[{"TitleName":"Urban Upstart","Publisher":"Richard Shepherd Software Ltd","Author":"Pete Cooke","YearOfRelease":"1983","ZxDbId":"0007149","Reviews":[{"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: Richard Shepherd\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £6.50\r\nLanguage: Basic + machine code\r\nAuthor: P. Cooke\r\n\r\nScarthorpe is the sort of town where even the dogs carry flick knives, where there's only one road in, and it's a one way street... So says the introduction to this adventure game set in today's urban sprawl of unemployment. The object here isn't to get into a place, but how on earth to get out of it. No one in their right mind would want to stay in Scarthorpe, that's for sure.\r\n\r\nThe screen is split into a third horizontal section at the top which carries the graphics, and a lower two-thirds which carries the text. This is all nicely presented with descriptions in black and commands in red. The locations are varied, the game starting off in a bedroom of what appears to be an 'alright ' house, (although there is a store room with rubbish on the floor) and includes a number of streets like Grime Street and Cut Throat Alley, charming areas like the local football ground and the rubbish tips beside it, the local Nick and an appalling antiseptic hospital. The latter acts as a sort of Limbo between hell and hell!\r\n\r\nAs our reviewers found, half the charm (if that's quite the right word) of this game lies in its modern, urban setting.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nKeyboard play: medium responsive, there's quite a lot of BASIC in the program, protected by an autodestruct.\r\nUse of colour: mixed opinions - poor and good\r\nGraphics: varied, quite detailed, generally good\r\nSound: poor to average","ReviewerComments":["The title screen sets the scene nastily enough, with its tumble down, graffiti-strewn walls, and background of smoky industrial mess. It is rather a good adventure game, and does make a change having police in Cut Throat Alley to having evil wizards in dungeons. The graphical representations of the locations are quite good and the game as a whole is well thought out. For example - when you start out, don't assume you are clothed, and don't drink the lager which has some obvious effects. The program also accepts, or at least understands, some very 'modern' language. I entered a few unprintable phrases of familiar frustration and amid siren wails, I was arrested and flung into prison on a charge of obscenity! I enjoyed playing it.\r\r\nUnknown","The only time to escape from Scarthorpe is in the middle of the night when it's all quiet - well, fairly quiet apart from the flick of knives. Everything's against you of course, including the police. The graphics are good in detail, although slowish to build up, and the response times aren't bad either. The vocabulary seems large and the computer does have a sense of humour (it would have to, living in Scarthorpe)!\r\r\nUnknown","The police station cell seems to be a regularly visited location in this game, and I must admit, that to date I haven't managed to get past the wretched desk sergeant, but perhaps he's only doing his job. Hospital is another favourite place. Either you get drunk or attacked by the irritable football fan, but whatever, Scarthorpe's overworked ambulance service is ready to whisk you off. Swearing is severely dealt with by a police car which swerves round the corner and arrests you (even inside the police station - which I thought was a bit steep), but I can't help feeling that if you're trapped in nowheresv!lle, there's not much pleasure left in life apart from a good swear! I think this is the best game so far from Shepherd, despite the usual lengthy loading time.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Above average.","Page":"38","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Rat traps and football hooligams in SCART-ORPE."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"61%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"58%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"70%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"62%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"64%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 2, Mar 1984","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1984-02-16","Editor":"Roger Munford","TotalPages":98,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Munford\r\nContributing Editor: Bruce Sawford\r\nTechnical Editor: Ron Smith\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSub Editor: Nik Lumsden\r\nContributors: Toni Baker, Simon Goodwin, Mike Lord, Ian Beardsmore, Max Philips, Guy Kewney, Henry Budgett, Gary Marshall, Dilwyn Jones, Phil Manchester\r\nArt Editor: Jimmy Egerton\r\nArt Assistants: Steve Broadhurst, Mike Wilkes\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Jeff Raggett\r\nAdvertisement Managers: Shane Campbell, Gill Harris\r\nProduction Editor: Derek Cohen\r\nTypesetters: Anne Ashby, Maggie Kayley, Velma Miller\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nGroup Art Director: Perry Neville\r\nPublisher: Stephen England\r\nDistribution Manager: Colin James\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 bi-monthly publication and the third issue will be available during the second week of April 1984."