[{"TitleName":"Super Tank","Publisher":"Code Masters Ltd","Author":"Adrian Ludley, Jason Falcus, Lyndon Sharp, Gavin Macleod","YearOfRelease":"1989","ZxDbId":"0009434","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 69, Oct 1989","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1989-09-19","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":52,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nFeatures Editor: Richard Eddy\r\nEditorial Assistants: Viv Vickress, Caroline Blake\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\nContributors: Nick Roberts, Mike 'Skippy' Dunn, Robin Hogg\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION DEPARTMENT\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell (Supervisor), Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Robert (the Rev) Hamilton, Jenny Reddard\r\n\r\nDESIGN\r\nRoger Kean, Mark Kendrick, Melvin Fisher\r\n\r\nSystems Operator: Ian Chubb\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Lee Watkins, Wynne Morgan\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":"SUPER TANK SIMULATOR\r\nCodeMasters\r\n£2.99\r\n\r\nCodeMasters have gone tank mad. Their next two releases involve driving, blowing up and dodging tanks in many shapes and sizes. This is the first one, Super Tank Simulator. You play a tank (what a surprise) and rumble about landscapes shooting turrets, other tanks while avoiding mines that only show themselves when you get near. This may not sound a barrel of laughs, but there is another part to the game to cheer you up, a type of shooting range section where the player must shoot at the enemy bases and even more tanks in Combat School style.\r\n\r\nThe landscape section is reminiscent of Marauder from Hewson in the way the tank moves about and fires, but that aside the game is really playable. While games of this kind have been around for years, Super Tank Simulator adds the so successful CodeMasters style of music, effects and polish. The shooting range type section is something not included in other companies' versions on the theme and adds lots of playability.\r\n\r\nSuper Tank Simulator, in the same mould as games like Stunt Man Simulator and BMX Simulator with its aerial view of the action, is almost guaranteed to be a sure fire hit.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"50","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"68","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"68%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 52, Apr 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-03-18","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Kevin Hibbert\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nTechnical Consultant: Jonathan Davies\r\nContributors: Ollie Alderton, Robin Alway, Marcus Berkmann, Amanda Cook, Jo Davies, Jonathan Davies, Cathy Fryett, Mike Gerrard, Simon Goggin, Sean Kelly, Duncan MacDonald, David McCandless, Paul Morgan, Rich Pelley, Catherine Peters, David Wilson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertising Executive: Simon Moss\r\nPublisher: Greg Ingham\r\nProduction Manager: Ian Seager\r\nProduction Coordinator: Melissa Parkinson\r\nSubscriptions/Mail Order: The Old Barn [redacted]\r\nDistributors: SM Distribution [redacted]\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair is published by Future Publishing Ltd [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Future Publishing 1990. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission."},"MainText":"SUPER TANK\r\nCode Masters\r\n£2.99\r\nReviewer: Marcus Berkmann\r\n\r\nIt has to be said - CodeMasters have been prett busy lately. Virtually every cheapie this month seems to have come from their Warwick gamelabs, but I don't think any are as good as this. It's a simple enough game. You find yourself (it says here) in the driving seat of NATO's latest and most sophisticated tank, and you got to destroy anything that comes in your way. Control is hard at first - Left and Right turn the tank, Up moves it forward - and the gun emplacements are quick off the mark. But if you get used to it, you become determined to outwit the snivelling little gits holed up in them, and there's often a really clever way of doing it. Strategic thinking is just as important as speed of reaction here, and the whole caboodle scrolls smoothly in eight satisfying directions. Apparently you eventually get to see the battle from the tank's eye view (the initial view is from above) but I haven't got that far yet, and to be honest can't see how I'll manage it. \"Eight incredible war zones!!\" the packaging screams, but I'm afraid I'll just have to take their word for it. Still, this is diverting stuff, based on two billion other games but definitely worth a shufti all the same.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"44","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Marcus Berkmann","Score":"82","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"82%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 91, Oct 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-09-18","Editor":"Jim Douglas","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Meet the super hard-working SU team!\r\n\r\nJIM \"Editor\" DOUGLAS\r\nAs Sinclair User;s pioneer of New Technolog,. Jim is completely at home with thousansd of pounds worth of high quality laser equipment. On top of deciding what goes where in the mag, Jim can explain to the simplest of simpletons the pica/point conversion system on a Mac hard drive DTP 123 system. And not once has he sat and stared and sworn at a blank screen for a whole afternoon. Not many.\r\n\r\nALISON \"Production Editor\" SKEAT\r\nAl loves her PC to PIECES (arf). With its special ergonomic vertical keyboard and - rather expensive - blank-o-screen Alison's Cray XMP Wysiwig can spell check, delete lines, write extra copy and even sample the current text and suggest a witty headline. Never again will you find a typographical error in Sinclair User. For example, the Cray has written the next piece.\r\nXyndfi31 \"f hthecat\" I:LK\r\nSJ:Jmnr23jouo >54t,6 > . 6tgv nonsytemdiskretryerror .....\r\n\r\nTIM \"Art Editor\" NOONAN\r\n'Nah. Vis new tech's a load of donkey's bums' muses Mr Philosophy. Tim has always preferred the traditional way of doing things. Descended from 11th century monks. Tim continues to keep some of their practices alive in his design work. Every letter that appears in all of the 120,000 issues printed each month is carefully printed onto each page by Tim using an ivory stencil. Here Tim can be seen working on his 53,000th \"E\". As you can see, it's fascinating work.