[{"TitleName":"Wriggler","Publisher":"Romantic Robot UK Ltd","Author":"Devonshire House","YearOfRelease":"1985","ZxDbId":"0005761","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: Romantic Robot\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £5.95\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\n\r\nWriggler is a maze game, or it could be an arcade game - well it might even qualify as an adventure of sorts. The simple truth is that Wriggler is all of these, and in some respects resembles Antics, the insectoidal game by Bug-Byte. The opening screen shows four maggots at the start of a race, and you are one of them - you know it's a race because of the ant with the starting pistol, but you are not racing against the other maggots as they disappear soon after the race starts to become your extra lives.\r\n\r\nThe game seems simple enough to play, all that's required is for you to guide your maggot down pathways until you find your way out of the maze and into the next, and the next, and the next.... In fact there are four main mazes, the first one being the Garden, followed by the Scrublands, the Underground for Hell if life is rotten to you as well), and finally the Mansion with the lift shaft that should take you to the planet surface. There are a few other areas but if you find yourself in any of these then you goofed and life can only get worse.\r\n\r\nIf this all sounds pretty straightforward, the fine print begins to make being a maggot sound less attractive. The first problem you will have to cope with is your diet; as maggot winds his way around the maze he uses up energy. This can be replenished by consuming many of the snacks left around. The menu includes such gourmet delights as milk shakes, bowls of cherries and cups of tea; should you be fairly well stocked with energy (a fact which is indicated by a bar code at the top of the screen) you can always pick up a snack and eat it later.\r\n\r\nAs well as food there are a few other objects that you will need in order to penetrate the mazes and these include tins of ant spray, keys, extra lives and a parachute. All these are essential for dealing with one situation or another, but you are only allowed to carry one object at a time, so you can imagine your despair as you fall the 1000 feet to the Underworld when you remember that you swapped your parachute for a bag of money.\r\n\r\nFinding you way out of the mazes is one thing, getting past all the nasties in there is another. Your first encounter will be with the black or blue ants - fairly timid creatures these, if you stay out of their way they won't harm you, collide with them and you lose energy which may be fatal. The white ants are a lot more unpleasant as they will chase you and any encounter nearly always ends badly for you. The only way of getting past them successfully is to use the ant spray. Other creatures generally have the same effect as the coloured ants, all except for the spider, a wonderfully animated creature but very deadly. Death itself is followed by a quickie funeral conducted on the spot. Should you have any lives left, resumption is from the same spot.\r\n\r\nWriggler takes place across 256 playing screens as you fight for survival in the Maggot Marathon to end them all, with the final object being to reach the planet surface. Points are awarded for picking up objects and eating food. When your energy level reaches a critical point on the bar at the top, the computer emits anxious beeps to remind you.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: Q/W or O/P left/right, K/M or Q/A up/down, L,M,T or zero to pick up drop, alternatively QWERT or the cursors\r\nJoystick: Sinclair 2, Kempston, cursor type, Micro Power add-on\r\nKeyboard play: responsive\r\nUse of colour: excellent\r\nGraphics: lively, well drawn, superbly animated and smooth\r\nSound: good tunes, reasonable spot effects\r\nSkill levels: 1\r\nLives: 4 with possibility of finding extra ones\r\nScreens: over 250","ReviewerComments":["This is Romantic Robot's first excursion into the games world, and if all their games are up to this standard they could soon be amongst the top software houses. Wriggler is a totally original game, I certainly can't think of another where you control a maggot anyway! The graphics are good and the animation of some of the creatures is excellent, have a look at the spider. Sound and colour are both used well. Wriggler is a fun game to play and offers hours of enjoyment to all, in fact of the games I've seen recently, this is one of the most enjoyable I've played. Overall, a very good game worth buying.\r\r\nUnknown","Wriggler is an original game which has some very neat graphics and it is very different from anything I have seen before, except perhaps Antics which it slightly resembles at first. To be able to combine arcade features so well with adventure aspects and throw in a dash of strategy is an exceptional idea and although it has been done before, it seems to work especially well with this game. Colour has been put to good use throughout and does add that lively element that so many games miss out these days. Animation is very good too and I especially like the way the huge spider creeps forward ready to pounce, and the way 'you' wriggle about this huge nightmare of a maze (well aren't all mazes nightmares)? I think this game presents quite a task and whether it will keep your interest really depends on what the other mazes have to offer - it's difficult enough that I have yet to escape from the Garden. Sound isn't too bad either, with some nice tunes. STOP PRESS - I'm in Hell now!!