LOTS OF RAIN
Dear Lloyd
I thought you’d appreciate a letter from your biggest fan in Norway,
probably the only one (Spectrums aren’t sold here). Things aren’t
so great here. It rains 364 days a year and we only have one TV channel. But
worst of all, my CRASH comes one month late (not your fault), how dreadful.
I suppose the Spectrum games and CRASH make up for it. I am thinking of
buying some games, the following titles are on my list: Super Wonderboy, Myth,
New Zealand Story, Renegade III. I wonder if this is a good choice. (I like beat em
ups and arcade games) (£40 could be useful).
I subscribe to CRASH, being late renewing my subscription I missed
two magazines No 65 and 66. I wonder if there were any tips for Batman The
Jokers: A fate worse than death. I’m stuck, and some tips could come in
handy. CRASH is a great mag I look forward to every time I find it in our mail
box. People who complain about CRASH, have no reason, but if they are still
unhappy, don’t buy it. I will read CRASH as long as I can play computer
games.
Jan-Erik Steel
Good choice of games Jan-Erik, but I don’t think New
Zealand Story is a beat ’em up! There weren’t any tips for A Fete
Worse Than Death in issue 65 or 66. Nick reckons he’s printed some, but
for the life of him can’t remember where.
LM
SAM CHOICE!
Dear Lloyd
I’ve read a few letters recently in varying magazines on which computer
they should buy, Sam Coupe or Atari ST.
Price: they seem to be very close, ST around £299 and Coupe after
buying disk drive, extra memory and printer port £310.
Performance:
the Coupe claims to be on a par with the ST for graphics and better in
sound.
I think for me and a lot of users price of software will play a big part in
deciding which to buy. If programs can be the same quality as the ST but half
the price, the Coupe will be a big seller.
The clear advantage of the Coupe is being able to run most Spectrum software
and still buy your magazine which will feature the Coupe. Which would you
choose or will only time decide?
S Rigby
It all depends on what you want to do with your new computer. If
your interest is mainly graphics and sound an ST is the one to go for at the
moment. While the SAM sports great graphics and sound facilities, the ST having
been around for quite a while is leaps and bounds ahead in software support for
these two specialist areas. However, if you want games SAM is a worthy
investment for its Speccy compatibility and the prospect of new enhanced games
on the way — and if you’re patient good sound and graphics packages
are bound to appear too.
LM
THE D SPECK REBUFF!
Dear Lloyd
D Speck wrote in criticizing CRASH. He was in my opinion wrong, as CRASH is far
better now than it ever has been. Oli Frey’s covers are brilliant so do
you think we can have another CRASH history, or a FEAR History? (It was asked
before. but you said not enough history had gone by).
Andy Green
Thanks for your comments, but no matter how much flattery you
heap upon us there are no plans for more ‘Historys’.
LM
Dear Lloyd
Imagine my surprise when I went into my local newsagents to pick up the
December issue and I was confronted with six great games, I went home and
played them all — Brill I thought. Imagine my disgust when I turned to
the letters page and read the letter from D Speck. What the hell is he going on
about ‘relaunching the mag with a cover mounted cassette was a
mistake’! I, and I’m sure other readers will agree that your
cassettes are great and all the games are brill Just because D Speck wants to
moan it does not mean we all share his opinion.
Someone in Cheltenham
Dear Lloyd
I never used to be able to afford many new games but with the new look CRASH, I
now have a healthy supply of games.
So please, please, please do not change back.
Richard Frewin
Dear Lloyd
What a lot of flannel! I refer to D Speck’s letter, of course I can see
his point, that some people do prefer the more technical aspects.
May I say to D Speck that the magazine’s change was due to the CRASH
questionnaire. Obviously more people preferred a games orientated format to the
technical type issue. And judging by the amount of letters congratulating CRASH
on the new look this was even more confirmed.
So, if D Speck is not satisfied with CRASH may I suggest he should invest in
a more technical magazine.
D Speck’s letter was one sided. Taking into consideration all of
CRASH’s features it should make an interesting read each month, for
anyone with a Spectrum.
Thomas Vanner
I couldn’t have put it better myself. Should make an
interesting read? It does!! Especially my bits. (Oi! — Ed)
LM
THE CORK REPORT
It’s the man with his foot in the door (SLAM!! Ouch!), his
ear to the ground (STAMP!! Arrrgh!) and other anatomical extremities placed
upon the terra firma — it’s Mark ‘Corky’ Caswell and
his amazing magical crystal ball! We send him out, he comes back with the info
— and then we distill it all lovingly for your consumption...
