the grade with average addictivity. The awful graphics and a nigh-total lack of playability make this a thorough waste of money.\r\nMike Dunn\r\n29%"],"OverallSummary":"Unexciting and badly executed coin-op conversion.","Page":"44,45","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"31","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Mike Dunn","Score":"29","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"29%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"32%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"31%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"30%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictivity","Score":"22%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"29%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 44, Aug 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-07-17","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Catherine Higgs\r\nDeputy Editor: Jackie Ryan\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nSenior Staff Writer: Duncan MacDonald\r\nDesigner: Catherine Peters\r\nEditorial Assistant: David Wilson\r\nTechnical Consultant: David McCandless\r\nContributors: Marcus Berkmann, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Sean Kelly, Peter Shaw,Phil South\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Alison Morton\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Stephen Bloy\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Claire Baker\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nCirculation Manager: June Smith\r\nAssociate Publisher: 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: Carlinpoint [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":"Virgin/Mastertronic\r\n£9.99 cass\r\nReviewer: Jackie Ryan\r\n\r\nWell, this game certainly had me screaming \"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!\" at the top of my voice I can tell you. After the brill shoot 'em up fun of Silkworm this latest release from the Virgin/Mastertronic stable just doesn't measure up.\r\n\r\nConverted from the 16 bitties, Aargh! could loosely be described as a kind of arcade adventure style beat 'em up. It could also be described as a lot of other things - most of them unprintable.\r\n\r\nAargh! is a one or two player affair in which you can take the part of either an ogre with halitosis or an 18 foot dragon. Both the characters are mean muthers who pack a solid punch and breathe fire (they're hot stuff for sure!). And the happy couple spend most of their time terrorising the townspeople of Darance island in their search for - eggs! Yes, yes, I know it sounds strange, but eggs are the monster's plate de jour, and if they can collect a little clutch of five, then they can go for the biggie - the golden egg that lies under the volcano.\r\n\r\nTo get these live eggs though, they must search through the 12 cities on the island, which range in architectural elegance from a primitive village of straw huts and wild west tort to a Chinese pagoda and Indian temple. They rampage through the cities, either beating up or blow-torching everything in sight, demolishing the buildings, eating the hamburgers and looking for the eggs. Once they've found one, it's on to the next city and so on.\r\n\r\nIt all sounds well and good so far doesn't it, Spec-chums? I mean, rampaging monsters are what our Speccies were made for isn't it? Well yes, but not when the rampaging monsters are limited to one basic task - knocking down buildings to see what's hidden inside them. And not when each level consists of only one screen on which there are about five things which need to be knocked down. And especially not when the monsters only have one life which is constantly being drained each time they're hit. When they do die you have to rewind the tape and load in that level again. 'Cos Aargh! is a multi-load I'm afraid folks, which hardly seems necessary since it only loads one screen at a time. It's this and the other features I've just mentioned which unfortunately make what could have been a game you might have persevered with totally unplayable. Aargh! might just have measured up in the budget market, but as a full price release its name speaks for itself.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A very primitive multi-level, multi-load, beat 'em, blowtorch 'em up which'll have you screaming its title each time you die and have to reload!","Page":"68","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jackie Ryan","Score":"48","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Walk Like An Egyptian! Night Boat To Cairo! Sortie On Baghdad! (What? Ed) Well, alright then, here's a proper caption. Looks like you could be Nile on finished here. Your energy's low and you've still got half the town to demolish. Yikes!"}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"Hornets\r\nThese annoying little creatures constantly buzz you throughout each level as you search for your egg. If they hit you they'll reduce your energy. Set them on fire or beat them about a bit to get rid of them.\r\n\r\nOgre\r\nThis here chappie, running around in his undies, is the ogre. No one would play with him as a child and now each time he moseys on into town everyone runs away from him. Still, since he's 20 feet tall, has a horn between his eyes and smashes and torches everything and everyone in sight, it's not surprising.\r\n\r\nHuts\r\nIn each city you need to destroy the buildings to find the eggs. Burn or beat them to the ground. They hide food and sometimes that all important egg.\r\n\r\nStatues\r\nYou'll find statues of some sort or another in all the towns. Again burn or beat them to the ground. They're often the keepers of the eggs.