[{"TitleName":"Captain America in the Doom Tube of Dr Megalomann","Publisher":"Go!","Author":"Adventuresoft UK Ltd","YearOfRelease":"1988","ZxDbId":"0000808","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 50, Mar 1988","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1988-02-25","Editor":"Barnaby Page","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Acting Managing Editor: Barnaby Page\r\nStaff Writers: Mark Caswell, Dominic Handy, Gordon Houghton, Lloyd Mangram, Ian Phillipson\r\nSubeditor: David Peters\r\nPhotographers: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\nOffice: Frances Mable, Glenys Powell\r\nTechnical Writers: Simon N Goodwin, Jon Bates\r\nPBM Writer: Brendon Kavanagh\r\nStrategy Writer: Philippa Irving\r\nEducation Writer: Rosetta McLeod\r\nContributors: Robin Candy, Mike Dunn, Paul Evans, Dave Hawkes, Nathan Jones, Nick Roberts, Ben Stone, Paul Sumner, Bym Welthy, Nik Wild\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nAssistant Director: Markie Kendrick\r\nDesign: Wayne Allen\r\nProcess and Planning: Matthew Uffindell, Nick Orchard, Ian Chubb, Robert Millichamp\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\nPlease address correspondence to the appropriate person!\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 anything sent into CRASH - including written and photographic material, software and hardware - unless it is accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. Competition entries and letters to the CRASH Forum, to other sections and to staff are always read with interest but cannot be acknowledged even if an SAE is included, and letters submitted for publication may be edited for length and style.\r\n\r\n©1988 Newsfield Limited\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Go!\r\nRetail Price: £7.99\r\nAuthor: Adventuresoft\r\n\r\nA good villain doesn't give up easily - supposedly dead, the evil Dr Megalomann (he'd hardly be Dr Barnardo with a name like that) returns to offer the President of the USA an ultimatum: hand over his power to the mad doctor, or see the world plunged into mayhem.\r\n\r\nIf Megalomann doesn't get his way, he's going to throw a terrifying tantrum and launch a missile carrying a deadly virus.\r\n\r\nThe mad Doctor's desert headquarters consists of three cylinders, one inside the other - forming the Doom Tube. Each cylinder is divided into decks (levels), with each deck subdivided into quadrants (rooms). And an elevator, the Orbivator, runs between cylinders.\r\n\r\nBut it's not all plain Orbivating if you want to save the world. The virus has spread into the quadrants - some are more poisonous than others - and though Captain America has been injected with a protective serum, if a quadrant is too toxic it will kill him.\r\n\r\nThe serum that keeps Captain America safe is only temporarily effective, but the ingredients to make more can be produced in the converter quadrant - if Captain America can get that far.\r\n\r\nThe converter is activated by touching certain wall panels and placing sufficient quantities of Yin and Yang, the essential components of the vital vaccine, in receiver plates. Yin and Yang can be obtained by blasting a doom pod found in one of the quadrants.\r\n\r\nCaptain America may be the pinnacle of physical perfection, but these 240 pounds of pure athletic beefcake cannot go it alone, so the good Captain carries a virtually indestructible shield. With this he can deflect all projectiles and nearly all energy beams - save for psion energy, which unfortunately he finds within the Doom Tube.\r\n\r\nAnd in some rooms rotators rove through the air, sending out lethal beams. But on destruction these rotators release a code word which can be helpful in accessing later areas of the Doom Tube.\r\n\r\nIf Captain America can reach the Doom Tube's final deck, perhaps he can disarm the missile and save the world - but the game is played in real time, and you have just an hour before Megolamann's deadly deadline.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nJoysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair\r\nGraphics: colourful but poorly-defined characters\r\nSound: tune, poor effects, song - Who's Crying Now - from obscure band Resister on side two as marketing gimmick (in mono)","ReviewerComments":["I used to think Captain America was the square-jawed, strong, handsome, young American comic-strip hero who always won - but the big brave image of this superhero was tragically shattered by GO!'s licensed game. The playing area is cramped, though the graphics are quite detailed, and the only really good thing is the tune - otherwise Captain America strays too far from the spirit of the comic-book hero.\r\nNathan Jones\r\n34%","Graphically Captain America is only average; it's well-drawn, but the colours used are garish and annoying, and harsh contrasts make gameplay a bit confusing. A bit of interesting black comedy puts more spice into the game than the limp Resister soundtrack does, but a couple of good jokes don't justify this kind of price. If you want to save America from a slow, agonising end, that's up to you; if you want to do it by playing this game, forget it.\r\nGordon Houghton\r\n30%"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: A disappointing licence, wasting great potential.","Page":"25","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Nathan Jones","Score":"34","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Gordon Houghton","Score":"30","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"50%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"53%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"38%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"30%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"36%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 27, Mar 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-02-11","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Darrell King\r\nDeputy Editor: Marcus Berkmann\r\nTechnical Editor: Phil South\r\nProduction Editors: Fran Husband, Jackie Ryan\r\nDesigner: Catherine Higgs\r\nContributors: Soo Abram, Richard Blaine, Audrey & Owen Bishop, Ciaran Brennan, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, David McCandless, Duncan McDonald, John Minson, David Powell, Nat Pryce, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith, Tony Worrall\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Stansfield\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nArt Director: Hazel Bennington\r\nPublisher: Kevin Cox\r\nPublishing Director: Roger Munford\r\nFinance Director: Colin Crawford\r\nManaging Director: Stephen England\r\nChairman: Felix Dennis\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":"Go!\r\n£8.99\r\nReviewer: Duncan MacDonald\r\n\r\nThe other day I was having awful problems trying to read the Captain America instruction sheet - I couldn't understand a single word. Then a friend pointed out that I had been reading it in German, and that the English instructions were overleaf. Luckily we both saw the funny side.