},"MainText":"URBAN UPSTART\r\nRichard Shepherd Software\r\n£6.50\r\n\r\nA truly graphic adventure, with a picture for each location you wish to visit. You are wandering around Scarborough and. like everyone else, your main aim in life is to escape!","ReviewerComments":["The graphics are quite exceptional in this program, and there's no fuzziness where the colours meet. Definitely a good adventure, and one that I highly recommend.\r\r\r\nCorrie Brown","Graphic representation of each location can be found in this program, and these vary from simple line drawings to some quite detailed scenes. Generally I prefer to see adventures use up memory for ideas rather than pictures, but at least the program does it competently.\r\r\r\nStewart McPherson","The response time is not as fast as it could be, but the use of colour and graphics are very good. An extremely entertaining game.\r\nPeter Shaw"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"57","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Corrie Brown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Stewart McPherson","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Peter Shaw","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"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: Richard Shepherd, 48K\r\n£6.50 (3)\r\n\r\nScarthorpe is the sort of town where even the dogs carry flick-knives, where there's only one road in, and it's a one way street... This text and graphics adventure is set in today's urban sprawl with unemployment opportunities, uncaring septic hospitals and sceptic police stations where arrest for obscenity is common. Football hooligans haunt the dirty streets and rats aren't all you'll find in Cut Throat Alley. The responses are reasonable, not super fast, and the graphics which add little to the content of the adventure but a lot to the pervading atmosphere, are rather slow to build up. General rating, above average, overall CRASH rating 64%.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"78","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"64%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 34, Jan 1985","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-12-13","Editor":"Bill Scolding","TotalPages":212,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Bill Scolding\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nConsultant Editor: Mike Johnston\r\nStaff Writer: Chris Bourne, Clare Edgeley\r\nIllustrator/Designer: Craig Kennedy\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Rob Cameron\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executive: Kathy McLennan\r\nProduction Assistant: James McClure\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Claudia Viertel\r\nEditorial Assistant: Colette McDermott\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nAssistant Publisher: Neil Wood\r\nPublisher: Gerry Murray\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\n96,271 Jan-June 1984\r\n\r\nTelephone\r\nEditorial and advertising departments\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to Sinclair User please send programs or articles:\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nOriginal programs should be on cassette and articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included.\r\n\r\nWe pay £20 for the copyright of each program published and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nAll subscription enquiries to\r\nMagazine Services,\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1985\r\nSinclair User\r\nISSN NO. 0262-5458\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd."},"MainText":"ESCAPE FROM THE MODERN WORLD\r\n\r\nRichard Price look at some contemporary adventures.\r\n\r\nWhen you are on the hunt for a new adventure what is it you are looking for?\r\n\r\nYou will naturally expect the game to have playability - that combination of technical factors most of us take for granted when we buy commercial programs. You have a right to demand a decent vocabulary, good response time and a flexible interpreter which comes across with some sort of personality during play. You will assume the writers have devised carefully designed puzzles set into a coherent structure.\r\n\r\nThose are the requirements of any good game but it is fair to say that an adventure's success and the satisfaction it gives you will be decided mainly by the quality of its plot and the atmosphere it generates.\r\n\r\nAll of us want an escape into other worlds at times to savour the pleasure of being someone or somewhere else. That fantasy is the core of the appeal of computer adventure. Fantasy, though, is fragile and, whether you prefer herioc, modern or futuristic scenarios, the setting you make your journey in must hold your belief right to the end.