[{"TitleName":"Skateball","Publisher":"Ubi Soft Ltd","Author":"JAM, Jonathan Medhurst, Nigel Kenward, Roger Taylor","YearOfRelease":"1988","ZxDbId":"0004536","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 61, Feb 1989","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1989-01-26","Editor":"Dominic Handy","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Dominic Handy\r\nAssistant Editor: Stuart Wynne\r\nStaff Writers: Mark Caswell, Philip King, Lloyd Mangram, Nick Roberts\r\nContributors: Jon Bates, Raffaele Cecco, Ian Cull, Ian Doggett, Paul Evans, Ian Lacey, Barnaby Page, Ian Phillipson\r\nEditorial Assistants: Caroline Blake, Vivienne Vickress\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nSenior Designer: Wayne Allen\r\nDesigners: Melvin Fisher, Yvonne Priest\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nProduction Team: Ian Chubb, Robert Hamilton, Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris\r\n\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nAdvertisement Director: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nSales Executives: Sarah Chapman, Andrew Smales\r\nAssistants: Jackie Morris, Lee Watkins [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypeset by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group. Distribution 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 Sticky Solutions Department 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. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\n©CRASH Ltd, 1989\r\n\r\nISSN 0954-8661\r\n\r\nCover Design & Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Wimbledon FC 2020\r\n\r\nProducer: Electronic Arts/Ubi Soft\r\nShoulder Pads: £8.99 cass, £14.99 disk\r\nAuthor: John Medhurst, Roger Taylor, Nigel Kenward\r\n\r\nImagine Torville and Dean crossed with the movie Rollerball and you've got a good picture of the next century's most popular sport. The game has two players per side, a goalie and an attacker, plus two substitutes each. Goals are scored by bouncing the puck past the goalie, and each round lasts until one player has scored five points. Tackling is in the time honoured Wimbledon fashion - anything goes, including flying kicks - and you should also look out for collisions with the wall, which send you flying. As the game progresses obstacles are added: initially just blocks to run around, but later on there's pits, spiked balls and disintegrators - fall foul of these and your man is dead. Lose all your men and the game's over. To avoid these obstacles when your man off screen you can use the effective radar scanner.\r\n\r\nThere's more to the game than simple violence, however, since each of your players (apart from the goalie) has different characteristics. These include strength, balance, reactions and shooting skills. Choosing the right players at the start of the game is vital for success.\r\n\r\nThey say that life in the future will be tough, Skateball goes some way to showing us just how tough. To start off with the game seems uncomplicated, but the more you play against a friend, the more demanding it becomes. Background graphics are nicely detailed, although moving sprites and sound effects both leave a little to be desired. Nevertheless Skateball is a fast, violent and addictive sports game which is well worth considering.\r\n\r\nMARK 80%\r\n\r\nTHE ESSENTIALS\r\nJoysticks: Kempston, Sinclair\r\nGraphics: adequate, good detailing on background \r\nSound: no tunes, but decent in game bumping and barging effects\r\nOptions: One- or two-player games, change the monochromatic background colour, practise one of the nine levels and change team names.","ReviewerComments":["At first I thought this an overly simple, run-for-the-goal-and-fire game, but after a closer look, my opinion soon changed. Picking a player for shooting skills matters little if a stronger player, or one with faster reactions, keeps bouncing you off the ball. With a stronger player the game becomes fairer - I started winning - and more enjoyable. The first levels are great fun on their own, and when the pits and spikes turn up it becomes both harder and side-splittingly funny!\r\nStuart Wynne\r\n90%","This is essentially a futuristic version of ice hockey, but with even more violence. Great satisfaction can be gained from tripping your opponent, especially when he then falls into a pit. It's surprising that there's only one player to control (apart from the goalie), but this avoids control confusion and their different characteristics bring in a strategy element. It also enables a stronger player to be handicapped via weak players. The action in a two-player game is always fast, end-to-end stuff. It's a pity that on higher rounds you can simply kill off all your players, and, if more than three points in the lead, win. A bigger penalty for losing a player would add to the fun, but another flaw -the cumulative goal score is only displayed at the end - compensates since you're never certain of your score unless you carefully note down end of round points. Even so, this is one of the most enjoyable two-player games I've seen for a fair while, although it's not so hot playing against the computer.