[{"TitleName":"Castle Blackstar","Publisher":"SCR Adventures","Author":"Andrew Cummins, Geoff Richardson, Mark Sheppard","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0006066","Reviews":[{"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: SCR Adventures\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £8.95\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\nAuthor: Sheppard, Cummins & Richardson\r\n\r\nThe task in this text-only adventure, which is the first of a planned series of 'Artemis Quests', is to enter Castle Blackstar at the behest of a beautiful, mysterious woman glimpsed in a dream. There you must recover her power orb from the vast underground caverns. To achieve maximum points all treasures found must be cleaned of their evil, all puzzles solved and the orb returned to our dear lady, who is, of course, no less than a Goddess - Artemis. She promises to covertly help you during your quest. The maximum score is 240 and, if successful, you may keep all the loot!\r\n\r\nA note in the accompanying 8-page booklet says that the driver software for Castle Blackstar is based extensively on the Adven-80 program developed by Peter Scargill.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nGraphics: text only, very simple, black letters on white ground, clear and easy to read","ReviewerComments":["As a text-only adventure amongst the new wave of graphic adventures, Castle Blackstar manages to hold its own very well. The location descriptions are nice, detailed and manage to create atmosphere in simple terms very well. The computer's replies to one's more nonsensical commands have a good touch of humour, and with fast machine code response this works very entertainingly.\r\nUnknown","I quickly found the castle at the beginning of the quest, but having strayed two moves away from it into the forest, I found the compass directions magically faded and I couldn't get back. Twenty steps later I was still stumbling blindly through thick forest. 'Climb Tree' to get a better view only elicited the response that such a dangerous undertaking was useless and I wouldn't find anything up there anyway! Starting to think the forest was intended as a death trap, I suddenly came upon a Gingerbread House in a clearing - and that was a death hole - three moves later I'd been turned into a wriggling worm and ended up inside some bird's tummy! Great!\r\nUnknown","A good text adventure beats a mixed graphics/text one any day, and Castle Blackstar ranks with Artic's best. But SCR had better reconsider their pricing - £8.95 is way over the top for what they offer. Otherwise a great start for a new company and I look forward to Artemis Quest 2. Exploring the inside of the castle was great fun, and I was impressed that turning a winch in one room actually operated something four or five locations away without my even knowing it until later when my apparently meaningless activity proved valuable! Beware of the fierce musical eagles (neat), and I hope you have more luck than me in getting a source of light to set about exploring the dark lower regions (sorry, Artemis, let you down there .) Great game, pity about the price.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: A good adventure, but pricey.","Page":"103","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"89%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"83%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"45%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"75%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 14, Mar 1985","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1985-02-28","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nAssistant Editor: Graeme Kidd\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Editor: Angus Ryall\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey, Robin Candy\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\nTelephone numbers\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\nColour 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."},"MainText":"CASTLE BLACKSTAR\r\n\r\nProducer: CDS Micro Systems\r\nRetail Price: £6.95\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\nAuthor: Mike Sheppard\r\n\r\nCastle Blackstar was reviewed in the March issue of CRASH but appears here under the auspices of Adventure Trail because it has been revamped and relaunched. The program I have is dated July 84, but this is version 9.9 and the truth is, it has battled its way through the vagaries of the marketplace for almost a year to settle in the pastures of CDS; it appears now as a fine piece of software, not dated at all, and in keeping with the finest text only traditions, with intelligent prose and consistent plot. It is set in that classic adventuring time zone of Prehistory, that is, even before the wireless brought you the Goon Show.\r\n\r\nLet's have a look at what the cassette cover has to say and you'll see what I mean. 