GRANDSLAM SPIRITS
Along with Space Harrier II (see this month’s previews)
the spanking new Sega coin-op Scramble Spirit is set for the Grandslam
treatment. It will be a two player, six level, vertically scrolling
shoot-’em-up set in the 21st Century. But do the heroes swan around in some
futuristic marvel of modern technology? Nope, they battle their mysterious
enemy in World War I bi-planes. Attacks come from both the air and the ground
as other bi-planes, tanks and gun emplacements take pot shots at your very frail
craft. Play this weird game concoction soon, and lets hope it’s faster
than an ancient bi-plane!
CHOCKS AWAY!!!
Microprose love aircraft, so it doesn’t come as any
surprise to find another ‘tally-ho, chaps’ game on the horizon:
P-47 from their Firebird label. Converted from the Jaleco coin-op, it puts you
in control of a P-47 Thunderbolt, battling through eight levels chock-ful of
enemy planes and assorted ground forces. To help you on your way various
power-up weapons are promised, including smart bombs and multi directional fire
etc. P-47 should wing its gun-blazing way to your Speccy in Feb.
FOR BUSINESSMEN WHO READ CRASH (?!)
Applied Systems Developments Ltd announce the launch of the
first truly portable printer for the businessman whose vocabulary has been
reduced to the word PANIC!. Features include a speed of 80cps, full 80 column
width and graphics capabilities. And don’t worry about having to carry
the little blighter around in a suitcase ’cause it’s apparently
about the size of a 1lb box of choccies (the suitcase is for the batteries). It
comes in two types, the mains only version costs £99, whilst the cordless
printer is a measly £159.
SAM: THESE GAMES ARE COMPATIBLE!
Games testing has been the order of the day at MGT recently to
confirm which Speccy titles run on the SAM Coupe. MGT report that some users
have had problems loading titles, this may be due to a weak loading signal from
the cassette recorder. Thankfully, MGT is releasing a new SAM Utilities
cassette which should give even better compatibility.
Anyway, here are the first batch of games MGT have tried and found to work:
Rescue On Fractalus, HATE, Paperboy, Periscope Up, Forgotten Worlds, Barbarian,
Draconus, ATV Sim, Jet Set Willy, Thundercats, Project Stealth Fighter, Silent
Service, Buggy Boy, Starion, Treasure Island Dizzy, Super Stuntman, Super Robin
Hood, Reveal, Dynatron Mission, Street Fighter, Cybernoid, Flintstones, Atic
Atac, Hacker II, Nightshade, Robocop, Commando, Bounder, Manic Miner, Ground
Attack, River Rescue, Giant’s Revenge, Rocky Horror Show, Hydrated, Dark
Fusion, Cybernoid II, Impossible Mission II, Lancelot, Jetpac, Mig 29, Strider,
KGB Superspy, Ghostbusters II, Gregory Loses His Clock, PowerDrift, Jack The
Nipper II, Kung Fu II, Trantor The Last Stormtrooper, Gunship, ThunderBlade,
Zynaps, Batman The Caped Crusader, Air Traffic Controller, Wonderboy, Bigfoot,
Dan Dare, KickStart II, Yogi Bear, 1943, Fairlight II, Marsport, Sabre Wulf,
LightForce, Driller, Joe Blade, Fire Trap, Sweevo’s World, Finders
Keepers, Jack The Beanstalk, Zip Zap, Stonkers, Shadows of Mordor, Impossaball,
Curse Of Sherwood, The Empire Strikes Back, Magnetron 2, The Sentinel and Molar
Maul.
SAM: HITTING THE ROAD! (MAN!)
It’s just like the wacky world of pop! MGT is taking the
SAM Coupe on tour up and down the country to give everyone an opportunity to
see the beast in action. The MGT team will be at at locations on the tour
dates, and the shows open at 5pm and run for three hours. In the afternoons the
MGT team are presenting seminars for retailers. And the dates are: Glasgow
(Albany Hotel) Feb 26; Newcastle, Washington (Post House Hotel) Feb 27;
Manchester, Haydock (Post House Hotel) Feb 28; Leeds, Brighouse (Post House
Hotel) March 1; Bristol, Alveston (Post House Hotel) March 5; Southampton
(Dolphin Hotel) March 6; Coventry (Post House Hotel), March 7; and in London at
the Russell Hotel on March 8. Be there or remain a 48ker for ever! Har,
har!!!
