[{"TitleName":"Custerd's Quest","Publisher":"Alpha-Omega Software","Author":"Craig Richard Davies, Phil Gascoine, Tim White","YearOfRelease":"1986","ZxDbId":"0006135","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 44, Sep 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-08-27","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nAssistant Editor: Barnaby Page\r\nStaff Writers: Richard Eddy, Lloyd Mangram, Ian Phillipson, Ben Stone\r\nPhotographers: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\nOffice: Sally Newman\r\nTechnical Editor: Simon N Goodwin\r\nAdventure: Derek Brewster\r\nPBM: Brendon Kavanagh\r\nStrategy: Philippa Irving\r\nLondon: John Minson\r\nContributors: Jon Bates, Robin Candy, Mike Dunn, Franco Frey, Dominic Handy, Nick Roberts, Mark Rothwell, Paul Sumner\r\nEducational Software: Rosetta McLeod\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nArt Director: Gordon Druce\r\nIllustrator: Oliver Frey\r\nLayout: Tony Lorton, Mark Kendrick\r\nProcess and Planning: Matthew Uffindell, Jonathan Rignall, Nick Orchard\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Nick Wild\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nEditorial and Production: [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order and Subscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypesetting by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistributed by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced whole or in part without written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return any written material sent to CRASH 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.\r\n\r\n©1987 Newsfield Limited\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: The Power House\r\nRetail Price: £1.99\r\nAuthor: Craig Davies\r\n\r\nThe Power House budget label is new to adventures. Their inlays come complete with programmer profiles and mug shots (Craig Davies, rather knowingly, has dark specs on), and a Power Mouse whose body is composed of a hair dryer atop the innards of a vacuum cleaner.\r\n\r\nCompleting the design are two potato heads who say 'Yowzer! Brilltoid! All music by House Electronic Xperience'. And you could use such words to describe Custerds Quest - for the paltry price it certainly is a super jocular jaunt through the idiosyncrasies of adventure. Many adventure conventions and quirks get the Craig Davies treatment in a thoroughly enjoyable way.\r\n\r\nSir Coward de Custerd is the name, and I'm not quite sure what's the game, but I do know that much can be achieved in this adventure - the humour is in the feel of the gameplay and doesn't seriously affect the outcome.\r\n\r\nThe opening scene sets you in the Great Ancestral Hall of Castle Custerd. There are about 15 locations in the castle itself, where you can pick up the essentials for any knight, and countless sites beyond which even include a subadventure opening out beyond a bedroom cupboard! in this area, as in so much of the adventure, the subtle writing style and competence of the prompts and EXAMINE reports give the game a winning edge.\r\n\r\nFor those who enjoy simpler distractions, the pictures aren't bad for a budget adventure, and they're drawn reasonably quickly. In the text, also, there's good use of coloured highlights to break up the blocks of print in a most attractive manner.\r\n\r\nAs always with funnies, giving too many examples might lessen the impact of the game - so let's just look at a few small clips from Custerds Quest.\r\n\r\nIn the castle there's a storeroom with an Inconsequential Stone Panel. EXAM PANEL, of course, gives 'It's inconsequential! Can't you read? Or perhaps it's because you can't understand the meaning of the word but ploughed on relentlessly? Anyway it's a floor panel. Why not give it a kick?'.\r\n\r\nGetting into the swing of the adventure, you naturally give it a kick, which results in the following funny: 'You give the panel a hefty kick which shatters a few toes. You do a dance around the room with your foot held in your hand uttering curses which would shock your granny. You really are too gullable! Alright, try tapping it.'\r\n\r\nWith wary cynicism you now tap the so-called Inconsequential Panel: 'You start tapping. Time drags on. Various cuddly woodland animals gather at the door, watching you intently as your face plunges into deeper shades of crimson. Suddenly and without warning, the panel opens and you fall head first into the room below.'\r\n\r\nAnd there's a classic joke if you return later and try to skip a stage by going direct to TAP PANEL. This gives: 'Rule 186:f. The player must first kick the panel before tapping it.' it shows an empathy with the travails of the weary adventurer, worn down by too many long-winded solution pathways in unfriendly games.\r\n\r\nCusterds Quest is a very funny and sharp-humoured game, deriving great pleasure from taking every adventure etiquette and turning it on its head for the amusement of the jaded adventurer. For my money this is better than many others that have attempted the same kind of lampooning; Custerds Quest is exceptionally well-written in an engagingly chatty, witty style. Super stuff.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nDifficulty: informative prompts make the going easy\r\nGraphics: quite good\r\nPresentation: neat\r\nInput Facility: verb/noun\r\nResponse: fast Quill response","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Very funny indeed.","Page":"67","Denied":false,"Award":"Crash Smash","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Derek Brewster","Score":"90","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"A bright, spacious kitchen adds contemporary convenience to gracious living in this modern but characterful adventure game."},{"Text":"You are in the courtyard, in case you hadn't noticed, at this deadpan point in the satiric Custerds Quest."