\r\n\r\nQuite often people will say that fantasy works by suspending your disbelief. Tolkein himself did not think that was a convincing explanation of the way the mind handles fantasy. In Tree and Leaf, his short work about fairy stories, he put forward the idea that the writer - or games designer in our case - creates a 'secondary' world which your mind can enter. Once inside it you believe the general setting, the characters and action are true - meaning that they all obey the proper laws of their own world. The spell held over you may well be broken by some jarring intrusion from the real world or simply because the characters behave in a way that is out of kilter with the logic of their surroundings.\r\n\r\nFar too many programs feature plots which, for instance, ask you to rescue a princess, find the scattered bits of some talisman or simply slash your way through a monster-infested cave riddled with rising damp and littered with treasures which no sorcerer in his right mind would leave lying around.\r\n\r\nYou may not be too happy to be regularly cast as a Conan-clone whose fist is bigger than his brain. That must be desperately aggravating for female adventurers who are expected to undergo a mental sex-change before powering up their Spectrums. If software companies are going to survive then they had better start looking for games which will appeal to a much wider public than is currently the case.\r\n\r\nTo be fair, there is a growing variety of styles and plots in the adventure genre but games that use real story lines are still pretty thin on the ground. The concept of bookware, though, seems to be taking off. Creating computer implementations of successful stories has some obvious advantages as the books have already proved that their 'secondary' worlds can hold people's attention and imagination. It still does not mean that the program will necessarily match up to the excitement or invention of the original but if the programmers are sensitive about the adaptation there is a chance of a good fit. Of course, the memory size of home micros also imposes rigid boundaries and limitations.\r\n\r\nIf you are an amateur programmer searching for a theme there is nothing to stop you turning your favourite pulp fiction into an adventure for home consumption.\r\n\r\nIf you are bored with magic and monsters history can provide equally exciting themes. Your heroine or hero could attempt to infiltrate the lair of the Old Man of the Mountains, the original master of the feared Assassins at the time of the Crusades. Deserts, strange nomads, wild mountains and grim fortresses guarded by fanatical killers all have their place in this adventure.\r\n\r\nThere are some programs which meet all or most of the criteria for successful secondary worlds and yet mirror the preoccupations and paranoias of our own times. They reflect different angles of life and often carry some sharp social comment.\r\n\r\nUrban Upstart from Richard Shepherd Software depicts the grim emptiness of inner-city life. Imagine any decaying ex-industrial town in Britain and you will have an idea of what it is like to live in Scarthorpe. No jobs, no money, nothing to do. No one will wander the streets. Thuggish skinheads and paranoid police rule here.\r\n\r\nYou must comb the town and find the means to escape. Your own character is pretty suspect and not above theft and fraud to raise much-needed cash. The mean streets are depicted in location graphics but the format is traditional text adventure and tricky at that.\r\n\r\nThe game may not seem like escapism and it is not difficult to recognise parallels with Cut Throat Alley or Grime Street. Definitely a slice of social realism with a gritty, dangerous, feel to it, though not without flashes of humour.\r\n\r\nIf you are one of those gamesters who thinks adventures written on the Quill cannot match the real thing then Hampstead could provide a cure for your scepticism. The technical presentation may be defined by the utility but the subject matter and approach is new and genuinely funny.\r\n\r\nThere you are, stuck in your nasty smelly flat somewhere in the wilderness of north-west London, parked in front of 3-2-1 on the telly. The only way is up - so you think - and you nip out in search of the dole office to get your giro. Outside the back yard, gleaming in the sunlight, is a sign pointing to Hampstead. Nothing can stop you now, so you cross your personal Jordan and pedal towards the Promised Land only to find you cannot attain Hampstead simply by going there. You will have to change your style and your gear, read the right books and do the right things with the right people.\r\n\r\nNot being totally stupid you will lie, cheat, even steal to get to this Nirvana of NW10 but you must avoid violence at all costs. The game is not merely about finding the right objects - it is also about attitudes as you must work out ways of making the correct deals. The answers are devious.