[{"TitleName":"Chain Reaction","Publisher":"Durell Software Ltd","Author":"Maz H. Spork, Paul D. Walker, Rob Hubbard","YearOfRelease":"1988","ZxDbId":"0000876","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 74, Mar 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-02-22","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":52,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nFeatures Editor: Richard Eddy\r\nStaff Writer: Mark Caswell\r\nEditorial Assistant: Viv Vickress\r\nPhotography: Michael Parkinson\r\nContributors: Nick Roberts\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nProduction Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nArt Director: Mark Kendrick\r\nReprographics: Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Rob (the Rev) Hamilton, Jenny Reddard\r\nDesign: David Western, Melvin Fisher\r\nSystems Operator: Ian Chubb\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Caroline Blake, Christian Testa\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nSubscriptions\r\n[redacted].\r\n\r\nDesigned and typeset on Apple Macintosh II computers using Quark Express and Adobe Illustrator '88, output at MBI [redacted] with systems support from Digital Reprographics [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters relating to adjudication and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens (like a game that has been offered as a prize being scrapped) we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. We'll do our very best to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the published closing date. Winners names will appear in a later issue of CRASH. No correspondence can be entered into regarding the competitions (unless we've written to you stating that you have won a prize and it doesn't turn up, in which case drop the Viv Vickress a line at the [redacted] address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for either Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions. No material may be reproduced whole or in part without the 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. We regret that readers' postal enquiries cannot always be answered. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. Colour photographic material should be 35mm transparencies wherever possible. The views expressed in CRASH are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nCopyright CRASH Ltd 1989 A Newsfield Publication. ISSN 0954-8661. Cover Design by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"CHAIN REACTION\r\nEncore\r\n£2.99 (rerelease)\r\n\r\n'Get in the middle of a Chain Reaction'.\r\n\r\nArrgh! Not Diana Ross please. As a matter of fact this game has nothing to do with Diana Ross at all, it's about nuclear power - had you fooled though, didn't I? (Pah! - Ed)\r\n\r\nThe Anti-Nuclear Party are real gits. They have reprogrammed all the robo-equipment in the power station to empty the containment vault and attack all humans. This not being enough to satisfy their evil hunger, they've scattered 18 canisters of radioactive fuel rods around the seven-storey building and you have to recover them all! You're helped only by your radiation suit, armour piercing machine gun and jet pack. This is a race against time as well as radiation because you only have 30 minutes to recover the canisters. To help you along the way there are decontamination showers dotted around the building. Taking a quick dip reduces your radiation allowing you to continue safely.\r\n\r\nChain Reaction is one of many 3-D style games where you move the character around then push forward. I could never get used to this type of control method and here you don't get any choice. This type of game can now be made simply by using the 3-D Game Maker, as we've found out with the many Powertapes you've sent in!\r\n\r\nAll the graphics are well drawn with lots of robots to do battle against and other objects around the building like computers, nuclear canisters etc. Colour in the game itself isn't anything special, but on the menu screens and Game Over message it will really impress you. Stripes of colour scroll up the text in a very convincing way, with no clash at all. Chain Reaction is let down by it's lack of sound: there's only the odd beep, and no tunes or jingles anywhere.\r\n\r\nWhile this style of game has been copied over and over again it still provides some challenge to those who didn't catch it first time round.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"47","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"63","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"63%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 24, Dec 1987","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1987-11-12","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":124,"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, ZZKJ, 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\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":"Durell\r\n£8.95\r\nReviewer: Gwyn Hughes\r\n\r\nDoes this sound like Mission Impossible? The Anti-Nuclear Party has reprogrammed your favourite reactor's robots to attack all humans, meanwhile the radioactive rods are set to meltdown in just thirty minutes. This synopsis will self-destruct in ten seconds!\r\n\r\nPresumably the silly plot is somebody's idea of political satire. Still, it provides a hook on which to hang a fast moving arcade and maze game, whichever side of the nuclear power fence you should choose. (I prefer the lead-lined one, away from the reactor, myself!)\r\n\r\nIt could be that your radiation suit lacks real designer flair or maybe you really are as bland as you look, but the central sprite is unbelievably blocky and monochrome. At least you're armed with a machine gun and a jetpack, and you'll need them both to avoid the android perils of the powerplant.\r\n\r\nThe building has seven storeys, each linked by lifts and holes in the floor, which let you drop back towards the vault, into which you have to kick the rods. If you're really skilled you can float across the pit and release them as you go.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile your radiation level increases every time you're hit by a robot or when you push an isotope. There are decontamination showers on every level, but as you have to clear the place in half an hour you can't afford to stop for a sing in the bath! That's basically all there is to the game. It's just a question of mapping, shooting and dodging, all against an incredibly tight time limit.\r\n\r\nThough the rooms themselves are interesting shapes and pleasantly uncluttered, there's nothing really exciting about the graphics.