\r\r\nUnknown","I must confess that my first impression of Wriggler was not a good one, I thought it was going to be rather dull. I was very wrong. The feature that attracted me the most, apart from the graphics and animation, was how the different elements, maze, arcade and adventure, combined to make this an absorbing game. The graphics, animation and choice of colour are superb, helping to make the display clear and uncluttered. At first I thought the movement was rather slow but when the action starts it's best to have your wellies warmed and ready, your thinking cap on and your ant spray armed. Wriggler is very hard to win but the graphics alone make the challenge worth surmounting. I never thought I would enjoy spending so much time as a maggot.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: A different, lively and absorbing maze game which everyone found more addictive than they first thought.","Page":"42,43,45","Denied":false,"Award":"Crash Smash","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Bright graphics and excellent animation make Wriggler delightful to play."},{"Text":"Pursued by a white ant, it's best to wriggle as fast as possible!"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"88%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"91%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"75%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"86%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"89%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"90%","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":"WRIGGLER\r\nROMANTIC ROBOT\r\n£5.95\r\n\r\nRoss: Romantic Robot's not a name I'd come across before, so I was very pleasantly surprised by this game. You're a contestant in the Annual Maggot Marathon, so all you have to do is wriggle your way to the finish.\r\n\r\nThe area of play covers 256 screens and features a whole geography of distinctly different landscapes, each with its own problems. You start the race with three competitors but they soon head off in different directions. You have the choice of following them or making your own way. The paths you follow are bordered by multi-coloured foliage - similar species to those growing in Sabre Wulf. All the time you're racing, your energy decreases, so you must either eat or become just another pile of bones in the lonely wastes. Food, in the form of ice creams or cups of tea can be picked up and eaten whenever you're on your last legs (legs? maggots? Oh, well! lid).\r\n\r\nTwo varieties of ants and spiders lurk within the leaves - the first are relatively harmless, but watch out for the others, they're deadly.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are very good if a little sparse but they do become repetitive and the game plays on the slow side. All in all, a respectable runner-up rather than a winner.","ReviewerComments":["A very original game with fun graphics, but it's a touch slow to play. There's a large area to explore but illogical layout makes mapping difficult.\r\nDave Nicholls\r\n3.5/5 HIT","I'd like to say this was rotten to the core but you won't worm it out of me...\r\nRoger Willis"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"46","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Dave Nicholls","Score":"3.5","ScoreSuffix":"/5 HIT"},{"Name":"Ross Holman","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/5 MISS"},{"Name":"Roger Willis","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":"MISS"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 39, Jun 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-05-18","Editor":"Bill Scolding","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\nEditor: Bill Scolding\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nStaff Writer: Chris Bourne, Clare Edgeley\r\nDesigner: Craig Kennedy\r\nEditorial Secretary: Norisah Fenn\r\nPublisher: Neil Wood\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nAdvertising Manager: Rob Cameron\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executive: Kathy McLennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Jim McClure\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Maria Keighley\r\n\r\nMAGAZINE SERVICES\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\n\r\nTELEPHONE\r\nAll departments [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\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. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included.\r\n\r\nWe pay £20 for each program printed and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nTypeset by Saffron Graphics Ltd, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Peterboro' Web, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1985 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\n91,901 Jun-Dec 1984"},"MainText":"Publisher Romantic Robot\r\nPrice: £5.95\r\nMemory: 48K\r\nJoystick: Kempston, Sinclair\r\n\r\nCrawling out from the dunghill of worthy utilities comes the Romantic Robot maggot. Romantic Robot has hitherto confined its activities to producing utilities and music programs, but its first arcade game demonstrates an appreciation of entertainment as well as a sound knowledge of byte lore.\r\n\r\nWriggler casts you as a maggot, big and white and squiggly, taking part in the four stage maggot marathon. First you must find your way out of the garden, then negotiate the scrubland, only to crawl underground into the tortuous labyrinth. Thence to the mansion itself and the final exit.\r\n\r\nThe game is essentially an extended maze, with plenty of confusing exits and entrances which defy the laws of normal map-making. On the way you must avoid or destroy the marauding denizens of the lawn. Particularly revolting are the giant deathshead spiders whose spindly legs inch along the corridors and paths with deliberate menace. Some of those monsters are relatively harmless in that they stick to known routes. Others such as the wasps and termites, zero in on you and soon digest your weak, white pulsating body.