\r\n\r\nThis is good situation comedy from Melbourne House and the game is attractively presented with a hilarious handbook. It is arguably one of the best Quilled adventures to date.\r\n\r\nFrom this comfortable tweedy fantasy we descend into a shifting, threatening underworld of conspiracy, espionage and fear. A series of audio messages are recorded on your answering machine. Their growing urgency and the sound of a final shot leave you in no doubt - Valkyrie 17 is active again, a cell of neo-Nazis whose deadly tentacles stretch around the world.\r\n\r\nThanks to the dying gasps of your agent you know their ruthless leader is holed up in an exclusive Austrian skiing resort at the Glitz Hotel. Your job is to seek him out and neutralise him. Take care; one foolish move and you will find yourself face down in the snow rapidly becoming a member of the great majority.\r\n\r\nThe level of paranoia is pumped up by ringing phones which, if answered, threaten you and make it clear that your cover is already broken. Everything a good thriller needs is here - locked safes, half-overheard conversations, blood on the crisp snow of the piste.\r\n\r\nValkyrie 17 is produced by the Ram Jam Corporation, a new outfit, and features detailed atmospheric descriptions. The location graphics are interactive and will change to show the results of significant actions. No help is given and you are absolutely on your own in a race against danger.\r\n\r\nIsolation and danger are also the major themes of System 15000 from AVS. This is no standard text adventure but it is definitely one of the most gripping and compulsive Spectrum games so far. A brief note informs you that Comdata Company has been ripped off for a cool million or more bucks in a computerised bank fraud. Lurking behind the heist are the mob, ominous and menacing. Your single lead is one phone number.\r\n\r\nOn loading you will find only the user screen of the 15000 network and the basic instructions on how to operate it. From that beginning you must penetrate the files of the other computers which use the net to uncover the twisting threads of the plot. The giant mainframes of the international banks are well protected against intruders and police data protection squads will shut the system down temporarily once they get a sniff of what you are up to. Stay cool and keep dialling - piece by piece you will edge your way towards the truth and attempt to restore the Comdata lost millions.\r\n\r\nYour only input routines are phone numbers and an occasional cryptic note on the message board. There is no need to take on any role - this is you against the network in the here and now, deep in the loneliness of the long-distance hacker.\r\n\r\nAfter hours of tracing leads you will find yourself cheering in triumph as you enter the files of the Reserve Manhattan Bank with its glittering stars and stipes logo or you will curse in frustration as yet another faceless machine informs you that your data is bad. You will begin to sense the network as very real, a vast jigsaw of numers, names and details. System 15000 is utterly absorbing and compelling and recalls the atmosphere of the BBC series Bird of Prey. Absolutely recommended.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"122,123,124","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Richard Price","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 29, Mar 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-02-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":164,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Acting Editor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nAssistant Editor: Eugene Lacey\r\nEditorial Assistant: Clare Edgeley\r\nReader Services: Robert Schifreen\r\nArt Editor: Linda Freeman\r\nDesigner: Lynda Skerry\r\nSub Editor: Mary Morton\r\nStaff Writer: Seamus St. John\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Rob Cameron\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Louise Matthews\r\nAdvertising Executives: Bernard Dugdale, Sean Brennan\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Louise Flockhart\r\nPublisher: Tom Moloney\r\nAssistant Publisher: 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.\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Ross Collins\r\nNext Issue: March 16th"},"MainText":"URBAN BORE\r\n\r\nAnother game for the Spectrum I would not borrow, let alone buy, is Urban Upstart from Richard Shepherd Software.\r\n\r\nThe idea is good enough - quite original in fact. You must escape the environs of Scarthorpe, a town so depressed that the unemployed queue up to queue up for a job.\r\n\r\nThe trouble is that the implementation ruins the idea. The top of the screen displays a picture of each location, starting off in your house, and progressing eventually out and around this neglected town.