'Imagine... as you awaken from your sleep troubled by strange dreams and visions you find yourself in a luxurious room furnished in silver and glass. The ceiling is high and arched with a huge relief map of the moon hanging overhead... woman speaking to you. She is tall and willowy with hair like spun silver. She carries easily an air of authority and wisdom.' The relief map of the moon is explained by the fact that Artemis is the virgin goddess of the hunt and the moon, the twin sister of Apollo.\r\n\r\nThe objective of your quest is to return the power orb to Artemis but you can also score points through certain actions and by solving the many puzzles and finding the treasures to be taken back to be cleansed of their evil. Clearly, sophisticated scoring, as used here, is much fairer and more interesting than some recent games that have even stooped to an increased score with every new location visited.\r\n\r\nPress any key on loading and you are in a valley surrounded on three sides by forest and you'd be well advised to take the easy route to begin with, west along the valley, unless you like to start off with a maze (equivalent to starting the day with cracking the ice on a lake for your early morning dip). Sadly, being a reviewer, I thought it my lot to take the metaphorical plunge but when I grew tired of wandering, keying in QUIT resulted in a NEW program. Needless to say, I was not amused (the metaphorical cramps and almost drowning, arrgh!).\r\n\r\nAlong the dusty road, reading the keystone reveals the author and contributors which I found handy as there is no mention of them on the cover. West takes you to the infamous castle itself. If you are reading this review for clues, then I'm sorry, but it would be unethical for me to tell you how to get the drawbridge down - but yes, you're quite right, it is your first major problem. Kindly, the program does not impose a major impasse here for the eventual solution lies in the adjacent locations.\r\n\r\nThe descriptions are most evocative and the locations are the result of much prethought and careful design. As more and more of the story becomes known, the structure and intelligence behind the plot becomes gradually apparent. The rooms and halls of the castle are consistently real; living quarters, kitchen and dining room, ramparts and drawbridge are all where you might expect, and function in an authentic way.\r\n\r\nThe text forms a good narrative, and it is easy to visualise the castle as you move about it. Here is the description of the dining room: 'You are in a grand dining room with glorious decor and a huge chandelier. Above you is an overhanging gallery which overlooks the archway forming the west entrance. A somewhat less than inviting exit leads east.'\r\n\r\nVocabulary is good with few surprises. Simple commands such as ENTER, IN, OUT, UP and DOWN are widely accepted to enter all manner of buildings, facilitating quick and easy movement. Input goes a little beyond verb/noun with TAKE LAMP AND LIGHT IT and DROP SWORD AND LOOK while WEAR is a refinement of GET. Apart from SCORE and the inadvisable QUIT, the game features GOES which gives the number of turns taken so far; VERBOSE which gives the Full location description and QUIET which only gives the full text for new locations. N.E., S.E. etc, and UP and DOWN make the castle and the mazes that surround it lengthy explorations.\r\n\r\nCastle Blackstar is a super text adventure where the thought and careful planning behind its inception are most evident. The game is clever and consistent, well-designed, well-presented and with many ingenious and logical problems. If they don't make them like this any more, then it will be a shame.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nDifficulty: Quite difficult\r\nGraphics: None\r\nPresentation: Good\r\nInput Facility: Good\r\nResponse: Very fast","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Atmospheric and well-designed, good value.","Page":"95,96","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Derek Brewster","Score":"8.5","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Atmosphere","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Vocabulary","Score":"8.5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Logic","Score":"8.5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Debugging","Score":"10/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall Value","Score":"8.5/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 6, Aug 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-07-19","Editor":"Roger Munford","TotalPages":82,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Munford\r\nManaging Editor: Bruce Sawford\r\nDeputy Editor: Tina Boylan\r\nTechnical Editor: Peter Shaw\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nContributors: Ron Smith, Toni Baker, The Gloucester Computing Club, Phil Cornes, Phil Manchester, Peter Freebrey, John Flenley, Simon Goodwin, Simon Lane, Surya, Ross Holman, Dave Nicholls\r\nArt Editor: Hazel Bennington\r\nArt Assistant: Steve Broadhurst\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Shane Campbell\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Nik Saha\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nGroup Art Director: Perry Neville\r\nPublisher: Steven England\r\n\r\nPublished by Sportscene Specialist Press Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England. Telephone (all departments): [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 ©1984 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.