[{"TitleName":"Tomb of Syrinx","Publisher":"The Power House","Author":"Ayyaz Mahmood, Tim White","YearOfRelease":"Unknown","ZxDbId":"0005319","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 40, May 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-04-30","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":148,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nAssistant Editor: Ciaran Brennan\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Richard Eddy, Ian Phillipson\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\nIllustrator: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction: Tony Lorton, Mark Kendrick, Tim Croton, Seb Clare\r\nProcess and Planning: Matthew Uffindell, Jonathan Rignall, Nick Orchard\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\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: The Power House\r\nRetail Price: £1.99\r\nAuthor: Ayyaz Mahmood\r\n\r\nThe Tomb of Syrinx is an ancient and deadly place which no man has ever attempted to explore... until now that is.\r\n\r\nWith the chance to finally show your true bravery you find yourself alone in the horrid mausoleum, armed only with your laser gun. There is only once chance of escape from this foul place, the five keys of the Tomb must be found and collected. Perhaps an easy task, if it was not for the strange Immune Guardians.\r\n\r\nOn entry to the Tomb, these Guardians give a few moments of grace before attacking. Resembling a collection of sour-faced suns, rotating crosses and gangrenous hands, they bounce off walls to attack with increasing ferocity. Contact results in a loss of life. To avoid them you are able to move the left and right, or up and down, through the maze of corridors and rooms.\r\n\r\nThe laser gun is used to destroy Guardians, but some are resilient, and several shots have to strike home before these meet their maker. Points are awarded for each kill, the score being displayed at the bottom right.\r\n\r\nBut Immune Guardians are not the only enemy encountered. Snakes, scorpions wait to bite or sting, and bandaged mummies kill. Five lives are available to you, the number remaining being shown at the bottom right corner of the screen.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: Z/X left/right, P/L up/down, zero to fire\r\nJoystick: Kempston, Interface 2, Cursor\r\nUse of colour: poor\r\nGraphics: small and simple\r\nSound: limited spot FX\r\nSkill levels: one\r\nScreens: scrolling play area","ReviewerComments":["There were loads of games around like this about four years ago, so it beats me why THE POWER HOUSE have released one now. Especially as this leaves a lot to be desired, the three character scroll and evil maze and deadly inanimate objects make the game infuriatingly unplayable. The graphics are well below average, with small characters and an undetailed playing area. Even with the free audio track this doesn't really offer good value for money.\r\r\nBen Stone","THE POWER HOUSE haven't made a good impression so far, and Tomb Of Syrinx does nothing to change this. The characters are badly drawn and the animation is basic and jerky. There's no tune, and the little sound that's there is easily ignored. I had no fun at all playing this as it seemed to be a very ordinary idea which was badly programmed. Even at the budget price it should be quickly ignored.\r\nPaul Sumner"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Not very good value, even at its low price.","Page":"22","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Ben Stone","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Paul Sumner","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"40%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"24%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"25%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"22%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"26%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"26%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 18, Jun 1987","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1987-05-14","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":106,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nSenior Art Editor: Peter George\r\nAssistant Editor: Phil South\r\nProduction Editor: Sara Biggs\r\nStaff Writer: Marcus Berkmann\r\nDesigner: Darrell King\r\nEditorial Assistant: Angela Eager\r\nContributors: Richard Blaine, Chris Donald, Mike Gerrard, Ian Hoare, ZZKJ, Tony Lee, John Molloy, Rick Robson, Mischa Welsh\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 Dennis Publishing 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":"The Power House\n£1.99\nReviewer: Tony Hetherington\n\nIf it wasn't for the fact that The Power House is the new budget label from CRL, I would swear on my aardvark's life that this was an old game that had been hanging around for years. It has the same style of graphics as the old 16K games, and the screen scrolls jerkily, two spaces at a time, so that you have no idea what's ahead and you die - very quickly.\n\nThe idea is to collect five keys. If you don't get killed, mangled or mutilated in the process, you're lucky. The nasties you meet are nigh-on invincible, needing hit after hit to be disposed of, and they cunningly appear out of nowhere, usually exactly where you're standing. At one point I stepped on one (well, I think I stepped on one, if I didn't...), lost all my lives in one fell swoop and the game crashed, leaving me with an empty screen. Yep, folks, Bernie the Bug strikes again!\n\nA free audio recording has been added to the game, for some strange reason. As far as I could tell, this sounded like two cats - one being throttled and the other being forcibly fed through a mangle. Not a pretty sound, and unnecessary as far as the games concerned.