\r\n\r\nWall\r\nThe townspeople's first defence against the marauding monsters. neat this down and then make your assault on the town.\r\n\r\nHamburgers\r\nOooh! Look what you've just found under his demolished hut. It's a hamburger. Yum! Gobble it down and watch that energy level shoot up!\r\n\r\nDragon\r\nApart from his redeeming Madonna like wiggle, this huge 18 foot green scaly dragon doesn't have a lot going for him. Like the ogre he breathes fire and beats everything he comes across to a pulp. Yikes! He better watch out for that hornet though.\r\n\r\nCannons\r\nThe main defence the poor islanders have against you. Destroy them before they destroy you."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"40%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"45%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"51%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"52%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"48%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 90, Sep 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-08-18","Editor":"Jim Douglas","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Meet the Summer TV Special \"Team\"\r\n\r\nJIM \"Live from the Palladium\" DOUGLAS (Editor)\r\nA strange anomaly of a person. Jim is both achingly unfunny, and yet strangely compelling. What will his Editing hi-jinks lead to this month? Maybe an excellent joke about a red indian ordering a drink or perhaps a swinging dance routine with the internationally revered Jim Douglas Connection. Either way, you'd be mad to miss him. So tune in, drop out, nod off.\r\n\r\nALISON \"Play Your Cards Right\" SKEAT (Production Editor)\r\nA dolly dealer if ever we saw one! Now, if Alison plays her cards right this month she could go through to the exciting final where she'll be given the chance to win amazing prizes like... these! A Trip to the Typesetters//An Afternoon Ordering Couriers/A Deadline Advancement or Tonight's Star Prize... Extra Mono Pages in the Inner Section! Be sure and tune in to see all these prizes and more flash before Alison's eyes in our special section. Nightmare of the Month!\r\n\r\nTIM \"3-2-1\" NOONAN (Art Editor)\r\nA confusing hour's viewing at the best of times. Showmaster Tim has the entire office bemused and astounded with his complex clues and double-twists. \"I'll be in at about 10 o'clock\" for example, obviously indicates to the uneducated viewer that Tim will be in at around 10 in the morning. Wrong! Dusty Bin for you! It actually means \"I'm going back to bed and I'll see what the weather is like when I get up.\" See if you can tell what Tim's talking about\r\n\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nDirty Tricks: Jon Riglar\r\nHow The Hell: Andrew Hewson\r\nI've Got This Problem: Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Katherine 'Hello, I must be going' Lee\r\nDeputy Ad Manager: Jerry Hall\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Martha 'A higgedly hoggedly' Moloughney\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nMarketing Manager: Dean 'Leg-biscuits' Barrett\r\nMarketing Assistant: Sarah 'Wall-planner' Ewing\r\nPublisher: Terry 'Strike-beater' Pratt\r\n\r\nOur Address: [redacted]\r\nOur Phone Number: [redacted]\r\nOur Fax No: [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis Month's Cover: Dynamite Dux from Activision\r\nCover Artist: Jerry Paris\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nTypeset by Professional Reprographics Services [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Frontline.\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries: [redacted]\r\n24 Hour Order Line: [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: Back Issues Department (SU), [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1989 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nAll information is correct at time of going to press.\r\n\r\nWhile we apologise for any typographical errors or inaccuracies, we're only flaming human, so don't get pedantic, okay?\r\n\r\nNo part of this magazine may be reproduced or transcribed, in whole or in part, by any means, conventional, electronic or downright bizarre without written consent of the publishers, EMAP Business and Computer Publications. So Neeeeeerrrr!"},"MainText":"Label: Melbourne House\r\nAuthor: Binary Design\r\nPrice: £8.95\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Tony Dillon\r\n\r\nYou know, I wondered why this, being the latest 16 to 8 bit conversion by Melbourne House, was called Aaargh! I soon found out when I loaded it. Here's the scene. Hmm hmm hmm, type LOAD \"\", press play, wart, beee dit, beee diddly diddly, oh good it's loaded. Aaaaaarrrgh!\r\n\r\nYou are a monster. No, not the sort your mother keeps calling you, but an honest to god great big hideous destructive monster, with a penchant for smashing down buildings and collecting rocs' eggs.\r\n\r\nPlay either an ogre or a dragon in your quest to find the mystical Golden Egg, hidden deep within the volcano. But before you race off to the volcano in a mad rush for the golden egg, you must prove your worth as a monster by terrorising the cities surrounding the area in which you live and collecting the five rocs' eggs.\r\n\r\nTerrorising the cities is as easy as pie. You begin outside the city walls, looking in. The city itself is made up of a group of small huts, one of which, if you are lucky, contains punches in the direction of the city boundary and, as Def Leppard sang, 'the walls come tumblin' down'.