[{"TitleName":"Cauldron","Publisher":"Palace Software","Author":"Simon Dunstan, Steve Brown, Tony Barber","YearOfRelease":"1985","ZxDbId":"0000850","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 18, Jul 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-06-27","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nAssistant Editor: 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\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\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\nHot Line [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\nCirculation Manager: Tom Hamilton\r\nAll circulation enquiries should ring [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: Palace Software\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £7.99\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\nAuthor: The RamJam Corp with Steve Brown\r\n\r\nOn a hill many miles away there is a green door behind which there is a Golden Broomstick, a thing so powerful that the it is sought after by the best and cleverest witches in the land, but only you are prepared to face the dangers that lie behind the door. It's not that you are being particularly brave but you have this spell that should defeat the powers of the pumpkin's room and leave you, as a prize, with the witches' golden broom.\r\n\r\nYour spell needs six basic ingredients not normally found on supermarket shelves, in fact they can only be found behind other coloured doors for which you will need the coloured keys. So your first task is to find the keys by flying on your own tatty broomstick round the locality. The keys can commonly be seen propped up against trees all that remains is for you to land and pick them up. As you peruse the skies you are attacked by all manner of things. Witch-eating bats, cloak-scorching fireballs, murderous pumpkin and badly behaved seagulls are just a few of the hazards facing you. Of course your magic defends you from their onslaught (witch is to say that your broomstick is actually a 4.5mm quick-firing cannon) but your life force is depleted by as much as four or five points. However by firing directly at the attackers will only cost you one point per shot so since each of your eight lives for hags) only have 99 points to start with you really can't afford to be flippant.\r\n\r\nWith the correct key you can get into any of the caverns although you will have to discover for yourself which caverns to visit first. Each cavern presents a sort of platform game problem that requires great skill and dexterity to negotiate. When you have reached whatever it is that you are looking for you must return home to add it to the pot. After collecting the six main ingredients you will be able to complete the spell that will rid the land of the pumpkin and win that new broom.\r\n\r\nAs a bonus, on the B side of the cassette is a Spectrum version of the earlier Palace game, The Evil Dead.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: Cap/Z left/right, X/C down/up, and V to fire\r\nJoystick: Kempston, Cursor, Sinclair\r\nKeyboard play: responsive\r\nUse of colour: very good\r\nGraphics: detailed, well moving\r\nSound: good\r\nSkill levels: 1\r\nLives: 8\r\nScreens: 64 below ground - a lot above!","ReviewerComments":["I find the graphics in this game very pleasing but I think the movement could have been improved. Rather than the whole screen scrolling from one side to another as you fly, it scrolls in pages, as you reach the far side of one page it rapidly scrolls across so that you are back on the other side of a different screen. The 'how do I get over there' problems in the caverns are very tricky and demand great skill. The attacking nasties are a real pain because there are so many of them, even killing them costs energy so you really will need those lives if you want to complete the game. Very attractive game, playable and I find it fairly addictive.\r\r\nUnknown","I've nothing but praise for this game, graphic detail is marvellous and colour is exceptionally well used. Animation is great too. It's not an easy game by any means - flying through the air seems fun at first until ferocious bats (vampires?) try continually to drag you down. Finding the well spread and randomly placed keys isn't easy either, using them is even worse - as you open up one of the colour-coded doors a new underwurlde appears, offering you screens in a platform - or should I say 'stepping stone' - game. This is even more difficult than the aerial sequences, because for half of the time you don't know where you'll land up when you step blindly off one screen into another. Eight hags might seem a lot of lives to you, but you could have eighty and it wouldn't be enough. A delightful game that is bound to prove popular.\r\r\nUnknown","Here's another game that has been converted from the 64. They've had some trouble with the continually scrolling screen, but the Spectrum page scrolling, though nowhere near as attractive, is a reasonable compromise. The graphics look very good though. Flying on your broomstick is a tricky business with the ghosts, bats and deadly pumpkin pods all homing in on you - don't hang about in one place too long! The caverns present a totally different game with different problems, so Cauldron represents good value in gameplay, and the good graphics, hard to get to rooms, size of the game and difficulty level makes it addictive to play, and with a second free game on board, good value too, although Evil Dead isn't the most mega-fab program.