[{"TitleName":"Stay Kool","Publisher":"Bug-Byte Software Ltd","Author":"Leigh Hugill","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0004891","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 15, Apr 1985","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1985-03-28","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nAssistant Editor: Graeme Kidd\r\nTechnical Editor: Franco Frey\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nSoftware Editor: Jeremy Spencer\r\nAdventure Reviewer: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Reviewer: Angus Ryall\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey, Robin Candy, Ben Stone\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\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\nColour origination 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.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Bug-Byte\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £6.95\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\nAuthor: Leigh Hugill\r\n\r\nSpace Pilot Luke Warm is stranded on his crippled spaceship after one of his less successful space battles. It isn't his day either; although the emergency space shuttle is ready to go he has neglected to keep the fuel rods on the shuttle. They are scattered about the stricken ship and Luke must be guided around to collect them all. Unfortunately (the key word in any computer game) the damaged ship has sent the various automated devices wild. Can Luke avoid the nasties, collect all the rods and be ready in the shuttle bay before the damaged ship falls into the nearby star?\r\n\r\nStay Kool is another JSW clone, but this one does not aim to let Willy go, even providing a room called 'We must perform a ... WHAT?' as part of the clone effect. The ship is formed of a series of interconnected rooms containing platforms, and varied nasties that bounce up and down or slide from side to side. Luke is a small white figure in a large fishbowl helmet with a healthy jumping ability. Items to be collected flash. Below the playing area can be seen the title of the room, number of items collected, rising temperature and lives which convert into winged angels after deaths. Among the features of the game there are tractor beams which force Luke to rise along with them, teleport rooms and amongst all of this 50-screen game there is a Loch Ness Monster!\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: Q/W left/right, B to SPACE to jump\r\nJoystick: Sinclair 2 and Kempston\r\nKeyboard play: responsive\r\nUse of colour: good\r\nGraphics: above average\r\nSound: poor and not much in the way of spot effects\r\nSkill levels: 1\r\nLives: 5\r\nScreens: 50","ReviewerComments":["I always thought it was Bug-Byte's policy to release only very good games such as Turmoil and Rapscallion. But Stay Kool isn't up to their normal standard. The graphics are good but but aren't mind-blowingly brilliant and the sound is almost nonexistent. The idea is similar to Manic Miner/Jet Set Willy but the actual game isn't up to the standard of these games. Stay Kool is definitely not addictive and because of this I found that it wasn't very playable. It may appeal to people who especially like platform games but to the everyday gamer it's really a bore. Overall not up to the standard of other Bug-Byte games and certainly not one of the all time greats.\r\r\nUnknown","There's no doubt in my mind that this game will be compared to Jet Set Willy, and in fact it makes little attempt to disguise the similarity. The screen layout is so much like Jet Set Willy in the sense that two-thirds of the screen has been used as the playing area and the bottom third as a text and information area; it wouldn't even surprise me if the same screen display routines hadn't been copied from the host program at some point. There are some distinct differences though and probably the most obvious one is the standard of the graphics - they are not as good by half and they flicker considerably. Graphics are quite varied and well drawn, however, and the game makes full use of the colour capabilities of the Spectrum, but it is disappointing to see how many character blocks are left undisguised which gives an unpleasant chunky feel to the game. There doesn't seem to be much sound maybe because it would slow the game down even further. l can't see why Bug-Byte has published this game as it is nowhere near their previous high standard.\r\r\nUnknown","It's difficult at this late stage to say whether yet one more JSW copy is playable or not. After all, if a game is good, it doesn't matter if it looks like something else, but after so many versions one does get a bit tired and therefore the copy has to be very good. Stay Kool is not a good copy, and its humorous attempts to copy the Matthew Smith literary screen style is not particularly appreciated either. The pace of the game seems slow and generally the idea is uninspiring, in other words, it offers nothing new to the type like Technician Ted or Brian Bloodaxe. A surprise really, coming from Bug-Byte and a disappointment.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: An average platform style game with little to offer over other versions.","Page":"41","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"76%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"69%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"64%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"72%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"54%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"63%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"59%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 14, May 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-18","Editor":"Kevin Cox","TotalPages":74,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Kevin Cox\r\nArt Editor: Hazel Bennington\r\nDeputy 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: Stephen Adams, Dave Nicholls, Roger Willis, Ross Holman, Terry