[{"TitleName":"Classic Muncher","Publisher":"Bubble Bus Software","Author":"Nick Jones","YearOfRelease":"1987","ZxDbId":"0000982","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 39, Apr 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-03-26","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nSub Editor: Ciaran Brennan\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Richard Eddy\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Editor: Philippa Irving\r\nTech Tipster: Simon Goodwin\r\nContributing Writers: Jon Bates, Brendon Kavanagh, John Minson\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nArt Director: Gordon Druce\r\nIllustrator: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction: Seb Clare, Tim Croton, Mark Kendrick, Tony Lorton, Nick Orchard, Michael Parkinson, Cameron Pound, Jonathan Rignall, Matthew Uffindell\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Nick Wild\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\nBookings [redacted]\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 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.\r\n\r\n©1987 Newsfield Limited\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Bubble Bus\r\nRetail Price: £1.99\r\nAuthor: Nick James\r\n\r\nBubblebus Software's latest release bears a remarkable similarity to that age-old arcade favourite Pacman. Hang on a minute... It is Pacman!\r\n\r\nThe program consists of a series of six unique screens which repeat infinitely. You control a small creature with an insatiable appetite, whom you guide through the onscreen mazes. To progress to the next screen, all of the dots strewn about the maze's passages have to be eaten - with this task accomplished by simply moving over them.\r\n\r\nFour ghosts chase you around the mazes, trying to touch you, and thus stealing away one of your three lives. To combat the spooks there are Power Pills placed around the screens. When these pills are eaten, you become temporarily immune and can turn on the ghosts, improving your score with each one that you eat. When a ghost is eaten, it returns to the 'home' square in the centre of the screen. It then reforms, and the relentless pursuit commences yet again.\r\n\r\nLetters forming the words 'EXTRA' or' BONUS'occasionally appear within the mazes. When successfully gobbled they appear at the top of the screen, and are worth 100 points each. Forming the entire word however, earns either an extra life or a substantial points boost - depending on the letters collected. 100 points are also awarded upon the eating of any item of fruit that appears on screen. Each dot is worth 10 points, the Power Pills score 100 points and devouring a ghost is also worth 100 points. Your current score, the amount of lives remaining, and the fruit and letters collected, are displayed at the top of the screen.\r\n\r\nWhen all six screens are completed, the action moves up a level and back to the first screen - but this time the pace is furious, and the ghosts are far less friendly.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: definable, preset: Q/A up/down, O/P left/right\r\nJoystick: Kempston, Cursor\r\nUse of colour: drab, and unimaginative\r\nGraphics: unsurprising\r\nSound: average\r\nSkill levels: one\r\nScreens: six","ReviewerComments":["Gosh, a tedious version of an ancient arcade favourite! I've got stacks of games like this gathering dust on the shelf, they've all been loaded up once and then never played again. The graphics are average for this type of game, there are one or two types of flickery character on the usual drab screen. The sound on the other hand is quite good, there's a jolly tune on the title screen and there are a few munchy effects throughout. The gameplay is much the same as you would expect, fun at first but boring after a few goes. If you're a Pacman fan (that makes you about twenty-two) this will probably keep you quiet for a while - but I wouldn't recommend it.\r\nBen Stone","Yeah! We're going back to our roots, man! A different storyline maybe, but the same old game. Classic Muncher is nowhere near as good as MASTERTRONIC's version, but most of the features are still there. The grids are well drawn, and the characters move smoothly without any flicker. The title tune is quite good, but the sound effects aren't too useful. Having said all that, no matter how good the gameplay is this concept is a bit long in the tooth to be released these days - even on a budget label.\r\nPaul Sumner","Ha! What a nostalgia trip this one is! it really does take us all back to the days of the good old Atari VCS consoles - those were the days, eh? Unfortunately, Spectrum games have come on a good bit since those days! Classic Muncher is a memory that I'm sure most of us could do without. It isn't overly addictive, the graphics are very outdated, and basically, I would recommend leaving it alone.\r\nMike Dunn"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Another uninspired attempt at a worn out idea.","Page":"24","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Ben Stone","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Paul Sumner","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Mike Dunn","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Dot Gobblers are an old genre indeed, but perhaps there's something about the game itself that appeals."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"47%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"38%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"53%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"32%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"46%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"41%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 61, Apr 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-03-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: David Kelly\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nSenior Staff Writer: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nDesigner: Gareth Jones\r\nAdventure Help: Gordo Greatbelly\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nHelpline: Andrew Hewson\r\nContributors: Gary Rook, Andy Moss, Chris Jenkins, Clare Edgeley\r\nHardware Correspondent: Rupert Goodwins\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Mike Corr\r\nProduction Assistant: Alison Morton\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Linda Everest\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: David Rowe\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. Please write Program Printout on the envelopes of all cassettes submitted. We cannot undertake to return cassettes unless an SAE is enclosed. We pay £20 for each program printed and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nTypeset by PRS Ltd, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1987 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nABC 90,215 July-Dec 1985"},"MainText":"Label: Bubble Bus\r\nAuthor: Nick Jones\r\nPrice: £1.99\r\nJoystick: various\r\nMemory: 48K\r\nReviewer: John Gilbert\r\n\r\nBubble Bus must be off its trolley if it thinks that it can get away with a range of budget products which includes rip-offs of Space Invaders and Pacman. Yet that is what its new Minibus range proposes.\r\n\r\nThe first release is Muncher, a version of Pacman which I'm sure Atari won't be overly keen to see - I think they stopped threatening legal action over Pacman clones three years ago, so maybe Bubble Bus is safe. Its bold irregular graphics and familiar chomping sound kept me playing for all of ten minutes during which time I managed to eat my way through five levels of power pills and kill over thirty flickering ghosts. The better you get, the more screens you clear and the fewer turn-ghosts-into-muncher-food pills you get. It's not that exciting, though.\r\n\r\nIf you've just got a Spectrum or don't have a version of the classic Pacman you might want to look in your pocket for loose change and add it to your library. You're not likely to find a better version of the game floating around principally because it's back in the stone age of games design.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Resurrection of a classic coin-op - four years ago! Could prove fatal to Bubble Bus' budget range.","Page":"52","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"John Gilbert","Score":"2","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"2/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]