\r\n\r\nWhen you are outside a fish and chip shop, neither CHIPPY nor SHOP are recognised, and a bank, pictured and described, goes unrecognised likewise. I didn't bother with Arthur's bookshop.\r\n\r\nThere are plenty of locations and pictures, and if you are hypnotised by watching your Spectrum slowly fill in your screen with blocks of colour, then you'll be in a trance in no time, for there is no 'graphics-off' switch, and to move around takes upwards of ten seconds a go.\r\n\r\nTo cap it all, should you catch pneumonia out on the cold damp streets, an ambulance will take you to a hospital which turns out to be a perspective maze.\r\n\r\nAll this frustration caused me to type nasty words at the game, whereupon I was whisked off to gaol on an obscenity charge. Non-moving commands are answered fairly promptly, so I tried my hardest to get out, all to no avail. Unfortunately by then, I had lost faith in the game and decided to pursue it no further.\r\n\r\nUrban Upstart, is from Richard Shepherd Software for 48k Spectrum, priced £6.50.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"151","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 4, Mar 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-02-16","Editor":"Chris Anderson","TotalPages":184,"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\nGame-of-the-month poster: Mark Watkinson\r\nScreenshots: Chris Bell\r\nCover Photography: Ko Kon Chung\r\nGroup Editor: Cyndy Miles\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nPublishing Manager: Mark Eisen\r\nAssistant Publishing Manager: Sue Clements\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Herbert Wright\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Jan Martin\r\nAdvertisement Production: Simon Carter\r\nSales Executives: Joey Davies, Marion O'Neill, Louise Hedges\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":"MACHINE: Spectrum 48K\r\nJOYSTICK: No\r\nCATEGORY: Adventure\r\nSUPPLIER: Richard Shepherd Software\r\nPRICE: £6.50\r\n\r\nUrban Upstart is the latest creation programmer Peter Cooke, who was responsible for some of the earlier Richard Shepherd offerings.\r\n\r\nLike Invincible island, Urban Upstart features split-screen graphics, over 70 locations, and some very dry humour. It's not an easy adventure to solve and is good for a few evenings' light entertainment.\r\n\r\nAt the start of the game you find of yourself in a small house in Scarthorpe, the sort of town where the inhabitants dream of taking their summer holidays in Sutton Coldfield.\r\n\r\nDuring the entire game you encounter only five people, none of whom are very friendly. Success depends on perseverance and a magpie's talent for collecting everything in sight.\r\n\r\nThere is a graphic representation of every location, although a number of the screens are identical, and the program responds to multi-statement commands provided they are joined together with 'and'.\r\n\r\nScarthorpe is indeed a depressing place to look at and the idea of escaping gets more and more attractive the further you go. After a few bouts in jail and some fruitless attempts to order fish and chips I found myself contemplating suicide on Grime Street. However, this is one of those rare adventure games where even death offers no release - you just end up in hospital.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"82,83","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Steve Cooke","Score":"8","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Ease Of Use","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Originality","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Lasting Interest","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"8/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Micro Adventurer Issue 6, Apr 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-03-15","Editor":"Graham Cunningham","TotalPages":52,"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":"BACKING DOWN A ONE-WAY STREET\r\n\r\nMICRO: Spectrum 48K\r\nPRICE: £6.50\r\nFORMAT: Cassette\r\nSUPPLIER: Richard Shepherd Software, [redacted]\r\n\r\nScarthorpe is the sort of town where there is only one road in, and it's a one way street.\r\n\r\nIgnoring this perfect tourist trap you have stumbled into the unpleasant town of Scarthorpe, from which you now find it difficult to leave. So at 3 am, when the streets are deserted you decide to make a break and escape.\r\n\r\nThis third generation adventure (text with pretty pictures) is well constructed and written. Obviously a lot of thought has gone into the planning stage. The streets in Scarthorpe are given immortal names such as Amputation Road.\r\n\r\nThe game is easy to map on squared paper once you leave the house, but do not let this fool you into thinking that the adventure is easy. Far from it, I have yet to escape from Scarthorpe although I know how I am going to do it.