\r\n\r\nCover by John Storey."},"MainText":"CASTLE BLACKSTAR\r\nSCR Adventures\r\n£6.95\r\n\r\nYou wake in a strange room that's furnished with silver and glass: out of the windows you can see landscapes of staggering beauty. However, there's a tall woman telling you to go recover the Orb from Castle Blackstar, you may keep any treasures you find - once she has cleansed them from evil.","ReviewerComments":["One of the best text-only adventures around, featuring a medieval castle and many unexpected and hidden extras.\r\nAndrew Base","If you go down to the woods today you'll get lost in this puzzling adventure.\r\nJohnathan Norman","There's a feeling when playing this adventure that the programmers responsible had a great deal of fun writing it. There's something of a Smart Alec tone, but it's still fun, if frustrating, to play.\r\nGeorge Price"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"45","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Andrew Base","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":"HIT"},{"Name":"Johnathan Norman","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":"MISS"},{"Name":"George Price","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":"HIT"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 4, May 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-04-19","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: SCR Adventures, 48K\r\n£8.95 (3)\r\nAuthor: Sheppard, Cummins & Richardson\r\n\r\nA text-only adventure, and first of a planned series of Artemis Quests. The Goddess Artemis, glimpsed in a dream, bids you enter Castle Blackstar to recover her power orb from the vast underground caverns. To achieve maximum points all treasures found must be cleansed of their evil, all puzzles solved and the orb returned. Location descriptions are detailed and atmospheric and response times are machine code fast with a touch of humour. The development of cause and effect is pretty advanced with situations like the turning of a winch in one room, causing the raising of a chandelier in another far away. Perhaps the only drawback is the rather steep price in comparison to many other similar adventures, so a low rating on value or money, but overall a CRASH rating of 75%.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"73","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"75%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 33, Jul 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-06-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":164,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"CREDITS\r\n\r\nEditor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nAssistant Editor: Eugene Lacey\r\nEditorial Assistant: Clare Edgeley\r\nStaff Writers/Reader Services: Robert Schifreen, Seamus St. John\r\nArt Editor: Linda Freeman\r\nDesigner: Lynda Skerry\r\nProduction Editor: Mary Morton\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Rob Cameron\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Louise Matthews\r\nAdvertising Executives: Bernard Dugdale, Sean Brennan, Phil Godsell\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Melanie Paulo\r\nProduction Assistant: Roy Stephens\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: £14. Additional service information including individual overseas airmail rates available upon request. Circulation Department: EMAP National Publications. Published and distributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd. Printed by Eden Fisher (Southend) Ltd, [redacted]. Typeset by Camden Typesetters Ltd.\r\n\r\nThe cover illustration: Can Daley make it or will the PiMan pip him at the post?\r\nIllustrated by Charles Griffin."},"MainText":"A game you QUIT because you want to start afresh, but leaving you with the message \"QUITTING GAME WITH XX POINTS\" and leaves your computer locked up, is NOT friendly!\r\n\r\nI always adopt the philosophy that when a player leaves any game entering END or QUIT, the computer should be returned to its normal state - not have to be disconnected before it is any use. And an Adventure requiring a reload for another try is not nice anyway.\r\n\r\nOK, grizzling over - is the game any good? Surprisingly, after my bad start, and prejudiced as I had become against it, I found Castle Blackstar to be a very interesting adventure - certainly better than many available for the Spectrum.\r\n\r\nThe game is text only and the machine code program gives a fast response. It has a good plot, some reasonable puzzles and I felt happier with the simple black on white text than with many a lavishly illustrated multi-coloured game.\r\n\r\nThe objective, which is fully explained in the accompanying leaflet, is to recover an orb, rid it of its evil powers and collect treasure. Points are awarded for being clever and collecting things.\r\n\r\nThe map is big and colourfully described and the vocabulary is claimed to be in excess of 200 words. Nevertheless, I found plenty of words that weren't recognised; many of them being displayed before me at the time!