\r\n\r\nGARTH \"Staff Writer\" Sumpter\r\nA hard man to track down, staffer Garth managed to elude the camera's eye once more. You see, if he's not writing something at his desk, he's looking at a new game, and if he's not looking at a new game he's trying to get hold of a new game, and if he's not trying to get hold of a new game then he's driving thousands of miles to research some information on a new game that may be coming out. And if he's not doing any of that, he's probably completing his work for the CIA. Alright for some eh?\r\n\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nDirty Tricks: Jon Riglar\r\nHow The Hell: Andrew Hewson\r\nI've Got This Problem: Rupert Goodwins\r\nExtra Stuff: John \"Payments overdue\" Cook, Chris \"Payments very overdue\" Jenkins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Nigel \"Two jobs?\" Taylor\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Martha 'Is he not?' Moloughney\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nMarketing Manager: Dean 'Jiggy jiggy' Barrett\r\nMarketing Assistant: Sarah 'Where's my film?' Ewing\r\nPublisher: Terry 'The big man' Pratt\r\n\r\nOur Address: [redacted]\r\nOur Phone Number: [redacted]\r\nOur Fax No: [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis Month's Cover: Cabal from Ocean\r\nCover Artist: Jerry Paris\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nTypeset by Professional Reprographics Services [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Frontline.\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries: [redacted]\r\n24 Hour Order Line: [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: Back Issues Department (SU), [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1989 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458"},"MainText":"Label: Codemasters\r\nAuthor: Optimus Software\r\nPrice: £2.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: John Cook\r\n\r\nWell knock me down with a neutrino - it's a Code Masters Game not written by the Darling Bros or the Oliver Twins. No, no, no, indeed, sir - the authors of this particular offerette go by the tax dodge of Optimus Software.\r\n\r\nI like Super Tank Sim. If it was a wine, poncy types would be calling it, \"rough, but full bodied with a vigorous top end,\"... but of course it isn't. If it was a car, Tank Sim would be a C Reg Nissan Micra. If it was a cup of tea, it would be Typhoo One Cup. If it were a fruit gum, it would be black. If it were a computer game, it is highly likely that anyone forking out £2.99 on the jobbie would get their moneys' worth and more.\r\n\r\nSuper Tank starts off being a version of one player Tank Pong, with you controlling a tank, driving it through a maze, trying to avoid being shot by the emplacements and enemy tanks. I say Tank Pong because the shots bounce off the walls, so quite often, if you are of the devious sort, you can wait around corners and blast away at little risk to yourself.\r\n\r\nThe maze in which the action takes place is about a screen and a half wide (scrolling left right when you reach a boundary) and scrolls up the screen as you move through it.\r\n\r\nThe emplacements and tanks aren't that clever and behave the same way all the time - but it still takes quite a bit of time to find the right route through the level and the right way to reach the end without losing any of your three lives... although the shield icon that you pick up just before you reach the last bit is a welcome assistance.\r\n\r\nWhen you reach the end, unexpectedly the action changes to an Op Wolf kind of perspective with you having to shoot down Harrier Jets, Jeeps and other military paraphanalia. If you survive this, it's on to another maze level and so on.\r\n\r\nWith an alleged five levels, Tank Sim will probably keep you going for a few wet afternoons - it's nothing radically new, but very competently programmed, quite a laff, and well worth the minor expenditure if you are looking for something a bit different from the run of the mill, \"disengage frontal lobes\" thrash.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Above average re-hash of good game.","Page":"28","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"John Cook","Score":"77","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"78%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"80%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"68%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"77%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 99, Feb 1990","Price":"£1.3","ReleaseDate":"1990-01-16","Editor":"Julian Rignall","TotalPages":100,"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 \"Teddy\" Powell\r\nPublisher: Graham Taylor\r\nCover Artist: Lee Sullivan\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries to: EMAP Frontline, [redacted]\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted By: Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nColour By: Proprint, [redacted]\r\nTypeset By: Jaz and a big fat printer\r\nDistributed By: EMAP Frontline\r\n\r\n©C+VG 1990\r\nISSN No: 0261-3697"},"MainText":"Code Masters\r\nSpectrum £2.99\r\n\r\nOh dear, another dodgy arcade game disguised as a simulator and wrapped up in a load of self-congratulating waffle. This time it's a marginally upgraded version of that crusty old Atari 2600 cartridge, Tank Pong - guide your \"super\" (ha ha) tank through eight war-torn battle zones, blasting the pants off the enemies which you meet on the way.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are poorly drawn and monochromatic. That would have been okay if the colour used hadn't been bright yellow. Sound is all but non-existent. And if you think that things can only get better, they don't. Because the gameplay is absolutely dire too. If you can't realise that all the cries of \"Absolutely Brilliant\" and the rest which is emblazoned across the inlay is hype, then you deserve to waste your money on this complete load of old rubbish, instead of buying one of the other brilliant games reviewed this month.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A horrible, nasty piece of software which could put Spectrum owners off games playing for life. Don't even think about buying it.","Page":"56","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"19%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]