[{"TitleName":"Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom","Publisher":"U.S. Gold Ltd","Author":"F. David Thorpe","YearOfRelease":"1985","ZxDbId":"0000731","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 20, Sep 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-08-28","Editor":"Graeme Kidd","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Publishing Executive: Roger Kean\r\nEditor: Graeme Kidd\r\nTechnical Editor: Franco Frey\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nSoftware Editor: Jeremy Spencer\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Reviewer: Angus Ryall\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey, Robin Candy, Ben Stone, John Minson, Mark Hamer\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nProduction Manager: Sally Newman\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\n©1985 Newsfield Limited.\r\nCrash Magazine is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\n\r\nColour origination 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\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £14.50 post included (UK Mainland); Europe: 12 issues £21.50 post included. 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.\r\n\r\nMICRONET:\r\nYou can talk to CRASH via Micronet. Our MBX is 105845851\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: US Gold\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £7.95\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\n\r\nOur hero Buck has, up till now has been forced to fight his way off the planet of Zoom from within the confines of the CBM64. Now that's all changed. Buck is ready to grace Spectrum fed screens. Buck Rogers and The Planet Of Zoom, to give it its full title is a pretty straightforward shoot em up. The game is divided according to the insert into 5 levels of 5 battles. The first three battles are fought across the planet's surface, the flat part of which resembles the freshly cut grass at Twickenham, except that the horizontal stripes flash from one lurid colour to another giving the impression of forward movement. Your ship sits in the lower half of the screen and is able to move left or right and, to give the effect of changing altitude, a little way up and down.\r\n\r\nThe electron posts are a hazard common to the first three battles. They look a little like rugby posts without the crossbar but with wire hoops around each. The first battle has only electron posts looming out from the distance. Ten little triangles at the top of the screen tell you how many posts must be negotiated before you can reach the next screen. Round two requires the removal of sixteen triangles but this time, enemy ships count as well as the posts. Two types of craft can be destroyed: wield, sproingy Space Hoppers and Saucers. Destroying each loses you one little triangle and gets you 400 points. For the maximum points, try and fly through all of the posts because they are worth 500 points a time and with good reason. The third battle is pretty much the same but this time without the hoppers so more saucers. These guys are unpleasant simply because they have a nasty habit of coming at you from behind as well as from the front. If you clear the eighteen triangles you move off into space where you must destroy a wave of 20 saucers, again a lot of the little creeps are sneaking up from behind. Your final task is to destroy the mother ship, a pretty monstrous thing that must be hit dead centre. Not so easy while it keeps firing nasty little missiles at your ship.\r\n\r\nNow that you have managed to destroy the first mother ship you will be awarded an extra life to help you on your way through the next four levels. While you are avoiding fatal collisions with posts and aliens you must bear in mind that each one of your 'lives' has a limited fuel supply. No matter how well you fly, sooner or later your ship will drop out of the sky so be aggressive and keep an eye on the fuel bar at the top of the screen. The Planet of Zoom is depending on you.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: Q to P and Y to T left/right, 1 to 0 and A to L up/down, Z to M to fire.\r\nJoystick: Cursor type, Kempston and Interface II\r\nKeyboard play: very good\r\nUse of colour: a bit too vivid at times\r\nGraphics: neat but not outstanding\r\nSound: good fire sound but little else\r\nSkill levels: 6\r\nLives: 4 plus extra given\r\nScreens: 5","ReviewerComments":["This really is a pretty easy game to play. I managed to score 220,000 after only a few goes, though I admit getting the maximum score by flying through ALL of the posts is herd. Very soon you realise that every level - there are in fact at least six, not five as the leaflet says - are all the same. The enemy appear in exactly the same pattern each time, and pretty soon you can line yourself up for a kill before the target appears. The vivid colours used for the display can get painful after a while. I didn't understand why the fuel bar was labelled 'time', that doesn't make much sense. The insert that came with the game was not only inaccurate but contained some pretty stupid sentences eg. 'If you fly out side the Electron posts after level one, you are likely to be hit by Electron posts.' The leaflet also claimed that the game became harder with each level; not true. That aside it's not such a bad a game if you take it for what it is; an easy though playable shoot 'em up.\r\r\nUnknown","Buck Rogers is the sort of game that will be played for scores only, a little like the early arcade games. The graphics are bright and neat but nothing very special and do tend to flicker a bit. The game is playable but not really addictive and I found the Mother Ship to be something of an anti-climax.\r\r\nUnknown","Who remembers Blade Alley by PSS? I did a CRASH back on it in issue 15. Well this is essentially the same game, all US Gold have done is to get rid of a few screens and change the graphics a bit. The shadow underneath your ship is a nice touch except that it does not change size when the ship moves up and down. Another point which I found strange was the time limit which is referred to in the insert as 'fuel'. On the whole the game is very easy, so it presents no challenge and, as we all know, a game without a challenge is neither addictive nor playable. I really think that US Gold are scraping the barrel a bit with this one. To the best of my arcade playing knowledge 'Buck Rogers' was always the empty machine that nobody seemed to want to play.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Neat but too easy for the experienced.","Page":"124,126","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Flying over a gaudily coloured Twickenham-type terrain, its go for the posts, but avoid a touch. Zoom, Zoom with Buck Rogers."},{"Text":"Out in space amongst the twinkling stars, blast the saucers and watch out for the Mean Mother Ship."