[{"TitleName":"Blockbusters","Publisher":"TV Games","Author":"Oxford Digital Enterprises","YearOfRelease":"1987","ZxDbId":"0000578","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 49, Feb 1988","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1988-01-28","Editor":"Barnaby Page","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Managing Editor: Barnaby Page\r\nStaff Writers: Mark Caswell, Dominic Handy, Gordon Houghton, Lloyd Mangram, Ian Phillipson\r\nSubeditor: David Peters\r\nPhotographers: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\nOffice: Frances Mable, Glenys Powell\r\nTechnical Writers: Simon N Goodwin, Jon Bates\r\nPBM Writer: Brendon Kavanagh\r\nStrategy Writer: Philippa Irving\r\nEducation Writer: Rosetta McLeod\r\nContributors: Robin Candy, Mike Dunn, Paul Evans, Dave Hawkes, Nathan Jones, Nick Roberts, Ben Stone, Paul Sumner, Bym Welthy\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nAssistant Director: Markie Kendrick\r\nDesign: Wayne Allen\r\nProcess and Planning: Jonathan Rignall (Supervisor), Matthew Uffindell, Nick Orchard\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Andrew Smales\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nEditorial and Production: [redacted]\r\nPlease address correspondence to the appropriate person!\r\n\r\nMail Order and Subscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypesetting by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow\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 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. Competition entries and letters to the CRASH Forum, to other sections and to staff are always read with interest but cannot be acknowledged even if an SAE is included, and letters submitted for publication may be edited for length and style.\r\n\r\n©1988 Newsfield Limited\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: TV Games\r\nRetail Price: £7.95\r\nAuthor: Oxford Digital Enterprises\r\n\r\nWell, what d'you know? Find out by testing your knowledge with the legendary Bob Holness in Blockbusters, the first TV release from Domark's label TV Games. The new label will specialise in game-show licences, and Countdown, Bullseye, The Krypton Factor and Treasure Hunt are planned.\r\n\r\nIn Blockbusters, based on a Central TV series, question master Bob smiles benignly on you from one side of the screen; the rest of the display is a pattern of coloured hexagons. In each hexagon is a letter.\r\n\r\nEach player chooses a hexagon on his turn. Bob then asks him a question, the correct answer to which will begin with the letter in the chosen hexagon. (The form is 'what D is a small domestic animal?'. Choose an X and the answer is probably 'xylophone'.)\r\n\r\nIf the player answers correctly, the hexagon is 'taken' and filled with a colour representing that player; to win, you must capture a line of hexagons from one side of the display to the other.\r\n\r\nThe spelling of answers needn't be totally correct - and Blockbusters will allow some variations through with the comment 'close enough'.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nJoysticks: none\r\nGraphics: simple but adequate; absurd picture of Bob Holness","ReviewerComments":["How many more Blockbusters-type quiz games do we have to suffer? This must be the fourth at least, and there's not much you can do with the theme. There's a nice front end and a cute little picture of Bob wobbling his head when he asks a question, but the game is boring and repetitive. There are lots of TV programmes that would make much better games.\r\nPaul Sumner\r\n42%","What F is an adjective with four letters and describes Blockbusters? Answer: FAST. You hardly get enough time to answer the question when a TIME OUT message appears! But there have been so many games like Blockbusters that bringing out another seems ludicrous. And most of the questions are too hard for me anyway - winning in Blockbusters calls for plenty of brains, so that counts the whole CRASH team out.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n47%","Quiz games lose that vital human element when computerised, eliminating all humour and leave the room dreadfully quiet. Blockbusters is very typical of this. But it's good that you don't have to beat an opponent, and Blockbusters is certainly a must for those who can't resist showing off their quick thinking.