[{"TitleName":"Beamrider","Publisher":"Activision Inc","Author":"Julian Chappell, Software Conversions Ltd","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0000489","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 14, Mar 1985","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1985-02-28","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nAssistant Editor: Graeme Kidd\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Editor: Angus Ryall\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey, Robin Candy\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\n\r\n©1985 Newsfield Limited.\r\nCrash Magazine is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\nColour by Scan Studios, [redacted]; Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted].\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCirculation Manager: Tom Hamilton\r\nAll circulation enquiries should ring [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £10.50 (UK Mainland post free), Europe: 12 issues £17.50 post free. Outside Europe by arrangement in writing.\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced whole or in part without written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return any written material sent to CRASH Magazine unless accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material which may be used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. The opinions and views of correspondents are their own and not necessarily in accord with those of the publishers."},"MainText":"Producer: Activision\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £7.99\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\nAuthor: Dave Rolfe\r\n\r\nSome months back we reviewed a game called GForce by Eurobyte. Beamrider is a 3D version of the game and more resembles the arcade original on which it is based. It is a shoot em up in which you control a fighter which can move left or right at the base for front) of the screen. You are sitting on a grid of lines which travel in semi-perspective towards the horizon. Down these beamed grids come enemy alien ships of various types. Hazards encountered (depending on sector) include White Saucers which hop from grid line to grid line before settling down, Red space debris which can only be dodged, Yellow Chirper ships, Green Blocker ships, Green Bounce craft, Blue Chargers, Orange Trackers and Red Zig Bombers. The hazards invulnerable to your laser must be avoided or torpedoed, but you only have three torpedoes per sector and these should be saved for real emergencies and the large Mother ship that crosses the horizon from time to time and earns a huge bonus.\r\n\r\nThe antics of the hazards are not random, green Blockers will lock onto the beam on which you are sitting, swarms of them appearing if a Mothership is about to appear. The saucers fire down the beams at you and the Blockers absorb your shots. Each sector contains fifteen saucers which are ostensibly guarding the Mothership. A counter at the top left tells you how many are left. When they have all been destroyed the Mothership for Sentinel Ship) will appear. There is also a way of earning additional lives by allowing a Yellow Rejuvenator ship to make contact with your craft. Shooting it will turn it to red debris which kills if it hits you.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: O/P left/right, Z to fire laser, Q to fire torpedo (forward on joystick)\r\nJoystick: A poor point about Activision games is that they fail to mention joystick options on the inlays, but you can use AGF, Protek, Kempston, Sinclair 2\r\nKeyboard play: very responsive and well laid out\r\nUse of colour: very good\r\nGraphics: above average, not too detailed, but fast\r\nSound: very good and plenty of it\r\nSkill levels: 3 (level 1 starts sector 1: level 2 starts sector 5, and level 3 starts sector 10)\r\nLives: 3 plus rejuvenator\r\nScreens: 1\r\nSpecial features: 1 to 4 player option","ReviewerComments":["Beamrider is quite an original shoot em up. It's a 3D type game in which you basically shoot at almost everything you can (except Yellow Rejuvenators). The action is fast and furious, especially at levels 10 and above. The graphics are okay but not really fantastic, but the game itself makes up for this. Beamrider is a good shoot em up and is a welcome addition to the Activision range. Overall, fairly addictive to say the least.\r\nUnknown","The effect of perspective is reasonable with the radiating beams and forwards moving horizontal beams. Graphics are not detailed but they move smoothly and very fast What makes Beamrider a clever shoot em up is the way the various nasties act. Blue Chargers have an unpleasant habit of taking seconds to fade off the bottom of the screen, thus trapping you if unlucky. The Green Bouncers dart up and down beams, switching beams at irregular distances from your craft so you can never be sure what they will do next. The game is simple to look at but quite complex to play well and is certainly addictive. Lots of sound helps the fun.\r\nUnknown","I thought games like this had gone out of the window years ago, well on the Spectrum anyhow. It seems as though the theme has been revamped somewhat and an attempt has been made to give a true 3D impression of 'Beamrider'. It seems to me that this game will suit many talents of different people, namely quick thinking, quick reactions, good hand/eye co-ordination and a muscular firing finger. The game progresses quite well from level 1 to the higher levels where there are far more objects whizzing about on the screen that tend to make life truly impossible. The graphics don't take 3D to the extreme but are effective and fast. I especially liked the flashing border when an alien is destroyed which adds to the atmosphere, even though this is a commonly used device for explosions, but it seemed to work well here. Beamrider turns out to be quite a fast and surprisingly addictive game.