\r\nPhil King\r\n85%"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: One of the best two-player games around at the moment.","Page":"14","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Stuart Wynne","Score":"90","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"80","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Phil King","Score":"85","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Another bloodthirsty scene from Ubi Soft's Rollerball-style sports game."},{"Text":"Haregany rockets another goal past the goalie."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"SKATING ON THIN ICE\r\n\r\nOn early levels, stronger players tend to do best.\r\n\r\nIf the opposing player is stronger, don't tackle him head-on: hit him from the side.\r\n\r\nWalk the ball straight through the goalie for a certain goal.\r\n\r\nWhen defending your goalmouth try and shoot the puck away - usually it goes straight to the other end."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"76%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"79%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"55%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"85%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"86%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"85%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 38, Feb 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-01-10","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Catherine Higgs\r\nDeputy Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nProduction Editor: Jackie Ryan\r\nStaff Writer: Duncan MacDonald\r\nDesigner: Thor Goodall\r\nTechnical Consultant: David McCandless\r\nContributors: Marcus Berkmann, Guy Bennignton, Richard Blaine, Ciaran Brennan, Jonathan Davies, Mike 'Skippy' Dunn, Mike Gerrard, Sean Kelly, Catherine Peters, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith, Phil South, Ben Stone\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Simon Stansfield\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Stephen Bloy\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Katherine Balchin\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nPublisher: Terry Grimwood\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\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [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":"Ubi Soft\r\n£8.99 cass/£14.99 disk\r\nReviewer: Jackie Ryan\r\n\r\nDon't you just love playing with your balls? I Ball, Madballs, Impossaball... well now here's another one to add to your collection - Skateball - the first British release from the French software house, Ubisoft. And boy will you need round spherical objects to play this!\r\n\r\nIt's a desperate game - a fight to the death, set in, of all places, a futuristic ice skating rink! But there's no sign of camel spins, triple loops or even double deckers here (cos Phil's eaten them all). Instead it's side slams, body tackles and headbutts as your team competes to become the roughest, toughest skateball team on the ice. So shove over Torville and Dean!\r\n\r\nYou begin by selecting your team of three from a pool of eight of the meanest, fastest dudes on ice. (The command is 'Change Team' on the menu). Scroll through the list of players available, keeping you eyeballs peeled for their strength, balance, shootskill and reaction ratings. These are important, 'cos once you've picked a member of your team, the computer will then let you pick the mean critter he'll meet on the other team. So with a bit of careful planning you can way the odds quite heavily in your favour. There's no point being fair in this game! Besides, you'll need to use the dirtiest tricks in the book if you want to stand a chance of winning.\r\n\r\nNext it's onto the rink and the first of nine levels. But first, take a look at the hazard strewn ice ahead of you. Eeek! Cos apart from your opponent, you also have to contend with loads of nasty hazards. You get a look at these at the beginning of each level when the computer scrolls the length of the rink. On the lower levels, you'll find bouncy mushrooms (which you should try and avoid if you don't want a wet bum) and rising and falling stone pillars (which you must skate around or jump over). But get to level five, and things begin to look a bit dicey. There's bottomless pits to contend with (fall down these and you'll never be seen again), spikey balls (bump into these and you'll be promptly splattered - luvverly), and electric hatstands - which'll burn you to a frazzle if you so much as touch 'em. So avoid, avoid, avoid - or push your opponent into them!\r\n\r\nAnd so to the game. Your first team member takes to the ice against his opponent (apart from the automatic goalies, there's only ever one player from each team on the ice at a time), and bullies off - by charging straight into him. Youch! Then it's a case of pushing and shoving, tripping and head stomping as you skate sleekly around the rink, trying to waste your opponent and get the ball in the back of his net.\r\n\r\nThe gameplay is fast and furious. The slightly jerky scrolling is unnoticeable, 'cos you're too busy trying to trip your opponent up, or splatter him against the spike ball!! Bleeuuk! And the skating action is fabbily done - even to the point of sending you skidding across the ice on your bum when you've taken a bit of a bruising. The only gripe is the control system - it's a little tricky to get to grips with at first. But it's easy once you've mastered it.