[{"TitleName":"Tempest","Publisher":"Electric Dreams Software","Author":"David Pridmore, David John Rowe","YearOfRelease":"1987","ZxDbId":"0005179","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 38, Mar 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-02-26","Editor":"Graeme Kidd","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Publishers: Roger Kean, Oliver Frey, Franco Frey\r\nPublishing Executive/Editor: Graeme Kidd\r\nSub Editor: Ciaran Brennan\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Lee Paddon, Hannah Smith\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Editor: Philippa Irving\r\nTech Tipster: Simon Goodwin\r\nContributing Writers: Jon Bates, Brendon Kavanagh, John Minson\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nArt Director: Gordon Druce\r\nIllustrators: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction: Seb Clare, Tim Croton, Mark Kendrick, Tony Lorton, Nick Orchard, Michael Parkinson, Cameron Pound, Jonathan Rignall, Matthew Uffindell\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Nick Wild\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nEditorial and Production: [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order and Subscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nBookings [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistributed by COMAG, [redacted]\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.\r\n\r\n©1987 Newsfield Limited\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Electric Dreams\r\nRetail Price: £7.99\r\nAuthor: David Pridmore\r\n\r\nSo, this isn't based on the famous play by Will Shakespeare, but it is just as frenetic as that drama. For the sake of a scenario, Hyperspatial Wireways are a series of wire tubes spanning the universe which guide travellers safely to their destinations. A problem has arisen though, in the form of weird aliens infesting the Wireways and making them unsafe for journeying. Down to you Zapper.\r\n\r\nYour task is to clear the Wireways as best you can. Each screen is of a different-shaped wireway. The zapper you control is at one end, and hordes of aliens gradually make their way up from the other end towards you. Wireways consist of several lanes across which the zapper moves blasting away along them.\r\n\r\nThe aliens are multifarious. Flippers are lines which flip from lane to lane as they make their way slowly up the Wireway. Shoot when they briefly pause before flipping again. Flippers can destroy the zapper if they flip on to it.\r\n\r\nFuseballs are cross-shaped and stick to one lane. Should they reach the end of the Wireway, they block the zapper from moving across that lane.\r\n\r\nSquare-shaped tankers slowly rotate as they make their way up the lanes. When hit, they either split into two flippers, or a spiralling fuseball. If the tankers get to the end of a Wireway, they split as if they had been hit or sometimes just go phut and disappear. The resulting fuseballs hurtle around the Wireways, gradually moving towards the zapper.\r\n\r\nEarly game levels only have flippers and fuseballs, tankers turn up later. But after level 12, spikes and pulsars arrive. Spikes look like single lines and grow straight up the lanes, slowly extending themselves. Left alone, they eventually wither and return down the grid. These are only lethal if the zapper passes over them when fully extended. When shot, they remain at their present length until the screen is finished, and then extend to their full length. They cannot be shot at this stage.\r\n\r\nPulsars look like flippers, but don't flip, they just travel straight up a lane. If the pulsar reaches the end of the lane, it short-circuits the grid and destroys that lane.\r\n\r\nOrdinary zapping is hard work, but once per level the super-zapper may be used. It simply clears the entire Wireway of everything. If it's used before all the aliens have come onto the Wireway, the remaining aliens travel faster.\r\n\r\nPoints are scored for all aliens killed (super zapping doesn't count), and there's a bonus for finishing each level. You get three zappers to start with, another every 10,000 points, and you can choose to start on any screen.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: Q anti-clockwise, E clockwise, ENTER fire, Z zapper\r\nJoystick: Kempston, Interface 2\r\nUse of colour: monochrome play area\r\nGraphics: understandably slow and rather cluttered\r\nSound: good explosion effects\r\nSkill levels: 99\r\nScreens: 99","ReviewerComments":["Yeah Tempest is finally here. The only problem is that it is on the Spectrum, therefore all the computer's limitations come into play. The action is spoiled, surprisingly enough not by the speed, but by the graphics, which simply aren't clear enough for you to be able to play the game property. The sound is fairly good, there are no tunes but the zappy effects during play more than make up for it. I didn't really expect this to be much good, arcade conversions seldom are, so I'm not too disappointed with it. But the dire front end and attract mode don't appeal much.\r\r\nBen Stone","I remember how good Tempest, the arcade game was. Unfortunately the addictiveness and playability seem to have been lost in the mists of time. The graphical transformation seems accurate and the depth of play area has not been lost. However, there's a limit to the complexity that can be portrayed on the Spectrum screen; I began to feel I wasn't really looking forward to the next level, or even the next game, as the basic formats of each had little variation. Tempest contains nothing to keep the player interested.\r\r\nPaul Sumner","Tempest has a great deal of fun going for it. There's no denying the fact that it's nothing but totally mindless blasting. Then again, if you're prepared to wear your fire button into non-existence, then this is the game to get. Absolutely no strategy, forward planning, or intelligence is required; if like me, you enjoy an incredibly destructive bout of meanie bashing, then Tempest is worth looking at. Price wise, though, think carefully before buying; it is a bit steep.