AC

ISSUE FIVE • FEBR U AR Y 1 9 8 8 - £ 1 . 5 0

AtariST
Amiga
CBM 64/128
Spectrum
Amstrad
+more
ADVANCEDICOMPUTERtENTERTAINMENT

E
1
E
DIPL O MACY
Micro megalomania
OUT RUN
Low, high or neutral?
VIOL
S DAN DARE
Mekon mischief
tA T s
1
pstigation reveals thal
f 0 could be breakij the law
GRAPHICS the g a m e
Great
new
N
DIY
series
begins
GAMES
CREATORS
Programming power
to the people

24 PAGE B U Y E R S ' G U I D E
Buying a computer?Upgrading your system?
TheACE Pink Pages list everything you
need to know.
DIGITAL
DRUMS
Red hot
rhythms
namco
1
I

c
Haveyougot what ittahessm
...tobean KTundercovercop?

A Coin-op Classic from U.S. Gold

U.S. Gold Limited, Units 2/3 Ho!ford Way, HoHord, Birmingham B6 7AX. let: 021 356 3
1
 I N T E R FA C A I
7 News
16-bit games machine from Amstrad?..8-bits
1
last gasp_looking back on '87 and forward to
88 plus Eastern gimm ck5i in our View from
Japan

14 P r e v i e w s
Tomorrows games today - we sneak a glimpse
at Xenon from Me,bourne house, mediaeval
mischief in Nock Lamp from Firebird, ana many somereal live pilots
more, AND SOUND I Eagles
theST.
for you
FnE:
r a . 89 M o r e Ba n g s For Less
. Bu cks
I •

— • ollawil Digital drum kits con do won- Takeyc

9• - E nnil aes for your rhythm. but can break ti
francs you afford one and what playing
I i 1 111 exactly do you get for your somea
money? Keith Ansel' investi-
- 1 gates_

[
1 17 L e tte r s GAMEPUM
We would like to stress that the extreme views
expressed7 on these pages are acisolutely not 37 S c r e e n Test
those of the editors. 31 G e t In to Gra p h i cs
- Brian Lannon starts his series of 'How-to-do-it he first line-up for 1988 a n d our biggest yet
Takeyour pick from thirty New Year offerings -
articles for everyone who wants to brush up on
174 Pri ze Survey their pointwork including Outrun, Super Hong On and the
chance to rule Europe in Diplomacy.
Tellus oil about yoursefi - if you dare - and you
could walk1away with some free software for
your micro MagnE
0 on Gu
122 T he U t t e r End charac
i
Some subfie hints a o what you can expect
the firs

fromus inr19B8.

1S P T C I A L S M I
i
27 The Axeman Cometh Page41: Dan Olre I - klekon mayhem, but where's Dtgby/ Ceiebt
n
Wil 1988 see the sharp edge eachc

i brough: to
of censorship
bear on computer soft- 33 A r t w o r k s
ware'? Even more worry- At last, you the readers show your true colours in
a dazzling display of pixel mastery. Thsi m<
ing - our investigation
shows some t ties may letter-t
already be breaking the law. the risi
subsct
order t
77 H e re 's On e I M a d e
Earlier...
Andy Wilton checks out games creators - could Page38. Outrun on the 64'. the it some the loumey1 No
you turn out a number hot..
-
without writing a single line of progra well,
,one a r c a d e 2.2 A r c a d e Ace expe
s cmo da69
n e s' C hr a se h rL a n d i n g Staggering piston power in Top Speed. and a infat
) spot of primitive conflict in Time Soldier. Andy
We put someseasoned pilots to the test with six
Smithcomes out with his hands shaking...
flight simulator programs - and get the verdict of