\r\n\r\nThe game has several quirks, one of the more interesting of which is that the time given by the program does not appear to follow the standard clock system as three successive dials of the speaking clock (yes, there is a useable phone) returned the times of 3:45, 4:42 and 3:54 respectively. I found this every time I played the game.\r\n\r\nOne of the more commercial points of the game is the graphic representation of the location you are at. Every location is illustrated (even if some of the drawing are confusingly) and the border changes colour to match the pictures. These remain in the graphic window at the top of the screen for the duration of your stay.\r\n\r\nIf my presumption that the game was written in machine code is correct then the reaction times are slow and the Look routine is ridiculously so.\r\n\r\nThe program, however, does allow you to enter up to 30 characters for your command. Commands can he strung by the use of the conjunction and but not &..\r\n\r\nMost of the commands can be supplied to one letter and an object often does not have to he specified in the Take command. The vocabulary appears to be limited, even Get is not recognised, Take must be used.\r\n\r\nI recommend Urban Upstart with reservation. The humour may not be appreciated by some people and the scenario is not pleasant.\r\n\r\nNow I must return to the city streets, put on my Frank Sinatra records (this is a clue) and try to find a way out of the police station without going to the hospital.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"23","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jason Orbaum","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair Programs Issue 31, May 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-18","Editor":"Rebecca Ferguson","TotalPages":60,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Rebecca Ferguson\r\nStaff Writer: Colette McDermott\r\nDesign/Illustration: Elaine Bishop\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Shahid Nizam\r\nProduction Co-ordinator: Serena Hadley\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Maria Keighley\r\nSubscription Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Neil Wood\r\n\r\nSinclair Programs is published monthly by EMAP Business and Computer Publications.\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nIf you would like your original programs to be published in Sinclair Programs, please send your contributions, which must not have appeared elsewhere, to:\r\nSinclair Programs\r\nEEC Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrograms should be on cassette. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included. We pay £25 for the copyright of listings published and £10 for the copyright of listings published in the Beginners' section.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1985 Sinclair Programs\r\nISSN No. 0263-0265\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by: Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nAll subscription enquiries:\r\nMagazine Services,\r\nEMAP Business and Computer Publications\r\n[redcated]\r\n\r\nCover Design: Elaine Bishop"},"MainText":"CATHY FOOT MADE THE MISTAKE OF LEAVING SUNNY HAMPSTEAD FOR THE WILDS OF SCARTHORPE. WILL SHE EVER ESCAPE?\r\n\r\n\"Had bovver wiv dog the other day - lost! Said Yeah man, you get out this hole. So I tell me, split this dump, which bug me more than I thought. Decide I leave this mong the town hall stuff for who want to split dis Babylon.\"\r\n\r\nYah, well that's what I found in the archives when I tried to find out how to get out of here - I mean, well, it's just TOO tacky, not a Habitat in sight, and Julian says the wine bars don't bear thinking about - too, too sick-making. We've taken to drinking lager, but this stripey stuff the previous tenant left in the fridge has the oddest effect on one - Oh, Hampstead! Why did I leave you? Oh God - another can of beer - I can't keep this style going much longer!\r\n\r\nIf I didn't know that I could escape I might never have made the effort. Living here HAS that effect on folks. But I got this letter, see. It was addressed to me, but the person what wrote it forgot we know our mates by their Christian names and signed S. Jay. Good on yer mate, I hope the schools and fings are better out there than they are in Scarthorpe - don't see how they CAN'T be! But next time give me yer full name, so I'll know who you are!\r\n\r\nStill, I'm getting out meself and will look you up. The next grubby tramp that knocks at yer door in Glebelands Road, looking for a handout or a job COULD be yer old mate from Scarthorpe. Fanks, too, to the postie for gettin through. Only one question, postie, old pal, did yer HAVE to use yer submachine gun on my front door? That's part of the reason I'm getting out. I LIKED my old doss, the only thing this one has going for it is a solid front door.\r\n\r\nI'm writing this in hospital while I get over my last mixup with the United supporters, then I'm getting out while the going is good. The problem is that the painkillers they are giving me sometimes effects what I write, so please excuse my wandering fingers... you CAN make sense of it if you try.