\r\n\r\nOn each level, the first person to score five goals - or wipe out the opposition - is the winner. The good thing though, is even if you lose a level, you continue on to the next one. 'Cos the aim of the game is to be top scorer over the whole nine levels - so there's no having to go back to the start or complete a level before you move on.\r\n\r\nA great game, very addictive, fast and furious and full of firm thigh muscles! An impressive start for the French company.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Balls of fun for everyone! A good addictive mix of skill, skating and bash 'em about.","Page":"74","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jackie Ryan","Score":"8","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"BULLY BOYS HANDY HINTS\r\n\r\nIf you keep losing the bully off, try running at your opponent and jumping on him. You won't jump on his head, but you should be a able to knock him off balance which'll allow you to gain possession of the ball.\r\n\r\nOne way of wasting your opponent on level five, is to just stand still at the bully off and let him run to you. This'll cause him to lose his balance and slide along the ice, till he falls into the pit behind you. He, he, he!"}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"8/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 83, Feb 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-01-18","Editor":"Graham Taylor","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Graham 'phew' Taylor\r\nDeputy Editor: Jim 'shiny shoes' Douglas\r\nProduction Editor: Alison 'get lunky' Skeat\r\nArt Editor: Tim 'diced carrots' Noonan\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nTechnical: Andrew Hewson, Rupert Goodwins\r\nContributors: Tony 'ratty' Dillon, Chris 'snivel' Jenkins\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Martha 'eejit' Moloughney\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nPublisher's Assistant: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Terry 'serene' Pratt\r\nMarketing: Clive 'it's alright I'm here now' Pembridge\r\n\r\nPhone: [redacted]\r\nFax: [redacted]\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis Month's Cover: Jerry 'fluffy bunny' Parks\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1989 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries: [redacted]\r\n24 Hour Order Line: [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: Back Issues Department (SU), [redacted]"},"MainText":"Label: Ubisoft\r\nAuthor: In-house\r\nPrice: £9.99/£14.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer:\r\n\r\nJ.D. came over to me today, and spake thus: 'Ubi Soft'. So, thinking that he was talking in some weird Devonshire accent, I hurled a desk at him to prove that, really, I'm that 'ard. This was when it struck me that what he probably meant was Ubi Soft. So I untangled the package from the remaining mess of limbs, and found Skateball.\r\n\r\nSkateball is a Rollerball-esque sport sim and is Ubi Soft's debut in the Spectrum software world. The rules are simple: Score goals, slash, skate, maim, skate, kill, score more goals ...\r\n\r\nYou have three team members, only one of which can play at any time, and the idea is simply to score goals. You also have a goal keeper (computer controlled) which seems to have been programmed to let the players get the ball into the net with the minimum of hassle and obstruction. The bad goalkeepers are one of only two real faults with the game. The other point worthy of making a note of is that your player seems to spend most of the time \"On 'is bum\" as you have only to touch the other player and your feet lose control.\r\n\r\nApart from these two bad points, Skateball is fair. The graphics are big and can be quickly manipulated on some fairly hairy pitches. There are eight pitches, the first being just a normal footer pitch shape, the next has a mushroomy obstacle thingy in the middle. From then on, all manner of evil appears, such as pillars which rise up out of the ice, not to mention the pits which all but the most skilful players fall into.\r\n\r\nWhen playing Skateball against the computer, you have to score five goals to go on to the next pitch (anyone asking what next pitch?' will be shot for not paying attention earlier when I explained that bit). After one of the two teams have been totally obliterated, the computer shows an aggregate score for all the pitches that you managed to survive.\r\n\r\nThe sound in Skateball is basically basic in a very basic sort of way. I think they could've improved the game by having that music from Rollerball incorporated in the program, to add atmosphere. I'm sure you'd agree if you knew what the hell the music I'm talking about is. (Bach's Toccata and Fugue, Mr Philistine - CJ).\r\n\r\nThere are a few good features of the pre-game preparation, including choosing both your own, and the computer's team members (or if it's two humes, you take turns in picking a player) which means that you can take the best and leave the computer with the worst ones, right? Wrong. Each of the players has four different properties (strength, shoot-skill, balance, reactions); you have to experiment to determine which players to constantly pick and which not to.\r\n\r\nThere have not been that many skate/mutilate games on any computer, so this looks fairly good. I'm sure that soon, someone will produce an excellent one (a desperate plea for a Spectrum version of Speedball!)