67 V e r s ion U pda te
Eagles Nest on the ST and Amiga. Frostbyte on
theST, and other up-to-the-minute conversions
for yott machine.
93 Tricks 'n Ta c tic s
Takeyourscoreto the top of the tower in Nebulus,
break the ice in Bobsleigh, and hone your game-
playing skils to sparkling perfection as we crack
someot lastmonths 900+releases.
111 1
Stye
-ngs--
d the
81 A dv e ntur e s
Magnetic Scrolls Jinxter - can it steal a march
on add of Thieves?Plus a look at the superb
character handling in InfocomS Suspect and
thefirstof the Adventure Helplines,
r BUY LINES 1
85 S pe c ia l Offers
Celebrate the New Year with £4 discount on
eacn of the carefully seeded titles isteo nere,
87 Subscription Offer
Thsmcgazine could have slipped through your
letter-box. saving you time, aggravation. and
therisk of missing the latest issue. What's more.
subscribers get SIO extra discount off those mail-
order bargains.
99 ACE PINK PAGES
Nopinker tnon lost month, but still red-
.ononow we ve included peripherals cs
Wethink these pages g ve both the
nenced and the first-time buyer all the
aro a onthey need and were not blush
Andy to admit it, eiter
ACE COMMENT
Stop this horror now
ACE says enough is enough. Our children have been sub-
jected for too long to the computer game nasties, corrupt-
ing their innocent minds and giving them the kind of bad
dreams that would make Rambo wake up in a cold sweat.
Something must be done. Quickly. Fast. Soon.
We say the evil men behind this evil tide of muck should be
stopped in their evil tracks before their evil games cause any more
damage.
Mrs. Thatcher should immediately re-introduce the
death penalty for the computer nasty producers. But we
say that hanging is too good for them. Can we not find
a more painful punishment to fit this horrible crime?
Come off it, spoilsports!
Just who do these killjoys trying to stop us play our
favourite games think they are? The know-ails and do-
gooders think they can tell us what we can and can't play.
Well we say, get knotted!
Anyone in their right minds can see that computer games are just
good, clean fun. OK, so you have to go round killing everything in
sight. But that's life, isn't it?How could it possibly do any harm to
our marvellous British kids?
No, all these so-called people want to do is stop hon-
est folk enjoying a bit of harmless fun. But they're out of
their tiny little minds if they think they can stop us enjoy-
ing ourselves. There's too little laughter in the world as it
is. So don't let the wet blankets ban our games!
For a more rational and better-informed viev,
the whole business of violence, sex and c
sorship in games, see the article on page 27 of
this issue.
AD C E D COMPUTERENTERTAINMENT
Future Publishing Co-editors
4 Queen Street ReviewsEditor Y,
BATH BA1 lEJ StaffW AndyS
tr 0225 446034 Art Editor
Fax 0225 446019 ArtTeam
Telecom Gold 84:TXT152 Publisher
resteliMicronet 045 874 011 Advertising Manager
;COVER PHOTOGRAPHY Stuart Baynes
• 3 • SUBSC
IONS & SPECIAL OFFERS Carrie-Anne Porter, The Old Bern, Somerton, Somerset
TI M WY r
, clad, Bristol 6S4 001_ • DISTRIBUTION SNI Distnbution, 16/18 Trinity Gardens, Lon
0 W94 58 08X 11 01-274 8811/5 • PRI NTI NG Chas e W e O f f s et , Plymouth • COPY
7FUTURE
4 0 PUBLISHING LTD 1988 • No part al this publication may be reproduced in
1form1 without our permission
•
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0 Anticipate 1your friend's responses to the provocative questions, in