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General rating: A large, engaging and difficult game for the arcade player.","Page":"34","Denied":false,"Award":"Crash Smash","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"89%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"86%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"91%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"90%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"91%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 38, Feb 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-01-10","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Catherine Higgs\r\nDeputy Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nProduction Editor: Jackie Ryan\r\nStaff Writer: Duncan MacDonald\r\nDesigner: Thor Goodall\r\nTechnical Consultant: David McCandless\r\nContributors: Marcus Berkmann, Guy Bennignton, Richard Blaine, Ciaran Brennan, Jonathan Davies, Mike 'Skippy' Dunn, Mike Gerrard, Sean Kelly, Catherine Peters, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith, Phil South, Ben Stone\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Simon Stansfield\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Stephen Bloy\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Katherine Balchin\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nPublisher: Terry Grimwood\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 ©1989 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":"CAULDRON\r\nSilverbird\r\n£1.99\r\nReviewer: David McCandless\r\n\r\nThis game turned some heads and bulged some eyes when it first appeared eons ago, September '85 to be exact, mainly because of its colourful graphics and witch-orientated originality. And surprisingly enough there was a game behind the prettiness.\r\n\r\nYou play a hag zipping around on your bog-standard Acme broomstick on a quest for the legendary, all powerful, all gleaming golden broomstick and the extraordinary cleaning powers that come with it. In your way are bats, badgers and all types of nocturnal nasties hell-bent on preventing you. Your quest takes you across scrolling hills and dales, mountains and gorges and the customary underground caverns and tunnels.\r\n\r\nGameplay is fierce with the nasties tenaciously after your green blood. Both the witch and the creatures are represented in excellent stylish form and some of the underground caverns would stump even the hardest of the hard game-players.\r\n\r\nCauldron isn't technically exquisite and probably wouldn't stand up as a full price game now but it was brilliant in its own right with inspired graphics and fiendish difficulty.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"55","Denied":false,"Award":"Your Sinclair Megagame","Reviewers":[{"Name":"David McCandless","Score":"9","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"9/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 36, Dec 1988","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1988-11-10","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Catherine Higgs\r\nDeputy Editor: Ciaran Brennan\r\nStaff Writer: Duncan MacDonald\r\nProduction Editor: Jackie Ryan\r\nTechnical Consultant: David McCandless\r\nContributors: Marcus Berkmann, Richard Blaine, Mike Clowes, Mike 'Skippy' Dunn, Mike Gerrard, Gwyn Hughes, Sean Kelly, Gary Liddon, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith, Phil South, Ben Stone\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Stansfield\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Kathryn Balchin\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\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":"CAULDRON\r\nSilverbird\r\n£1.99\r\nReviewer: Ben Stone, Mike Dunn\r\n\r\nBut soft, what jiffy-bag thorough yonder postbox breaks? Why, 'tis one that holds Cauldron, a game the like of which hasn't been seen since the last time it was released and blimey, hasn't it aged?\r\n\r\nSomehow, being a witch flying (or should that be flickering?) around, looking for the ingredients of a spell which'll give you a turbo-charged Golden Broomstick, just ain't the same kind of fun it was four years ago. And you don't even get a set of complimentary furry dice in the deal - bah!\r\n\r\nDespite being a bit wrinkly however, Cauldron still doesn't play too badly and there are far, far worse games to be seen walking to the cash register with. If you haven't got a copy yet, Cauldron is well worth looking into. Just watch out for the eye of newt.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"54","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Ben Stone","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"},{"Name":"Mike Dunn","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"6/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 17, Aug 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-07-18","Editor":"Kevin Cox","TotalPages":66,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Kevin Cock-up\r\nArt Editor: Phoebe Evans\r\nDeputy Editor: Rocky Horror 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, Dave Nicholls, Roger Willis, Ross Holman, Mike Leaman, Toni Baker, Dougie Bern, Chris Cockayne, Paul Woof, Iolo Davidson, Tony Samuels, Chris Wood\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":"THE WITCHING HOUR...\r\n\r\nDouble, double toil and trouble:\r\nFire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.\r\n\r\nTake a dash of a Defender style shoot'em up, add a splash of an arcade adventure, throw in a handful of platform screens and top up with some magic graphics. Stir vigorously and you've got a rich brew from Palace Software called Cauldron that aims to have you bewitched, bothered and bewildered.\r\n\r\nDEAD GOOD\r\n\r\nAnd now for a surprise bonus. On the reverse side of the Cauldron tape, appears the Spectrum version of The Evil Dead. It wasn't meant to be there but somehow the gremlins must've crept in at the duplicators. So, dare you risk the evil curse and play the game? Well, you could do worse than give it a go. But the real problem is that there aren't any instructions. A bit of a dead loss, you could say, but panic not, 'cos here at YS we've sussed the plot of this computer nasty.