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: A good, fast, addictive shoot em up.","Page":"47,48","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Two white saucers approach down the beams towards in Activision's BEAMRIDER."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"74%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"70%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"76%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"69%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"73%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"54%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"69%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 12, Mar 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-02-21","Editor":"Roger Munford","TotalPages":74,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Munford\r\nArt Editor: Hazel Bennington\r\nDeputy Editor: Tina Boylan\r\nTechnical Editor: Peter Shaw\r\nProduction Editor: Louise Cook\r\nArt Assistant: Martin Dixon\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nContributors: John Torofex, Ian Beardsmore, Tony Samuels, Stephen Adams, Dave Nicholls, Ross Holman, Roger Willis, Stuart Jamieson, Clive Gifford, Simon Goodwin, Adrian Wagner, Chris Somerville, Chris Wood, Hunt Emerson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Joe Harrower\r\nAdvertising: Dave Baskerville\r\nGroup Advertising Manager: Jill Harris\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\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 Spectrum ©1985 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."},"MainText":"BEAMRIDER\r\nActivision\r\n£7.99\r\n\r\nDave: Beamrider is a 'skim the surface of the planet (or, in this case, Restrictor Shield) shooting things that appear over the horizon' game. There are few other games of this type around and, I'm afraid Beamrider is nothing really very special. That said, it's an above average 'Zap 'em' with quite a lot going on...\r\n\r\nIn order to progress up through the screens, you have to shoot 15 of the flying saucers that come down the grid, but there are several other types of alien flying around which sometimes get in the way. Some of the aliens can be destroyed with your 'laser lariats', but others can only be blown up by a torpedo. As you only get three torpedoes and you need at least one to destroy the sentinel ship that appears at the end of each screen. I found myself dodging more often than shooting. Different meanies appear on the higher screens and, by about sector seven, you'll find yourself very busy indeed!\r\n\r\nIf you're looking for a fast shooting game, then Beamrider is probably worth a look - but it's not exactly state-of-the-art stuff.","ReviewerComments":["This is a very 'old' game... and it shows! The different behaviour displayed by the nasties and the hectic pace of the game on the higher levels make this a reasonable 'zap and blast' game. It does however, have rather a short-lived appeal.\r\nRoss Holman\r\n2/5 MISS","Clearing the sinister Restrictor Shield that surrounds one's planet is about as vibrant as outgrowing the brace on one's teeth.\r\nRoger Willis\r\n1/5 MISS"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"33","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Dave Nicholls","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"},{"Name":"Ross Holman","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"},{"Name":"Roger Willis","Score":"1","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair Programs Issue 28, Feb 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-01-17","Editor":"Rebecca Ferguson","TotalPages":68,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Rebecca Ferguson\r\nStaff Writer: June Mortimer\r\nDesign/Illustration: Elaine Bishop\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Howard Rosen\r\nEditorial Assistant: Colette McDermott\r\nProduction Co-ordinator: Claudia Viertel\r\nSubscription Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nAssistant Publisher: Neil Wood\r\nPublisher: Gerry Murray\r\n\r\nSinclair Programs is published monthly by EMAP Business and Computer Publications.\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 £25 for the copyright of listings published and £10 for the copyright of listings published in the Beginners' section.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1985 Sinclair Programs\r\nISSN No. 0263-0265\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by: Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nAll subscription enquiries:\r\nMagazine Services,\r\nEMAP Business and Computer Publications\r\n[redcated]\r\n\r\nCover Design: Craig Kennedy"},"MainText":"PRICE: £7.99\r\nGAME TYPE: Arcade\r\n\r\nFeeling mentally exhausted by a surfeit of adventure games? Fingers itching to kill something? Looking for a game which brings the electronic slaughter of the arcades into your home? You are? Strange.\r\n\r\nBeam rider sets you flying through fifteen levels of grids, on each of which you have fifteen ships to blast into oblivion. This starts off fairly easy but, as the levels progress, the screens become littered with space debris, unassailable ships and all sorts of dangerous objects.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are not amazing, in fact they are small and pathetic. The speed of everything is very fast, so fast that you are likely to leave the game after an hour or so with a severe case of eye strain, and twitching fingers.\r\n\r\nIt is fast, it is furious, but it is not original, and it does not even approach excitement. Arcade freaks may find it appealing, no one else will.\r\n\r\nBeam rider is produced by Activision, [redacted].","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"14","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"June Mortimer","Score":"35","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Rating","Score":"35%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]