[{"TitleName":"Yomp","Publisher":"Virgin Games Ltd","Author":"Roy Poole, Terry Murray","YearOfRelease":"1983","ZxDbId":"0005832","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 1, Feb 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-01-19","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":112,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nDesigner: Oliver Frey\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Rod Bellamy\r\nAdvertisement Manager: John Edwards\r\nProduction Designer: Michael Arienti\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\n\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\nMono printing, typesetting & finishing by Feb Edge Litho Ltd. [redacted]\r\nColour printing by Allan-Denver Web Offset Ltd. [redacted].\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Wells Gardner, Darton & Co. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post included)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post included).\r\nSingle copy: 75p\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to CRASH please send articles or ideas for projects to the above address. Articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope\r\n\r\nCover Illustration:Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Virgin Games, 16K\r\n£5.95\r\nAuthor: Terry Murray/Roy Poole\r\n\r\nIn the main, Virgin's first batch of games were pretty poor and madly overpriced (£7.95). Now they've brought the price down, but frankly this still isn't good value. You are supposed to 'yomp' your Paras over the highway and then get them through a minefield. There's no disguising the fact that this is a frogger game with 'mined-out' pretensions. The basic program makes controlling movement very difficult and the way the traffic moves along the highway makes it almost unplayable. Only one moment in the repeating cycle can get your men through safely. In the minefield movement sensors mean sudden death through mistakes, but I wonder how many people will even bother getting there? Four skill levels, no joystick option.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"54","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 2, Mar 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-02-23","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":112,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nDesigner: Oliver Frey\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Rod Bellamy\r\nAdvertisement Manager: John Edwards\r\nProduction Designer: Michael Arienti\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\n\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\nMono printing, typesetting & finishing by Feb Edge Litho Ltd. [redacted]\r\nColour printing by Allan-Denver Web Offset Ltd. [redacted].\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Wells Gardner, Darton & Co. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post included)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post included).\r\nSingle copy: 75p\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to CRASH please send articles or ideas for projects to the above address. Articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope\r\n\r\nCover Illustration:Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Virgin Games, 16K\r\n£5.95\r\nAuthor: Terry Murray/Roy Poole\r\n\r\nIn the main, Virgin's first batch of games were pretty poor and madly overpriced (£7.95). Now they've brought the price down, but frankly this still isn't good value. You are supposed to 'yomp' your Paras over the highway and then get them through a minefield. There's no disguising the fact that this is a frogger game with 'mined-out' pretensions. The basic program makes controlling movement very difficult and the way the traffic moves along the highway makes it almost unplayable. Only one moment in the repeating cycle can get your men through safely. In the minefield movement sensors mean sudden death through mistakes, but I wonder how many people will even bother getting there? Four skill levels, no joystick option.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"56","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 3, Apr 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-03-16","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":128,"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\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nEditorial [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studio, [redacted]\r\nPrinted in England by Plymouth Web Offset Ltd, [redacted].\r\nDistribution by Comag, [redacted]\r\nAdditional setting and process work by The Tortoise Shell Press, [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: Virgin Games, 16K\r\n£5.95\r\nAuthor: Terry Murray/Roy Poole\r\n\r\nIn the main, Virgin's first batch of games were pretty poor and madly overpriced (£7.95). Now they've brought the price down, but frankly this still isn't good value. You are supposed to 'yomp' your Paras over the highway and then get them through a minefield. There's no disguising the fact that this is a frogger game with 'mined-out' pretensions. The basic program makes controlling movement very difficult and the way the traffic moves along the highway makes it almost unplayable. Only one moment in the repeating cycle can get your men through safely. In the minefield movement sensors mean sudden death through mistakes, but I wonder how many people will even bother getting there? Four skill levels, no joystick option.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"73","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 26, Sep 1983","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1983-09-08","Editor":"Cyndy Miles","TotalPages":90,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"CHARACTER SET\r\n\r\nEditorial\r\nEditor: Cyndy Miles\r\nAssistant Editor: Geof Wheelwright\r\nProduction Editor: Keith Parish\r\nManaging Editor: Peter Worlock\r\nSub-Editor: John Lettice\r\nNews Editor: David Guest\r\nNews Writers: Ralph Bancroft, Sandra Grandison\r\nHardware Editor: Max Phillips\r\nPeripherals Editor: Ian Scales\r\nFeatures Editor: Richard King\r\nPrograms Editor: Ken Garroch\r\nListings Editor: Wendie Pearson\r\nEditor's Assistant: Harriet Arnold\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nArt Editor: David Robinson\r\nAssistant Art Editor: Floyd Sayers\r\nPublishing Manager: Mark Eisen\r\nAssistant Publishing Manager: Sue Clements\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nAdvertisement Director: John Cade\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Duncan Brown\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Nic Jones\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Mark Satchell\r\nSales Executives: Ian Whorley, Christian McCarthy, Marie-Therese Bolger, Jan Martin, Julia Dale, Dik Veenman\r\nProduction Manager: Eva Wroblewska\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Jenny Dunne\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\r\n\r\nCover illustration by Paul Tupling"},"MainText":"SPORTING SPECTRUM\r\n\r\nMike Gerrard and Steven McClure set up a two-man defence against the latest Sinclair hordes.