\r\n\r\nYou play the part of Ashly, shacked up on holiday with a group of friends deep in the Tennessee Woodlands. Cheryl, Linda, Scott and Shelly are clean cut ail-American kids who just happen to change into ghastly green mutants when they over-indulge with the spirit - Evil spirit, of course. Your aim at the beginning is to keep the evil one out of the shack by rushing round closing all the windows. When that fails as it inevitably does - well, you can't keep a good ghost down - you'll have to try and kill 'em with the weapons scattered round the shack. These will give you differing amounts of energy which you'll lose when you attack an enemy but your points will increase. Only when you've enough points will the Book of the Evil Dead ('a jolly good read' Daily Mirror. \"Dead boring' Your Spectrum) appears - throw it straight on the fire in the main room and you'll have defeated the curse forever. Dead easy, really.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"64","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"A word of warning - on this level your up/down controls are disabled. Left and right stay the same but the fire button now lets you jump.\r\n\r\nCollect the object in the underground screens, then make a clean sweep on your broomstick straight back to your hut. Then, brew it up with the rest of the dodgy doin's. Once all six are in the pot, get to the pumpkin hall and go for the giant pumpkin.\r\n\r\nDon't tread on the bottom of any of the underground screens - you may never walk again. All your movements must be from platform to platform, so judge your jumps with care.\r\n\r\nThere are moving platforms in most of the underground levels. Judge your jump very carefully and if you don't go in the same direction you'll be tossed away.\r\n\r\nTake extra care when jumping onto these platforms. They're not safe! If you go too close to the edge you're liable to get vertigo and go tumbling down."},{"Text":"The Evil Dead - a touch of corn with a Jolly green giant!"},{"Text":"Tomorrow is the big day of the year for witches - it's Hallowe'en and you've got a lot to do if you're to be chosen as the Witch Queen.\r\n\r\nAll aboard your broomstick and take to the skies. From up above you have to search out and collect the colour-coded keys that'll let you enter the corresponding doorways.\r\n\r\nEven though the graphics are excellent, the animation isn't exactly flicker-free and as for the scrolling - ugh! You have to wait for the screen to scroll onto the next one before your witch can enter it.\r\n\r\nYou're only allowed to land on the grated areas at the bottom. If you miss them the old hag does a midair spin and loses another life.\r\n\r\nHere's your witch's den where you're mixing up a rather unusual cocktail in your cauldron. Trouble is six ingredients don't really make everyone's idea of a thirst-Quenchin', lip-smackin' drink - d'you fancy imbibing toad, newt, bat, hemlock root, bone and lava from the Smoking Island? ' (Mmmm, make mine a double! Ed)"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 40, Jul 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-06-18","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: Rob Cameron\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\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\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\n91,901 Jun-Dec 1984"},"MainText":"Publisher: Palace Software\r\nPrice: £7.99\r\nMemory: 48K\r\nJoystick: Sinclair, Kempston\r\n\r\nHearken witches everywhere, play this game if you dare, defeat the Evil Pumpkin King to regain the broomstick from within.\r\n\r\nIn Cauldron, from Palace Software, the instructions are contained in eight rhyming verses which describe the basic scenario - it is up to you to figure out the puzzles.\r\n\r\nThe Evil Pumpkin has stolen the witch's golden broomstick and the only way it can be retrieved is to brew a spell which will gain her entrance to the Pumpkin's Lair. The spell's six ingredients are to be found in the rhyme and lie in the 64 caverns underground.\r\n\r\nAbove ground is variety of terrains - graveyards, woods, mountains, oceans and islands. There are four doors leading to the caverns, each opened with a cunningly hidden coloured key. Ghosts, killer seagulls and bats deplete your magical powers by hitting you.\r\n\r\nYou can fire at them though that also decreases your magic and the best tactic is avoidance. You have nine lives and each time you die you tumble off your broomstick in a spectacular fall.\r\n\r\nFinding and picking up the spell's ingredients is no easy task. You may have to approach them in a roundabout way or find objects to place them in. Again, whole legions of nasties try to send you to the hereafter.\r\n\r\nThere are a number of teasers in this superb pictorial game with no clues offered in the instructions. Trial and error is the only way through it.\r\n\r\nCauldron has no sound other than the odd spectral beep, but the graphics are brilliant and colourful. Unfortunately, they flicker occasionally and the colours tend to merge.\r\n\r\nCauldron is nevertheless a pleasing and playable game.\r\n\r\nA bonus is to be found on the B side which contains the Evil Dead, never released for the Spectrum. You will be getting two excellent games for the price of one.