[{"titleName":"Spore","publisher":"Bulldog Software [1]","author":"David Whittaker, Mike Webb, John Smyth","yearOfRelease":"1988","zxdbId":"0004777","reviews":[{"issue":{"id":0,"name":"Crash Issue 51 , Apr 1988","price":"£1.25","releaseDate":"1988-03-31","editor":"Steve Jarratt","totalPages":124,"hasCoverTape":false,"flannelPanel":"Editor: Steven Jarratt\r\nSubeditor: Barnaby Page\r\nStaff Writers: Katharina Hamza, Mark Caswell, Nick Roberts, Lloyd Mangram\r\nEditorial Assistant: Frances Mable\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\nTechnical Writers: Simon N Goodwin, Jon Bates\r\nStrategy Writer: Philippa Irving\r\nContributors: Matthew Stibbe, Paul Evans, Roger Kean, Paul Sumner, Paul Glancey, Julian Rignall\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nPublishing Controller: David Western\r\nArt Director: Markie Kendrick\r\nDesign & Layout: Wayne Allen, Yvonne Priest, Melvyn Fisher\r\nPre-Print Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics/Film Planning: Matthew Uffindell, Nick Orchard, Ian Chubb, Robert Millichamp\r\n\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nSales Executive: Andrew Smales\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypesetting 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\nNo 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\nTotal: 96,590\r\nUK/EIRE: 90,822\r\n\r\n©CRASH Ltd, 1988\r\n\r\nCover Design & Illustration by Oliver Frey","numberOfReviews":0,"numberOfAwardedReviews":0},"mainText":"Producer: Bulldog\r\nRetail Price: £1.99\r\nAuthor: M Webb\r\n\r\nDeadly spores, so virulent that even TCP can't destroy them, have overrun a laboratory. One hope remains: the strong pesticide held in barrels throughout the building. And the task in Spore is to collect all the barrels on each level.\r\n\r\nBut the spores are continually released from generator blocks, and you must always be ready to destroy them with your blaster - before they infect you. Rejuvenating flasks and protective pills also help in the fight against sporedom.\r\n\r\nFlashing yellow barriers can imprison you or block routes to the vital pesticide - and though you can destroy them by blasting appropriate mirrors and squares that, too, could release more torrents of spores.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nJoysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair (none work, though!)\r\nGraphics: small but well-defined characters\r\nSound: like dried peas in a tin\r\nOptions: definable keys (which, like the joysticks, don't function); maze-construction set","reviewerComments":["Though it's not graphically great, Spore's fast and furious action and tortuous mazes more than compensate for the main character looking like a I demented starfish and the 'menacing' (!) square eponymous spores. Spore is a highly playable collect-'em-up.\r\nMark Caswell","The challenge of quick blasting and quick thinking makes Spore instantly playable and addictive. The positioning of the mirrors and squares controlling the barriers means you have to pay as much attention to where and how you shoot as to the process of firing itself, and you should plan your progress through each level strategically.\r\n\r\nAnd there are enough different elements (the pheromone pip which makes the spores run away, the flasks you have to be careful not to shoot) to sustain interest for several levels.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are colourful and distinctive, too, and there aren't many budget games with so much to offer.\r\nMike Dunn","Ah, this brings back memories - sweet memories of the good old ZX81 and the 16K Spectrum, with one-character-block graphics racing uncontrollably around the screen on a blast-everything mission. The sheer speed of Spore makes it hard to master, and what with its small graphics the game becomes a crazy brain-scrambling confrontation with the screen. At least the tune goes well with such an unbearable game.\r\nBym Welthy"],"overallSummary":"General Rating: Don't be put off by the simple display and control problems - Spore is very addictive.","page":"110","denied":false,"award":"Not Awarded","reviewers":[{"name":"Mark Caswell","score":"","scoreSuffix":""},{"name":"Mike Dunn","score":"","scoreSuffix":""},{"name":"Bym Welthy","score":"","scoreSuffix":""}],"screenShotText":[],"blurbText":[],"transcriptBy":"Chris Bourne","reviewScores":[{"header":"Presentation","score":"55%","text":"","overallScore":0},{"header":"Graphics","score":"46%","text":"","overallScore":0},{"header":"Playability","score":"75%","text":"","overallScore":0},{"header":"Addictive Qualities","score":"78%","text":"","overallScore":0},{"header":"Overall","score":"67%","text":"","overallScore":67}],"compilationReviewScores":[]},{"issue":{"id":0,"name":"Your Sinclair Issue 30 , Jun 1988","price":"£1.5","releaseDate":"1988-05-12","editor":"Teresa Maughan","totalPages":108,"hasCoverTape":false,"flannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Darrell King\r\nDeputy Editor: Marcus Berkmann\r\nTechnical Editor: Phil South\r\nProduction