\r\nMike Dunn"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: A good try at a game not really suited to the Spectrum.","Page":"26","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Ben Stone","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Paul Sumner","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Mike Dunn","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Cameron bravely blasts away in demo mode."},{"Text":"The start of Level 81 (surely some mistake!!) or has demo mode struck again."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"57%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"61%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"59%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"55%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"62%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 64, May 1989","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1989-04-27","Editor":"Stuart Wynne","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Stuart Wynne\r\nAssistant Editor: Phil King\r\nStaff Writers: Mark Caswell, Lloyd Mangram, Nick Roberts\r\nContributors: Ian Cull, Mike 'Skippy' Dunn, Paul Evans, Robin Hogg, Ian Lacey\r\nEditorial Assistants: Caroline Blake, Vivienne Vickress\r\nEditorial Consultant: Dominic Handy\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nSenior Designer/Illustrator: Wayne Allen\r\nDesigners: Melvin Fisher, Yvonne Priest\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nProduction: Robert Hamilton, Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard\r\n\r\nEditorial Director: Oliver Frey\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nAdvertisement Director: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nSales Executives: Sarah Chapman, Lee Watkins\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nGroup Productions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypeset 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\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 Sticky Solutions Department 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. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\n©CRASH Ltd, 1989\r\n\r\nISSN 0954-8661\r\n\r\nCover Design & Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"£1.99\r\nRicochet\r\n\r\nBased on an ancient arcade coin-op, Tempest first appeared on the Spectrum in Issue 37, thanks to Electric Dreams.\r\n\r\nIn a future time, a series of galactic highways have been infested by hostile aliens. As 'The Zapper', your job is to tidy up the highways and make them safe for decent citizens to once more set foot into. A variety of aliens (such as Flippers, Fuseballs, Tankers, Spikes, and Pulsars) kill on contact. Of course you aren't exactly defenceless; a rapidfire gun provides protection from the meanies as they move towards you along the wireway. And for those tight situations, you have a limited supply of smart bombs.\r\n\r\nDespite its simplistic wireframe graphics, Tempest is an immensely playable game. The coin-op version is one of my all-time favourite games, and still worth a few ten pees if you can find it. Its simple playability has certainly been preserved on the Spectrum. So if you have a couple of quid burning a hole in your pocket, buy Tempest now.\r\n\r\nThen: 62% Now: 89%","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"32","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"89%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 15, Mar 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-02-12","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":98,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Caroline Clayton\r\nProduction Editor: Sara Biggs\r\nAssistant Editor: Phil South\r\nStaff Writer: Markus Berkmann\r\nDesigner: Darrell King\r\nContributors: Luke C, Mike Gerrard, Ian Hoare, Gwyn Hughes, ZZKJ, Tommy Nash, Max Phillips, Rick Robson, Rachael Smith\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Julian Harriott\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nManaging Editor: Kevin Cox\r\nPublisher: Roger Munford\r\nPublishing Director: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Sportscene Specialist Press 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 ©1987 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":"Electric Dreams\n£7.99\nReviewer: Gwyn Hughes\n\nSome arcade machines attain Cult status. Tempest was such a game - a cult which was probably helped by the scarcity of home micro versions. While you could keep a hundred types of invader at bay from the comfort of your Computer, the Hyperspatial Wireways have remained relatively undefended.\n\nIt's taken a long time for this official version to surface on the Spectrum, and I can't help wondering whether this particular Tempest is a bit of a storm in a teacup.\n\nNot that the conversion isn't good. It's excellent. Naturally the fine line graphics lose out a bit, even on a monitor, when you compare them with the vector originals. But they're fast and detailed - just don't think of attempting a high score on a badly tuned TV.\n\nStill, its true to the original in all its spindly detail. Your Zapper has its two mechlectric legs (two lines to you) patrolling the rims of an infinity of Wireways (sets of lines, receding into the distance). There are the nasty aliens too, advancing from the depths of this path through space.\n\nTrue, these invaders are just lines as well, but at least they're varied in their attack patterns. Particularly nasty are the fast moving Fuseballs, who shoot out of nowhere, then hang around on the rim, waiting for you to bump into them. Try to clear these quickly or you're finished. The Flippers, which switch from lane to lane are much less of a problem.