[{"TitleName":"Xenophobe","Publisher":"Micro Style","Author":"Barry Leitch, Leslie Long, Martin Hooley, Mick Hanrahan","YearOfRelease":"1989","ZxDbId":"0005793","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 71, Dec 1989","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1989-11-16","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":76,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nSoftware Co-ordinator: Mark Caswell\r\nStaff Writers: Nick Roberts, Lloyd Mangram\r\nEditorial Assistants: Viv Vickress\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION DEPARTMENT\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell (Supervisor), Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard\r\n\r\nDesign: Mark Kendrick, Melvin Fisher\r\nSystems Operator: Ian Chubb\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Lee Watkins\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nSubscriptions\r\n[redacted].\r\n\r\nDesigned and typeset on Apple Macintosh II computers using Quark Express and Adobe Illustrator '88, output at MBI [redacted] with systems support from Digital Reprographics [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistribution 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 Viv Vickress 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. We regret that readers' postal enquiries cannot always be answered. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. Colour photographic material should be 35mm transparencies wherever possible. The views expressed in CRASH are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nCopyright CRASH Ltd 1989 A Newsfield Publication. ISSN 0954-8661. Cover Design by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Micro Style/converted by Visage\r\n£9.99 cass, £14.99 disk\r\n\r\nAre you xenophobic, well if you fear anything alien (ie nine tenths of us in the CRASH office) then you are. In Xenophobe you (and a friend in two player mode) take the part of an exterminator with the task to battle hordes of aliens who've overrun Earth's space stations and moon bases.\r\n\r\nThree extermination teams (each consisting of three members) are on call: simply choose your character and head for the first location. Upon arrival you see that the Earth boffins weren't joking, the place is overrun with the little (and not so little) horrors. There's only one thing for it... blast them. You start with a standard laser pistol, but as you travel through the rooms other weapons are to be found. Be careful: some of them may be powerful but very unstable and likely to stop working at the most awkward moments.\r\n\r\nThe aliens themselves come in several guises: Pods, Critters, Snotterpillars and Tentacles to name but a few, and all have a pathological hatred of humans. Though luckily the bases are fitted with self destruct mechanisms, triggered off when you enter, so don't worry if you fall to kill all of the aliens - you'll be pulled out before the base goes up (all you lose is a rather hefty bonus). But ensure you take the hardware the colonists left behind, it could come in handy in the continuing fight against the aliens.\r\n\r\nBlasting maniacs are well catered for in Xenophobe: from the moment you enter the matter transporter beam to the destruction of the final alien nasty, your trigger finger is going to become rather sore. Sound on the +3 is good with a neat rendition of the arcade tune (also Included on an audio cassette in the packaging), and some apt blasting effects. If you aren't Xenophobic before you play this, you jolly well will be afterwards.\r\n\r\nMARK 81%","ReviewerComments":["Xenophobe is great fun. Running around the planets, bursting all the nasty little aliens, collecting all sorts of bits and pieces and dodging the big bully nasties is totally addictive. The game has a Spy vs Spy feel to it with the split screen presentation, both players having their own hall, and each screen being connected by doors. The graphics in this are far in front of the Spy games though. All the characters which you can play are excellently defined, as are the aliens that inhabit the planets. Each room you enter has it's own colour of monochrome but this doesn't spoil the fun. Sound also is of a very good standard with a brill tune that plays throughout. I never actually played the arcade game, but if this conversion is anything to go by it must have been worth spending some cash on. Well done Micro Style.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n84%"],"OverallSummary":"An excellent Alien-esque blast-'em-up to give your trigger finger a good workout.","Page":"68","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"81","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"84","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"83%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"76%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"81%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictivity","Score":"79%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"83%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 48, Dec 1989","Price":"£2.2","ReleaseDate":"1989-11-16","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Catherine Peters\r\nDeputy Editor: Jackie Ryan\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nStaff Writer: David Wilson\r\nDesigner: