[{"TitleName":"Starglider 2","Publisher":"Rainbird Software Ltd","Author":"Argonaut Software Ltd, Barry Leitch, David Lowe, Richard Hewison, Steven A. Dunn, Steve Weston","YearOfRelease":"1989","ZxDbId":"0004867","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":"Rainbird/Argonaut Software\r\n£14.99/£17.99\r\n\r\nCommander Herman Kruud is at it again. He never knows when to give up does he? After his Ergon flagship was destroyed in the original Starglider, he got a bit miffed and is now back to get revenge. This time he's taking no chances and has brought along a big space and land fleet to help him, plus he has a beam projector which is aimed at your home planet of Novenia.\r\n\r\nYour mission is to sneak into the Ergon's planet of Apogee unarmed and destroy the beam projector before it is fully constructed. If you succeed the evil forces of Ergon in the galaxy will be set back by many years, but if you fall your home will be destroyed and the Ergons will march on and destroy every other planet and solar system to create universal domination.\r\n\r\nYou have been issued with a brand new patrol craft for this mission, the ICAFUS (Interplanetary Combat and Reconnaissance Universal Scout).\r\n\r\nStarglider 2, as with most other Rainbird releases, comes with a novella that will probably take you a week to read before you start the game (and this only contains the story Tine!). The packaging also contains a play guide and key list: all necessary reading before you start.\r\n\r\nThe graphics, of course, are vector style, similar to Empire Strikes Back and Starstrike, but Starglider 2 has something that the other games didn't have.... You can zoom around on a planet to your heart's content, but if you get fed up just point your self up and accelerate. You soon break out of the planet's gravitational pull and zoom into space and off to another world. A word of warning though, go to near the sun and Icarus melts, and that's not a very pretty sight!\r\n\r\nThere is an excellent tune and plenty of effects to add to the atmosphere the 3-D creates, Starglider 2 is an essential purchase if you are a fan of this type of flight simulation.\r\n\r\nNICK 90%","ReviewerComments":["Starglider2 is big, like really Big. But then, so is space. Yes, with a bit of the known universe at your disposal, It's Stargliding time again. It surprised me how different Starglider 2 is from the original - which was, essentially, a decent blaster. This sequel requires both some nifty trigger work and lateral thinking to solve the puzzles. Presentation is high, and the graphics are effective on planets and in space. Not a game to just pick up and play, but definitely one to tackle, persevere and enjoy.\r\nRichard Eddy\r\n85%"],"OverallSummary":"Fast graphics, huge depth of game and plot make this a worthy purchase.","Page":"42","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"90","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Richard Eddy","Score":"85","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"86%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"84%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictivity","Score":"81%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"87%","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":"Rainbird\r\n£14.99 cass/£17.99 disk\r\nReviewer: Marcus Berkmann\r\n\r\nTwo years have passed since the Egrons' unsuccessful invasion of the planet Novenia (or since you last loaded up Starglider). The wreckage of the fearsome Starglider fleet lies rusting in a corner somewhere, while the various freedom fighters who sorted out the Egrons sit in bars and tell long boring stories about how brave there were and yes, they'd love another drink. Could you make it a large one? (Oo-er.)\r\n\r\nThe Egrons, though, are unimpressed. Novenia for some reason that escapes me right now, gets up the Egron nose right and proper. So much so, in fact, that the decide to build a giant projector beam around the planet Millway, point it at Novenia and, well, turn it on. The idea? One less planet on the skyline and lots of happy Egrons.\r\n\r\nNow this all seems a little unsporting to everyone on Novenia, and indeed to everyone who's not an Egron. It's time, everyone says, for a bit more freedom fighting. It's time (stirring music) for Starglider 2.\r\n\r\nIt certainly is time, as it's more than two and a half years since Starglider 1 first came out. In the meantime, though, that spanky old blaster has seen its way onto the ST and Amiga, sold a stack, and prompted a swift sequel on the 16-bitties. Now it come home to roost on the dear old Spec.\r\n\r\nBut SG2 is a different kettle of turbot to its illustrious predecessor. While SG1 was a riproaring vector graphics shoot 'em up in the great tradition of the Star Wars games, the new one is a touch more complex. There are still loads of things to zap, but there's method behind your madness now - or at least there should be, if you're planning to finish the game.