\r\nBym Welthy\r\n48%"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Another quiz game, which we need like an empty H in the H on our shoulders.","Page":"98,99","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Paul Sumner","Score":"42","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"47","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Bym Welthy","Score":"48","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Blockbusters: first release from new TV tie-in label."},{"Text":"Take a line of hexagons to win."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"67%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"48%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"56%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"44%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"46%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 26, Feb 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-01-14","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Peter George, Darrell King\r\nDeputy Editor: Marcus Berkmann\r\nTechnical Editor: Phil South\r\nActing Production Editor: Fran Husband\r\nContributors: Richard Blaine, Audrey & Owen Bishop, Ciaran Brennan, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Gwyn Hughes, David Jones, David McCandless, Duncan McDonald, John Minson, David Powell, Nat Pryce, Rick Robson, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith, Mischa Welsh, Tony Worrall\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Stansfield\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nPublisher: Kevin Cox\r\nPublishing Director: Roger Munford\r\nManaging 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 ©1988 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":"TV Games\r\n£7.95\r\nReviewer: Rachael Smith\r\n\r\nOoh, my favourite TV quiz. The one where Bob asks the questions while the teams take the P. If only I could take part. I'd just love an F!\r\n\r\nSuddenly Domark's new label, TV Games, waves its magic wand. \"Yes, Rachael, you too can be a Blockbuster.\" Whoopee! Where's that dummy Gwyn? I can't wait to thrash him.\r\n\r\nActually Blockie has appeared in several computer guises already, but this is an all new version, and comes complete with several blocks of questions, which should keep you busted for a while, as they're all pretty tough.\r\n\r\nIn the two-player game the puzzles appear word by word, just as if the divine Bob Holness was actually saying them. You have to hit your buzzer immediately you think you know the answer if you want to stop your opponent beating you to that section. A lot of the fun comes in blocking their path by getting in fast, or guessing what the L Bob is talking about.\r\n\r\nThe one-player game gives you more time to answer, because the computer won't challenge you, but if you get it wrong or are completely stumped, then control passes to your Spectrum, which seems to choose its letters at random. It's not the ideal way to play the game but it's still more fun than most computer quizzes.\r\n\r\nIf you do best out of three games, you get a go at the Gold Run - and I don't mean the result of eating too much rich food (gold - rich... geddit?). This time two or three word answers are required and you only have a minute to cross the board. All that's missing is the chance to win a trip to Kenya or even a Blockbusters sweat shirt.\r\n\r\nA lot of thought has gone into getting this right. It's close enough to call a telly simulation, in fact. Fuzzy logic allows for the odd misspelling (and some of mine are decidedly odd); the clock stops when you start typing, so you don't have to be a 60 words-a-minute person (and no - I don't mean Gwyn, who never stops talking) to win. Don't dawdle though or it'll start ticking again.\r\n\r\nBut best of all is the digitised Bob which twitches away as the questions appear. It's not so much the animated graphic that impressed me, but the fact that you can turn him off. If only it was so simple in real life!\r\n\r\nMy only real complaint is that the packaging isn't Spectrum specific. It's meant for all versions and remains rather vague on some of the details. But load up and it won't take long until you're stepping onto the hot spots for that all important Gold Run.