\r\n\r\nIf you're into maze games this should provide some fun, but anybody else may find that it looks rather old-fashioned.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Map and blast maze game in neat 3-D but it'll look too old-fashioned to make most people melt down!","Page":"79","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Gwyn Hughes","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 50, Feb 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-01-18","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Catherine Peters\r\nDeputy Editor: David Wilson\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nDesigner: Martin Sharrocks\r\nTechnical Consultant: Jonathan Davies\r\nContributors: Robin Alway, Marcus Berkmann, Richard Blaine, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Kati Hamza, Tim Harding, David McCandless, Richard Morris, Rich Pelley, Phil South, Wag\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Lynda Elliott\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Caroline Day\r\nClassified Advertisement Executive: Chris Skinner\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Claire Baker\r\nNewstrade Circulation Manager: Stephen Ward\r\nSubscription Manager: June Smith\r\nPublisher: Teresa Maughan\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: Point Five [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinted By: Riverside Press [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":"CHAIN REACTION\r\nEncore\r\n£2.99\r\nReviewer: Marcus Berkmann\r\n\r\nAnother rubbishy old Durell game disinterred from Elites vaults and bunged out on its cheapy label, and, like some of the others we've sampled these past few months, Chain Reaction doesn't really make the grade. The plot's all about an atomic pile that needs neutralising, and you have to run about killing nasties and solving problems and all that sort of thing. Sadly, though, the graphics are so basic - especially as the game is only two years old - and the gameplay so drab that it's hard to maintain any sort of interest. Instead you find yourself, well, throwing it out of the window with frustration and boredom. It's really getting quite messy out there, isn't it?","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"47","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Marcus Berkmann","Score":"28","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"28%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) Issue 7, Apr 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-03-03","Editor":"Peter Connor, Steve Cooke","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Advanced Computer Entertainment\r\nFuture Publishing [redacted]\r\nTelephone [redacted], Fax [redacted], Telecom Gold 84:TXT152, Prestel/Micronet [redacted]\r\n\r\nCo-editors: Peter Connor, Steve Cooke\r\nReviews Editor: Andy Wilton\r\nProduction Editor: Rod Lawton\r\nStaff Writer: Andy Smith\r\nArt Editor: Trevor Gilham\r\nArt Team: Angela Neal, Sally Meddings\r\nPublisher: Chris Anderson\r\n\r\nCOVER PHOTOGRAPHY\r\nStuart Baynes Photography [redacted]\r\n\r\nSUBSCRIPTIONS & SPECIAL OFFERS\r\nChristine Stacey [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOLOUR ORIGINATION\r\nWessex Reproduction [redacted]\r\n\r\nDISTRIBUTION\r\nSM Distribution [redacted]\r\n\r\nPRINTING\r\nChase Web Offset [redacted]\r\n\r\nCopyright - FUTURE PUBLISHING LTD 1988 - No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without our permission."},"MainText":"Durell clean up the mess.\r\n\r\nNuclear power's always a good excuse for a game. In this one the Anti-Nuclear party have done all sorts of nasty things in the reactor, and you must sort out the mess, collecting and then disposing of the radioactive rods. It's got a clever almost-3D view and interesting jet-pack propulsion mode. Graphics are neat but not special. An enjoyable game that looks just a little old-fashioned.\r\n\r\nReviewer: Pete Connor\r\n\r\nRELEASE BOX\r\nC64/128, £6.99cs, £9.99dk, Out Now\r\nSpec, £6.99cs, £12.99dk Out Now\r\nAmstrad, £6.99cs, £12.99dk, Out Now\r\n\r\nPredicted Interest Curve\r\n\r\n1 min: 60/100\r\n1 hour: 65/100\r\n1 day: 70/100\r\n1 week: 40/100\r\n1 month: 20/100\r\n1 year: 0/100","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"56","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Pete Connor","Score":"536","ScoreSuffix":"/1000"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"AMSTRAD VERSION\r\n\r\n1 min: 60/100\r\n1 hour: 65/100\r\n1 day: 70/100\r\n1 week: 40/100\r\n1 month: 20/100\r\n1 year: 0/100"}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Ace Rating","Score":"536/1000","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 98, Jan 1990","Price":"£1.3","ReleaseDate":"1989-12-16","Editor":"Julian Rignall","TotalPages":140,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"CONTACTS AND CREDITS\r\n\r\nEditor: Julian Rignall\r\nArt Editor: Andrea Walker\r\nStaff Writers: Paul Glancey, Paul Rand\r\nArt Assistant: Osmond Browne\r\nAdvertising Manager: Nigel Taylor\r\nDep Ad Manager: Joanna Cooke\r\nSales Executive: Tina Zanelli\r\nProduction Assistant: Glenys Powell\r\nPublisher: Graham Taylor\r\nThis Month's Cover: Chase HQ from Ocean\r\nCover Artist: Jerry Paris\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries to: EMAP Frontline, [redacted]\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]"},"MainText":"Encore\r\nSpectrum, C64: 1.99\r\n\r\nThis budget re-release, originally from Durell, has nothing whatsoever in common with the vomit-inducing Diana Ross ditty of the same name. Well, perhaps it does. They're both dire.\r\n\r\nSome Green Party member has gone and dumped eighteen radioactive canisters throughout a seven-storey nuclear treatment plant, endangering the lives of all the staff who work there. Not very environmentally friendly, wouldn't you agree? What's more is you have 30 minutes in which to collect the canisters, make them safe and combat the robot security system which has, purely by chance, gone haywire.\r\n\r\nChain Reaction is a particularly awful piece of software. Pathetic, chunky sprites, gaudy colour and a lack of anything to do other than collect the canisters results in a game best buried in concrete tomb for the next 10,000 years.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Mainly monochrome, with just a hint of conservatively-placed colour. The game is still a pile of old waste matter, though.","Page":"83","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"C64 SCORES\r\n\r\nOverall: 32%\r\n\r\nAwful colour, ineffective 3D and dull gameplay make Chain Reaction one to miss."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"38%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]