\r\n\r\nAdventurers, as well as always being friendly and helpful souls, seem to be more disposed to bad language than most and this game copes with the situation in an original way by providing a swearbox - a location which fines you one object before you can escape!\r\n\r\nIf you're going to say something nasty, make sure you have a redundant object in your possession first! I can proudly claim to have beaten the swear box with some particularly foul language, but I suppose as a journalist I should have a wide vocabulary. (Shut-up CampbellMary Whitehouse will try to have it banned if you're not careful!)\r\n\r\nSo there you have it - don't go down in the woods to play, don't quit, and watch your mouth! Castle Blackstar for 48k Spectrum is from SCR Adventures, priced £8.95. Versions for Dragon 32, Commodore 64 and Apple II are planned.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"131","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Keith Campbell","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer Games Issue 6, May 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-04-19","Editor":"Chris Anderson","TotalPages":168,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Chris Anderson\r\nProduction Editor: Roderick George\r\nArt Editor: Ian Findlay\r\nTechnical Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nStaff Writers: Steve Cooke, Peter Connor\r\nEditorial Assistant: Samantha Hemens\r\nSoftware Consultant: Tony Takoushi\r\nCartoons: Kipper Williams\r\nProgram Control Guardians: Jeff Riddle\r\nScreenshots: Chris Bell\r\nCover Illustration: Pat Weedon\r\nGroup Editor: Cyndy Miles\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nGroup Publisher: John Cade\r\nPublisher: Mark Eisen\r\nAssistant Publishing Manager: Sue Clements\r\nPublishing Secretary: Jenny Dunne\r\nAdvertising Manager: Herbert Wright\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Jan Martin\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Mike Caroll\r\nAdvertisement Production: Simon Carter\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Coraline Turner\r\nSales Executives: Joey Davies, Marion O'Neill\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]. Typesetting by Spectrum Typesetting, [redacted] Origination by Fourmost Colour [redacted]. Printed and bound by Chase Web Offset [redacted]. © VNU Business Publications 1984."},"MainText":"POWER FROM THE GIANT CASTLE\r\n\r\nThis month, PCG's resident White Wizard conjures up a magical new section.\r\n\r\nOkay adventurers, this is IT. Drop everything, take the 'phone off the hook, lock all the doors, drug the cat, and get stick in to the first of PCG's new monthly adventure specials. You name it, this is where you'll find it. Gossip, hints, reviews, and much, much more. These four pages are about to become the most sought-after location in the kingdom. Don't miss them!\r\n\r\nEvery adventure we look at will be thoroughly explored and graded, with ratings awarded in four different categories. We'll be looking for imagination, suspense, challenging scenarios and the sort of programming skills that help make a good game into a great adventure.\r\n\r\nWe shan't be giving away too many secrets (which would spoil all the fun) but we shall try to help you avoid wasting your hard-earned pennies on programs that aren't worth the tape they're recorded on.\r\n\r\nEach month we'll give space to readers comments, so if you've got something to say, let us know. We're waiting to hear about your high scores, your favourite game and locations - and if you want to mention fantasy fiction, dungeons and dragons, or anything else connected with adventuring, then go right ahead.\r\n\r\nLast, but not least,we'll be offering clues to some of the most common problems you encounter. But to ensure that we don't give the game away, these clues will be presented in a special form so you can't read them by mistake. Full details will be found below. So if you really get stuck, write and tell us - we may be able to help.\r\n\r\nCongratulations for having found your way to these pages. The long and winding road stretches ahead of you. Night is falling, and in the distance you can hear the howling of wolves. Read what follows and you may, just may, survive...\r\n\r\nREVIEWS OF THE LATEST TEXT GAMES\r\n\r\nA picture is worth a thousand words so they say, and they can go on saying it as far as I'm concerned till they're blue in the face. When it comes to adventures it just isn't true.\r\n\r\nBy now I expect half of you are reaching for your pens with every intention of making me Wally of the Month. Don't misunderstand me. I'm not against graphic adventures. It's just that until we get home micros with decent sized memories then every picture is going to cost a thousand words, and that means poorly described locations, fewer characters, fewer puzzles, and less interesting games.\r\n\r\nThere are some exceptions, and we'll be looking at those in future issues. But meanwhile you'll understand why I was so impressed with Castle Blackstar, a new Spectrum adventure from SCR Adventures.