[{"TitleName":"The Centurions","Publisher":"Reaktor","Author":"WE M.U.S.I.C., David John Rowe","YearOfRelease":"1987","ZxDbId":"0000871","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: Reaktor\r\nRetail Price: £8.99\r\nAuthor: Byte Engineers\r\n\r\nDoc Terror is after a stock of Tyron-Dichromate, a substance that can do more damage to the earth and its ozone layer than even the heaviest user of underarm deodorant.\r\n\r\nMax, Jake and Ray are three mere mortals but on donning their Exohame suits they become incredible fighting warriors - Centurions, fusions of man and machine. And only they can stop the evil Doctor's dastardly deeds.\r\n\r\nThey begin life as powerless droids, but by manoeuvring itself onto a transformation pad a humble droid is changed into a Centurion.\r\n\r\nAs our heroes make their way through the landscape surrounding the Weapons Development Centre where the Tyron-Dichromate is held, hordes of malignant creatures come after them, howling for their hydraulic fluids. With their basic blasters, the Centurions can destroy these alien thugs, adding weapon upgrades when they've destroyed enough attackers to reveal collectible rectangular Quants.\r\n\r\nContact with an ordinary enemy reduces a Centurion's energy, but if Doc Terror himself is encountered and his image falls upon a Centurion, that warrior is returned to droid form. Back to the old transformation pad...\r\n\r\nOn each level there are six keys, all surrounded by air, sea or land, and only the Centurion with the capability to cross the encircling terrain can reach the key. When all keys have been collected then the next level can be reached.\r\n\r\nWith these keys the three different rooms of the Weapons Development Centre can finally be entered, and there the Centurions can dispose of the cases of dangerous chemical... by walking into them.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nJoysticks: Kempston\r\nGraphics: shoddy use of colour over uninspiring characters\r\nSound: good original spot FX but poor tune\r\nOptions: definable keys","ReviewerComments":["If you want a game in which you can hardly see your character, with trashy sound effects and boring gameplay, then rush out and buy Centurions today. The backgrounds cover up the main sprite terribly (a bit like Wiz...), so you have to strain your eyes just to see what's going on. Reaktor games still have that irritating loading sequence and no loading screen, so the presentation isn't fantastic. Centurions is a no-go area.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n30%","If the TV show is anything like the game then I'm jolly glad I've never seen it. Centurions just doesn't work on the Spectrum; all the things that could go wrong have. The graphics use the weirdest masking technique I've seen in a long time, which makes the characters very hard to distinguish from the grassy background. Colour couldn't have been used in a more haphazard way - there's clash everywhere. And it's obvious from the outset rem this is a straight translation from another machine, not at all customised to the Spectrum's capabilities. I just hope you buyers are more responsible about it than the programmers.\r\nPaul Sumner\r\n22%"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: A poor licence of a potentially exciting subject.","Page":"138","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"30","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Paul Sumner","Score":"22","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Play 'hun the Tyron-Dichromate' in Reaktor's Centurions."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"48%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"24%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"26%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"27%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"23%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 23, Nov 1987","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1987-10-12","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Peter George\r\nProduction Editor: Lucy Broadbent\r\nTechnical Editor: Phil South\r\nSoftware Editor: Marcus Berkmann\r\nDeputy Art Editor: Darrell King\r\nEditorial Assistant: Angela Eager\r\nContributors: Richard Blaine, Audrey & Owen Bishop, Chris Donald, Mike Gerrard, Gwyn Hughes, ZZKJ, Tony Lee, Rick Robson, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith, Mischa Welsh, Tony Worrall\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Julian Harriott\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nManaging Editor: Kevin Cox\r\nPublisher: Roger Munford\r\nPublishing 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 ©1987 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":"Reaktor\n£8.99\nReviewer: Nat Pryce\n\nOh cripes! Doc Terror has nabbed a load of Tyron-dichromate and is about to destroy life as we know it, and probably Phil Snout, too! There's only one thing to do... call in the Centurions. This is where you come in, so snap your weapon systems onto your Exoframe, put on your cool shades and it's Powerxtreme!\n\nYes, I know the Centurions don't wear shades but you'll have to if you want to survive long, 'cos with this game it's Eye-strainxtreme. Not only is the colour scheme as garish as you can possibly imagine, but the sprites are miniscule, dotty blobs which flicker as they move around and flicker even more when the screen scrolls, but then the whole screen flickers while scrolling!\n\nCenturions is hardly hot on the originality front either; it is a sort of Gauntlet meets Nemesis. You can collect extra weapons by killing certain aliens and use different keys to open different doors. Some areas of the maze can only be accessed by certain Centurions but you can change the bloke you're playing at the start.\n\nSo, the game boils down to a lot of repetitive to-ing and fro-ing as you run back to base to change your man, then back to the maze to open a door, and then back to base...\n\nThe two player option does little to incite more excitement, or improve the addictive qualities. I notice that the programmer is called A. N. Other; it's no wonder he's decided to stay anonymous!","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A tedious Gauntlet clone which has been rendered completely unplayable by messy graphics and flickery scrolling.","Page":"61","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Nat Pryce","Score":"5","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"4/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"3/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"5/10","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: Reaktor\r\nAuthor: Tony Crowther, Ross Goodley\r\nPrice: £8.95\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Jim Douglas\r\n\r\nIf the idea of jigging around in a thoroughly preposterous exoskeleton, being called Jake and chasing after someone by the name of Doc Terror while still managing to look like a match-stick man refugee from an L. S. Lowry painting appeals to you, then I dare say Centurions will too.\r\n\r\nOtherwise you'll find it odd that such a big toy game licence has been turned into such a mega-poor game - as you will see.\r\n\r\nAt first sight Centurions is a bit Guantlety, only not as neat looking. Graphically the game consists of a plan view of three different sections, outdoor and interior. The characters you control are represented by a single stick man. The only visual difference between the characters is colour.\r\n\r\nAs for shooting! A large attribute problem kind of judders across the screen!!\r\n\r\nThe only thing that could possibly redeem Centurions would be a addictive core of a game underneath the frightful exterior. So it's a bit of a blow to discover that the game itself is only moderately more interesting than a wallpaper catalogue.\r\n\r\nThe gameplay is also a bit like Gauntlet derivative. You wander around the play area, fending off goons and collecting keys to the next level.\r\n\r\nThe screen scrolls in four directions, and you can race around with reasonable speed, though you seem to spend a large amount of time racing through highly uninteresting wastelands and corridors. You can change into any Centurion you like by returning to a kind of groundbase and passing over the appropriate icon. Quite what good this does is a little unclear Try as I might. I couldn't get any character to do anything obviously impossible for the other two. Still, I'm sure this was owing to my own deficiency.\r\n\r\nThe only things I could find interesting are that there's a two-player option which could be a plus and there are more exciting weapon systems you can employ once you've bumped off a sufficient number of bad guys.\r\n\r\nUnfortunately, there is simply no disguising the fact that Centurions has lamentably poor gameplay, is graphically awful and isn't very well programmed at all.\r\n\r\nWhat a waste of a potentially interesting game subject.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Poor programming and game design manage to push a good idea well into the realms of complete dross. Steer clear.","Page":"46,47","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jim Douglas","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"PROGRAMMERS\r\n\r\nTony Crowther and Ross Goodley designed Centurions having worked on Gobots previously.\r\n\r\nThe Spectrum conversion was produced by an understandably secretive person by the name of A.N. Other...."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"3/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]