\r\n\r\nSo step into the mouth of the enemy and set about smashing up their buildings in the search for the eggs. Punch the buildings to pulp, or why not burn them down with your fiery breath. However, it's only once you step into the city that you realise the menace that these puny people called humans really are. For one thing, they have massive cannons that cause rather a nasty amount of damage. Too many hits from one of those babies and foom. You're out of there. Oversized hornets also cause problems as they buzz, bite and do whatever else it is hornets are supposed to do.\r\n\r\nOther challenge comes in the form of other players. You see, the game can be played two player simultaneous, and at times you can get into head to head scraps where 'there can be only one'.\r\n\r\nViewed as a pseudo-3D single screen walkabout thingy, you have to scavenge 12 cities of the world, all set against different backdrops. The funny thing is, and this is really going to make you laugh, the game is multi-load. Not any normal multi-load, but Really-badly-programmed-finnicky-sonofabitch-o-load (© Melbourne House) which means that at the start of each game, you have to reload level one, regardless of whether or not you got off it on your last game. Irritating or what?\r\n\r\nThe graphics are, well, alright. The sprites themselves are poorly designed, and as for the animation. Hmmm. The less said the better. The only really good thing I can say about the graphics is that I like the way the flames are animated when you breathe fire.\r\n\r\nThe game, as a game, is crap. Boring from the start, and successfully managing to consistently remain boring all the way through, Aaargh! manages to capture all the fun and excitement from the original 16 bit Arcadia trash, sorry, smash.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Phew, this isn't very good is it? Aaargh! Indeed.","Page":"46, 47","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Tony Dillon","Score":"44","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"49%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"51%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"38%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"41%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"44%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 95, Oct 1989","Price":"£1.2","ReleaseDate":"1989-09-16","Editor":"Julian Rignall","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Julian Rignall\r\nArt Editor: Andrea Walker\r\nStaff Writer: Paul Glancey\r\nArt Assistant: Osman Browne\r\nAdvertising Manager: Nigel Taylor\r\nDep Ads Manager: Joanna Cooke\r\nSales Executive: Tina Zanelli\r\nProduction Assistant: Glenys Powell\r\nPublisher: Graham Taylor\r\nThis Month's Cover: Jerry Paris\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries to: EMAP Frontline, [redacted]\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]"},"MainText":"Melbourne House\r\nST, Spectrum, C64\r\nSpectrum £9.99, C64 £9.99\r\n\r\nIn Melbourne House's conversion of the Arcadia coin-op, your goal - as an 18-foot scaly green lizard or a one-horned ogre with bad breath - is to capture the mythical Roc's golden egg.\r\n\r\nThis isn't as easy as it sounds. You're on an island with ten different cities (the packaging says twelve), populated by humans who'll do anything to sap your energy. There's also the local insect population, who like to feed on monster energy. Against this background of opposition, you've got to knock down buildings until the whole community is devastated and you find a white egg. Once this is gained, you fight your opposite number for the right to keep it.\r\n\r\nAll of the latest versions of Aaargh!, unlike the Amiga game now over a year old, have a two-player option. This means that pillaging whole communities, plundering their food and eating their menfolk a lot more fun, and fighting each other after each round is more competitive and enjoyable.\r\n\r\nBut the big problem with the game is that its incredibly easy. You can go through the whole game with little practice. and consequently the game rapidly becomes repetitive.\r\n\r\nWith two-players the game isn't so bad, because you've got each other to bash up. but solo players might find themselves getting bored after a while, especially as the computer opponent can easily be beaten with the same move.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Much the same as the 64 version: what the monsters make up for in detail, the backgrounds lose in variety. Eating people and destroying their homes should be a lot more fun than this.","Page":"63","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Gordon Houghton","Score":"42","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"C64 version is fairly horrific."},{"Text":"The lizard congiates."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"ATARI ST SCORES\r\n\r\nGraphics: 81%\r\nSound: 69%\r\nValue: 71%\r\nPlayability: 78%\r\nOverall: 71%\r\n\r\nST Aaargh! is easily the most enjoyable of all the versions currently available, but its far too easy to complete on your own. An in-game tune wouldn't have gone amiss, but otherwise the sound effects and graphics are nice."},{"Text":"C64 SCORES\r\n\r\nOverall: 44%\r\n\r\nBland graphics and poor animation coupled with some miserable sound effects means that C64 Aaargh! is unattractive to start with. Fewer available moves than the ST, a poor control method and no map just make things worse."},{"Text":"UPDATE\r\n\r\nAmiga Aaargh has been available for over a year, and its very similar to the ST, but has better sound. An Amstrad version is also available, and is very similar to the C64 version."