c oF' Scruples. Think carefully before answering the moral dilemma you are
os , posed, or1turn the tables and give an opposite reply to the one expected!
Bluff and counter bluff will be needed, and beware, the other players (the
s no 0 , 1
Jury) can challenge your honesty at any time
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Scruples, The Computer Edition, is available from all good software retailers or directly
6 s• s r i 4
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05/''" 6 ' Makechequesorpostalorders
p .0 Spectrum 48/1281+21+3 coss L915 chsc
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send to 2 "4 VernonYard, Portobello
' de *,
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*‘ ,)& 'cg Commodore641128 c o s s 11235 disc 114.95 Rood. London WI I 20X
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BT GET GRAFTGOLD GAMES -
FOR KEEPS?
A
tier mont hs o f wrangling.
Tele-comsat have announced
that they will be bringing out
The disputed games Morpheus and
Magnetron. The titles fell into their
hands at t he P CW s how when
Gratlgold programmers Steve Turn-
er and Andrew Braybrook, long time
associates of Hewson. signed long
term programming contracts.
Hewson had already geared up
to publish the games themselves so
rights over the titles were disputed
fiercely. but t he matter has now
been settled temporarily by a High
CLONE ARRANGER?
Clones - copy-cat micros that
can run the same software as
existing machines - are well-
established in the business field,
but home micro mimicry is
(black market aside) almost
unknown.
To clone a micro like the
Amiga you need to get both the
hardware and the operating sys-
tem compatible. The Amiga's
MC68000 CPU is available off
the shelf and cheaply too, but its
all-important custom chips
Agnus, Paula and Denise are
only available through Com-
modore.
While Commodore are cer-
tainly prepared to sell the cus-
tom chips for other manufactur-
ers products - the Arcadia coin-
op machines, for example - it
doesn't seem very likely they'd
sell them for inclusion in an
Amiga-bashing Amstrad
machine_ Amstrad's only hard-
ware alternative would be to
produce their own custom chips,
designed so as to mimic Com-
modores. Doing this without
infringing Commodore's rights
would be extremely difficult and
prohibitively expensive.
From the operating system
angle an Amiga clone looks just
as unlikely. Although the Ami-
ga's OS is derived from Thpos,
a product still owned by Bristol
firm Melacomto, the aspects of
the system concerning the cus-
tom ctups and the Amiga's user
interface Inluition are exclusive
to Commodore. 'We have sold
Tnpos on to other firms for
68000 systems, but those
weren't home micros let alone
Amiga lookalikes', said Meta-
Comco's Andrew Spencer. 'We
arerft working on an Amiga
done for anybody. You couldn't
produce a done - not a totally
Amiga-compatible one - without
going to Commodore:
Court injunction B T successfully
restrained HeWSOn from publishing
the titles until the case can be tried,
and so can now safely go ahead
with publication themselves. Th e
games will appear shortly on Tele-
comsat labels: Firebird will g e l
Handitakes al round:SteveTanta IndArdrair Brat
bravao'Ciarigoid r thePC'NShensiringoverseen
rill telecamacifsPaulaByrneandP11.11Hibbard
AMSTRAD TO GO
AMIGA IN '88?
umours ot a cut-price 68000-
based Amstrad home micro
are flying thick and fast. In
the computer weeklies over the last