\r\n\r\nGraphics are large - two or three character squares at minimum - and although the movement is slow, maggots do not exactly shift like the clappers themselves.\r\n\r\nA piece of electronic muzak titled Moons of Jupiter is thrown in on the B-side of the cassette - definitely music to squirm to. Wriggler represents a good few hours of fun. It contains plenty of humour and challenge in a rather different setting to the normal hi-tech or low-fantasy scenarios we have come to expect of arcade-adventure generally.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"27","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Chris Bourne","Score":"4","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 44, Jun 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-05-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nDeputy Editor: Paul Boughton\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lesley Walker\r\nStaff Writer: Seamus St. John\r\nDesigner: Brian Cookman\r\nProduction Editor: Mary Morton\r\nAdventure Writer: Keith Campbell\r\nAmerican Correspondent: Marshall M. Rosenthal\r\nPublicity: Marcus Rich\r\nArcades: Clare Edgeley\r\nReader Services: Marcus Jeffery\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Matthews\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Bernard Dugdale\r\nAdvertising Executive: Sean Brennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Melanie Paulo\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: £15. Additional service information including individual overseas airmail rates available upon request. Circulation Department: EMAP National Publications. Published and distributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nPrinted by Severn Valley Press. Typeset by In-Step Ltd.\r\n\r\nCover: John Higgins"},"MainText":"MACHINE: Spectrum\r\nSUPPLIER: Romantic Robot\r\nPRICE: £5.95\r\n\r\nNot only do you get a great game when you get your hands on the Wriggler - you also get Jean-Michel Jarre-style music to play as you play\r\n\r\nThe Wriggler is a cute maggot - and he's competing in the great Annual Maggot Marathon, the most dangerous and spectacular event in the insect sporting world.\r\n\r\nYou have guide your maggot through a massive maze-like course of 256 screens which begin peacefully enough in the garden, move on the scrubland, into the underground then finally to a mansion and lift shaft. But whatever you do - don't go to Hell!\r\n\r\nThere are lots of puzzles to be solved along the way and various creatures avoided. But at least there's lots of cups of tea to be had along the way!\r\n\r\nThe graphics and sound are excellent and the game is totally addictive.\r\n\r\nI particularly liked the way the Wriggler \"dies\" when you run out of energy - or into a nasty. He is reduced to a crumbling pile of dinosaur-like bones!\r\n\r\nThis is Romantic Robot's first venture into the games market - and if this is an example of the quality of their product then they are a name to be watched.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"19","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"10/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"10/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair Programs Issue 32, Jun 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-05-16","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: Ivan Hissey"},"MainText":"PRICE: £5.95\r\nGAME TYPE: Arcade Adventure\r\n\r\nThree, two, one: and they are off, in the annual Maggot Marathon. The other worms wriggle quickly away as you, Wriggler, hero of the game, consider your strategy.\r\n\r\nStarting on the maze before you you meet a wandering ant. Ants can be lethal, but this one keeps out of your way. Round the corner, and you find a welcome cup of coffee waiting for you. Do not relax for too long, though. One touch from an ant could leave you with your whole body crumbling gruesomely to pieces and one fewer life.\r\n\r\nThe pace of the game is a little slow moving, especially on deserted screens. On those with enemies approaching or chasing you, things seem to move far too quickly. Enemies are gruesomely animated, especially the long legged spiders. All those eight legs, all moving at once, yeeuch.\r\n\r\nOnce out of the maze like garden you are far from home and dry. You must then wander through the scrub-land, through the underground, avoid going through hell, wander through the mansion and escape.\r\n\r\nWriggler verges on being an adventure as it involves collecting and using objects as well as sorting out a maze and avoiding nasties.\r\n\r\nOriginal and cute, Wriggler is produced for the 48K Spectrum by Romantic Robot, [redacted].","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"21","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Colette McDermott","Score":"58","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Rating","Score":"58%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Computer Issue 4, Apr 1985","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1985-03-21","Editor":"Toby Wolpe","TotalPages":164,"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£4.95\r\nArcade Maze\r\nRomantic Robot\r\n\r\nRestful little game which comes with musical soundtrack \"The moons of Jupiter\" by Alex Goldscheider on the flip-side. In the 30 year-long maggot race you must move through four main areas: the garden, the scrubland, the underground and the mansion. You collect food and objects in the usual way. The graphics are very nice and this may appeal to people who find Atic-Atac too hectic.