\r\n\r\nBlockbusting fans are sure to want this. But remember - U had better join the Q because I go first! OK?","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Not only a superb version of the TV show but one of the best quiz programs ever produced.","Page":"71","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Rachael Smith","Score":"8","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"For those who haven't seen the telly original, you have to cross the playing area by answering questions. Each letter is also the initial letter of the answer. One oddity of following the TV rules is that the red player, who goes across, has to answer five questions, while the vertical opponent only needs four. Either use it to handicap a strong player or swop round between games."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"8/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 60, Dec 1990","Price":"£1.85","ReleaseDate":"1990-11-01","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Sal Meddings\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nStaff Writer: Linda Barker\r\nDesign Assistant: Andy Ounsted\r\nContributors: Robin Alway, Marcus Berkmann, Jonathan Davies, Cathy Fryett, Mike Gerrard, Kati Hamza, Duncan MacDonald, Jon North, Julia O'Shea, Rich Pelley, David Wilson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Simon Moss\r\nPublisher: Greg Ingham\r\nAssistant Publisher: Jane Richardson\r\nSubscriptions: Computer Posting [redacted]\r\nMail Order: The Old Barn [redacted]\r\nPrinters: Riverside Press [redacted]\r\nDistributors: MMC [redacted]\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair is published by Future Publishing Ltd [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Future Publishing 1990. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission."},"MainText":"BLOCKBUSTERS\r\nTV Games\r\n\r\nBob fans will find that this one's worth getting it only for the digitised pics of their ageing hero to be found within. They're even animated (sort of), so Bob reads out the questions and grins broadly when you get one right. Everything else is there too, like the signature tune, the Gold Run and even the odd \"Can I have a P please, Bob?\" if you keep your eyes peeled.\r\n\r\nAnd if you find the telly version compulsive, the game should set your adrenalin pumping too. There are one- and two-player versions to choose between. The two-player game proceeds pretty much like the programme, while in the one-player version you only lose a square if you answer a question incorrectly. And there are plenty of questions. Several load-fulls, in fact, with 50 in each so you shouldn't find repetition a problem. Well, question repetition that is. The game as a whole is incredibly repetitive, just like the telly programme. If you like the show then the game is just as good. And if you don't it's, er, just as bad.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"62","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jonathan Davies","Score":"74","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"On the 'ed, Bob! On the 'ed! (That's a clock, you idiot, not a ball! Ed) Oh."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"AS NEAR AS DAMMIT EVERY FILM AND TELLY GAME EVER\r\n\r\n3-2-1 - Microcomputer\r\nAirwolf - Elite\r\nAlien - Mindgames\r\nAliens - Electric Dreams\r\nAliens - US Electric Dreams\r\nAttack Of The Killer Tomatoes - Global\r\nA View To A Kill - Domark\r\nBack To The Future Part II - image Works\r\nBasil The Great Mouse Detective - Gremlin\r\nBatman - Ocean\r\nBatman The Caped Crusader - Ocean\r\nBatman The Movie - Ocean\r\nBattle Of The Planets - Mikro-Gen\r\nBenny Hill's Madcap Chase - Dk'Tronics\r\nBiggies - Mirrorsoft\r\nBig Trouble in Little China - Electric Dreams\r\nBlade Runner - CRL\r\nBlockbusters TV - Games\r\nBlue Max - US Gold\r\nBob's Full House - TV Games\r\nBruce Lee - US Gold\r\nBuck Rogers - US Gold\r\nCobra - Ocean\r\nCount Duckula - Alternative\r\nDanger Mouse in Double Trouble - Sparklers\r\nDanger Mouse in Making Whoopee - Sparklers\r\nDeath Wish III - Gremlin\r\nDukes Of Hazard, The - Elite\r\nEastenders - Tynesoft\r\nEmpire Strikes Back, The - Domark\r\nFlash Gordon - MAD\r\nFlintstones - Grandslam\r\nGhostbusters - Activision\r\nGhostbusters II - Activision\r\nGilbert - Escape From Drill - Again Again\r\nGive My Regards To Broad Street - Argus Press Software\r\nGoonies, The - US Gold\r\nHighlander - Ocean\r\nHong Kong Phooey - Hi-Tec\r\nHoward The Duck - Activision\r\nIndiana Jones And The Last Crusade - US Gold\r\nIndiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom - US Gold\r\nInspector Gadget - Melbourne House\r\nKnightmare - Activision\r\nKnight Rider - Ocean\r\nKrypton Factor - TV Games\r\nLicence To Kill - Domark\r\nLive And Let Die - Domark\r\nLiving Daylights, The - Domark\r\nMax Headroom - Quicksilva\r\nMasters Of The Universe - Gremlin\r\nMiami Vice - Ocean\r\nMickey Mouse - Gremlin\r\nMike Read's Computer Pop Quiz - Elite\r\nMinder - Dk'Tronics\r\nMonty Python's Flying Circus - Virgin\r\nMoonwalker - US Gold\r\nMunsters, The - Again Again\r\nNeverEnding Story, The - Ocean\r\nNightbreed, The - Ocean\r\nOrm And Cheep - The Birthday Party - Macmillan\r\nPink Panther - Gremlin\r\nPlatoon - Ocean\r\nPopeye - DkTronics\r\nPostman Pat - Alternative\r\nPostman Pat II - Alternative\r\nPredator - Activision\r\nRambo - Ocean\r\nRambo III - Ocean\r\nReal Ghostbusters, The - Activision\r\nRed Heat - Ocean\r\nReturn Of The Jedi - Domark\r\nRoad Runner - US Gold\r\nRobocop - Ocean\r\nRoland's Rat Race - Ocean\r\nScooby Doo - Elite\r\nShort Circuit - Ocean\r\nSooty And Sweep - Alternative\r\nSpitting image - Domark\r\nSporting Triangles - CDS\r\nSpy Who Loved Me, The - Domark\r\nStar Wars - Domark\r\nStreet Hawk - Ocean\r\nTarzan - Martech\r\nTerrahawks - CRL\r\nThunderbirds - Firebird\r\nThunderbirds - Grandslam\r\nThundercats - Elite\r\nTop Gun - Ocean\r\nTotal Recall - Ocean\r\nUntouchables, The - Ocean\r\nYabba Dabba Doo - Quicksilva\r\nYes Prime Minister - Mosaic\r\nYogi Bear - Piranha\r\nYogi's Great Escape - Hi-Tec\r\nYoung Ones, The - Orpheus\r\nZorro - US Gold"},{"Text":"DIFFERENT SORTS OF FILM AND TELLY GAMES\r\n\r\nFILM GAMES\r\n\r\nThese form the largest category by far. Just about every major film has a game to go with it, and as there are lots of films that means lots of games. What they're actually like tends to vary though. In some cases they're just ordinary beat-'em-ups or shoot-'em-ups with a very tenuous link with the film {generally just the name). Cobra and Highlander both went for this approach. Or they might be much the same sort of thing, but divided up into levels which are meant to refer to scenes from the film. Since most films are just beat-'em-ups and shoot-'em-ups anyway this tends to work pretty well, as with Robocop and Total Recall. Last of all are the games which are split up into completely different levels, like the early Bond efforts. There might be driving bits, walking bits and puzzle-solving bits, and they're usually pretty faithful to segments in the film. They do tend to pay a heavy price in terms of quality though (so be careful).\r\n\r\n(Er, the obligatory warehouse level in Beverly Hills Cop.)\r\n\r\nCARTOON GAMES\r\n\r\nMoving into television territory here, and these are generally the most popular telly games, especially on budget labels (witness Hong Kong Phooey, Count Duckula, all that sort of thing). The licences are probably pretty cheap to acquire, especially if the cartoon hasn't been on for about 20 years, and they're a doddle to convert to the computer. Cartoony graphics are about the easiest to pull off successfully on the Speccy, so they always look good. What you get under the surface though tends to be a very ordinary beat-'em-up or arcade adventure.\r\n\r\n(Hong Kong Phooey, faster than the human eye! (Sort of.))\r\n\r\nQUIZ GAMES\r\n\r\nAnother popular category, this, as television game shows are just begging to be computerised. They're mainly just a case of answering silly questions and filling in spaces on a scoreboard (or something), both things the Speccy is ideally suited to. There's usually the odd digitised piccy of your 'host' thrown in for luck, and lots of irritating tunes from the telly programme. Whether they're any good or not is very much a matter of opinion. The programming's usually well up to scratch, and they're always faithful replicas of the telly versions. But, as TV game shows are utter dross, the games tend to be too. Check out Sporting Triangles and Bob's Full House (if you must).