Martin Sharrocks\r\nTechnical Consultant: Jonathan Davies\r\nContributors: Robin Alway, Marcus Berkmann, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Kati Hamza, Duncan MacDonald, Rich Pelley, Phil South\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Lynda Elliott\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Caroline Day\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Chris Skinner\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Claire Baker\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nNewstrade Circulation Manager: Stephen Ward\r\nSubscription Manager: June Smith\r\nPublisher: Teresa Maughan\r\nGroup Publishing Director: Richard Howell\r\nGroup Creative Director: Tony Spalding\r\nFinance Director: Colin Crawford\r\nManaging Director: Stephen England\r\nChairman: Felix Dennis\r\n\r\nPublished by Dennis Publishing Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England.\r\nTypesetters: Point Five [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinted By: Riverside Press [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1989 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":"MicroStyle\r\n£9.99 cass/£14.99 disk\r\nReviewer: Robin Alway\r\n\r\nMicroProse must be running out of things to simulate, having already churned out games based around every possible type of death dealing vehicle. Oh, with the exception of milkfloats that is. There's a notable gap in the range when it comes to milkfloats. Now it's turning its hand to coin-ops with the first release on its new 'Games For Adults (But With No Whey Hey Parts)' MicroStyle label.\r\n\r\nXenophobe, the coin-op, is a viewed-trom-the-side, exploration-based, multi-player blasterama which usually prises a few 50ps from me whenever we meet. And, with the nauseating sincerity of Miriam Stoppard, I can confirm that this is a pretty authentic conversion.\r\n\r\nThe plot's contrived rubbish. My copy's on its way to the Friends of the Earth Recycling Dept. So let's concentrate instead on the real nitty-gritty of the game which is to clean up space stations packed to the rivets with some aliens of the Xeno genus. Said clean up job can be done alone or with another player and the screens split in half to provide each of you with a view of the action.\r\n\r\nEach level needs to be rid of Xenos in a set time, before they completely overrun the place, and there's a nice selection of hi-tech sci-fi weaponry for you to utilise. Once the Xeno count on the space station is zilcho you're beamed back to ship and given a lilt to the next level (of which there's a total of four).\r\n\r\nYou won't find scarier baddies than the ones in this game. They sap your health points so inventively too. Some cling to you, others spit and the worst of all zaps zillions of health points with his mesmerising version of the Paddington Bear Hard Stare. The skill with which they've been drawn extends to all the graphics which, although monochrome, are beautifully crisp and clear. Spooky soundtrack too.\r\n\r\nXenophobe's biggest problem is life expectancy. The attempted strategy elements (having a selection of different characters to control and ID cards and keys to access certain areas, for example) might eek a few extra hours out of it but, on the whole, gameplay's fairly shallow, with the same combination of crouch and fire tactics appearing to get you past most of the baddies. The original's addictiveness came from an accommodating nature which allowed simultaneous three player games. Only couples can play together on the Spectrum and annoyingly this slows the game down pretty drastically. It's definitely worth seeking out though, but if the arcade machine didn't give you excited palpitations then this won't either.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Fans of the coin-op will find this tasty, authentic conversion fills the gap. The enjoyment of everyone else will probably be short term.","Page":"66,67","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Robin Alway","Score":"76","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Our intrepid Player One is attempting to break the world record for the number of aliens clinging to the body."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"This is Player One, who I've selected from a total of nine different characters. Hmmm, look a bit alien himself, doesn't he?\r\n\r\nTold you these were scary. This one leaps at you, spitting venom.\r\n\r\nYour health and score. You start with 2,000 health points but the Xenos have got some really inventive ways of taking them off you.\r\n\r\nHere's Player Two along with a new-found alien buddy that's clinging to his back and sapping his lifeforce even as we speak. A quick waggle on the joystick throws 'im off.\r\n\r\nInserting this disk into any of the computer terminals initiates the self destruct sequence.\r\n\r\nThese Xenos are called Critters and hatch from very Alienesque eggs. Blast them before they get a chance to jump on you.\r\n\r\nOne of the many guns strewn about the place. There are different types ranging from pistols to lighting rifles."