\r\n\r\nSpectrum games keep coming thick and fast - some of them more thick than fast, it must be said. But this latest consignment includes at least a couple that match arcade standards and even one in which it's your shout - you literally call the shots! Start yomping ..\r\n\r\nPHEENIX\r\n(£5.50) - Megadodo Software, [redacted]\r\n\r\nWhy should anyone write a fast-moving machine code version of an arcade classic, then make you wait 20 seconds between each and every game while the screen fills with stars? It's a pity because this is otherwise an enjoyable version of Phoenix... go on, admit it, you'd never have guessed.\r\n\r\nYou can use the keyboard or either Kempston or AGF joysticks, and select from five skill levels.\r\n\r\nThere are several screens of birds and eggs to be scrambled before you get to assault the Flagship. The hardest level is suicidal, but a few instructions wouldn't have gone amiss.\r\n\r\nIt is colourful, but due to the frustrating wait between each screen change I recommend you look for a better alternative.\r\n\r\nAQUARUIS\r\n(£5.95) - Bug-Byte, [redacted]\r\n\r\nBug-Byte bites again with a game that would grace any arcade. Using Kempston joystick or keyboard, you must negotiate your diver through a scrolling sea filled with sharks. Jellyfish, mines, strangleweed and other fishy nasties. Most of these can be despatched with a direct shot from your gun, but your oxygen is also expiring, so pick up the supplies from the seabed when you can.\r\n\r\nIf you're lucky, or extremely skillful, you'll eventually come to dark caverns, at the end of which is your mission - to defuse the death machines by shooting the three-colour coded panels in the sequence given at the start of the game.\r\n\r\nAmusing graphics, if a little jerky here and there, but definitely the pick of this batch.\r\n\r\n\r\nANT ATTACK\r\nMacronics Systems, [redacted]\r\n\r\nAfter a hard day's gardening you fall asleep, but your dream turns nasty as the ants decide to get their own back on you. At least that's the story behind what's claimed to be the first Spectrum game controlled partly by your voice.\r\n\r\nYell 'fire' at your tape recorder and that's what's meant to happen. I couldn't make it work, but that's not to say it won't on other tape recorders. More of a gimmick than of practical use, unless you can shout at a very fast rate indeed.\r\n\r\nSettling for keyboard control, I enjoyed a fast and furious Centipede-type game, shooting at ants and other pests as they descend the screen in that well-known fashion.\r\n\r\nThe cassette insert is cheaply done, but there's nothing wrong with the game itself.\r\n\r\n\r\nALIEN INSECTS\r\nMacronics Systems, [redacted]\r\n\r\nArmed with a laser bolt, you must shoot down the fat little insects that are buzzing all over the screen. You can move in four directions, with a sensible layout for keyboard control.\r\n\r\nThis is a game worth getting just to see what sounds can be squeezed out of the Spectrum.\r\n\r\nIf you kill enough nasties then space eggs start to appear at the top of the screen, waiting to descend on you. By this time the insects are about as easy and pleasant to deal with as a swarm of wasps.\r\n\r\n3D STRATEGY\r\n(£6.95) - Quicksilva, [redacted]\r\n\r\nAs a change from killing ants, aliens, birds or jellyfish, here's a game where you could cheerfully kill the programmer. It is so hard to beat the machine in this 4x4x4 version of Noughts and Crosses or Connect Four, and I was only playing on the easiest of the four skill levels.\r\n\r\nThe only drawback to this piece of software is the instructions. They drivel on for pages about how totally wonderful the game is... auto-play option, timer that can be set per move, per game or switched off, on-screen ticking clocks, two styles of play, an average response time of 1.7 seconds, machine code, over 200,000 decisions per move, and so on.\r\n\r\nThe board is displayed as four separate grids at the bottom of the screen, which is a little confusing, though We no doubt a proper three-dimensional cube would have been even more so.\r\n\r\nHowever, it does offer a very tough opponent, and it may be as good as it claims.\r\n\r\nYOMP\r\n(£7.98) - Virgin Games, [redacted]\r\n\r\nA paratrooper opera which is fairly easy to figure out. You use four keys to manoeuvre your way through four columns of trucks and tanks and all you have to do is learn how to place yourself in the optimum position to sneak through to the other side of the moving convoys.\r\n\r\nAs a video game memento of the Falklands conflict it's a pretty weak effort.\r\n\r\nSHEEPWALK\r\n(£7.98) - Virgin Games, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSheepwalk is almost as dull as Yomp once it's in play. You're a sheepdog moving around the screen trying to catch up with miscreant sheep. While doing this you risk trampling the vegetables or bumping into walls.\r\n\r\nGOLF\r\n(£7.98) - Virgin Games, [redacted]\r\n\r\nIn its Virgin form, Golf is an interesting enough game to play. It requires players to plot out each shot's direction and strength, while using the right club.\r\n\r\nThere's enough of a random element to make the game more than a little irritating. When your ball lands in the rough it can take three or four strokes to get it out. This is where having a low handicap (you can choose between 1 and 28) is a real advantage. The game's designers have assumed real duffers are going to have problems in getting out of the woods.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"49","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mike Gerrard","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Steve McClure","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]