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"45","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":"Romantic Robot\r\n£6.95\r\n\r\nDespite the cassette cover that seems to promise yet another 'shoot the caterpillar' game, Wriggler is more original and more fun to play than you might expect.\r\n\r\nYou play the part of a worm (that's novel for a start) taking part in a race around a garden. The garden is populated by assorted nasties, ants of various types and a superbly animated spider that is instant death if it touches you. Beyond the boundaries of the garden are an underground labyrinth and (although I haven't found them yet) a mansion and planet surface, so there's plenty of scope for wandering around and exploring.\r\n\r\nScattered along the way are various items including food to keep you going, ant sprays for when you're caught in a tight spot, extra lives, and even a parachute. All the graphics are well drawn and the animation is very smooth. Even the movement of the Wriggler is novel in that rather than just moving left/ right/up/down, you have to adopt a sort of wriggly side-to-side movement if you want to move quickly.\r\n\r\nThe only minor irritation that I found was the tune that played after losing a life. Why do programmers insist on using these silly little tunes? Nobody likes them and they only slow the game down while you're waiting to get on with it.\r\n\r\nStill, that aside, I enjoyed Wriggler and will be going back to it, to try and find the rest of the locations. It's just that little bit different from the rest of the current crop and well worth buying.\r\n\r\nP.S. I'd just like to thank RR for the cute fluffy toy they sent along to publicise the game which has proved very popular in the ZX offices.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"94","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"4/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictivity","Score":"4/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 107, Apr 1985","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-20","Editor":"Peter Worlock","TotalPages":54,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Peter Worlock\r\nDeputy Editor: David Guest\r\nProduction Editor: Lauraine Turner\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: Tony Harris\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: £5.95\r\nPUBLISHER: Romantic Robot [redacted]\r\n\r\nThe Wriggler is the first game from Romantic Robot - now there's a name to conjure with. Programmed by Devonshire House, it's one of the best games for any machine I've seen for a long time.\r\n\r\nYou control a maggot hoping to win the Annual Maggot Marathon. An unlikely scenario, but don't let that put you off. These programmers really know their code, and even better, they know the Spectrum inside out. The first hint is the loading screen - the picture loads from the bottom up.\r\n\r\nYou can't define the keys, but there's a fairly wide range of choices, and joysticks are supported. At kick-off there are four white wrigglers, so it's a bit hard to know which one you are. But, move up and down a bit and it becomes obvious. The wriggler's movement is a treat; like inchworms they contract and expand as they move along.\r\n\r\nCome up against a wall and you have to tack your way left and right as you wriggle up or down, initial strategy is follow-the-leader. You're in The Garden - basically a maze of brick walls, fences, hedges, etc. Patrolling the corridors are black ants, lovingly portrayed with nodding heads and padding feet. Avoid these like the plague because they sap your energy. However, as they march back and forth on set paths, they don't pose too much of a problem.\r\n\r\nThe detail on the giant spiders is excellent. Their long white legs bend and stretch, but one touch is fatal.\r\n\r\nThere are more than a few types of garden pests: white ants and large-headed snakes (among others) appear in awkward places. Worse, some latch on to your trail, and shaking them off is well nigh impossible.\r\n\r\nLosing one of your three lives brings out yet another aspect of the program's excellence. Your wriggler loses flesh, leaving a skeleton which is mirrored in the display at the top of the screen. There's also a score there, but the system is a bit obscure and I haven't yet sussed it out.\r\n\r\nOnce out of the garden you find yourself in The Scrubland, where you can relax a little and restore your energy (shown at the top by a multi-coloured bar meter) by passing over items and pressing what passes for 'fire' in this non-aggressive game.\r\n\r\nYou'll probably discover that some items don't replenish your strength - they're collected for future use.\r\n\r\nThen it's out of The Scrubland into the The Underground, where you're surrounded by red earth in which white skulls are embedded. Fall down vertical shafts and you'll encounter stranger beasts.\r\n\r\nSurvive this and it's The Mansion, as yet beyond my powers. Apparently this is an intricate web of corridors around a bottomless shaft. You'll need to find the lift and the right keys to the doors, one of which leads to the surface of the planet.\r\n\r\nThe game is crazy; the graphics are a delight; and although the sound's limited, you won't notice because the game's so absorbing. The theme's original, unusual, and it's non-violent. But don't be fooled - The Wriggler is addictive.\r\n\r\nRomantic Robot doesn't have the marketing clout of the big boys like Ultimate or Ocean, so you may not see The Wriggler in your local shop. But if you've any sense you'll order your copy now.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"42","Denied":false,"Award":"Personal Computer News Star Game","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Bryan Skinner","Score":"10","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"10/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]