month 'inside sources' hav e t he
Brentwood company either produc-
ing a CPC replacement in a re-
tooled 6128 case, o r an Amiga-
compatible version of the PC1512.
Amstrad are not renowned as a
leaky company - in the past they've
launched machines in the UK with-
out announcing them at all - so
'horse's mout h' t ales lik e these
would be greeted with scepticism
even it they agreed with each other
and sounded plausible. As it is how-
ever, they both have major prob-
lems: a story on the CPC replace-
ment claims that Amstrad have had
'minor technical problems putting in
the 16 bits' - whatever that's sup-
posed to mean - while the Amiga-
compatible s t o r y a l s o s e e ms
extremely doubtful as things stand.
But is there an Amstrad 68000-
based machine in the offing? Sup-
port for the CPC is now in decline.
and with the Spectrum +3 widely
seen as the last in Amstrad's other
entertainment computer line a new
low-price micro would fill an impor-
tant gap in the fi rms range. The
1512 and 1940 PCs can't compete
with t he ST or Amiga as f ar as
music, art and garnes are c on.
cerned so it looks like it'd lake a
kris"500:Amstradclamduela ginrtA
NEWS91
Magnetron while Morpheus goes to
sister label Rainbird.
A
But that is unlikely to be the
end of the matter. The granting of
an injunction under such circum-
stances has nothing to do with the
merits of the case. so if s by no
means certain that Telecomsoft will
come out on lop. The final court
case won't take place for several
months but Hewson are determined
to continue their action over the
lilies. Should Howson win. Tele-
comsoft would have to make good
whatever financial loss their injunc-
tion caused. The damages would,
as the saying goes, be substantial.
AlinSosr:ishemakingeyesat heAmiga?
new micro to keep Amstrad in the
leisure market. Amstrad's official
comment was that 'we don't com-
ment on future products prior t o
launch' - but given the company's
tight-lipped reputation, that may not
be the final word on the matter.
Nexus hit nadir
This time it's Nexus who've gone in to liquidation, despite their
y erecent
t another small,
release independent
Skultdiggety software
clocking up anhouse
ACEhas bitten
Rating the dust
of 919. The
running of Nexus was recently taken over by programmer Paul Voysey,
who assured us that the programs under development - T-Runner, and
Bo Jangeborg's Resolution - 'will all go to nice, good homes' and that
they should be finished in January.
So why did Nexus go down? Paul Voysey says that under his stew-
ardship Nexus 'didn't speed a lot of money. The Main problem has been a
lack of investment in publishing
product: With the result that the
company's d e b t s out s t ripped Qt."'Q
income to the extent that fiquida-
lion was inevitable. Paul Voysey
hopes to be back in the software Q0Q0',
business very soon - but he won't
•.•
be running a software house, he oc
says: 'When I re-enter it will be l•
very muc h on t he programming Saulidingerf - massiveACE rating, but not even
side.'
Ihu
t
a
w AdvancedComputerEntertainment 7
e
 1987 the year
over a monitor, defeating ever-increasrng
i i i waves of aliens, all expert in martial arts
T
kicks h and capable of simulating Daley Thompson,
o
may s not have noticed anything too special about
e
1987. I t was a bit lacking in t he spectacular
o
events department; Alan Sugar didn't ev en
fattempt to buy out Jack Tramiel, and while Com-
ymodore got rid of a good many of its senior staff. bc