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"42%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"The Games Machine Issue 23, Oct 1989","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1989-09-17","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL OFFICE\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Roger Kean\r\nFeatures Editor: Dominic Handy\r\nTechnical Editor: Robin Candy\r\nStaff Writers: Mark Caswell, Warren Lapworth\r\nEditorial Assistants: Vivien Vickress, Caroline Blake\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\nContributors: I Croucher, John Woods, Paul Rigby, Marshal M Rosenthal (USA)\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION DEPARTMENT\r\n[redacted]\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nSenior Designer: Wayne Allen\r\nReprographics: Matthew Uffindell (Supervisor), Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard\r\nDesign: Roger Kean\r\nSystems Operator: Ian Chubb\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Lee Watkins, Wynne Morgan\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nDesigned and typeset on Apple Macintosh II computers running Quark Xpress, Adobe Illustrator 88 and PhotoMac output through Xenotron Bridgit, with systems support from Digital Print Reprographics, [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted] and Newsfield. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset [redacted] - a member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistribution effected 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 TGM. 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 Viv Vickress a line at the PO Box 10 address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions.\r\n\r\nNo 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 suitably stamped, addressed envelope. 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. Colour photographic material should be 35mm transparencies wherever possible. The views expressed in TGM are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\n©TGM Ltd 1989\r\nA Newsfield Publication ISSN 0954-8092\r\n\r\nCover Design by Roger Kean"},"MainText":"Spectrum 48/128 Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99\r\nCommodore 64/128 Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99\r\nAtari ST £19.99\r\n\r\nREVENGE OF THE JAPANESE B-MOVIE\r\n\r\nBased on those those brilliantly tacky Japanese monster movies starring such wonders as Godzilla, this first came out on the Amiga yonks ago, so technically it's an update, but long ago enough to make it a review as well... You are offered the choice of playing one of two monsters and having a stompingly good time with the hapless inhabitants of an otherwise peaceful island. These large beasts are a green Dragon and a nasty Ogre (a friend can optionally take the part of the other character), and they have a mission - a quest to gain the legendary golden Roc egg.\r\n\r\nTo get it, though, five lesser eggs must first be collected by stomping, ripping and chomping your way through 12 scattered cities scattered where the eggs are hidden. At the start only two cities can be visited, so pick one and go to it. As you mangle the buildings the puny humans wheel out a variety of weapons with which to try and dent your hide. Besides the humans there are hornets which zoom at you, as well as other monsters.\r\n\r\nDepending on which monster you have chosen to play you can whack the humans' catapults or torch buildings with your fiery breath. Contact with any dangers knocks down your health meter, but it can be topped up by crushing buildings and grabbing any food found inside - or the odd tasty human will do it just as well.\r\n\r\nKeep an eye on the power meter too, which tells you how much barbecue breath is left; the lightning icons provide a top up of fuel when found.\r\n\r\nWhen an egg is found you take it back to your cave, but discover your rival is ready to fight you for it. When five eggs have been hoarded in this way, you can go to the volcano and attempt to claim the golden egg from its summit, then perhaps the humans can live in peace.\r\n\r\nVery Rampage and Muncher-ish in its content, we loved this rip, mangle and maim game. Aaargh is instantly playable and contains enough monsterish mayhem to keep all Godzilla fans happy. The path to the golden egg is fraught with dangers, but we think that Aaargh will keep you playing to the end (and saying that word many times in the process).","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Small ill-defined sprites hobble around vile backgrounds, while a variety of meanies attack without mercy. As you can probably tell we aren't too keen on the Spectrum version, this is mainly because the horrid background colours make the monsters virtually invisible. In consequence this makes the game almost impossible to play.","Page":"90,91","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"55","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Out a while on the Amiga, monsters are spreading to other machines..."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"ATARI ST\r\n\r\nOverall: 77%\r\n\r\nThis features nicely drawn and animated monsters, although the sound is a bit of a let down. On the title screen the tune is a strange metallic sounding composition that grates on the ears after a while. In game sound is limited to a few crunch, bang, tinkle effects and the monster announcing each find in a guttural voice for blind players."},{"Text":"COMMODORE 64/128\r\n\r\nOverall: 58%\r\n\r\nUnfortunately you can only play solo on the C64 version, and to be truthful this kills the whole damn point of the game. The difficulty level seems to be set way too high, because it's almost impossible to reach the second level without lots of practice."},{"Text":"OTHER FORMATS\r\n\r\nA PC version should be in the shops priced £24.95 by the time you read this."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"55%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]