\r\n\r\nYour mission is to stop the space station (Starglider 2, as it's called) being built, and the best way to do that is to blow it up with a neutron bomb. Much of the game involves trotting around the star system, picking up useful pieces of equipment that'll help you get the neutron bomb built - if, that is, you've found the people to do the job. Some objects are just lying around, while others will need to be traded. There are six planets and God knows how many moons in the system - prepare to visit the lot.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are still in that distinctive wireframe mould, and different planets tend to be in different colours, which perks things up a bit. Inevitably some of the zappier effects on the ST version have not made it to the Spec - no solid graphics here, I'm afraid - but it's nevertheless fast and extremely playable. Between planets you can use the Stardrive, which conveniently brings journey times down to a few seconds and also helps if, for some reason, you want to run away from something. Most of the time, though, it's you who does the chasing. Many of the goodies you need can be found by blasting passing pirate ships, for when they explode they conveniently leave their cargo floating in space for you to pick up with a tractor beam. You'll also have use for any asteroids you may spy, as they can be used for refuelling purposes - pretty useful when the nearest Texaco is shut.\r\n\r\nAs for weapons, you begin with some highly efficient plasma bolts, but can pick up other things on the way. Bouncing bombs, for instance, can be very useful when you're trying to knock out projector stations on Millway's moons. But my fave is the time warp cube, which a noted scientific gentleman will give you (clue). Unlike most of the other weapons, this one doesn't run out - and it's pretty powerful too. Watch those pirates fry!\r\n\r\nDoesn't sound too much like Starglider, though, does it? Well, no, I'd say Mercenary with nobs on is a bit nearer. As with that corky old classic, tunnels usually prove worth exploring (in the 128 version, the mazes are rather larger than in the dear ol' 48er), and it's far less violent than SF1. You can play it as a shoot 'em up, but as Rainbird says, \"That's not really the idea\". Still, as it's been converted by the same geezer who diid Virus for the Spec, it's no less playable than its big daddy, and possibly a little faster. You can play in one hand mode, which to be honest is a good deal less fiddly than playing with the keyboard (as I generally prefer) providing you have a decent stick. Control can be tricky at times, especially if you get out of it (control, I mean). But it's an entertaining game nevertheless - not perhaps as strikingly original as the first one was at the time (after all, we've seen Freescape since, haven't we?), but no less of a challenge.\r\n\r\nIn all, then, a good solid think-'em-up with lots of splendidly zappy bits. Those Ergons, though. Has anyone told them what a bunch of plonkers they are (ZZZZZAAPPPP!).","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Fast 'n' furious wire-frame arcade adventure with less zapping and more exploring that its much loved predecessor. If not in the Mercenary class, highly playable all the same.","Page":"66,67","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Marcus Berkmann","Score":"85","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Apogee is the first planet you'll see. There's the sun up there (well you didn't think it was a fruit pastille, did you?) and a reasonably pointless tower. But fly along those power cables and watch your fuel gauge rise..."},{"Text":"Here we are in the tunnels of Wackfunk, one of Millway's seven moons (be careful how you say that first bit). Pretty red, huh? Fortunately, there's a laser around here somewhere, only we've gone the wrong way again. Sassen frassen rassen..."},{"Text":"Up with the moons of Millway. Rather pretty around here, don't you think? There's only one thing spoiling the view - a flying saucer shooting at you. AARGH! Don't panic Mr Mainwaring, don't panic!"}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"A. Your grid co-ordinates show you where you are on the planet or elsewhere - useful if you want ot go there again some time.\r\n\r\nB. The digital clock is your countdown (or rather count-up) to the end of Novenia. So stop sitting around - get going!\r\n\r\nC. Your score, dummy.\r\n\r\nD. Your cursor, for shooting with, operating our tractor beam and getting IDs on unknown objects or people.\r\n\r\nE. The Local Area Scanner, which shows all objects within range of your ship. And they're trying to get you.\r\n\r\nF. A standard 360° compass, also useful for knowing where you're going (if not why).