\r\n\r\n(Sporting Triangles - er, a bit of a boring game really.)\r\n\r\nOTHER TELLY GAMES\r\n\r\nThere are all sorts of things left over, of course. There are the Gerry Anderson puppet programmes, which have formed the basis of the odd decent game. There are crusty old series like Flash Gordon. There are modern(ish) American programmes like Knight Rider and Miami Vice which haven't proved too successful on the Spectrum. There are 'cult' programmes like The Munsters and Monty Python. There are kiddies' shows like Postman Pat. All sorts of things really.\r\n\r\n(And here's Sooty And Sweep.(No, it isn't.) Yes. It is. (Etc.))"},{"Text":"SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A FILM AND TELLY GAME?\r\n\r\nHere's a list of essential ingredients to incorporate...\r\n\r\n- A bloke walking around shooting things.\r\n- Er...\r\n- That's it."},{"Text":"THE FIRST-EVER FILM AND TELLY GAME\r\n\r\n(Purses lips and inhales very slowly.) That's a tricky one. It ought to be pretty easy to pin down Film and Telly Game Number One, as they haven't been around for too long compared to other sorts of game. Well, I reckon (but don't quote me on this) it was Terrahawks from CRL, the game of the puppet programme. The thing is, though, I'm sure there was a Blue Thunder game floating around quite a long time before, but I can't find any references to it anywhere. So we'll stick with Terrahawks, eh? And, as was usually the case with these 'first-ever' games, it was pretty useless. There weren't actually any puppets in it for a start, just a whole bunch of 3D wire-frame building things which you had to explore (in a spaceship) in the hope of finding a vortex through which to exit. The 'Joystick Jury' (forerunners of today's Jugglers) weren't too impressed and gave it 2/5. Still, the pioneering spirit was there, and the game was a few months ahead of the first-ever film game - Activision's Ghostbusters. That was pretty hopeless as well, but did extraordinarily well."},{"Text":"TOP FIVE CINEMA ADS\r\n\r\n1) The Butterkist one (ra-ra-ra).\r\n2) The Kia Ora one.\r\n3) The really crap one for the local tile centre.\r\n4) The Sunshine Coaches one.\r\n5) The insurance one with the crummy jingle."},{"Text":"TOP TEN ANNOYING THINGS THAT PEOPLE DO IN CINEMAS\r\n\r\n1. Singing along to the Kia Ora advert (and doing the 'I'll be your dog' bit).\r\n\r\n2. Sitting on the seat in front of you, making it fold down and squash your feet.\r\n\r\n3. Snogging.\r\n\r\n4. Eating sweets with noisy wrappers.\r\n\r\n5. Giggling all the way through.\r\n\r\n6. Asking you to stop giggling.\r\n\r\n7. Passing you sweets every five seconds.\r\n\r\n8. Telling you what happens next.\r\n\r\n9. Trying to suck up the last drop of drink with a straw.\r\n\r\n10. Getting up and leaving at the split-picosecond the film finishes, having spent the last five minutes putting on their coat and stuffing all their litter under the seat."},{"Text":"WHAT'S A FILM AND TELLY GAME THEN? HMM?\r\n\r\nThat's easy. It's a game for which the software house producing it has had to hand over a vast wad of money to a film or television company so they can call their game The Sound Of Music or Newsnight or whatever. Distinguishing features are, as you may have gathered, the name of a famous film or telly programme splashed across the box and a bloke who walks round shooting things. Apart from that, though, just about anything can happen in them. They might be shoot-'em-ups or collect-'em-ups. They might scroll or they might 'flip'. They might multiload or they might not. (They usually do though.)\r\n\r\nSo they're not very hard to spot at all then, which makes writing this guide a whole lot easier."