Bulfib, Chris Wood, Sue Denham, SQ Factor, Tony Samuels, AM Grant, B Hobson\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Joe Harrower\r\nAdvertisement Executive: David Baskerville\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Jill Harris\r\nGroup Art Director: Jimmy Egerton\r\nManaging Editor: Roger Munford\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":"STAY KOOL\r\nBug Byte Software\r\n£6.95\r\n\r\nRoger: This curious melange of mystic, prehistoric and scatological imagery, varying from a pterodactyl's lair, vampire lemons and the occasional sewage processing installation is really just one more competent multi-screen platform game. Trotting from room to room and jumping are both accurately controlled. There's a well-defined geography and a huge assortment of life-depriving nasties. As usual, the purpose is, to collect objects and accrue an even higher position on the 'Hall Of Scum' chart.\r\n\r\nIt's entertaining to play, I suppose, but stunningly short on originality. You can almost imagine some programmer discovering a mixed bag of graphical leftovers discarded in his machine memory and deciding that it would be a pity to waste them. If lack of some consistent theme doesn't bother you very much, then by all means attempt to avoid that final plunge into the cess pit.","ReviewerComments":["They just keep on coming, wave after wave of them, the Manic Miner clones. This should-have-been-a-budget-game from Bug-Byte was one of the first bite the dust.\r\nDave Nicholls\r\n2/5 MISS","Bug Byte are still trying to come up with another Mathew Smith type success but this Jet Set clone just isn't the answer. This won't even compete with Technician Ted.\r\nRoss Holman\r\n1.5/5 MISS"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"48","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Dave Nicholls","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"},{"Name":"Ross Holman","Score":"1.5","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"},{"Name":"Roger Willis","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5 HIT"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair Programs Issue 31, May 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-18","Editor":"Rebecca Ferguson","TotalPages":60,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Rebecca Ferguson\r\nStaff Writer: Colette McDermott\r\nDesign/Illustration: Elaine Bishop\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Shahid Nizam\r\nProduction Co-ordinator: Serena Hadley\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Maria Keighley\r\nSubscription Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Neil Wood\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: Elaine Bishop"},"MainText":"PRICE: £6.95\r\nGAME TYPE: Arcade\r\n\r\nWhat has happened to Bug Byte? There was a time when you could rely on them for excellent games. Their latest one, Stay Kool, is no fun at all. In the face of the excellent new releases on the market this month it is worse than no fun, it is pathetic.\r\n\r\nIn another lame take off of the Jet Set Willy theme you move from room to room collecting objects. The problems are ingenious, the rooms are nicely named, the graphics are not bad, but the idea is stale, stale, stale.\r\n\r\nStay Kool is produced for the 48K Spectrum by Bug Byte, [redacted].","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"14","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Colette McDermott","Score":"35","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Rating","Score":"35%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Computer Issue 5, May 1985","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-18","Editor":"Toby Wolpe","TotalPages":148,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Toby Wolpe\r\nAssistant Editor: Meirion Jones\r\nProduction Editor: Ian Vallely\r\nSoftware Editor: Simon Beesley\r\nCommercial Software Editor: Paul Bond\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lee Paddon\r\nEditorial Secretary: Lynn Dawson\r\nEditorial: [redacted]\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Nick Ratnieks\r\nSenior Sales Executive: Julian Bidlake\r\nAdvertisement Executives: Nigel Borrell, Kay Filbin\r\nNorthern Office: Geoff Parker\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Maxine Gill\r\nClassified: Susan Platts\r\nPublishing Director: Chris Hipwell\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Shobhan Gajjar\r\n\r\nYour Computer, [redacted]\r\n©Business Press International Ltd 1985\r\n\r\nPrinted in Great Britain for the proprietors of Business Press International Ltd, [redacted].\r\nISSN 0263-0885\r\nPrinted by Riverside Press Ltd, [redacted], and typeset by Instep Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: U.K. £12.50 for 12 issues.\r\nSubscription Enquiries: [redacted]\r\n\r\nABC 154,334 January-June 1984."},"MainText":"ZX Spectrum\r\n£6.95\r\nArcade Adventure\r\nBug-Byte\r\n\r\nEveryone raved about Manic Miner but what Bug-Byte seem to have forgotten is you must put some oomph into the graphics if you want to get away with this sort of thing. Silly jokes about police boxes and doctors are not enough.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"39","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"2/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 19, Jun 1985","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-05-30","Editor":"Ray Elder","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Ray Elder\r\nEditorial Assistant: Cliff Joseph\r\nGroup Editor: Wendy J Palmer\r\nSales Executive: Jonathan McGary\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Barry Bingham\r\nDivisional Advertising Manager: Chris Northam\r\nCopy Controller: Sue Couchman\r\nPublishing Director: Peter Welham\r\nChief Executive: T J Connell\r\n\r\nOrigination and design by MM Design & Print, [redacted]\r\nPublished by Argus Specialist Publications Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing is published bi-monthly on the fourth Friday of the month. Distributed by: Argus Press Sales & Distribution Ltd. [redacted]. Printed by: Garnett Print, Rotherham and London.