\r\n\r\nThis is a text-only game that forms the first part of a series, the Artemis Quests. Although currently only available on the Sinclair, these programs will shortly be available on other machines.\r\n\r\nGRAND SCALE\r\n\r\nCastle Blackstar is an adventure on a grand scale, in which your objective is to locate a 'power orb' in the castle dungeons and return it to your revered Goddess. On the way you have the chance to collect various treasures which will add to your score.\r\n\r\nSo far, nothing new. Where this program really scores is in the description of its locations and the large (200-word plus) vocabulary. As you explore the Castle and the caverns beneath it, you really do get a feel for the world into which you have fallen.\r\n\r\nMy only quibble with SCR's program is that it doesn't allow you to quit the game and re-start. If you enter 'Quit' the game crashes and you have to re-load. Another minor annoyance is that the program doesn't specify which word it is having trouble with when it rejects your inputs, but since the vocabulary is of a decent size this isn't too much of a disadvantage. The program accepts complex commands, and all words may be abbreviated to four letters, plus of course the usual N, S, E, W and so on.\r\n\r\nThe next game in the Artemis series, Pyramid of the Sun, should be in the shops this summer.\r\n\r\nGAME: Castle Blackstar\r\nMACHINE: Spectrum 48K\r\nSUPPLIER: SCR Adventures\r\nPRICE: £8.95\r\n\r\nTRILOGY\r\n\r\nRecent months also saw the launch of the first game in another text-only series, a trilogy this time, Mountains of Ket from Incentive Software Ltd. From the blurb supplied with the cassette you'd expect this to be something really special - 'A giant of an adventure program featuring Combat, Interactive Beings, Monetary system...' Unfortunately the game itself doesn't quite live up to expectations.\r\n\r\nMountains of Ket is nicely presented on the screen with good use of boxes and colour to make the text more readable. Input is in the two-word verb/ noun format which places a few limitations on the player, especially since the vocabulary isn't that large.\r\n\r\nThere are some good combat sequences, and the angry reaction of passersby when you decide to kill someone is a welcome disincentive to mindless violence. However the locations are very scantily described and the atmosphere of the game suffers as a result.\r\n\r\nGAME: Mountains of Ket\r\nMACHINE: Spectrum 48K\r\nSUPPLIER: Incentive Software\r\nPRICE: £5.50\r\n\r\nVIVID\r\n\r\nSpectrum owners who like their locations to be vividly described, and who aren't content with Castle Blackstar, might like to try Melbourne House's Classic Adventure. This is a version of the program Colossal Cave (or just 'Adventure'), the game that started it all, back in the days when you used your computer to heat the room and did your calculations on a slide-rule.\r\n\r\nAdventurers on most home micros have already had a crack at this classic, thanks to Level 9, but Melbourne House's offering is £3.00 cheaper. How does it compare?\r\n\r\nWell, it has to be admitted that the difference in price is reflected in the quality of the program. However, what I liked about Melbourne House's game was that it was subtly different from the original Colossal Cave. Even if you're familiar with the older program or one of its modern versions, you could find yourself in trouble in Melbourne House's version.\r\n\r\nThe locations in this game are excellently described by comparison to most of today's text-only programs, so if you haven't already tried this game, and can't afford the extra for Level 9's version, then Classic Adventure looks like a good bet.\r\n\r\nGAME: Classic Adventure\r\nMACHINE: Spectrum 48K\r\nSUPPLIER: Melbourne House\r\nPRICE: £6.95\r\n\r\nAnother text-only program, recently released for the Commodore 64, also shows the influence of Colossal Cave in some of its locations. Island Adventure is written by Peter Gerrard, whose 'Exploring Adventure' books are reviewed elsewhere on these pages. Peter is a firm text-only fan. 'Graphics detract from an adventure.' he told me, 'because everyone has their own ideas about what the locations look like.'\r\n\r\nHe certainly practices what he preaches in Island Adventure, but I felt that the locations weren't sufficiently described to give the reader much idea in the first place. Otherwise the game is of the standard 'stranded-on-an-island-get-as-much-treasure-as-you-can' type, and if you've played Colossal Cave you'll find some of the puzzles easier to solve.\r\n\r\nGAME: Island Adventure\r\nMACHINE: Commodore 64\r\nSUPPLIER: Duckworth\r\nPRICE: £7.95\r\n\r\nComplexity: 6/10\r\nAtmosphere: 3/10\r\nInteraction: 5/10\r\nValue: 4/10\r\n\r\nBUSY\r\n\r\nSalamander, who produce adventure programs for the Dragon, BBC and Oric, seem to have been very busy recently. The first Dan Diamond trilogy is now complete and the third title, Fishy Business, is currently available. By the time you read this they should have released the first program in the second trilogy, Franklin in Wonderland, in which the intrepid detective attempts to rescue a damsel in distress. Salamander tell me that reading Alice in Wonderland will help you solve the adventure.