[{"TitleName":"Zybex","Publisher":"Zeppelin Games Ltd","Author":"Gareth J. Briggs, Kevin Franklin, Michael Owens, Richard Beston","YearOfRelease":"1989","ZxDbId":"0005889","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 65, Jun 1989","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1989-05-25","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":36,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nFeatures Editor: Richard Eddy\r\nContributors: Robin Hogg, Mark Caswell, Mike Dunn, Nick Roberts\r\nEditorial Assistants: Viv Vickress, Caroline Blake\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 Hamilton, Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard\r\n\r\nDESIGN\r\nDavid Western, Mark Kendrick, Melvin Fisher\r\n\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nGroup Advertisement Director: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Lee Watkins, Wynne Morgan\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nPromotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: [redacted]. Designed and typeset on Apple Macintosh II computers using Quark Express.\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group. Distribution 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. Copyright CRASH Ltd 1989 A Newsfield Publication. ISSN 0954-8661. Cover Design by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"£2.99\r\nZeppelin Games\r\n\r\nYou, alone or with a friend, must undertake a suicide mission that will literally save your life(?!). Not as silly as it sounds: You're a man condemned to death who can save his own neck by searching the planets of the Czokan System for teleport crystals.\r\n\r\nNot much of a choice and it's tough with a plethora of enemy craft swooping and swirling around you. But help is at hand with a variety of weapon pods to pick up to amass a pretty devastating range of armament. The ultimate aim is to find the fabled Zybex crystal so that you can once again live as a free man.\r\n\r\nZybex is full of the elements you expect in a shoot-'em-up, frenetic action, blood thirsty alien hordes and plenty of obstacles to crash into if you think you're a smart git and want to dodge round the aliens 'cos there are too many of 'em. Zybex is good value for money, take a look at it today.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"21","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"87%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 87, Jun 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-05-18","Editor":"Jim Douglas","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"It's the SU All Stars! Yaaaaaaay!\r\n\r\nJIM \"The Natural\" DOUGLAS (Editor)\r\nA born superstar. Playing for the Boston Redsox team in the 1947 world series Jim received a near fatal injury at the hands of a jealous female fan. While details are a little fuzzy, it's known that Jim spent twelve years in traction and psychotherapy after the incident. Now a coach with many youth teams across the States, he makes regular appearances in game shows and sports quiz programmes in the US. He has been paralleled with Emelyn Hughes Once\r\n\r\nALISON \"Tin-legs\" SKEAT (Production Editor)\r\nIn shock developments this month, motorcycle stunt racer Skeat was both involved in a horrific accident during a display and a ghastly mix-up in the resulting hospital visit. After weeks of plastic surgery it became clear that something was wrong with the very nature of Alison's appearance. Is there any hope left? Er, no.\r\n\r\nTIM \"Slugger\" NOONAN (Art Editor)\r\nFrom the wrong side of the tracks, the boy with the Golden Gloves came to prominence in the late 50's. Noonan made a name for himself throughout the boxing world as one of the worst fighters ever to be allowed in the ring. While finding much public support, Noonan unfortunately received such a pasting in his much publicised light with Clubber Paris, he was forced to retire from boxing for good and took up a position running an occupational therapy daytime care centre for the slightly bewildered. His first book of poetry is die to be reprinted next month.\r\n\r\nCHRIS \"Black Avenger\" JENKINS (Contributor)\r\nJenkins was trained by Shaolin monks after being discovered in a pile of noodles at the back of a Chinese take-away in Gerrard St. Now he runs his own martial arts centre in the mountains of South Wales. Described by himself as \"the most dangerous man alive\", he can break a plank of wood with a sledgehammer, can withstand hours of slight chilliness and can run as fast as someone else who can't run very fast. Truly, a force not to meddle with.\r\n\r\nSpecial thanks this month: Tony 'Oh yes...' Dillon, Jerry Paris, Graham 'What?' Taylor.\r\n\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nDirty Tricks: Jon Riglar\r\nTechnical: Andrew Hewson, Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Katherine Lee\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Martha Moloughney\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nPublisher's Assistant: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Terry 'Power Haircut' Pratt\r\nMarketing: Clive 'Lovely' Pembridge\r\n\r\nWhere we're at: [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis Month's Cover: Jerry Paris\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nTypeset by Professional Reprographics Services [redacted]\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 1989 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nNo part of this magazine may be ripped off, or you're in deep trouble matey."},"MainText":"Label: Zeppelin\r\nAuthor: Gareth Briggs\r\nPrice: £2.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Chris Jenkins\r\n\r\nGreetings, puny Earthman. I expect you're sitting smugly in your armchair drinking Tizer and watching Motormouth, congratulating yourself because you've routed R-Type, battered Blasteroids and flogged Forgotten Worlds. You feel like the Master of the Universe, don't you? Well, I've got a shock for you. A nasty shock.