[{"TitleName":"3D Star Wars","Publisher":"Custom Cables International Ltd","Author":"Elfin Software Ltd","YearOfRelease":"1983","ZxDbId":"0004888","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 5, Jul 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-06-21","Editor":"Roger Munford","TotalPages":90,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Munford\r\nManaging Editor: Bruce Sawford\r\nDeputy Editor: Tina Boylan\r\nTechnical Editor: Peter Shaw\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nContributors: Ron Smith, Ian Beardsmore, Christopher Ashford, Henry Budgett, Penny Page, SQ Factor, Toni Baker, Dilwyn Jones, The Chiltern Computer Club, Tomas Green, Simon Goodwin, John Flenley, Phil Manchester\r\nArt Editor: Hazel Bennington\r\nArt Assistant: Steve Broadhurst\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Jeff Raggett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Shane Campbell\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Nik Saha\r\nTypesetting Manager: Derek Cohen\r\nTypesetters: Beverley Douglas, Maggie Kayley, Velma Miller\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nGroup Art Director: Perry Neville\r\nPublisher: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Sportscene Specialist Press Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England. Telephone (all departments): [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Spectrum ©1984 Felden productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Spectrum is a monthly publication.\r\n\r\nCover photography by Ian McKinnell"},"MainText":"3D STAR WARS\r\nCustom Cables International (CCI)\r\n£5.95\r\n\r\nA 3D game where you take the part of Luke Clearthinker and re-enact the battle of the Jedi, taking on the entire rebel fleet on your own. This task is made easier as you have at your disposal an up-to-date star fighter.","ReviewerComments":["Colour is used fairly well, but the graphics are wobbly and don't really resemble what they're supposed to. And come to that, the idea is fairly unoriginal and uninteresting. 6.\r\nSimon Cox\r\n6/10","The game is colourful, with good 3D effects when you encounter a meteor storm. But the idea is far from original, and there's not much variation — which makes things rather tedious. .\r\nIan Simmonds\r\n6/10","The graphics in this game are jumpy, and the colours don't contrast well. It's interesting enough to start with, but soon becomes boring because there's too much on-screen. 5.\r\nJon Warner\r\n6/10"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"54","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Simon Cox","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"},{"Name":"Ian Simmonds","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"},{"Name":"Jon Warner","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 25, Apr 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-03-15","Editor":"Bill Scolding","TotalPages":148,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Bill Scolding\r\nDeputy Editor: Nicole Segre\r\nConsultant Editor: Mike Johnston\r\nManaging Production Editor: Harold Mayes MBE\r\nSoftware Editor: John Gilbert\r\nProgram Reviewer: June Mortimer\r\nIllustrator/Designer: Brian King\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: John Ross\r\nSales Executive: Annette Burrows\r\nProduction Assistant: Dezi Epaminondou\r\nEditorial Assistant: Colette McDermott\r\nManaging Editor: Nigel Clark\r\nAssistant Managing Director: Barry Hazel\r\nManaging Director: Terry Cartwright\r\nChairman: Richard Hease\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by ECC Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nTelephone\r\nAll departments\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to Sinclair User please send programs, articles or ideas for hardware projects to:\r\nSinclair User and Programs\r\nECC Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrograms should be on cassette and articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included.\r\n\r\nWe will pay £10 for the copyright of each program published and £50 per 1,000 words for each article used.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1984\r\nSinclair User\r\nISSN NO. 0262-5458\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by Spotlight Magazine Distribution Ltd, [redacted]"},"MainText":"MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU\r\n\r\nMemory: 48K\r\nPrice: £5\r\n\r\nAdd-On Electronics 3D Star Wars might even win a prize as the worst piece of software on the market. The least of the criticisms cover the instructions which are far too long and, perhaps for copyright reasons, give a different plot on the cassette insert and the game. For instance, on the cassette insert the hero is called Luke Clearthinker but in the game the hero has obviously changed his name by deed-poll to Luke Skywalker.\r\n\r\nThe real criticisms focus on the game. There are too many keys with which to control your ship and, if you try to remember where each one is, you could easily forget which button you have to press to fire your lasers. With a little experimentation we managed to find the key just before we were eventually destroyed with a score of zero.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are lifeless and produce one of the poorest versions of 3D we have seen. Because of the mess of graphics darting in all directions on the screen, which are supposed to be rebel ships, it is difficult to tell in which direction you are moving even if you have your finger on a particular movement key.\r\n\r\nThe screen looks more like a patchwork of coloured blobs than a spacescape. If you buy the game, may the force be with you. You will need it.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"39","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Gilbert Factor","Score":"1/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair Programs Issue 18, Apr 1984","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1984-03-15","Editor":"Rebecca Ferguson","TotalPages":60,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Rebecca Ferguson\r\nManaging Production Editor: Harold Mayes MBE\r\nStaff Writer: June Mortimer\r\nDesign: Elaine Bishop\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Gary Price\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Frank Humphrey-Gaskin\r\nProduction Assistant: Dezi Epaminondou\r\nEditorial Assistant: Colette McDermott\r\nManaging Editor: Nigel Clark\r\nManaging Director: Terry Cartwright\r\nAssistant Managing Director: Barry Hazel\r\nChairman: Richard Hease\r\n\r\nU.S. Press representative Mr J. Eisenberg, JE Publishers' representative, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair Programs is published monthly by ECC Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nIf you would like your original programs to be published in Sinclair Programs, please send your contributions, which must not have appeared elsewhere, to\r\nSinclair Programs\r\nEEC Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrograms should be on cassette. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included. We pay £10 for the copyright of each program published.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1984 Sinclair Programs\r\nISSN No. 0263-0265\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by: Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by Spotlight Magazine Distribution Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCover Design/Illustrations: Ivan Hissey"},"MainText":"WELL-WORN THEMES RE-APPEAR\r\n\r\nThe trend in software production appears to be to take stock, build on successful ideas and await new developments. New games tend to be new variations on well-worn themes rather than startlingly original concepts. The number of games based on the premise that all computer owners love shooting as many things as possible is decreasing and giving way to games which need thought and strategy as well as fast reactions.\r\n\r\nUnfortunately for ZX-81 owners, although their computer has remained consistently among the top five bestselling computers, new software for the ZX-81 is almost non-existent and W H Smith is not intending to accept any new ZX-81 software for sale in its shops. Due to the shortage of new software, no ZX-81 programs have been received for review this month.\r\n\r\nTHE SNOWMAN\r\n\r\nThe Snowman - Quicksilva, 48K Spectrum - is based loosely on the book of the same name by Raymond Briggs. The aim is to collect snow and build a snowman. The wandering flames must be avoided, as they melt your snow and turn it to water.\r\n\r\nFalling off the ice structure of pathways and ladders will result in the player being sent back to bed, as will running out of energy. On the higher levels, sleep monsters must also be avoided or confronted with alarm clocks. The Snowman combines the best of many games already on the market and should become a best-seller.\r\n\r\nThe latest sequel to Pimania, Pi-Eyed and other Automata productions is Pi-Balled - 48K Spectrum. Once again the Pi-man is the hero of the game, this time accompanied by two bouncing balls and Sid the Snake.\r\n\r\nIt is a fairly straightforward arcade game. The mystical pyramid of Pi must be changed in colour by jumping from square to square. Sid the Snake must be avoided, as must the bouncing balls, which can also change the colour of the pyramid but not necessarily in a way which is helpful.\r\n\r\nPi-balled has lively graphics; the bouncing balls and spinning discs are particularly convincing and the degree of difficulty is well-judged to suit beginners and experienced players. Shades of Manic Miner are apparent in Loony Zoo - Phipps Associates, 48K Spectrum. The storyline is that, while surveying another planet, you have been captured by its vastly superior inhabitants and placed in one of their zoos, together with various other alien specimens.\r\n\r\nIt is possible to escape by jumping from ledge to ledge to reach the door pressure-pad at the top of the screen. Needless to say, you escape only into other cages from which it is more difficult to escape. Despite its simple graphics and slow pace, Loony Zoo is a difficult and addictive game.\r\n\r\nKiller Knight - Phipps Associates, 48K Spectrum - thinly disguises a Kong-type game with medieval trappings. The player must climb from platform to platform, using ladders and avoiding rolling objects. Beginners will find it difficult to progress very far, while experienced players will soon realise that a high score can be obtained simply by running back and forth along the bottom level.\r\n\r\nMONKEY BIZNESS\r\n\r\nIn a very similar vein is Monkey Bizness - Artic, 48K Spectrum. The monkey mentioned in the title is King Kong and the object is to rush up the scaffolding, dodging or destroying the barrels which Kong rolls at you, to rescue the woman at the top of the scaffolding.\r\n\r\nMonkey Bizness is an amusing and colourful game, although many Spectrum owners will find they already possess similar games.\r\n\r\nLike Donkey Kong, Pac-man is a game which spawned a multitude of imitations. Dinky Digger - Postern, 48K Spectrum - has a distinctly Pac-man-like air to it. The object is to clear the screen of cherries and grab the cake in the middle, while avoiding the monsters which are trying to eat you.\r\n\r\nOne monster is followed quickly by another and the game is so difficult that it should be attempted only by the experienced or very nimble-fingered user.\r\n\r\n3D Star Wars - Addon Electronics, 48K Spectrum - is one of the less worthwhile pieces of software on the market. The graphics are lifeless and confusing, the three-dimensional effect is jumbled, and the number of keys to be used complicates the game still further.\r\n\r\nTHE GUARDIAN\r\n\r\nThe Guardian - PSS, 48K Spectrum - is the first version of the arcade game The Tempest to appear for the Spectrum. The site is a spaceship on the edge of a vortex to another universe. Aliens appear through the doorway and must be destroyed by the use of laser bolt gun or star smasher weapons. The game has had to be simplified for micro-computer use but it is easy and fun to play.\r\n\r\nCCS has begun its Games for Girls series with three games for the 48K Spectrum. Hicksted, a simulation of a show jumping event; Diamond Quest, which is a straightforward adventure; and Jungle Maze, in which prizes are won with a Mastermind-style guessing game which is fun, although unoriginal. Apart from a tenuous link with show jumping in one game and a heroine rather than a hero in another, it is difficult to see in what way CCS has changed its strategy to aim it at females rather than males.\r\n\r\nComputers are bound to affect everyone's future in some way, so encouraging more people to use and understand them is a worthwhile project.\r\n\r\nTo attempt to increase a software company's market vastly by selling to women is unlikely to succeed unless the software market is changed substantially.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"9","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"June Mortimer","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]