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Lights","Score":"50%","Text":""},{"Header":"Camera","Score":"88%","Text":""},{"Header":"Action","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Cut","Score":"75%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"74%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 70, Jan 1988","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-12-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":124,"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\nDesigner: Andrea Walker\r\nAdventure Help: Gordo Greatbelly\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nHelpline: Andrew Hewson\r\nContributors: Richard Price, Chris Jenkins, Tony Dillon, Gary Rook\r\nHardware Correspondent: Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mike Corr\r\nSales Executive: Steve Prescott\r\nClassified Sales/Production: Alison Morton\r\nPublisher's Secretary: Debbie Pearson\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Richard Winnington\r\n\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\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: TV Games\r\nAuthor: ODE\r\nPrice: £7.95\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: None Bob\r\nReviewer: Graham Taylor\r\n\r\nI have a problem with Blockbusters. The problem is Bob Holness the quiz master on the TV show. He... how can I put this? He makes me go yeeeeearggggggggrgrgrgrgrgrgrgrhahahahahahhhhhhh!!!!\r\n\r\nI had to overcome a good deal of residual prejudice before I could even Load this one up. That and the fact that the original version of the game was put out by Macsen. Both biggish obstacles you'll agree.\r\n\r\nWell this Blockbusters is a reworking of the game of the TV series by TV Games - the latest Domark label. The reprogramming has been done by ODE which did Trivial Pursuit and, it has to be said, the firm has done a highly professional job. I'm still not sure though.\r\n\r\nHere's the game - just like the TV series: you answer questions posed by quizmaster Bob Holness. Each correctly answered question lights up a hexagon on a grid made up from 20 of them - if you can light up a line of hexagons from one side to the other you win the game. The answer to each question is given by the initial letter on the centre of each hexagon. From such humble beginnings began the now majestic Blockbusters which gave us such legendary phrases as 'Can I have a P please Bob?'\r\n\r\nBob Holness actually appears in the computer game - he lurks in a corner of the screen all digitised and daft looking - not only that but when you answer a question he gets animated! Your Spectrum flips through a bunch of digitised screens of Bob in different poses, and with my Bobphobia it made me pretty sick I can tell you. Clever though, and evidence of the efforts ODE has gone to.\r\n\r\nMore clever touches - the big problem with this sort of game adaptation is that you have to type in answers to the questions. This means that not only do you have to know the right answer but you have to spell it correctly as well. But that's not what happens here - Blockbusters will try and make sense of whatever you type in and if it is right but for the odd spelling mistake there is a good chance it'll understand what you want.\r\n\r\nIt doesn't work every time though and consequently wrongly spelt right answers still cause much frustration when Bob (despite the misspelling routines) still thinks you've got it wrong.\r\n\r\nIf you win two out of three games then, just like the TV programme you get the 'Gold Run' in which you have to cross the board in 45 seconds.\r\n\r\nSo it goes, there are a lot of questions, your Spectrum really will print 'Can I have a P please Bob?' and the game actually features an animated Bob Holness. Hard to see what else you could possibly expect from the game, really. Personally I think it has a longevity of around three minutes (apart from watching Bob go mad with excitement which is pretty funny). Fantastic job ODE, but I'm not sure there is point.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"As good a computer version of Blockbusters as there could possibly be. Some may wonder if there is any point...","Page":"108,109","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Graham Taylor","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"PROGRAMMERS\r\n\r\nODE (Oxford Digital Enterprises) is a programming house working across a wide range of machines. The team consists of Jenny Coles, Dermot Quinn, John Wood, Richard Yapp and David Pringle. The original ODE'd first release was an adventure game for the C64 based on Macbeth!\r\n\r\nSoftography: Macbeth (Thorn EMI, 1984), Trivial Pursuit (Domark, 1986), Sailing (Activision, 1986), Titanic (Activision, 1986), Yes Prime Minister (Mosaic, 1987)."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]