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Atmosphere","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Vocabulary","Score":"89%","Text":""},{"Header":"Logic","Score":"88%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"90%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 19, Jul 1987","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1987-06-11","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":98,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nSenior Art Editor: Peter George\r\nAssistant Editor: Phil South\r\nProduction Editor: Sara Biggs\r\nStaff Writer: Marcus Berkmann\r\nDesigner: Darrell King\r\nEditorial Assistant: Angela Eager\r\nContributors: Peter Berlin, Chris Donald, Mike Gerrard, Ian Hoare, Gwyn Hughes, ZZKJ, Tony Lee, John O'Molly, Rick Robson, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Julian Harriott\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nManaging Editor: Kevin Cox\r\nPublisher: Roger Munford\r\nPublishing Director: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Dennis Publishing Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England.\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1987 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":"FAX BOX\nGame: Custerd's Quest\nPublisher: The Power House\nPrice: £1.99\nReviewer: Mike Gerrard\n\nHaving taken a dislike to the title, I decided I wasn't going to like this new adventure from Craig Davies, alias Bodkin Software, which is being published by The Power House, formerly known as Alpha Omega, alias CRL. An appropriately silly arrangement for a silly adventure, I thought. But I loved it and I actually laughed out loud in several places - and that doesn't happen too often in adventure playing, let's be honest.\n\nYou take the part of Sir Coward de Custerd (groan) and you're lumbered with the job of journeying to the home of the evil necromancer, Tower Doom, and sorting him out as he's polluting the land causing chaos and stuff like that. You begin in the Great Hall of your ancestral home, Castle Custerd, and a quick look at the tatty curtains reveals that it maybe isn't quite so great after all. To the west is a chest in the master bedroom, and closer examination reveals this to be the mysterious chest that crops up in all the best adventures. And locked, of course. To the east is the kitchen, with something unpleasant on the walls, while elsewhere is a pig sty with something even more unpleasant on the floor. And you're standing in it.\n\nSoon you'll also be standing outside a small brick building. Sounds familiar? Don't be too sure as the programmer assures us there's no spring inside, though inside a store room is an inconsequential stone panel. This leads to an amusing sequence of inevitable inputs in the style much favoured by Delta 4 of late, and Custerd's Quest does display a lot of the humour we've come to associate with Mr McNeill and the St Brides team. Go down through the stone panel and you'll see what I mean. I didn't even mind dying when I fell foul of the dreaded moat monster as the death routine had a nice touch of originality about it.\n\nA good start for Power House budget adventures. More please. And more power to the elbow and other bits of Craig Davies for an amusing spoof adventure.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"81","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mike Gerrard","Score":"8","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Text","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Personal Rating","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"8/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 68, Nov 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-10-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: David Kelly\r\nDeputy Editor: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nStaff Writer: Tamara Howard\r\nArt Editor: Gareth Jones\r\nAdventure Help: Gordo Greatbelly\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nHelpline: Andrew Hewson\r\nContributors: Richard Price, Tony Bridge, Chris Jenkins, Tony Dillon, Gary Rook\r\nHardware Correspondent: Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mike Corr\r\nSales Executive: Steve Prescott\r\nClassified Sales/Production: Alison Morton\r\nPublisher's Secretary: Debbie Pearson\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Clive Goodyer\r\n\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1986 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nABC 84,699 July-Dec 1986"},"MainText":"Label: Power House\r\nAuthor: Craig Richard Davies\r\nPrice: £1.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nReviewer: Jerry Muir\r\n\r\nThe word is whacky. Author Craig Richard Davies has taken a leaf out of the Fergus McNeill book and Quill-ed with his tongue firmly into his cheek, which means that Custerd's Quest is a rich trifle of satirical references to all those cliches that give adventurers such feelings of deja vu.\r\n\r\nActually this sort of spoof on the land of trolls, castles and missing keys isn't quite so novel as it used to be, but Custerd avoids getting egg on its face thanks to some fairly full descriptions and a number of witty responses.\r\n\r\nNone of the puzzles are too difficult, but the humour is suitably silly and should raise the odd smile. There are also occasional illustrations, which are kept simple enough to appear with only the briefest delay.\r\n\r\nCusterd isn't likely to win any awards for originality and the inlay fails to credit the Quill or explain how to use the Ramsave. But for a budget bash at some well-heeled conventions it offers a few chuckles, even if it is lacking in the belly-laugh department.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Silly adventure that takes side-swipes at some staples of the standard quest. Should raise a smile.","Page":"80","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jerry Muir","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"6/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]