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"75%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"82%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"78%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"66%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"67%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 18, Sep 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-08-15","Editor":"Kevin Cox","TotalPages":66,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Kevin Cox\r\nArt Editor: Phoebe Evans\r\nDeputy Editor: Peter Shaw\r\nProduction Editor: Louise Cook\r\nArt Assistant: Martin Dixon\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nContributors: Stephen Adams, Ross Holman, Roger Willis, Tony Samuels, Chris Wood, Dougie Bern, Phil South, Rick Robson, Peter Freebrey, David Smith, Zarch Johannes\r\nAdvertisement Manager: David Baskerville\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Chris Talbot\r\nManaging Editor: Roger Munford\r\nArt Director: Jimmy Egerton\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Chris Robur\r\nPublisher: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Sportscene Specialist Press Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England. Telephone (all departments): [redacted]\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 Spectrum ©1985 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."},"MainText":"BUCK ROGERS\r\nUS Gold\r\n£7.95\r\n\r\nRick: I cut my arcade teeth on cosmic combat capers such as this so I wasn't too impressed with (yet) another Space Invaders clone - even if it is in sort of 3D. Still, for any star pilots out there with L-plates on your joysticks there's a certain nostalgic charm about fighting your way through the different levels of combat before the Final Frontier is reached and the ultimate confrontation with the Death Star (oops! sorry Mother Ship).\r\n\r\nThe game offers whizz bangs a plenty in the end but the generous fuel supply, a benign assortment of hoppers and saucers that rarely zap and never go into hyper space, won't leave you sweating at the controls. Buck's own ship has the manoeuvrability of a camel train but providing you can ride a bike through a barn door you should learn to save the Planet Zoom and enjoy a Cornetto at the same time. And beware the graphics - tacksville. This is no Zoom with a view but a planet covcred with your Mum's kitchen lino.\r\n\r\nThough I had it sussed in the time it takes Connors to question a line call, I still had plenty of good wholesome fun purging my blood lust annihilating aliens.","ReviewerComments":["Not up to the usual US Gold standard but still equal to all the other look-alikes.\r\nRoss Holman\r\n2/5 HIT","The usual flash yank space-bother. Presumably Mr Rogers was just earning a quick Buck before taking on more dastardly foes.\r\nRoger Willis\r\n2/5 HIT"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"37","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Ross Holman","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5 HIT"},{"Name":"Roger Willis","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5 HIT"},{"Name":"Rick Robson","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/5 HIT"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 42, Sep 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-08-18","Editor":"Bill Scolding","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\nEditor: Bill Scolding\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nStaff Writer: Chris Bourne, Clare Edgeley\r\nDesigner: Craig Kennedy\r\nEditorial Secretary: Norisah Fenn\r\nPublisher: Neil Wood\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nAdvertising Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Shahid Nizam\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executive: Kathy McLennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Jim McClure\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Linda Everest\r\n\r\nMAGAZINE SERVICES\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\n\r\nTELEPHONE\r\nAll departments [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Stuart Hughes, used by permission of Softek International.\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to Sinclair User please send programs or articles to:\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 each program printed and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nTypeset by Saffron Graphics Ltd, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Peterboro' Web, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1985 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\n102,023 Jan-Jun 1985"},"MainText":"Publisher: US Gold\r\nPrice: £7.95\r\nMemory: 48K\r\nJoystick: Kempston, Sinclair, Cursor\r\n\r\nOne of the most uninspiring games ever has just been released by US Gold.\r\n\r\nBuck Rogers - who is he, anyway? - has been licensed from Sega and part of the game adapted for the computer. No doubt US Gold has tried to be faithful to the arcade version, but surely the graphics could be more detailed. After all, the original is a couple of years old with graphics of the Space Invaders era.\r\n\r\nYou start by skimming forward across the surface of Planet Zoom. In the first tedious screen electrified portals appear. Just fly through 11 of those and onto section two.\r\n\r\nNext fly through the posts and kill off numerous alien saucers and space hoppers. There are five sections in each level, increasing in difficulty. Finally you reach space where assorted aliens and the mother ship must be blasted. At level two, the whole sequence starts again.\r\n\r\nPlanet Zoom consists of lines of colours receding to the horizon. Those with mono sets may count themselves lucky. In colour a revolting pink and crimson form the lines and in level two, a brilliant blue and red. No doubt level three is as horrible.\r\n\r\nIn short, there are better things to spend your money on.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"28","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Clare Edgeley","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"2/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair Programs Issue 35, Sep 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-08-15","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[redacted]"},"MainText":"PRICE: £7.95\r\n\r\nA nightmare scene. You are crossing a zebra crossing when suddenly it starts scrolling towards you. Suddenly it changes to shades of lurid pink. Then the aliens start raining down. You shoot faster, and faster and, suddenly the mother ship appears. It is awful, it is hideous, it is Buck Rogers and the Planet of Zoom.\r\n\r\nThe game divides into five sections. You steer your ship through gateways moving towards you, then aliens have to be shot down while you dodge the gateways. These are followed by more aliens, then you are transported into space to attack more aliens and destroy the mothership.\r\n\r\nOnce this uninspiring sequence is complete, it begins again only, this time, the landscape is made up of a new, hideously bright, combination of colours.\r\n\r\nYour ship is well represented on screen, swooping and gliding from left to right. Other graphics are crude, and the landscape is eye strainingly awful.\r\n\r\nBuck Rogers is a straightforward shoot 'em up with little to recommend it. Produced for the 48K Spectrum by US Gold, [redacted].","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"15","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Colette McDermott","Score":"37","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Rating","Score":"37%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]