SPY IN BETWEEN
Too impatient to wait for the next Bond movie in 1991, and
wanting to repeat their success with Licence To Kill, Domark have announced the
summer release of The Spy Who Loved Me, based on the movie starring Roger
‘Eyebrows’ Moore. Sounds a mite romantically sexy for a joystick
waggler...
COMIX
Not so much Comix this month as Graphic Novels, which is
basically yuppie speak for comics anyway, so what the hell!! Mark Caswell dons
his cape and delves into the darker side of the Batman...
Gotham By Gaslight
Titan Books £2.50
The place is London and the year is 1889. Bruce Wayne is on his
way back to Gotham after five years in Europe: home to become Gotham’s
self appointed protector — The Batman. And it needs protection, because
Jack The Ripper has fled the scene of his sickening crimes in Whitechapel to
terrorise America.
The police are powerless to stop the maniac, and mistakenly blame Bruce for
the crimes. He vainly tries to clear his name, but a blood soaked knife found
at his mansion begets a lightning court trial and a sentence to hang...
It’s strange to see a Batman story set a hundred years ago, it’s
even weirder for the plot to follow the storyline (albeit rather loosely) of
later day tales.
A quirky idea, nicely drawn and coloured, and I suppose an alternative
history of Batman — and The Ripper.
Arkham Asylum
Titan Books £14.95
Arkham Asylum is aimed at an older readership, both in content
and price, but it is a damn good read. In 1920 following the death of his
mother, the brilliant psychiatrist Amadeus Arkham turned his ancestral home
into a hospital for the criminally insane. Batman is responsible for
incarcerating most of them, and now fifty years after its opening, the
asylum’s inmates, lead by the psychotic Joker, take the staff hostage and
demand that Batman enter to pay his debt.
He does and is given one hour to hide before the inmates go after him.
Interspersed with the main story is Amadeus Arkham’s tale of woe, leading
to his wife and child’s death and his fall into insanity. Throughout,
Batman questions his own sanity: are Arkham’s inmates insane, or those of
us who live in the outside world? Arkham Asylum is bleak and brooding,
beautifully grotesque in its drawing, and Batman torturedly sinister. A must
for all serious Batfans.
SUBBUTEO — IT’S HERE!
’Ere we go, ’ere we go (for the umpteenth time),
Aberystwyth (where??) based software house Goliath Games have just announced
the signing of the ace table top footy game Subbuteo. The computer version is
expected to appear early in the year and follow closely the style of the
‘flick a player across the table, missus’ game. Expect a preview
very soon. and Richard and Mark are busy hunting for their old Subbuteo
sets...
ACTIVISION’S HOT ROD?!
Continuing their successful team up with Sega, Activision are on
the verge of releasing the ace coin-op racing game Hot Rod. Two player action
abounds over thirty screens filled with changing weather conditions, tortuous
tracks and zealous cops chasing you. And the better you do on a track, the
more essential parts you can buy for your car to turn it into a mean machine.
It all sounds familiar this winter, but if you’re not car sick yet.
here’s your chance.
IT’S THE MOST AMAZING SPECCY GAME EVER CREATED!!
What is? Where?! Erm, nowhere yet. But there soon could be! The
entries for the CodeMasters Design a Game Compo have flooded in. We’ve
been swamped with ideas: there’s been heaps of Dizzy in Outer Space,
we’ve had Deep Sea Dizzy, Prehistoric Dizzy... endless variations! Plus
lots of original games that are really great! CodeMasters are picking the
winners very soon, though it could take ages to get through the sackloads of
entries. Keep your eyes peeled for the results soon!
THE ZX MICROFAIR: ITS BACK, BACK, BACK!!
Except it’s not. But, hell!, here’s an event to
recreate all the excitement produced at those Microfairs in ‘ye olden
days’. It’s called the All Formats Computer Fair and is a
happenin’ bargain hunters delight at the New Horticultural Hall in
London. The star of the show is the SAM Coupe: it’s making its first
public appearance there and it’s probably the best way to get hold of one
early!
The show opens its doors at 10.30 on Saturday 10 February, costs £3.00
to get in and the best way of getting there is via Victoria Station.
GET THE SCROLLS!
One of the country’s top adventure creators have joined
forces with the cheerful London based company owned by that Colgate smile
balloonist Richard Branson. In plain English: Magnetic Scrolls have signed a
marketing deal with Virgin/Mastertronic. All their fabbo titles will be
released on the Magnetic Scrolls label, and cofounder Anita Sinclair commented
‘we had many substantial offers tor our new product, what made me choose
Virgin was their commitment to the market place’. Stating the obvious
isn’t it, or they wouldn’t be there.
Anita Sinclair and Virgin’s Nick Alexander