\r\n\r\nSkateball, while being quite good in a psychotic way, is not what could be called a brilliant game, because of the two aforementioned faults, which caused to kill three members of the SU staff by shocking to death with the use of profane language (and believe me it was PROFANE language). To put it in short Skateball is a good game but caused aggro and confusion, especially if playing against the computer.\r\n\r\nUbi Soft have made a fair entry into the Speccy world and providing they keep up the speedy, pretty games, maybe adding more gameplay (and, of course, some music wouldn't go amiss!) they could do well.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Almost excellent, spoilt by a couple of faults. Nice try.","Page":"47","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"70%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"40%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"70%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"70%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) Issue 18, Mar 1989","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1989-02-02","Editor":"Graeme Kidd","TotalPages":140,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Future Publishing [redacted]\r\nTelephone [redacted], Fax [redacted], Telecom Gold 84:TXT152, Prestel/Micronet: 0458 74011\r\n\r\nEditor: Graeme Kidd\r\nReviews Editor: Bob Wade\r\nStaff Writers: Steve Jarratt, Andy Smith\r\nProduction Editor: Damien Noonan\r\nConsultant Editor: Brian Larkman (Graphics)\r\nAdventure Editor: Steve Cooke\r\nContributors: Simon N Goodwin\r\nArt Editor: Trevor Gilham\r\nAssistant Art Editor: Angela Neale\r\nProduction: Diane Tavener, Claire Woodland, Vivien Dean, Naomi Steer, Louise Cockroft\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Jonathan Beales\r\nAdvertising Sales Executive: David Lilley\r\nPublisher: Kevin Cox\r\n\r\nCover by Simon Bisley\r\n\r\nSUBSCRIPTIONS\r\nAvon Direct Mail [redacted]\r\n\r\nSPECIAL OFFERS\r\n(Christine Stacey) [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOLOUR ORIGINATION\r\nSwift Graphics Ltd [redacted]\r\nD P Graphics [redacted]\r\n\r\nDISTRIBUTION\r\nSM Distribution [redacted]\r\n\r\nPRINTING\r\nChase Web Offset [redacted]\r\n\r\n© FUTURE PUBLISHING LTD 1989\r\n\r\nNo part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without our permission."},"MainText":"Ubisoft play rough.\r\n\r\nViolence on ice is what it's all about according to Ubi Soft, and this one or two player game certainly provides a generous smattering of both. The scenario is simple enough, play commencing on a rectangular ice rink with a goal mouth at each end, a ball and two teams of two people. One person minds goal while the other, the one you control, tries to kick the ball into the opponent's goal five times to win.\r\n\r\nAfter the match, which has no time-limit, the whole process starts again on another rink. With each successive level, there is an increasing quantity of hazards such as pillars to crash into and holes in the ground that swallow up your player if he doesn't jump over them. Then there's the added danger of falling over and sliding uncontrollably into a pit or one of the huge spiked balls that are scattered carelessly about the rink on the later levels. Of course you can always try to smash into the opponent and send him skidding to the same fate!\r\n\r\nPlay consists of the two players sliding around everywhere, each trying to bash into the other, knock him off balance, pinch the ball (which is automatically dribbled in the direction the player facing) and then kick it into the opponent's goal. Lose a player and the next team member comes on and plays until either he gets killed, he kills off the other team, or you complete the series of matches. Lose all three players and the game's over.\r\n\r\nControlling the player on \"ice\" is not easy anyway, but just when you think you're getting the hang of it, the game starts producing rinks that can kill! This makes it a whole lot of fun, especially in two player mode.\r\n\r\nReviewer: Andy Smith\r\n\r\nRELEASE BOX\r\nAtari ST, £19.99dk, March\r\nAmiga, £19.99dk, March\r\nSpec 128 £8.99cs. £14.99dk, Out Now\r\nAmstrad, £9.99cs. £14 99dk, March\r\nC64/128, £9.99cs. £14.99dk, March\r\nIBM PC, £19.99dk, March\r\n\r\nPredicted Interest Curve\r\n\r\n1 min: 80/100\r\n1 hour: 90/100\r\n1 day: 90/100\r\n1 week: 80/100\r\n1 month: 50/100\r\n1 year: 25/100","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"The two player mode adds lasting interest.","Page":"48","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Andy Smith","Score":"743","ScoreSuffix":"/1000"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"(Left) Aaargh! One of your players has just slid to his death."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"SPECTRUM VERSION\r\n\r\nThe scrolling is slightly jerky, as is the animation at times. The gameplay however, is great, and you'll find it hard not to have \"just one more go\"."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Audio","Score":"4/10","Text":""},{"Header":"IQ Factor","Score":"3/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Fun Factor","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Ace Rating","Score":"743/1000","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]