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"22","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Clare Edgeley","Score":"5","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"5/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 43, May 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nDeputy Editor: Wendie Pearson\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lesley Walker\r\nStaff Writer/Reader Services: Seamus St. John\r\nDesigner: Brian Cookman\r\nProduction Editor: Mary Morton\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Matthews\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Bernard Dugdale\r\nAdvertising Executive: Sean Brennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Melanie Paulo\r\nPublisher: 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: £15. Additional service information including individual overseas airmail rates available upon request. Circulation Department: EMAP National Publications. Published and distributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nPrinted by Severn Valley Press. Typeset by In-Step Ltd.\r\n\r\nCover Illustration and lettering: Jerry Paris\r\n\r\nFantastic Four ©1985 by Marvel Comics Group, a division of Cadence Industries Corporation."},"MainText":"MACHINE: CBM 64/Spectrum\r\r\nSUPPLIER: Palace Software\r\r\nPRICE: £7.99\r\r\n\r\r\nYou've already read about the fantastic graphics in last month's C&VG. Now read how the game is great fun to play!\r\r\n\r\r\nThe basic idea of Cauldron is to help the witch defeat the evil Pumpkins and rescue the Golden Broomstick. To this, the witch must brew up an evil potion in her cottage cauldron and find the Pumpkin leader in his hide-out deep within the mysterious planet.\r\r\n\r\r\nThe witch's quest takes place in, over and around her home . The programmers have created an entire planet - with forests, seas and islands above ground and weird caverns underground.\r\r\n\r\r\nThere are lots of things to discover and puzzles to be solved - and the first C&VG reader to complete the game and send us a map will win the real Golden Broomstick. So were not giving too much away here!","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"102","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"9/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 20, Aug 1985","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-07-25","Editor":"Ray Elder","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Ray Elder\r\nEditorial Assistant: Cliff Joseph\r\nGroup Editor: Wendy J Palmer\r\nSoftware Assistant: John Gerard Donovan\r\nSales Executive: Alice Robertson\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Barry Bingham\r\nDivisional Advertising Manager: Chris Northam\r\nCopy Controller: Sue Couchman\r\nPublishing Director: Peter Welham\r\nChief Executive: T J Connell\r\n\r\nOrigination and design by MM Design & Print, [redacted]\r\nPublished by Argus Specialist Publications Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing is published bi-monthly on the fourth Friday of the month. Distributed by: Argus Press Sales & Distribution Ltd. [redacted]. Printed by: Garnett Print, Rotherham and London.\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication including all articles, designs, plans, drawings and programs and all copyright and other intellectual property rights therein belong to Argus Specialist Publications Limited. All rights conferred by the Law of Copyright and other intellectual property rights and by virtue of international copyright conventions are specifically reserved to Argus Specialist Publications Limited and any reproduction requires the prior written consent of Argus Specialist Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Argus Specialist Publications Limited 1985"},"MainText":"Palace Software\r\n£7.99\r\n\r\nUsually games converted from the CBM64 to our beloved Speccy, don't fare too welol. However, having played the '64 version of Cauldron (against my will, you understand) I actually think that the Spectrum version is better.\r\n\r\nOf course, the attribute problems are there as always, but I found that controlling the figure of the Hag, as she flies around on her broomstick, was easier on the Spectrum than on the '64.\r\n\r\nYou have eight hags available, and must fly them over a scrolling landscape of forests, mountains, seas and cemeteries, from which appropriate nasties issue forth in order to drain your magical reserves. Hidden within the landscape are four keys which provide access to the underground depths through which you must wander to find the Pumpking's Lair.\r\n\r\nPersonally, I found flying the Hag on her broomstick the most enjoyable part of the game. She is well animated and really pretty nippy on her broomstick, and she can also fire bolts at the ghosts, bats etc, which attack her. Unfortunately, once you get underground the game becomes a sort of Jet Set Hag clone. Normally that wouldn't bother me, butI actually found some of these screens irritating since there's no real indication of where you should be going. So, often, when you have bounced your way across a screen, there is no way of knowing how to get onto the next screen and you simply have to leap blindly in the hope that you may land on something in an adjacent screen. So far though, I have virtually always failed to cross between screens safely and this rather haphazard way of doing things becomes irritating as you lose all your Hags in a matter of seconds through no fault of your own.\r\n\r\nCauldron is quite enjoyable on the whole, but I do wish that it had been designed a little more carefully. Mind you, the flip side of the tape has a free Spectrum version of Palace's Evil Dead on it, which is a nice bonus and makes Cauldron good value for money.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"78,79","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"4/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"4/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]