\r\n\r\nOops, here comes the nurse again!\r\n\r\nGetting out of jail is easy, once you've sussed it. If you xbju mpoh fopvhi (move letters back one), the sergeant jt dbmmfe bxbz and you dbo tofbl pvu.\r\n\r\nBoy, that stuff they give you is powerful!\r\n\r\nThere is not much chance to improve reading skills here, apart from gravestones, posters and signs. There is a useful book in the bookshop, though.\r\n\r\nFellow adventurers might remember to dress before leaving their rooms, the police in this town are GOOD, they have to be, but they can be said to be too keen on arrests - perhaps 'cause we don't believe in staying locked up if we can help it. They seem to spend more time on making arrests for indecent exposure, loitering and littering, when, if they was to arrest the football hooligans this might become quite a decent little town. Still, after the last Football Wars, when we were banned by the F.A. from playing against any club outside the town for the next hundred years - I may have missed a few zeros off that figure, but it don't matter, do it? - the police seem to have lost interest in other thugs and the town has gone right to the dogs.\r\n\r\nThe worst thing about a charge of indecent exposure is that there is NO WAY to rip off a pair of strides if yore in the nick - the old bill are too attached to theirs and they've learnt to keep their spares at home - if cops HAVE homes.\r\n\r\nThe worst of the hooligans seem to live off Cut Throat Alley - that used to be such a pretty street once, when it was called Coburn Road. NEVER go down there on yer own, the filth use an armoured car if they get called in. The Ambulance guys are pretty good too; they go everywhere - they can afford to, they got their ambulance from the army experimental center and it spozed to be able to take anything up to an atom bomb. Nobody tried that yet, they closed down the college and moved out a lot of stuff when we got banned - some folks declare U.D.I., we got it forced on us; even Maggie gave up when they stopped her from using a nuke.\r\n\r\nThe only problem with the hospital is that since the oiks started roaming the corridors the staff don't see no point in letting us out. They say that if they do, it only means getting the ambulance out to pick us up again later. I spoze they right. You CAN get out though, there IS a way through that maze of corridors and if you got a doctor coat, they got so many problems with staff they let you go in case you really ARE the new Doctor.\r\n\r\nIf you REALLY stuck - god, here comes that *** nurse again, there is one surefire way out of the hospital, you just txfbs. Leave the mbshf lfz in uif jpvtf before mfbwjoh boe after vokpdljoh uit epps.\r\n\r\nThe weird thing about Scarthorpe is that only the binmen seem to have credit cards - and those of you who listen to the Chip Shop are going to have a nasty surprise .\r\n\r\nThey tell me the telephone works, but at best all I seem to get is that ***** speaking clock - at the third stroke the time will be seven seventy seven and twenty two seconds - precisely?\r\n\r\nAt the worst, the place is crawling with fuzzmobiles, all looking for yours truly.\r\n\r\nCathy insists I tell you that they've been real clever with their graphics, and you can get a long way without being able to read a map. And Julian's friend just loved the Fauviste SCREEN$.\r\n\r\nThere's one thing bout living in Scarthorpe, once I get out the world's gonna wonder what hit it.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"30,31","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Cathy Foot","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Computer Issue 2, Feb 1984","Price":"£0.8","ReleaseDate":"1984-01-19","Editor":"Toby Wolpe","TotalPages":244,"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 Secretary: Lynn Dawson\r\nEditorial: [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions: U.K. £10.50 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: Jeanette Mackrell\r\nClassified: Claire Notley\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]"},"MainText":"48K Spectrum\r\n£6.50\r\nRichard Shepherd Software\r\n\r\nFrom the fridge full of lager to the juvenile delinquents' detention cell, Scarthorpe is the town where no-one goes and that even fewer people get away from. It makes Skelmersdale look like Las Vegas. Kids here think the UK Subs are a middle-of-the-road band, and that Joy Division were too flippant.\r\n\r\nThis is an adventure game, of course, since this is Richard Shepherd's speciality and is a bit more lively than some of its predecessors with good use of simple graphics. So if you are the sort of person who would like to give Elrond a punch on the nose, and if you think Gandalf needs a haircut, this is the game for you. The goal is to escape from Scarthorpe by night. Since this is the sort of town where you get mugged coming out of the dole office, it is no easy number just trying to bring the milk in, let alone walk down the street.