\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication including all articles, designs, plans, drawings and programs and all copyright and other intellectual property rights therein belong to Argus Specialist Publications Limited. All rights conferred by the Law of Copyright and other intellectual property rights and by virtue of international copyright conventions are specifically reserved to Argus Specialist Publications Limited and any reproduction requires the prior written consent of Argus Specialist Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Argus Specialist Publications Limited 1985"},"MainText":"Bug Byte\r\n£6.95\r\n\r\nChuckie Egg 2 managed to add a couple of new features to the standard platform format, but Stay Kool is about as unoriginal an addition to the hordes of JSW clones as you can get. In fact, you could even say that it's more of a Manic Miner clone than of the more modern JSW. There is one room in Stay Kool that is more or less a straight copy of one in MM (I think it was called Return of the Kong Beast, or something like that).\r\n\r\nEven the graphics are a step backwards, for although the various 'monster' sprites are animated adequately the figure of Luke Warm (the hero of the piece) is pretty slow moving, and very flickery.\r\n\r\nThe plot of the game, such as it is, is that Luke's spaceship has been damaged in a battle and that Luke, in order to launch his escape pod must rush around the ship collecting fuel pods before the ship overheats. The logic of all this seems pretty dubious when you actually see the sort of rooms that the ship contains, but what the heck, it's only a game.\r\n\r\nMost of the rooms are quite well designed, being hard enough to require a bit of thought, but not so hard that you die instantly. And, as in JSW, you don't have to collect the objects in each room before moving on to the next, so if an object seems too hard to reach you can carry on exploring and come back later. And, as a matter of fact I did find the game interesting enough to want to carry on wandering through the rooms. Despite the simplicity of the game it is well enough designed to hold my attention. In fact, it's not a bad game at all really, it's just that it's so clone-like that I can't really get very excited about it. If it were a budget game say, £1.99/£2.50 it would be excellent value, but for £6.95 it's not top of my shopping list.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"95","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"3/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictivity","Score":"3/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"3/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 106, Apr 1985","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-06","Editor":"Peter Worlock","TotalPages":62,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Peter Worlock\r\nDeputy Editor: David Guest\r\nProduction Editor: Lauraine Turner\r\nDeputy Production Editor: Harriet Arnold\r\nEditor's Assistant: Karen Isaac\r\nFeatures Editor: John Lettice\r\nSoftware Editor: Bryan Skinner\r\nPeripherals Editor: Kenn Garroch\r\nHardware Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nArt Editor: Dave Alexander\r\nPublisher: Cyndy Miles\r\nPublishing Manager: Peter Goldstein\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Sarah Barron\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Laura Cade\r\nSales Executives: Phil Benson, Mike Blackman, Jacqui Edmiston, Andrew Flint, Sarah Musgrave, Tony O'Reilly\r\nProduction: Richard Gaffrey\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Andrea Laurence\r\nSubscription Enquiries: Gill Stevens\r\nSubscription Address: [redacted]\r\nEditorial Address: [redacted]\r\nAdvertising Address: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]\r\n© VNU 1983. No material maybe reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\nPhotoset by Quickset, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Chase Web Offset, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Seymour Press, [redacted]\r\nRegistered at the PO as a newspaper"},"MainText":"PRICE: £6.95\r\nPUBLISHER: Bug-Byte [redacted]\r\n\r\nManic Miner clones such as Stay Kool, the latest from Bug-Byte, are still being released even though there are almost more than enough already.\r\n\r\nAs Luke Warm, space pilot, your task is to find and collect fuel rods for your shuttlecraft so you can leave your crippled spaceship which is hurtling into a nearby star. This puts a time limit on the game represented by the rising temperature - stay cool, Luke, it all boils down to a platform game in the classic tradition.\r\n\r\nThere are levels which dissolve as you traverse them, tiny platforms which require skill and patience to reach and, of course, a host of hazards. These vary from deranged robots to escapees from Luke's space monster menagerie. The mobile problems take predictable paths, so learning a new screen is not difficult.\r\n\r\nYou can brush against a lethal nasty in mid-leap, only to find you're still okay, thanks to the generous collision detection. Similarly, you don't have to be perfectly placed to climb ladders or use the transporters.\r\n\r\nAs with many of its predecessors, the locations have wacky names, eg The Surgery, The Sewage Fermentation Plant and The Pteradactyl's Lair (why is it that programmers are so poor at spelling?).\r\n\r\nThe animation is good, there are chomping monsters, bubbling test tubes and rippling thingumibobs; even Luke swings his arms as he hastily seeks out the flashing\r\n\r\nBut what more can you say Stay Kool is a competent, not too tricky, version of something you've probably played a hundred times.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"42","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Bryan Skinner","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]