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"68%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"73%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"78%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"77%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"76%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 94, Jan 1990","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-12-18","Editor":"Jim Douglas","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"JIM \"Keyring\" DOUGLAS (Editor)\r\nLike all Editors, Jim's absolutely loaded with cash and his car is a luxury status symbol that goes with his high-flying ulcer-inducing job editing Sinclair User. You know you've hit it big when Jim asks if the keys to his Nissan Micra will fit in your handbag!\r\n\r\nALISON \"Toot Toot\" SKEAT (Production Editor)\r\nAl Drives the SU Bus! Every morning she honks the horn and collects the rest of the team and drives them off for another day at the office. Hera she is, bright and early on a Monday morning, ready to get 'on the case' (alright, so she's in the office on a Friday afternoon holding a plastic bin lid).\r\n\r\nOSMOND \"Brake, Brake!\" BROWNE (Designer)\r\nOz, our new design wizard is preparing for his test at the moment, and seems to be having trouble with reversing around corners, but he firmly believes that in no time he'll be behind the wheel of his vary own DeLorean Snowstorm.\r\n\r\nGARTH \"Firestone\" Sumpter (Staff Writer)\r\nAlways on hand to steady a sometimes rocky and panic-ridden ship, Garth soothes the worries of the team away with his stories of articulated lorry racing round Silverstone. \"Which reminds me of the time I hit the chicane at 90 with no steering...\"\r\n\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nI've Got This Problem: Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: James Owens\r\nSenior Sales: Martha Moloughney\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nMarketing Manager: Dean Barrett\r\nMarketing Assistant: Sarah Ewing\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nOur Address: [redacted]\r\nOur Phone Number: [redacted]\r\nOur Fax No: [redacted]\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Clive Goodyear\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nTypeset By Mr Douglas and Mr Sumpter at Jimmy's Setting Emporium\r\nDistributed by EMAP Frontline.\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries: [redacted]\r\n24 Hour Order Line: [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: Back Issues Department (SU), [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Copyright Sinclair User 1989/90 ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nNo part of this magazine may be reproduced/transcribed, stored in a data retrieval system etc etc, or you'll go to gaol forever. We will, however, be giving a special prize to anyone who can reproduce this issue in the smallest possible form. Send entries to the address above. Must be smaller than a cassette tape."},"MainText":"Label: MicroStyle\r\nAuthor: Visage\r\nPrice: £8.95\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: Various\r\nReviewer: Timothy Noonan\r\n\r\nIf it's Chrissy, it's coin-op conversions, right? You betcha, and Microprose aren't going to be outdone by the likes of anyone else, so have chipped in with this here offering called Xenophobe.\r\n\r\nXenophobe? Wassat? Fear of things alien like sulphur breathing, acid blooded, green scaled, bad tempered pentapeds from other worlds. Like 12 foot tall blobs from your worst nightmares. Like Sue Lawley.\r\n\r\nDespite this loathing however, it is your mission - together with a compatriot if you so desire, to travel to strange new space stations, discover strange alien beings, then give 'em a strange smack or two where it hurts most. Get the idea? Originally this was a hoopy coin-op from Bally Midway, with a screen big enough for three players at once and a special joystick with two fire buttons on it, but those clever tinkers at Visage have cut it down to work in 48K and with a normal jobbie. But how does it play???\r\n\r\nWell, compared to the original, not bad considering. They've had to cut things down a bit, of course - the main thing being the action cut down from a maximum of three players to two. But like the coin-op (and games like Spy vs Spy), you've each got independent screens, one of you the top half, the other the bottom.\r\n\r\nThen, in glorious Monochromavision the action starts with you selecting a team member to play (one out of nine in fact) and being beamed onto a space station where the crew have been wiped out by ALIENS!!!!! You start off with a Phaser, of course, and can just blast away at the different aliens as you move from flip screen room to room, roaming around the base. There are six different types in all to watch out for, from the relatively harmless 'Pod' (which mutates into a 'Critter' unless dispatched with speed) to a real Allen lookalike, a 'Festor' which will hyptonise you, then lock its 15 sets of teeth around your throat.\r\n\r\nBut it's not all just blasting, there is an element of thought, as you collect items scattered throughout the spacecraft and use them when prompted. All this action is mediated by a clever control system of on screen (well under screen actually) prompts which you respond to by moving the joystick down or up.