\n\nTankers aren't terribly fast but hold a nasty surprise. Will they split into two Flippers or one spiralling Fuseball when you zap them? Shoot them as soon as possible so you've time to react. Finally, don't get spiked on a Spike, that you can easily mistake for a single line, and watch out for Pulsars, which break the rim making continuous movement impossible.\n\nAll these aliens fly at you faster than you'd care to believe, and you zoom round clockwise and anti-clockwise, firing as last as your trigger finger can take. And that's all there is to it!\n\nAt first I thought Tempest was difficult, but suddenly something clicked and I was notching up high score after high score. I didn't even have to use the Super Zappers. You get these for completing a level and they allow you to clear all aliens on the screen.\n\nIf you like a shoot 'em up that's fast and simple and where the main skill is to find a rhythm and just keep on going, then this one should have you going for a blasting bonanza.\n\nDon't get me wrong, because I'm not averse to such games myself. It's just that I'm not sure they should be full price in this day and age. Whether you think Tempest blows up a storm or is just wet and windy will depend on how much shooting you can take.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"27","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Gwyn Hughes","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 59, Feb 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-01-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: David Kelly\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nSenior Staff Writer: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nDesigner: Gareth Jones\r\nAdventure Help: Gordo Greatbelly\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nHelpline: Andrew Hewson\r\nContributors: Richard Price, Andy Moss, Gary Rook\r\nHardware Correspondent: Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nSenior Sales Executive: Jacqui Pope\r\nProduction Assistant: Alison Morton\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Linda Everest\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Stuart Hughes\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to Sinclair User please send programs or articles to:\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nOriginal programs should be on cassette and articles should be typed. Please write Program Printout on the envelopes of all cassettes submitted. We cannot undertake to return cassettes unless an SAE is enclosed. We pay £20 for each program printed and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nTypeset by PRS Ltd, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1987 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nABC 90,215 July-Dec 1985"},"MainText":"Label: Electric Dreams\r\nPrice: £8.95\r\nJoystick: various\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nReviewer: John Gilbert\r\n\r\nTempest is now a pretty old coin-op game - designed in an age when graphics were lines and shading and 3D hadn't been invented.\r\n\r\nSo in one sense it's a bit odd that it's now been converted by Electric Dreams.\r\n\r\nThe reason, though, is that as coin-op it was one hell of an addictive game.\r\n\r\nThe plot sounds complex but the play couldn't be simpler. The Hyperspatial Wireways - travel tubes which connect one star system to another - have been infiltrated by pesky, odd-shaped, aliens. Their goal: to conquer your star system by shooting out along the tubes' channels.\r\n\r\nYour only weapon, the Zapper, spins around the rim of each wireway. Hit the Fire button and it releases an energy pulse which smashes the opposition.\r\n\r\nWhat this means is you get presented with a series of geometrical shapes on-screen, divided into segments (rather like slices of a cake). You zoom around the edge firing inwards - with your fire confined in the 'slice' or channel from which it began. The aliens move out from the centre and mustn't reach the rim. So the gameplay means speeding around the rim firing down the sections where the aliens are nearest to the edge.\r\n\r\nIf that sound dull, you'd be wrong. Completely. This is one heck of a frenetic game.\r\n\r\nThere are eight alien-types. Some just move along one channel, some flip from channel to channel and others split into twirling crosses when you hit them with your Zapper. If a tube gets too hot with alien activity you can release an energy net which acts as a smart bomb and destroys everything on the wireway. There's only one net per screen so it's pretty much a last resort tactic.\r\n\r\nWhen you've cleared a screen it disappears and another zips up into its place. It'll be a different shape and. probably, more difficult than the last with more wires, extra twists for the Zapper to make a shorter length from end to end.\r\n\r\nThe new tube may be a different colour, yellow and blue are favourites of this conversion, but they are nothing compared to the multi- coloured brightness of the original coin-op.\r\n\r\nTempest is a brave conversion but doesn't really measure up to the original Atari coin-op masterpiece. The game was originally designed to use a trackerball and a joystick is an irritatingly inflexible substitute.\r\n\r\nThe original also features rapid fire which is simultaneous with zapper movement.\r\n\r\nThe Electric Dreams' Zapper has to be stopped before you fire and you can only make one shot at a time. That's not to say, however, that I won't be playing this Tempest long after you've read this review. The game is just based round such a strong idea.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Not a patch on the coin- op original, but that's to be expected, it's pretty addictive all the same.","Page":"53","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"John Gilbert","Score":"4","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]