\r\n\r\nImagine you're a condemned criminal trying to escape from an alien Death Row. You have a weapon, you have an escape route - but the way to freedom lies through the dreaded Czokan. System (Oh no! Not the Czokan System!). As you make your break for freedom, you find yourself on the first of many levels, Arcturus. From now on, only fast reactions can save you from death at the hands of the most horrible horde of alien slime you've ever encountered!\r\n\r\nYou have one advantage over your pathetic predecessors. Your weapon fires automatically and continuously - you don't even have to hold down the fire button. So what's the fire button for, you might ask? Foolish Earthling. It's to change your weapon selection.\r\n\r\nAs you fly through space against a scrolling star background, flights of aliens weave towards you. Eliminate them and they leave behind different tokens which add to the power of your weapons. You can collect up to four for each type, and with each step the weapon becomes more fearsome. The Bullet Gun finally delivers a constant stream of missiles; the 8-Way shoots in all directions; the Pulse fires a combination of bullets and beams; the Wall is a broad slab of destructive energy; and the Rail Gun builds into an unstoppable rod of force.\r\n\r\nAll the aliens can be destroyed, except for the fireballs and asteroids. The trick is to select the right weapon for each attack wave; choose wrongly, and you'll be pounded to spacedust, with a few seconds' invulnerability your only consolation. You'll also lose a grade from your current weapon status.\r\n\r\nAt the end of each level is a command ship, the firepower of which is awesome. Aim for its head if you hope to defeat it, pick up a teleport token and proceed to the next level.\r\n\r\nIn the intermediate screen you may choose which level you tackle next, but the restricted levels require a number of special tokens to be picked up. As your mother ship picks you up to whisk you away to the next level, you can speculate with terror on what you may find; vast pyramids guarded by tubular starships, rocky asteroids surrounded by hideous demons, or technological towers infested by missile units. It may be that you will never fight your way through to the final level, Zybex, unless you recruit the aid of a fellow prisoner; in twoplayer mode, you may have some chance of coming through this trial unscathed. But not MUCH chance ...\r\n\r\nFab colours. Brain-numbing sound. Non-stop action. What more can you ask for a shoot-'em-up? Perhaps you want it to be on a flashy coin-op conversion label? Well, it isn't. It's from Zeppelin, the people responsible for the 1988 budget game of the year, Draconus. Perhaps you want to pay £8.95 for it? Well you don't need to. Perhaps you want to be frog-marched to the shop and forced to buy it at the point of a blaster? Surely that won't be necessary, Earthling...","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Brilliant space shoot-'em-up; buy it or choke on space-dust.","Page":"18,19","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Chris Jenkins","Score":"95","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"HINTS AND TIPS\r\n\r\nTry and stay in the middle of the left hand side of the screen.\r\n\r\nThis will give you the best chance of eliminating a whole wave of aliens, though it makes you vulnerable to attacks from behind (fyakl).\r\n\r\nSelect the bullet gun or rail gun to wipe out fast-moving lines of aliens attacking along the centre of the screen.\r\n\r\nAfter losing a life, use your few seconds of invulnerability to collect tokens and weapons which lie on lop of backgrounds.\r\n\r\nDon't fail to pick up bonus lives (spacesuits) - you'll need them!\r\n\r\nAlways aim for the centre of the aliens - they aren't vulnerable anywhere else.\r\n\r\nRemember you don't have to complete the levels in order - it might be tempting to tackle the easier ones first, but will it gain you any bonus lives?"}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"79%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"99%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"95%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 93, Jul 1989","Price":"£1.2","ReleaseDate":"1989-06-16","Editor":"Graham Taylor","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Graham Taylor\r\nDeputy Editor: Julian Rignall\r\nArt Editor: Andrea Walker\r\nStaff Writer: Paul Glancey\r\nAdvertising Manager: Nigel Taylor\r\nSales Executive: Joanna Cooke\r\nProduction Assistant: Glenys Powell\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\nThis Month's Cover: Jerry Paris\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries to: EMAP Frontline, [redacted]\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]"},"MainText":"Zeppelin Games\r\nSpectrum £1.99\r\n\r\nThis neat little horizontally-scrolling blast takes progressive weaponry to satisfying extremes. As usual, alien annihilation rewards you with armament icons in five exotic flavours. Rapid fire is automatic, and by collecting further icons you can upgrade each weapon up to four times, choosing between them with a press of the fire button. This excellent system allows you to turn your little jet-packer into real ass-kicking merchant of menace.\r\n\r\nUnfortunately, Zybex is not without it's flaws, namely some rather ropey collision detection and sound routines courtesy of Geiger Counter Simulator. The ultra-blasty gameplay makes up for such shortcomings, though, and after a few games I was nigh on addicted. Recommended.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"In spite of a couple of technical flaws, Zybex manages to be a pretty nifty shoot 'em up which arcade freaks should enjoy.","Page":"73","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"79%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]