\r\n\r\nG. This shows the weapon you've selected (a plasma ball in this case). On the 128K this'll be animated - on the 48K, it's just still. Aaaah.\r\n\r\nH. These five indicators show you (from left to right) how many bombs you've got (none), how much laser energy you've got (none), how much plasma energy (lots), how your shields are doing and how much fuel you have left. Gasp!\r\n\r\nI. This is an artificial horizon, a silly sort of gadget which let you know which way up you are. Don't you know?\r\n\r\nJ. These two show your speed and height of the planet you're on (it doesn't work in space). Are you remembering all this?\r\n\r\nK. And this is your message screen. Read, digest, remember."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"87%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"89%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"81%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"84%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"85%","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: Microprose\r\nAuthor: Argonaut\r\nPrice: £14.99, £17.99 disk\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\n\r\nNot one to lie down, the Egron's have returned, and this time they're badder than ever. With a larger pirate fleet and more advanced interspace weaponry, they're just a bit more fearsome this time. The only problem is, Novenia haven't actually managed to get their space fleet into any sort of battle worthy state. After all, they did take a bit of a beating after the original Starglider.\r\n\r\nThis is where you come in. The powers that be have decided there is only one way to beat the bad guys for good, and that's to hit them with a super-powered neutron bomb. All they need now is someone to build it.\r\n\r\nFunnily enough, there are people who are more than happy to build a bomb for you. At a price. And what a price. A huge list of items comprising flat diamonds, cans of fuel and mechanical whales are required in return for the blasty gear. And there's your game.\r\n\r\nFirst of all, locate the bomb-builders. These are found in one of the tunnel networks dotted about the planet you've been plonked on at the beginning of the game. When found, these people will give you a list of items they need. Make a note, and then it's out into the wide black yonder.\r\n\r\nSo off you pop into space, to reach all the other planets and moons that litter the solar system of Novenia, and what an impressive place it is. The huge gas planet of Midway, with its moons and asteroid belt ring playing a major role in the production that is the Novenia system, second fiddle to the sun (oh, good grief - Al).\r\n\r\nAnd now we move to what I consider to be the game's strongest point - the graphics. How do you convert superfast sixteen-bit colour filled vectors to a Spectrum? Simple. Use hidden line vectors rather than filled or shaded, and make the whole thing monochrome. Could it possibly work?\r\n\r\nIndeed it does. Call me mad (well, don't) but I think the game works a lot better on the Spectrum than it did on the Amiga or ST. Now. I don't want lots of people writing in and saying \"The Amiga graphics were a lot better\". Yes, I know, but. the point I am trying to make, is that the game itself comes out a lot better in its eight bit incarnation.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are surprisingly fast considering there is so much going on at the same time. Other craft are 'there'. Walkers are real. Small potholes in the chequered landscapes are almost real enough to make your steering wheel shake.\r\n\r\nAnd how does it play? Brilliantly. There is just so much going on, you could quite easily sit and play for hours. I love it. Mind you, I didn't like it at first. I thought it was crap. Then after I managed to get somewhere, I started to really get into it.\r\n\r\nAlthough Starglider is in no way brilliant, and is far from perfect. I think it's bloody good. Worth checking out if vectors are your thing.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Involved 3D fantasy space blast shoot-'em-up. Fun, and pretty lengthy too.","Page":"28","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"91%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"78%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"81%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"81%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 55, Jul 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-06-07","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":84,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Kevin Hibbert\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nDesign Assistant: Andy Ounsted\r\nContributors: Robin Alway, Marcus Berkmann, Joe Davies, Jonathan Davies, Cathy Fryett, Jo Fulton, Mike Gerrard, Kati Hamza, Kate Hodges, Duncan MacDonald, Jon North, Rich Pelley, David Wilson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertising Executive: Simon Moss\r\nPublisher: Greg Ingham\r\nAssistant Publisher: Jane Richardson\r\nManaging Director: Chris Anderson\r\nProduction Manager: Ian Seager\r\nProduction Coordinator: Melissa Parkinson\r\nSubscriptions: Computer Posting [redacted]\r\nMail Order: The Old Barn [redacted]\r\nPrinters: Riverside Press [redacted]\r\nDistributors: SM Distribution [redacted]\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair is published by Future Publishing Ltd [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Future Publishing 1990. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission."},"MainText":"Starglider II\r\nRainbird\r\n\r\nOne of those gigantic strategy things that Rainbird were so fond of (and good at) doing, this boasts a massive and sophisticated shoot-'em-up element. Vector graphics traditionally just look like a bunch of squiggly lines in static screen shots like you see here, but just wait until you see this baby move! Domark's Star Wars games did something similar, but without the strategic element.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"33,34,35,36,37","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Matt Bielby","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"EVERY SHOOT-'EM-UP EVER\r\n\r\nHa! You've got to be joking - I started working on it and got up to 150 names - and I was only half way through the poxy thing! Forget it!"},{"Text":"GIANT ALIEN MUTHAS FROM HELL\r\n\r\nA few good end-of-level baddies can make a shoot-'em-up, a lack of them break one. Let's look at a few typical monsters, shall we?\r\n\r\nDominator: Impressive pink mouth affair firmly in the R-Type mould, and nicely animated too - the eyes blink and teeth move. Unfortunately the rest of the game didn't live up to it.\r\n\r\nMr Heli: A giant eye thing with lobster claws - not bad, the grey and yellow graphics don't help it to stand out as much as they might, do they?\r\n\r\nSilkworm: This is the other way to do it - not a giant fixed mass (like the other two) but a moving baddy in the vein of stuff you've already met on that level, but bigger. This super chopper is delightfully guppy-like."},{"Text":"HOW TO DESIGN A SPACESHIP\r\n\r\nWe cant really express how important a good central sprite can be - after all, other sprites may come and go, but you're looking at this one the entire time!\r\n\r\nHalaga: Hmm. Your basic Space Invaders/Galaxians thing - not too impressive, is it?\r\n\r\nSidearms: Anyone able to tell me what's meant to be going on here? It just looks like a bit of a mess to me! Answers on a postcard please.\r\n\r\nDark Fusion: A-ha! Now this is more like it - simple, clean design, easy to see but not too distracting. It's the biz."},{"Text":"SHORTS\r\n\r\nBlimey! Space doesn't go very far when you've got a subject as big as this, eh? So, dotted across the next four pages, we've squeezed some mini (mini) reviews into snazzy white blobs (just like this) - not wham-bam classics, but all good representatives of a type…"},{"Text":"SO, YOU WANNA WRITE A SHOOT-'EM-UP?\r\n\r\nWould you believe it's not as hard as it looks? (Actually, the way loads of people seem to write shoot-'em-ups it doesn't actually look all that hard anyway!) Here are a few of your central ingredients...\r\n\r\nThe Main Spaceship\r\nA little square box thing with another square box on the front will do fine here - nice and simple and to the point. Alternatively you could go the whole hog and stick as many spikey bits as possible all over it so the sprite looks 'interesting' from all angles.\r\n\r\nEnemy Spaceships\r\nNothing wrong with a whole squadron of polo mints zooming through space towards you - after all, it's the cunningness of the attack formations that counts!\r\n\r\nThe Name\r\nSomething gun-like sounds good and hard (say Side Arms or Armalyte) though anything vaguely aggressive-sounding will do (Eliminator, Dominator, Xecutor, H.A.T.E). If you're desperate you can always go the pseudo-scientific route (R-type, P47, Ultima Ratio), opt for an animal name (Salamander, Silkworm) or go for that old standard, the meaningless, vaguely futuristic-sounding word (Triaxos, Xeno, Zynaps, Xarax, Sanxion, Uridium, Xevious). Lots of 'Z's and 'X's are good.\r\n\r\nBackground\r\nNice and complicated is fine - let your imagination go wild. Don't worry about bullets (or even smaller enemy squadrons) getting lost amongst the mass of background detail - you can always pass it off as 'challenging gameplay'.\r\n\r\nCollision Detection\r\nDon't make it too easy for them! It's perfectly all right if any alien coming within inches of the player kills him dead, while he needs to blast baddies six times for any effect to be felt Again, it's all in the cause of challenging gameplay!"