\n\nCome on CRL! With Mastertronic, Firebird and Codemasters producing some high quality budget games, this doesn't have a chance. Any more like this and they'll be sealing your tomb!","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"96","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Tony Hetherington","Score":"4","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"4/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"3/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"4/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 63, Jun 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-05-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: David Kelly\r\nDeputy Editor: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nStaff Writer: Tamara Howard\r\nArt Editor: 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\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Mike Corr\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: John Higgins\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 1986 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nABC 90,215 July-Dec 1985"},"MainText":"Label: Power House\r\nPrice: £1.99\r\nJoystick: various\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nReviewer: Andy Moss\r\n\r\nThis game has been written by a chap called Ayyaz Mehmood, who penned Hercules, a game that I thought was quite fun to play.\r\n\r\nTomb of Syrinx is along similar lines, and chronicles your efforts to find five keys from within its mysterious walls, whilst avoiding a motley collection of monsters that seem to just appear precisely when you don't want them to.\r\n\r\nIt's a tried and tested maze-scrolling game, with some very clean graphics that are not only colourful, but distinctly atmospheric. He's also built in some pretty tasty sound FX for the laser gun, almost the same sound and power as the cannon Defender.\r\n\r\nAll games have flaws, and I suppose if one was to criticise Tomb of Syrinx, it would be the lack of real excitement in the gameplay. There isn't really a lot to do except zap a few nasties and wander around the place looking for those wonderful keys.\r\n\r\nWhat the monsters do though, is to spin and weave around in a very smooth fashion, and there seems to be a wide choice of the little beasties to home in on.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A pretty simple scrolling maze game, that just rolls gently on without creating a fuss. Take it or I leave it.","Page":"54,55","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Andy Moss","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"3/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 65, Aug 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-07-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: David Kelly\r\nDeputy Editor: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nStaff Writer: Tamara Howard\r\nArt Editor: 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\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Mike Corr\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: Jerry Paris\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 1986 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nABC 84,699 July-Dec 1986"},"MainText":"Label: Power House\r\nAuthor: Ayyaz Mehmood\r\nPrice: £1.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer:\r\n\r\nThis game has been written by a chap called Ayyaz Mehmood, who penned Hercules, a game that I thought was quite fun.\r\n\r\nTomb of Syrinx is along similar lines, and chronicles your efforts to find five keys from within its mysterious walls, whilst avoiding a motley collection of monsters that seem to just appear precisely when you don't want them to.\r\n\r\nIt's a tried and tested maze-scrolling game, with some very clean graphics that are not only colourful, but distinctly atmospheric.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A pretty simple scrolling maze game. Take it or leave it.","Page":"29","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 37, May 1987","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1987-04-23","Editor":"Bryan Ralph","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Bryan Ralph\r\nAssistant Editor: Cliff Joseph\r\nConsultant Editor: Ray Elder\r\nAdvertising Manager: Peter Chandler\r\n\r\nDesign: A.S.P. Design Studio\r\nA.S.P. Advertising and Editorial [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted by Chase Web, [redacted]\r\n\r\nAdvertisement Copy Controller: Andy Selwood\r\n\r\nDistributed by: Argus Press Sales and Distribution Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing Monthly is published on the fourth Friday of each month. Subscription rates can be obtained from ZX Subscriptions, [redacted]\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication, including all articles, designs plans, drawings and other intellectual property rights herein 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 the company.\r\n\r\nArgus Specialist Publications Limited. ©1987"},"MainText":"Powerhouse\r\n£1.99\r\n\r\nTomb of Syrinx is a sub Jet Willy game in which you are trapped in the aforementioned tomb and have to find the five keys of Syrinx in order to escape. You've got a laser to kill the Guardians (a load of blocky little sprites) with, and you move around the maze simply by moving up/down, left/right, without even the blessing of a jump button to liven things up.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are state-of-the-art circa 1983, and the maze scrolls jerkily as you move from one room to another. There's a bit of 'House' music included on the tape, and the game crashed thirty seconds into my second game so I had to reload and start all over again.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"38","Denied":false,"Award":"Glob Senior","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"Groan","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]