[{"TitleName":"Call Me Psycho","Publisher":"Pirate Software Ltd","Author":"Martyn Hartley, Paul Scrivin","YearOfRelease":"1987","ZxDbId":"0000793","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 46, Nov 1987","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1987-10-29","Editor":"Barnaby Page","TotalPages":164,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Managing Editor: Barnaby Page\r\nStaff Writers: Richard Eddy, Dominic Handy, Lloyd Mangram, Ian Phillipson\r\nPhotographers: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\nOffice: Frances Mable\r\nTechnical Writers: Simon N Goodwin, Jon Bates\r\nAdventure Writer: Derek Brewster\r\nPBM Writer: Brendon Kavanagh\r\nStrategy Writer: Philippa Irving\r\nEducation Writer: Rosetta McLeod\r\nContributors: Robin Candy, Mike Dunn, Paul Evans, Dominic Handy, Nick Roberts, Ben Stone, Paul Sumner\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nArt Director: Gordon Druce\r\nIllustrator: Oliver Frey\r\nDesign: Markie Kendrick, Wayne Allen\r\nProcess and Planning: Jonathan Rignall (Supervisor), Matthew Uffindell, Nick Orchard\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Andrew Smales\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\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\r\n\r\n3-D Artwork by Markie Kendrick"},"MainText":"Producer: Pirate\r\nRetail Price: £1.99\r\nAuthor: M Hartley and P Scririn\r\n\r\nHolding the world to ransom for £100 million, 20 BMX bikes and a bucket of shiny pebbles is all in a day's devilry for that atrocious academic, Professor Hans de Jaberwocky.\r\n\r\nBut his threat to gungify all those not wearing protective clothing is sufficient to spur Psycho, the humanoid droid, into altruistic action.\r\n\r\nIf this minor mechanoid is to save the likes of you and me from conversion into so many bowls of Bird's Dream Topping, Psycho must combat the robotic opposition created by the degenerate don.\r\n\r\nThis clique of dangerous devices includes Edgar, unarmed but with feet and hands that have been graded as lethal weapons by the Bognor police department; Grez Bret, a gun-toting 'bot; Bazooka Fred; and loony Chris.\r\n\r\nPsycho must not only do his best against these unpleasant constructions of circuitry, but must also avoid the missiles, preprogrammed tanks, time bombs and mines that litter the place. To touch any of these induces in the droid a nasty attack of death, and he has but three lives.\r\n\r\nOur daring rescuer can get some help by picking up the assorted weaponry - a pistol, bazooka, M-16 rifle and flamethrower - that he finds. Each weapon has a limited supply of ammunition, but Psycho can increase this by touching extra arms caches.\r\n\r\nPoints are awarded for every opponent that Psycho consigns to the scrap heap, and the running total is increased by collecting junk food, milk shakes and emptied lager cans. Releasing prisoners swells the total even more.\r\n\r\nGiven a little personal living space, Psycho can begin to dismantle the series of doomsday devices that threaten our molecular stability. He does this by shorting each mechanism's power supply.\r\n\r\nOnce this is done, the heroic droid can make for a friendly submarine to discover the location of the next device. But should Psycho try and beetle prematurely to the sub before he has deactivated a device, he is penalised for his precociousness and is returned to his starting point.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nJoysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair\r\nGraphics: slightly jerky but quite well-defined\r\nSound: nothing special","ReviewerComments":["Perhaps this game should have been called Call Me Cobra, because it sure seems the same as Ocean's game - well, graphically anyway - even down to the hamburgers and megaweapons. And this conceptually boring game adds nothing new to a well-worn mindless genre. The gameplay suffers mostly from unresponsive controls and slow animation, both of which reduce its addictive qualities. Surprisingly, with games of this type a fair amount of thought is required when jumping around the platforms, and a map would be very useful.\r\nPaul Sumner\r\n41%","This is a real waste of time. The program is full of bugs and the gameplay is pathetic. The sprites have been badly defined and after a while it gets hard on the eyes. Call Me Psycho looks like a homemade job, and a very bad one at that. There are now so many games of this genre that when another one like this comes along it is simply a waste of time and money.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n25%","Call Me Psycho makes a refreshing change from the rest of the shoot-'em-ups we've had this month. It isn't the wildest thing I've seen recently, but playable, reasonably addictive games at this price are not readily available\r\nBen Stone\r\n74%"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Pleasant, but not polished enough.","Page":"125","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Paul Sumner","Score":"41","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"25","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Ben Stone","Score":"74","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"It takes a droid to save the human race in Call Me Psycho."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"52%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"55%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"50%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"58%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"47%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 25, Jan 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1987-12-10","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":126,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Peter George\r\nDeputy Editor: Marcus Berkmann\r\nProduction Editor: Lucy Broadbent\r\nTechnical Editor: Phil South\r\nDeputy Art Editor: Darrell King\r\nContributors: Richard Blaine, Audrey & Owen Bishop, Jonathan Davies, Chris Donald, Mike Gerrard, Gwyn Hughes, Joe King, Tony Lee, John Minson, David Powell, Nat Pryce, Rick Robson, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith, Mischa Welsh, Tony Worrall\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Stansfield\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nPublisher: Kevin Cox\r\nPublishing Director: Roger Munford\r\nManaging 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 ©1988 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":"CALL ME PSYCHO\r\nPirate\r\n£1.99\r\nReviewer: Gwyn Hughes\r\n\r\nA cut-price Exolon without the complexity. Left, right, left, right, left to right and keep on shooting if you want to make it level two. The one problem is that the sprites are rather too big, making manoeuvring tricky, and responses aren't what they might be. Playable at the price, but \"Don't call me Psycho, I'll call you!\"","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"47","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Gwyn Hughes","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"6/10","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: Pirate Software\r\nAuthor: Martyn Hartley and Paul Scriven\r\nPrice: £1.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: None\r\nReviewer: Tony Dillon\r\n\r\nOne word springs to mind when playing this game. Tacky. Tacky, tacky, tacky. It's a poor storyline to start off with. You take control of the latest mega-battle droid, SK521/KO987 also known as Psycho (or should that be Sicko?) He's been given the usual job of saving the earth and all of human civilisation as we know it by single-handedly battling his way across seven sections of flip-screen battlegrounds. The screens are quite well depicted but lack any great variation. The sprites, however, are beautifully depicted, in glorious monochromatic cartoon style, vaguely reminiscent of those in Cobra.\r\n\r\nThe animation is awful, though. With terrible flicker and only two frames of movement per sprite it really lets down the playability. Even the numerous different weapons fail to make up the loss. Maybe next time.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Yet another bad rip-off of the Green Beret/Army Moves genre. Sorry, next.","Page":"96","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Tony Dillon","Score":"4","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]