\r\n\r\nMy first mistake in playing this game was to drink the can of lager in the icebox. I ended up in hospital. I stole a white coat, but ended up in the police station. As you can see, Scarthorpe really is a dead-end town.\r\n\r\nThe program accepts a wide range of commands and is reasonably user-friendly. It is a pleasant, or rather, unpleasant change from the Dungeons and Dragons world of games like the Hobbit. A computer game with a social conscience! Play it and see.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"61","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"3/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 50, Feb 1984","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1984-03-01","Editor":"Cyndy Miles","TotalPages":98,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Cyndy Miles\r\nDeputy Editor: Geof Wheelwright\r\nManaging Editor: Peter Worlock\r\nSub-Editors: Harriet Arnold, Leah Batham\r\nNews Editor: David Guest\r\nNews Writer: Ralph Bancroft\r\nHardware Editor: Ian Scales\r\nFeatures Editor: John Lettice\r\nSoftware Editor: Bryan Skinner\r\nPrograms Editor: Ken Garroch\r\nPeripherals Editor: Piers Letcher\r\nListings Editor: Wendie Pearson\r\nEditor's Assistant: Nickie Robinson\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nArt Editor: David Robinson\r\nAssistant Art Editor: Floyd Sayers\r\nLayout Artist: Nigel Wingrove\r\nPublishing Manager: Mark Eisen\r\nAssistant Publishing Manager: Sue Clements\r\nPublishing Secretary: Jenny Dunne\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Sarion Gravelle\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Mark Satchell\r\nSales Executives: Christian McCarthy, Marie-Therese Bolger, John Bryan, Laura Cade, Paul Evans, Deborah Quinn\r\nProduction Manager: Nikki Payne\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Karen Isaac\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"},"MainText":"NAME: Urban Upstart\r\nSYSTEM: 48K Spectrum\r\nPRICE: £6.50\r\nPUBLISHER: Richard Shepherd Software, [redacted]\r\nFORMAT: Cassette\r\nLANGUAGE: Basic\r\nOTHER VERSIONS: None\r\nOUTLETS: Mail order/Retail\r\n\r\nDIRTY OLD TOWN\r\n\r\nAnd now for something completely different from Peter Cooke, the author of Invincible Island, who has set his new graphics adventure in the grim industrial town of Scarthorpe.\r\n\r\nOBJECTIVES\r\n\r\nYour only desire is to escape from the town, as well it might be when you consider that among its more attractive boulevards are Muck Alley and Amputation Road. There's a scoring system as a guide to how well you do, with a maximum possible score of 22.\r\n\r\nIN PLAY\r\n\r\nOnce the adventure is running it proves to be a treat, as different from conventional games as Mad Martha was when it appeared. The grimy town offers lots of scope for amusing locations not to mention hazards like the football fans with an 'O' level in mugging.\r\n\r\nEach location's graphics take up the top third of the screen, while underneath is the description, visible exits, objects, and room for your responses. Movement commands are limited to the four compass directions, with the occasional up and down. You can carry and wear up to nine items, but if you try typing HELP all you learn is you're going to need it.\r\n\r\nBeginning in your bedroom the first task is to leave the house, which is not too difficult, so long as you take care not to get arrested for indecent exposure. You can then wander the tasteful streets of Scathorpe looking for clues to a possible escape route. Be on your best behaviour, though, the police here are red-hot, ever-vigilant for loiterers and litterers alike. The first trick you must learn is how to get out of jail, and you also need to know how to get out of hospital where you're flung with equal regularity, courtesy of the football fans or the inclement weather.\r\n\r\nResponses to you inputs come quickly, and as usual in this type of game the main delays are in waiting for the graphics for each location to be drawn as you move about.\r\n\r\nTo be honest, it isn't too difficult to complete the bulk of the adventure, but the last few tasks are ingeniously worked out and kept me coming back for more\r\n\r\nVERDICT\r\n\r\nThere are a lot of laughs in Urban Upstart, plus a fair bit of brain-stretching, and there's no doubt that it's the best thing yet from Richard Shepard Software.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"58","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mike Gerrard","Score":"5","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Lasting Appeal","Score":"4/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"5/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Use Of Machine","Score":"4/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall Value","Score":"5/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]