Editor: Jackie Ryan\r\nDesigner: Catherine Higgs\r\nContributors: Guy Bennington, Richard Blaine, Audrey & Owen Bishop, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Sean Kelly, David McCandless, Duncan McDonald, John Minson, David Powell, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith, Tony Worrall\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Stansfield\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nArt Director: Hazel Bennington\r\nPublisher: Kevin Cox\r\nPublishing Director: Roger Munford\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 ©1988 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.","numberOfReviews":0,"numberOfAwardedReviews":0},"mainText":"SPORE\r\nBulldog\r\n£1.99\r\nReviewer: Tony Worrall\r\n\r\nBulldog scored something of a minor hit with this game on the Commie 64. It was fast, noisy and mildly addictive. I didn't really go a bundle on it then, nor do I now. Although this conversion is almost perfect, the blandness of the screens and the bizarre nature of the game itself make it very much an acquired taste. Not my cup of coffee at all.\r\n\r\nThe choc-a-bloc screen contains hundreds of spore creatures that attack your character, sapping energy by the barrel full. Most of the spores are contained within a maze like network of moveable walls. Trouble is the object of your desires also resides within those walls. Wearing your strategy hat, you must figure out the safest way to travel the maze without mega amounts of energy loss. Ho hum! The graphics hardly impress, but things do chug along at a fairly rapid pace so you may not have time to take much notice. Apart from that - forget it. For zappers and maze freaks only.","reviewerComments":[],"overallSummary":"","page":"66","denied":false,"award":"Not Awarded","reviewers":[{"name":"Tony Worrall","score":"3","scoreSuffix":"/10"}],"screenShotText":[],"blurbText":[],"transcriptBy":"Chris Bourne","reviewScores":[{"header":"Graphics","score":"2/10","text":"","overallScore":0},{"header":"Playability","score":"4/10","text":"","overallScore":0},{"header":"Value For Money","score":"3/10","text":"","overallScore":0},{"header":"Addictiveness","score":"4/10","text":"","overallScore":0},{"header":"Overall","score":"3/10","text":"","overallScore":30}],"compilationReviewScores":[]},{"issue":{"id":0,"name":"Sinclair User Issue 73 , Apr 1988","price":"£1.5","releaseDate":"1988-03-18","editor":"Graham Taylor","totalPages":116,"hasCoverTape":false,"flannelPanel":"Editor: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nStaff Writer: Tamara Howard\r\nArt Editor: Gareth Jones\r\nDesigner: Andrea Walker\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nZapchat: Jon 'quite interesting' Riglar\r\nTechnical: Andrew Hewson, Rupert Goodwins\r\nContributors: Tony 'a fiver if my name goes first in the list' Dillon, Chris 'I'm expecting a fiver any day actually' Jenkins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Katherine Lee\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Alison Morton\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nPublisher's Assistant: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Terry 'I would have scored five but then these ten blokes all jumped me...' Pratt\r\nMarketing: Clive Pembridge\r\n\r\nPhone: [redacted]\r\nFax: [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions: [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: [redacted]\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis Month's Cover: Russell Harvey\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1988 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458","numberOfReviews":0,"numberOfAwardedReviews":0},"mainText":"Label: Mastertronic\r\nAuthor: In-house\r\nPrice: £2.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Tony Dillon\r\n\r\nThe good old days are a glorious and wonderful thing (at the time they were, of course, a terrible time). Think back a couple of years ago or more (the Spectrum is six years old this year, by the way), and think of the software of the time, games like Knight Lore and Jet Set Willy for example. Well, Spore is one of those games which, if it had been around then, would have been instantly forgettable.\r\n\r\nHow many games have been collect-the-thingies-whilst-avoiding-the-nasty-thingies? Yes, too many to count, and Spore adds to that list. Simply move your small crappy character that looks like a spider doing aerobics and shoot all the small blocks. Boring, especially when you consider that there is no scrolling, terrible animation and the worst level of playability I have ever come across.","reviewerComments":[],"overallSummary":"Generally, not very good, though the Dave Whittaker piece on the intro screen is quite nice.","page":"51","denied":false,"award":"Not Awarded","reviewers":[{"name":"Tony Dillon","score":"2","scoreSuffix":"/10"}],"screenShotText":[],"blurbText":[],"transcriptBy":"Chris Bourne","reviewScores":[{"header":"Overall","score":"2/10","text":"","overallScore":20}],"compilationReviewScores":[]}],"reviewsCount":3}]