[{"TitleName":"Worm Attack","Publisher":"Pulsonic","Author":"John K. Wilson, P. Makinson","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0005756","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 5, Jun 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-05-24","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":126,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nEditorial/office [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nPhotosetting by SIOS [redacted]\r\nColour origination by Scan Studio, [redacted]\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd, [redacted].\r\nDistribution by Comag, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post free)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post free).\r\n\r\nWe cannot undertake to return any written or photographic material sent to CRASH MICRO unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Pulsonic\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £2.99\r\nLanguage: BASIC\r\nAuthor: Makinson & Sulson\r\n\r\nThis is a 'Bozy Boa cum Snake' game, where you are the snake in a garden. The object is to wander round, eating the fruit in the garden but avoiding the rocks. With each screen cleared you get longer. Hitting a rock, the edge of the garden or reversing direction on yourself, or hitting your own tail means a loss of life.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: cursors\r\nJoystick: Protek, AGF\r\nKeyboard play: reasonably responsive\r\nUse of colour: very poor\r\nGraphics: very poor\r\nSound: poor, just a few beeps\r\nSkill levels: you get longer with each completed screen\r\nLives: 5","ReviewerComments":["This is a very out-of-date game now, and most of the existing versions are much better done. The graphics are extremely simple, the fruit being white crosses, the rocks are dark blobs and the snake is a series of blue circles with dots in them and a drawn head. Including the green background, this means only four colours have been used. The BASIC makes everything quite slow.\r\r\nUnknown","A snake, eating and getting longer game. Not an unreasonable version but the graphics are not exactly what I would call stunning. Cursor keys for control are poor too. This is a not very inspiring version of a game that is practically an antique now.\r\r\nUnknown","The game idea (very old now) is quite playable, and I have played versions which, because of their graphics, have been very addictive. This one has no graphics to speak of, and so despite the low price is hardly worth it, unless it's to introduce a very young player to the computer.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Despite the price, hardly worth anyone's while.","Page":"99","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Primitive graphics in the garden - Worm Attack."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"32%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"38%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"35%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"38%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"48%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"42%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 34, Aug 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-07-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":148,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"CREDITS\r\n\r\nEditor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nAssistant Editor: Eugene Lacey\r\nEditorial Assistant: Clare Edgeley\r\nStaff Writers/Reader Services: Robert Schifreen, Seamus St. John\r\nArt Editor: Linda Freeman\r\nDesigner: Lynda Skerry\r\nProduction Editor: Mary Morton\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Rob Cameron\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Louise Matthews\r\nAdvertising Executives: Bernard Dugdale, Sean Brennan, Phil Godsell\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Melanie Paulo\r\nProduction Assistant: Roy Stephens\r\nPublisher: Rita Lewis\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES POSTAL SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. By using the special Postal Subscription Service, copies of COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES can be mailed direct from our offices each month to any address throughout the world. All subscription applications should be sent for processing to COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES (Subscription Department), [redacted]. All orders should include the appropriate remittance made payable to COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES. Annual subscription rates (12 issues): UK and Eire: £14. Additional service information including individual overseas airmail rates available upon request. Circulation Department: EMAP National Publications. Published and distributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd. Printed by Eden Fisher (Southend) Ltd, [redacted]. Typeset by Camden Typesetters Ltd.\r\n\r\nThe cover illustration: What a soap opera these four could make together!\r\nIllustrated by Bob Wakelin."},"MainText":"MACHINE: Spectrum 48k\r\nSUPPLIER: Pulsonic\r\nPRICE: £2.95\r\n\r\nIt's no use producing cheap software if the game isn't worth the price of the blank cassette. But that's what Pulsonic has done with this program for the Spectrum.\r\n\r\nIt's a very simple game, written entirely in Spectrum Basic. Mainly for this reason, its very slow. There's not much movement and hardly any sound effects.\r\n\r\nYou play the part of a worm and you have to crawl round the garden eating food but avoiding the rocks. As you eat more food, so you grow longer. If you hit a rock, then you lose one of your five lives. You also lose a life if you run either into your own body or hit the side of the screen. The food is made up of white crosses on screen, while the rocks are black blobs.\r\n\r\nThe only movement on screen is the worm itself, which is very slow because of the limitations of Spectrum Basic. Each time you eat some food, the machine beeps. You also get a different beep when you have no more lives left.\r\n\r\nApart from the game being far too slow, response from the keyboard is too sluggish as well. You have to keep your finger on the key for some time before it registers. This makes it rather hard to dodge awkward rocks.\r\n\r\nThere's one good feature about a game written in Basic, though. You can change it. The first thing I did was to alter the keys which you use to control the worm. I still can't get used to using the four cursor keys and, while I was about it, I gave myself some more lives too.\r\n\r\nOnce you have cleared a sheet and eaten all the food in the garden. you are rewarded with... another sheet! And so this goes on. Whether you'll be able to stand playing this long enough to use up all your five lives, I don't know. I found it hard at times.\r\n\r\nThis game is badly written and too slow. It may be cheap, but it's still worth nowhere near £2.95.\r\n\r\nIf you have £3 to spare, buy a few blank cartridges and try some of the programs from C&VG.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"42","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"2/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"4/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer Games Issue 7, Jun 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-05-17","Editor":"Chris Anderson","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Chris Anderson\r\nProduction Editor: Roderick George\r\nArt Editor: Ian Findlay\r\nTechnical Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nStaff Writers: Steve Cooke, Peter Connor\r\nEditorial Assistant: Samantha Hemens\r\nSoftware Consultant: Tony Takoushi\r\nCartoons: Kipper Williams\r\nProgram Control Guardians: Jeff Riddle\r\nScreenshots: Chris Bell\r\nCover Illustration: Pat Weedon\r\nGroup Editor: Cyndy Miles\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nGroup Publisher: John Cade\r\nPublisher: Mark Eisen\r\nAssistant Publishing Manager: Sue Clements\r\nPublishing Secretary: Jenny Dunne\r\nAdvertising Manager: Herbert Wright\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Jan Martin\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Mike Caroll\r\nAdvertisement Production: Simon Carter\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Coraline Turner\r\nSales Executives: Joey Davies, Marion O'Neill\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]. Typesetting by Spectrum Typesetting, [redacted] Origination by Fourmost Colour [redacted]. Printed and bound by Chase Web Offset [redacted]. © VNU Business Publications 1984."},"MainText":"MACHINE: Spectrum 48K\r\nCONTROL: Keys\r\nFROM: Pulsonic, £2.99\r\n\r\nGuide the worm around the garden eating crosses and avoiding black dots, the garden wall, and your own tail. Pulsonic apparently needed 48K for this program but it could have fitted into less than 16. Poor graphics, awful control keys - this is one of the cheapest games for the Spectrum and it shows.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"59","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Steve Cooke","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"3/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"3/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Originality","Score":"2/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Lasting Interest","Score":"3/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"3/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]