\r\n\r\nAnyway, it seems that Dr Megalomann, an 'evil' genius, is threatening to release a lethal genetic virus (Jeremy Beadle?) over the good ole U.S. of A. The launching site for the virus carrying missiles is an underground silo in the Mojave Desert. This is the 'Doom-Tube' and where the action of the game takes place. You, as Captain 'Cap' America, have to (and I quote): \"Save the free world...God save America!\" Bleeeeeuuuuucch!!!\r\n\r\nThe game is controlled from a screen called the 'Orbivator'. It's a sort of lift (sorry, elevator) which will move you around the 'Doom-Tube' by pressing the relevant buttons (you control Cap's hand). There's also a monitor screen which, again by button pressing, will give you little hints and tips. You're totally safe in here, but there's a clock ticking away.\r\n\r\nThe Doom-Tube is five stories high (or deep, really), and the air gets progressively more toxic the further down you go. You have a preset immunity level, which is enough to get you around deck one, but you need to get a bonus immunity before you can go to the deeper, more toxic levels. I can only tell you about level one, 'cos I couldn't get any further.\r\n\r\nThere are four rooms, viewed from slightly above, in which your Cap sprite has to kill nasties by throwing his shield at them (it bounces back, so you can use it again and again). Clear one room and move to the next. There are things to pick up and places to put them (for bonus immunity). Ultimately, work your way down to the fourth room on deck five (the basement) and abort the missile's countdown.\r\n\r\nSimple as that. Except it isn't. It's really hard. Okay, the graphics aren't going to win any awards, but they're a nice size and very clear. Ditto the sound. Blimey.\r\n\r\nP.S. On the B side of the tape Go! have enclosed a 'freebie': A mono recording of an insipid American West-Coasty 'Mild Metal' \"rock\" song by a band called \"Resister\". It sounds like a poor quality eight track demo-tape. I'm glad I'm not a member of 'Resister'. It would be almost as embarrassing as waking up one morning and realising that one was actually Sid Little. Graaaaaaaarrrrrgghhhh!!!!!","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Jolly little explore 'n'shoot game that hasn't got an awful lot to do with Capt. America but is fun all the same. Unlike the soundtrack.","Page":"26","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Duncan MacDonald","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 72, Mar 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-02-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nStaff Writer: Tamara Howard\r\nArt Editor: Gareth Jones\r\nDesigner: Andrea Walker\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nZapchat: Jon 'Call me Bon Jovi' Riglar\r\nTechnical: Andrew Hewson, Rupert Goodwins\r\nContributors: Tony 'a fiver if my name goes first in the list' Dillon, Chris 'a fiver? You must be joking!' Jenkins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Katherine Lee\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Alison Morton\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nPublisher's Assistant: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\nMarketing: Clive 'I'll leave that with you then' Pembridge\r\n\r\nPhone: [redacted]\r\nFax: [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions: [redacted]\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis Month's Cover: Brian Talbot\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1988 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458"},"MainText":"Label: Go!\r\nAuthor: Adventuresoft\r\nPrice: £8.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Jim Douglas\r\n\r\nTaking the role (and donning the ridiculous costume) of Captain America, it's down to you to combat evil Dr Megalomann. The Doc is about to wreak a terrible revenge, although it's not clear what happened to him in the first place, and North America will shortly be contaminated by a deadly virus if you don't locate and destroy the missile silo from which the bug-bearing rockets will launch.\r\n\r\nThe CIA have located the rocket base and it's your task to venture where countless Government men have been and never returned and destroy the base.\r\n\r\nObviously, things aren't as easy as the synopsis leads you to believe. Dr M's base in one confusing place. It's like two tubes, one inside the other, forming a number of chambers around a core. Each room has a level number and a number to indicate at which point around the tube it sits.\r\n\r\nYou're limited to only entering chambers whose radiation levels are lower than your immunity level and you get to them using the Orbital Whatyacallit and can then step inside.\r\n\r\nEach room has an ante-chamber guarded by two rather pathetic shooting robots which glide up and down poles, firing across the screen. Using your trusty shield as a discus, you knock them out and enter the main room through the white door on the right.\r\n\r\nYou have only a limited number of shields. If you fire them all off randomly, you'll find yourself defenceless, and shortly afterwards - dead. If you hit your target, or press Fire again quickly enough after you realise you're off target, the shield will return. Keeping a degree of control over your firepower adds to the strategy points and forces you to think a bit instead of just blazing away.\r\n\r\nOnce you're inside the main room, you'll be attacked by more of The Doc's henchmen. Using your shield once more, you can despatch the nasties and then go about getting hold of the ying-yang; a mysterious substance that provides immunity from the toxic radiation in the base, thus allowing you to explore later levels.\r\n\r\nOnce you've got past this little lot and you find yourself inside the room, swanning around having beaten the first rank of guards, you'll be assaulted by various 2nd brigade thugs who are virtually impossible to beat. But strangely enough while this became thoroughly frustrating, the point at which I thought \"stuff this\" was a long time coming. In short, it's a seriously addictive game.\r\n\r\nGraphically, it's good but I've seen better. The characters aren't particularly large, but the screens are interestingly designed. As for gameplay, there's a modicum of strategy in the room selection process, and the action is fairly gripping.\r\n\r\nCaptain America doesn't offer much that you won't have seen before, but the 'toughness' of the gameplay seems to have been pitched at the correct level to provide a challenge.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Good gameplay and above-average graphics plus a licence too. Let down slightly by some lack of depth.","Page":"44","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jim Douglas","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"Q: What do you call a man with a car on his head? A: Jack."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]