},{"Text":"THE FLIP-SCREEN\r\n\r\nNot all that common, but these can work very well indeed - check out Raf Cecco's Cybernoid duo, for instance. The thing seems to be that if you dispense with trying to write decent scrolling routines (since the background doesn't move at all - you simply progress across the screen until you get to the far end, when a new one flashes up with your little ship in its new starting position) you can spend a lot more time making everything else very pretty and colourful and inventive. Thus flip-screen games have some of the best, clearest, most colourful graphics ever seen on the Speccy.\r\n\r\nOn the minus side however there's the disconcerting, disorientating bit where your ship flickers off the right hand side of the screen, only to reappear on the far left of the next one.\r\n\r\nBut they can be incredibly addictive (it's always a temptation to try for 'just one more' screen to see what it looks like) and, in the case of the Cecco games at least, can strike a fine balance between mindless blasting and working out the best route past each new obstacle. They're still pure shoot-'em-ups, but slightly more cerebral ones.\r\n\r\nFlip screen a la NOMAD - no place to run to, no place to hide. (It's a bit like playing Murder In The Dark really.)"},{"Text":"THE HORIZONTAL SCROLLER\r\n\r\nThis is the other main option, and usually a much more sensible way to go about things. Not only is the screen the right shape, but you can have a very complicated and pretty bottom and/or top bit to it (the ground, or the edges of a tunnel, say), while leaving the bulk of the play area relatively free from obstructions. Most the great shoot-'em-ups (but by no means all) are built like this, including the Your Sinclair all-time fave raves like Uridium and R-Type.\r\n\r\nGame over, man! (Well, Game Over II to be precise.)"},{"Text":"THE 'INTO-THE-SCREEN' JOBBIE\r\n\r\nAlthough occasionally attempted with reasonable success by budgeteers like CodeMasters, these often constitute a less than satisfying experience. All too often someone responsible for coin-op licence acquisition will pick out an arcade favourite with a giant hydraulic cabinet - say an Afterburner or Thunder blade - with little thought as to how it's going to translate to the home computer. (Not very well, usually.) Thus most 'into-the-screen' shoot-'em-ups are technically impressive and rather brave attempts to reproduce the thrills and spills of the original, but almost inevitably doomed to failure. Robbed of 3D, moving cabinets, and whizzo graphics, the limitations built into the game become abundantly clear - there's little real feeling of speed (difficult enough to create even with a rolling road as reference point, let alone without one), oodles of almost identical levels and very little to actually do. Boring.\r\n\r\nVideodrome, here we come - it's 'into the screen' time with F-16 Fighting Falcon."},{"Text":"VERTICAL SCROLLERS\r\n\r\nOne obvious option for a shoot-'em-up, and one that's used all over the place, is the vertical scroller. This is where the action is viewed from a God-like perspective above it all, looking down on everything from a distance. The action scrolls up (or on the very odd occasion down) the screen. This has some advantages - it's easy to lay out complicated attack formations and the little spaceships can he the simplest blobby shapes and still function quite well but it can suffer from some rather major flaws too.\r\n\r\nThe first is that the shape of your average TV or monitor is all wrong. Think about it - you're trying to present portrait-shaped action (taller than it is long) on a landscape-shaped screen (wider than it is tall). In a coin-op, which is where 85% of vertical scrollers originate, there's no real problem with this because you can easily build a cabinet with a tall thin screen to contain the action, but in Speccyvision the programmers have to waste large portions of the side of the potential play area to reproduce it Subsequently, all the sprites have to be fairly small to fit in, and on most TVs become next to invisible. You've effectively castrated the game before you've even started.\r\n\r\nThere's one other major problem too - the background. Since most scrolling Speccy games have to be largely monochrome, any sort of backdrop (say a forest which you're flying over) can cause real problems. You'll be safe (but probably rather bored) if the programmer opts for a simple black starfield over which all the sprites will show up well, but anything beyond that courts disaster. All too often overzealous background artists, small sprites, even smaller bullets and the sort of slightly crappy TVs most of us use with our Speccies conspire to render your brand new vertical scroller virtually unplayable. Don't think I've got a total downer on them though - despite all the limitations some of the real classics use this design. Xenon, anybody?\r\n\r\nClear backdrops, that's what vertical scrollers need. (So Gemini Wing's a sorry loser.)"}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]