\r\n\r\nThe Dan Diamond games were notable for their way of displaying information on the screen, with separate boxes giving information on your location, input, and items carried. The same lay-out is used in two other new Salamander games, Wings of War and The Cricklewood Incident.\r\n\r\nREFRESHING\r\n\r\nThe Cricklewood incident is an utterly pointless game that had me howling with laughter some of the time and screaming with frustration the rest of the time. Some of the humour is a little out-of-date (when did you last have a coffee-table nailed to your head?) but like Richard Shepherd's Urban Upstart it makes a very refreshing change from the usual dungeons, dragons, and dwarves.\r\n\r\nYour quest (if you can call it that) in The Cricklewood Incident is to find the Holy Grail, having first left your padded cell where you had been put for safe keeping. There are five levels of play, ranging from Utter Wally to Geoff Boycott (who rates one higher than Superman). You will encounter a number of fascinating characters, including a very tiresome Hell's Angel. The fight sequences are highly amusing, and although the locations are very briefly described, this game stands on its sense of humour alone.\r\n\r\nGAME: The Cricklewood Incident\r\nMACHINE: Dragon\r\nSUPPLIER: Salamander\r\nPRICE: £7.95\r\n\r\nComplexity: 6/10\r\nAtmosphere: 6/10\r\nInteraction: 5/10\r\nValue: 6/10\r\n\r\nSERIOUS STUFF\r\n\r\nThere isn't much humour in Wings of War, the first of a two-part adventure in which you are parachuted down behind enemy lines to steal some plans and escape back to good old Blighty. Serious stuff here, but somehow the simple vocabulary and brief descriptions don't manage to conjure up much of an atmosphere, and the challenge of the game lies more in finding things than in solving puzzles or dealing with other characters.\r\n\r\nWings of War was a first attempt from someone new to adventure programming, and Salamander assure me the second game in the series, White Cliffs of Dover, is a vast improvement. Let's hope so.\r\n\r\nDragon owners seem to have been spoilt for choice when it comes to adventures recently. Klartz and the Dark Forces is another new release for that machine from Dungeon Software. Described as a 'multi-adventure' it places you in a time capsule and sends you off through the ages to gather relics of the victims of the evil Klartz.\r\n\r\nI'm afraid I can't recommend this game. I stumbled across the first relic almost as soon as I'd left the capsule, and the small vocabulary, poor error checking ('Illegal input. Please Recompute') didn't encourage me to go much further. Even so, I gathered up most of the relics before quitting the program.\r\n\r\nAh well, some you win, and some you win just too easily This month I've concentrated on text-only games, so next issue I'll be looking at graphics adventures and replying to your letters. If you want me thrown into the Bottomless Pit for being rude about your favourite game, you'd better put pen to paper. I'm quite prepared to cross swords with anyone on these pages, so beware!\r\n\r\nGAME: Wings Of War\r\nMACHINE: Dragon\r\nSUPPLIER: Salamander\r\nPRICE: £7.95\r\n\r\nComplexity: 5/10\r\nAtmosphere: 4/10\r\nInteraction: 3/10\r\nValue: 4/10\r\n\r\nGAME: Klartz And The Dark Forces\r\nMACHINE: Dragon\r\nSUPPLIER: Dungeon Software\r\nPRICE: £9.95\r\n\r\nComplexity: 2/10\r\nAtmosphere: 6/10\r\nInteraction: 5/10\r\nValue: 4/10\r\n\r\nThe White Wizard\r\n\r\nADVENTURE RATINGS\r\n\r\nAdventures need special treatment when it comes to ratings, so we've devised a whole new system for them.\r\n\r\nEach game will be awarded points in four different categories: Complexity, Atmosphere, Interaction and Value. Points will range from 0 (Abysmal) to 10 (Sheer Genius).\r\n\r\nThe first category, Complexity, will be determined by the number of locations in the program, and the difficulty of the tasks presented. The Atmosphere rating reflects the quality of the descriptions of each location, and the standard of graphics if they are provided.\r\n\r\nPoints given for Interaction will be based on how large a vocabulary the program has, how helpful its responses are, and the type of in puts it can accept.\r\n\r\nAdventures accepting only two-word inputs, for example, may score lower than those accepting multi-statement commands.\r\n\r\nThe last category, Value reflects value for money. It is an overall rating of the game that takes all the above factors into account, matches them with the price of the program and its originality, and awards points accordingly. Any game that scores 10 for Value belongs on your shelf. A game that scores 0? Into the waste-paper basket.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"98,100","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Steve Cooke","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"From top: Castle Blackstar; Mountains of Ket; Exploring Adventures on the Commodore 64."