\r\n\r\nWhile the aliens are giving you hell, you find that being hit decreases your health score, shown of the left of the status display. Problem is, some of them latch on to you and won't let go, draining you of energy constantly. Now you have to close your eyes, think of Daley Thompson and waggle the stick like mad in order to shake the baddie off.\r\n\r\nThere're extra weapons too, like bombs and laser pistols, thing is that is you get hit while using them (very likely) you drop them. And the more sophisticated and powerful the weapon, the more fragile it is.... And the more likely it is to break when you drop it. Ever tried getting an Alien off your throat with your bare hands, buddy? Lucky Robby the Robot is always at hand to lob a phaser on the floor when the worst happens.\r\n\r\nSo much for the features, but what do they add up to? Hmmmm, well for sure if you liked the original game, Xenophobe is an essential purchase for you, but to be honest, not that many people did.\r\n\r\nThe action does tend to become a little repetitive after a while and when you are playing the game in single player mode (even with different difficulty levels), here the enjoyment does get little bit thin after blowing away your 1056th room of alien beings.\r\n\r\nMicroprose have made a creditable job of converting what was only a middling coin-op title, and 'though they score 10 out of 10 for that, they start at a great disadvantage in the playability stakes compared to some of the sexier titles out on the streets right now.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Good conversion of low playability coin-op - probably only worth it if you liked the original.","Page":"12","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Timothy Noonan","Score":"71","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"A bad spot for a sit down. Player decides he hates being peeped at and tries a zap between the eyes."},{"Text":"The self destruct ticks down whilst player 2 eyes up a major nasty whilst trying to find his contact lens."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"79%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"70%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"74%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"62%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"71%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"The Games Machine Issue 25, Dec 1989","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1989-11-09","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL OFFICE\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Roger Kean\r\nFeatures Editor: Dominic Handy\r\nTechnical Editor: Robin Candy\r\nStaff Writers: Mark Caswell, Warren Lapworth\r\nEditorial Assistants: Vivien Vickress\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION DEPARTMENT\r\n[redacted]\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nSenior Designer: Wayne Allen\r\nReprographics: Matthew Uffindell (Supervisor), Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard, Robert Hamilton\r\nDesign: Mark Kendrick, Melvyn Fisher\r\nSystems Operator: Ian Chubb\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Christian Testa, Caroline Blake\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nDesigned and typeset on Apple Macintosh II computers running Quark Xpress, Adobe Illustrator 88, with systems support from Digital Print Reprographics, [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted] and Newsfield. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset [redacted] - a member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistribution effected 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 TGM. 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 Viv Vickress a line at the PO Box 10 address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions.\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in part or in whole without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into TGM - including written and photographic material, hardware or software - unless it's accompanied by a suitably stamped, addressed envelope. We regret that readers' postal enquiries cannot always be answered. Unsolicited written or photographic material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. Colour photographic material should be 35mm transparencies wherever possible. The views expressed in TGM are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\n©1989 TGM Magazines Ltd 1989\r\nA Newsfield Publication ISSN 0954-8092\r\n\r\nCover Design Roger Kean"},"MainText":"Spectrum 48/128 Cassette: £9.99 Diskette: £14.99\r\nAmstrad CPC Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99\r\nCommodore 64/128 Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99\r\nAmiga £24.99\r\n\r\nRENTOKILL NEVER HAVE THIS SORT OF TROUBLE\r\n\r\nThose of you who eat a dictionary for brekky will no doubt be aware that Xenophobe means 'One who has a deathly fear of anything alien'. Alien nasties have been sneaking up on us humans for years, watching us and planning their attack.\r\n\r\nNow we have decided to destroy the bug-eyed horde and end the menace for ever. The aliens have been tracked to a series of deserted space stations and moon bases.\r\n\r\nThree teams of crack exterminators are on the job, code-named Blue, Yellow and Red squads, they travel the cosmos and act as trouble shooters... ie anyone starts trouble, they shoot them. It's decided to send two members of the team into test the aliens' strength, so you - with or without a friend - must choose a character and go live up to your name.