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Micro Adventurer Issue 8, Jun 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-05-17","Editor":"Graham Cunningham","TotalPages":48,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Graham Cunningham\r\nAssistant Editor: Carmel Anderson\r\nSoftware Editor: Graham Taylor\r\nMaster Adventurers: Tony Bridge, Mike Grace\r\nEditorial Secretary: Cleo Cherry\r\nAdvertisement Manager: David Lake\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Langston\r\nAdministration: Theresa Lacy\r\nManaging Editor: Brendon Gore\r\nPublishing Director: Jenny Ireland\r\nTelephone number (all departments): [redacted]\r\nUK Address: [redacted]\r\nUS Address: [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions: UK £10.00 for 12 issues, overseas surface (excluding US and Canada) £16 for 12 issues, US and Canada air-lifted US$33.95 for 12 issues.\r\n\r\nMicro Adventurer is published monthly by Sunshine Books, Scot Press Ltd. Typesetting by In-Step Ltd, [redacted]. Printed by Eden Fisher (Southend) Ltd, [redacted]. Distributed by SM Distribution, [redacted].\r\n\r\nISSN 0265-4156\r\n\r\nRegistered at the Post Office as a newspaper.\r\n\r\n© Sunshine Books 1984"},"MainText":"BLACKSTAR MAINTAINS TRADITION\r\n\r\nMICRO: Spectrum 48K\r\nPRICE: £8.95\r\nFORMAT: Cassette\r\nSUPPLIER: SCR Adventures, [redacted]\r\n\r\nThe goddess Artemis has mislaid an important orb. She'd like you to go and look For it. As per union rules, anything else you can loot is yours to keep. Suddenly you find yourself in a wooded valley beside a dusty road.\r\n\r\nThis, in glorious black-onwhite, is the none-too-original beginning of Castle Blackstar, a traditional text adventure set in a familiar pseudo-medieval fantasy world. Not too promising at first sight, perhaps, but persevere because this is an excellent, absorbing, detailed and tough adventure.\r\n\r\nThe heart of a text adventure is the quality of descriptions and puzzles, and both are first-class in this, the first of the Artemis Quests. There are a few unfortunate spelling errors here and there, but not enough to detract from the rich and convincing atmosphere built up in the wild countryside, deserted castle, subterranean catacombs, underground lake and so on.\r\n\r\nIf purple prose turns you puce there is a useful command which switches out the full description of locations already visited, leaving only the name (Kitchen, South Tower for instance).\r\n\r\nA large area can be explored with little difficulty, and many interesting things lie about unguarded. Working out what to do with them is another matter, though, and I found the solutions to problems not as hard to identify as what the problems actually were.\r\n\r\nIf you get killed, the goddess appears to revive you, but three resurrections seems to be her limit.\r\n\r\nI was particularly impressed by the integration of some objects into the room descriptions themselves, not simply wheels which turn and buttons which press, but things you can get and take away. This helps increase the atmosphere substantially and makes it vital to read the descriptions carefully.\r\n\r\nCastle Blackstar is well-documented and offers a query service as well as T-shirts for the first 50 finishers. It's a shame you have to reload every time you quit or expire, but I found loading quick and reliable, so this wasn't the problem it might have been. If you like traditional text adventures, this will do very nicely.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"21","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"DD","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Computer Issue 9, Sep 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-08-16","Editor":"Toby Wolpe","TotalPages":196,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Toby Wolpe\r\nAssistant Editor: Meirion Jones\r\nStaff Writer: Simon Beesley\r\nProduction Editor: Ian Vallely\r\nSub-Editor: Paul Bond\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lee Paddon\r\nEditorial Secretary: Lynn Dawson\r\nEditorial: [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions: U.K. £11.50 for 12 issues.\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Shobhan Gajjar\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Nicholas Ratnieks\r\nAdvertisement Executives: Nigel Borrell, Julian Bidlake, Kay Filbin\r\nNorthern Office: Ron Southall\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Maxine Gill\r\nClassified: Lucy O'Sullivan\r\nPublishing Director: Chris Hipwell\r\n\r\nYour Computer, [redacted]\r\n©Business Press International Ltd 1984\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\nABC 122,642 July-December, 1983."},"MainText":"48K Spectrum\r\n£8.95\r\nSCR Adventures\r\n\r\nFor those who like their text adventures meaty, Castle Blackstar should prove toothsome fare. It is a complex, puzzle-rich quest that challenges you to score a maximum of 240 points which are gained by finding and returning treasures, performing certain actions and accomplishing the main objective of your mission - to find and return the lost orb to the Lady Artemis.\r\n\r\nYour start your journey in the vale of Castle Blackstar. Wander too far from the path and you'll he lost in a forest maze. Experienced adventurers will be well aware that the best way to map out a maze is to drop objects along the way so make sure you find some before going on a forest jaunt.