\r\n\r\nAt the first base the alien weirdos are everywhere. Initially armed with a phaser, better weapons can be picked up further into the maze of corridors and rooms... but although some weapons are more powerful than others, they aren't necessarily as reliable. The aliens come in a variety of guises, but don't spend too long shooting them because time is of the essence; the bases contain self-destruct devices which fry the aliens if you fail to kill them all. Your bacon is saved if the base does go, but Earth government won't be pleased and dock you a hefty points penalty.\r\n\r\nThe action is fast and frantic all the way, because the aliens are vicious little swine who stop at nothing to destroy you. And as they generally outnumber you at least ten to one, Xenophobe soon becomes a test of bravery and fast trigger fingers.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"The sprites are monochromatic, but the characters stomp around with greater determination than in the Amiga game (although the aliens kill you with equal zeal). Graphical and (on the 128K) sonic detail are pretty impressive.","Page":"79","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"80","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"AMIGA\r\n\r\nOverall: 76%\r\n\r\nWith a pounding soundtrack and impressive intro screen, you should expect something graphically stunning from the Amiga, but although the sprites are colourful and the backgrounds scroll smoothly, the machine is capable of better. Still the gameplay is affected very little by the graphical details."},{"Text":"AMSTRAD CPC\r\n\r\nOverall: 72%\r\n\r\nThe normal bright, colourful but blocky Amstrad sprites abound, fortunately not getting in the way of the exciting gameplay which is certainly as frenetic as in other versions."},{"Text":"COMMODORE 64/128\r\n\r\nOverall: 74%\r\n\r\nChunky C64 sprites yomp manfully around similar backdrops and shoot. The blockiness gives a less elegant feel than other versions, but otherwise gameplay is up to the same standard."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"80%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 97, Dec 1989","Price":"£1.2","ReleaseDate":"1989-11-16","Editor":"Julian Rignall","TotalPages":164,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"CONTACTS AND CREDITS\r\n\r\nEditor: Julian Rignall\r\nArt Editor: Andrea Walker\r\nStaff Writers: Paul Glancey, Paul Rand\r\nArt Assistant: Osmond Browne\r\nAdvertising Manager: Nigel Taylor\r\nDep Ad Manager: Joanna Cooke\r\nSales Executive: Tina Zanelli\r\nProduction Assistant: Glenys Powell\r\nPublisher: Graham Taylor\r\nThis Month's Cover: Ghostsbusters II from Activision\r\nCover Artist: Jerry Paris\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries to: EMAP Frontline, [redacted]\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted By: Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nColour By: Proprint, [redacted]\r\nTypeset By: Jaz and Mr T at EMAP\r\nDistributed By: EMAP Frontline\r\n\r\n©C+VG 1989\r\nISSN No: 0261-3697"},"MainText":"[ZXSR: This is not a review for the Spectrum version, but multiple machines. The Spectrum version was given an Overall score which is why it has been included.]\r\n\r\nMicrostyle\r\n£9.99\r\n\r\nXenophobe is a split screen one or two-player shoot 'em up in which two mercenaries enter a series of abandoned space stations and destroy the aliens who've taken over.\r\n\r\nAlthough Xenophobe is an accurate conversion, it still isn't particularly fun to play. The fault lies not in the computer game itself, but instead with the coin-op from which it has been copied. Arcade Xenophobe (which incidentally featured three-player action) wasn't a hit due to its simplistic gameplay. All there is to the game is beaming onto a platform, picking up a load of objects, and shooting diagonally downwards or forwards at hordes of green aliens. There's hardly any variety from screen to screen, and very little in the way of two-player interaction. Consequently the first few games are fun, but boredom soon creeps in.\r\n\r\nThe graphics and sound are fine. But the gameplay's just too bland to make this anything other than average.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"The graphics are monochrome but the gameplay's the same. There's just not enough variety to hold your attention.","Page":"112","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Paul Rand","Score":"61","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"88% infection! Yipe!"},{"Text":"Shoot it in the head!"},{"Text":"Blast that crawler."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"C64\r\n£9.99\r\n\r\nGraphics: 77%\r\nSound: 80%\r\nValue: 61%\r\nPlayability: 78%\r\nOverall: 60%\r\n\r\nStarts off as a fun shoot 'n' pick 'em up, but repetitive gameplay rapidly puts a dampener on the proceedings."},{"Text":"AMIGA\r\n£24.99\r\n\r\nOverall: 61%\r\n\r\nLooks and sounds the same as the coin-op, but lacks variety and lasting appeal."},{"Text":"ST\r\n£19.99\r\n\r\nOverall: 60%\r\n\r\nArcade perfect graphics and good sound, but the gameplay doesn't hold your attention for long."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"61%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]