\r\n\r\nThere are plenty of intriguing and unusual objects and puzzles, many of which will undoubtedly have you reaching for the aspirins. As a small taste of what's in store, difficulties along your way include an invisible hand, eagle eggs and a water-logged boat.\r\n\r\nOriginal and challenging puzzles, fast response, a comprehensive vocabulary and plenty of atmosphere make Castle Blackstar a worthy contender for your hard won gold.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"47","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Hugo North","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 14, Aug 1984","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1984-07-26","Editor":"Ray Elder","TotalPages":140,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Ray Elder\r\nEditorial Assistant: Jamie Clary\r\nGroup Editor: Wendy J Palmer\r\nSales Executive: Penny Scoular\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Barry Bingham\r\nDivisional Advertising Manager: Beverley McNeill\r\nCopy Controller: Ann McDermott\r\nManaging Editor: Ron Harris\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 1984"},"MainText":"CASTLE BLACKSTAR\r\nSCR Adventures\r\n\r\nThis is the first in a series of 'Artemis quests' from SCR Adventures. It is a text-only, machine code program giving extremely fast response times. Essentially it is a medieval fantasy, similar in theme to 'Knight's Quest'. The object is to enter the castle and recover the power orb, located in the vast (no understatement) underground caves.\r\n\r\nMaximum (240) points are awarded for collecting all the treasures, completing certain special tasks (by overcoming puzzles), and returning the orb to the Goddess. All the usual commands are understood from a comprehensive vocabulary of some 200 words (it uses approx. 40K of memory.) If you get frustrated at any point, don't be tempted to swear, as this will cost you one object! There are many nice, humorous touches along the way, as well as a few red-herrings.\r\n\r\nThe game is not in real-time, so you can sit back and think your way out of each situation .It isn't interactive either, so you can't go round talking to the few characters you occasionally meet. Single and four-letter strings are used. For example: I = inventory, L = look, SCOR = points so far, N, S, SW, NE, U, D, etc. Plus some new and interesting commands: 'GOES' for number of turns taken, 'VERBOSE' for full descriptions, and 'QUIET' for shorter text on each location. (Although I couldn't see that 'quiet' had any noticeable effect!) This feature is not usually seen on anything smaller than a disc-based program.\r\n\r\nThe description themselves are very long (they may even fill an entire screen), and certainly create the atmosphere appropriate to the game's period. Sadly there is no provision for a 'HELP' feature for those of us who get stuck easily. Thankfully 'QUIT', 'SAVE', and 'LOAD' are all supported. One feature I do like is that there are a number of possible ways around some of the problems. This means that you don't suddenly come to an impasse (akin to hitting a brick wall), as often happens in some other adventures.\r\n\r\nOne awkward point is that not all the available directions are displayed on the screen - you have to guess - and it's easy to forget to try all of the possible ways. There are many locations, so good mapping is essential (especially as there are numerous levels: castle; upper and lower levels, two towers, tunnels and caverns, plus the huge cave system.) Fortunately these are very accessible, so without having to solve too many problems you can easily get to see over 90 locations. This is very useful for the novice. However the puzzles are challenging enough to keep the hardened adventurer busy for quite some time (due to the fact that they were written by fellow adventure-player.)\r\n\r\nHidden in the game are a number of death-traps. Dark places are to be avoided for fear of very nasty Deodans, who appear to enjoy decapitating unwary players! Getting killed isn't necessarily the end of the game; you merely drop all objects at that location, lose some points, and very handily get reincarnated back at the start. Hint: Beware of the forest, without the objects needed to map it, and remember the lamps and oil can run out.\r\n\r\nThe program also contains some oblique references to various literary sources. For example: a pentagram and an Angel of Death from 'The Devil rides out', a sword in a stone from the 'Arthur' legends, and runes about Smaug on a Mithril knife from a certain well-known book! The manual is well-written, but doesn't give anything away. SCR can be contacted if you really get stuck; and if you're brilliant the first 50 to complete the quest get free \"Castle Blackstar\" T-shirts. Overall an excellent adventure, especially for the beginner. The next one in this series, 'Pyramid of the sun' is due out later this year. If it's as good as this one, it should certainly be worth playing.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"74","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Greg Turnbull","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]