ir
o
it never ftlifted with bankruptcy as it had done so
u
Christina Erskine, erstwhile editor of Popular of
tantilisingly in the past. SE
w Behind the scenes, however, there was plen- Computer Weekly, plays Janus — one face look- m
tyh going on. which should mark a permanent ing back at 1987, the other forward to 1988 ex
o
change in the whole nature of the home computer
sindustry: new and more advanced micros, and
software
p for them; a lot of talk about new data is not going to make it as a home micro (on price power bases into fewer hands. US Gold set up re
e
storage and retrieval media: the big guns getting grounds if nothing else), despite David Braben of Got: a general purpose computer game. console, tht
an n even bigger slice of the software cake than Ekte fame knocking u p a little number called and toy distributor which clinched a E2M deal with thi
before.
t Zarch (ACE Rated at a staggering 979). arcade publisher Capcom; Gremlin signed up tel
WNWt At the other end of the scale, the veteran Gary Lineker and expanded into board games: an
h Spectrum got its built-in disk drive in September. Ocean announced the release of a board game do
e The software available so far on disk is selective, where your video recorder (yes. video recorder)
y to say the least, but, after a cautious start, it looks takes the place of throwing the dice (see separate
e as though, yet again, the Spectrum is going to item); Virgin took Ranulph Fiennes• Transglotie
a have a good Christmas. expedition as the subject of an interactive video
r 'Then there was the Return of the Consoles. project; Mastedronic put Amiga boards int o
h which most people thought had been left for dead arcade machines, wrote games for them, and
u round about the time of the launch of the Vic 20, released a compilation LP: Mirmrsoft got busy
d But Sega, Nintendo. and inevitably Atari (which with CD-Rom technology.
d didn't seem able to bear being left out of any cor-
l ner of the market in 1987) all produced machines
e they believed would lead to a renaissance of the A d v a n c e d C om put e r
Ente r ta inm e nt
dAlanSupr- didn'tbuyAtari, didn'tlauncha16.bi1mactine dedicated games machine. The appeal of the
One of the major events or 1987 was - of
Sir Cliv e Sinc lair made a welcome
Course naturally it goes without saying but
return to the limelight with the launch in Zar
we'll say it anyway - the launch of ACE
February of the Z88, the portable micro 19e
whose first issue appeared in September. The
which had begun life as Pandora in the .
magazine was created in response to t h e
Dark Ages of Sinclair Research, Sir
growing demand for a more mature treatment SW
Clive delivered the machine late - he
of the whole phenomenon of games and relat- MO
would, wouldn't he? - and it was not
ed computer entertainment IiCE
really a micro for the Sinclair games- The response has proved that as the clu
playing faithful, but most purchasers da
hardware has grown more sophisticated, so
pronounced themselves well-sabs- in
has the software arid s o have the people
bed with it
r i g it ACE was intended to be the maga- gar
In March, Commodore finally : ne that would match these developments par
inveited what so many people had been clamour- ver
and take the readers where the technology
ing for: an affordable Amiga. And once home Bot
The Zta - notapme's mane, auatleastUncleCliveisback leads. Wherever computer entertainment goes
users had two 68000-based machines to choose Inbusinessz in 1988 Advanced Computer Entertainment g re
from, with the Amiga 500 and ihe Atari ST FM will be there to let you know about it cou
both in the shops. the software companies took a consoles to shoot 'em up fans must be huge, ano wat
deep breath and sunk development money into the price makes them almost impulse buys. But that
16-bit games, with all-singing all-dancing machines like t he The big league players also got acquisitive. 9 le
Sadly, we haven't really seen the fruits of Amiga and ST around, the consoles look mor Mastertronic swallowed up Melbourne House in stet
that development yet. But with STs disappeanng ,likely to find a niche market as second or third February, eight months later, Virgin bought sub- of c
from the dealers' shelves, and sales of the A500 machines, or for younger members of the family. stantial minority interest in Matertronici The highly Sol
picking up fast, the software houses had to act, respected Hewson turned over its sales and mar- sink
even if so far, it has largely meant conversions of Software keting to Gremlin, and then lost its two highest
Spectrum and Commodore titles, and rough For the software houses, the year was one of profile programmers. Steve Turner and Andrew its t
68000 code that can be put on either machine diversification coupled with a concentration of the Braybrook. t o Telec oms olt E l i t e Sy s t ems ,In tc
with the minimum of twiddling. AmgoSKanclAtari ST- themachmestrio!orechangingthelaceal homecomputer enteriammeet whir
However, the prominence of ST/Amiga soft- '88.
ware on display at the PCW Show in September
augurs well for the the future. And in terms of in
what the machines are capable of, we ain't seen mac
nothing yet_ wan
In June. the software fraternity had another in n
advanced machine t o consider, when Acorn mer
launched Archimedes, a range of micros utilising beci
Acorn's own Reduced Instruction Set Computer
toys
chip, and s ome truly advanced technologhy. cere
Frighteningly fast, wit h awesome sound and
grafi
graphics potential_but who on earth was going inno
to buy the beast? Its generally agreed that Archie eve':

8 Advanced Computer Entenarment

trinfocus
bought Durell. who withdrew from the business
of games solware. CRL and Martech tied them-
selves up with US giant Electronic Arts. which
moved into Slough in March, and launched an
extremely respectable range of games at the
PCW show.
When any software companies found time to
t up release computer games, it was Budget Software
iole, that dominated the charts. A new label. Alterna-
with tive, made the best attempt to break the Mas-
up tertronicTirebircliCode Masters stranglehold •
nes. and didn't the last-named make such a tremen-
me
dous fuss about reaching Division One'
dent
.rate
lobe
'deo
into
and
)usy
Zarch - bac Archimedes garne of 1987. Only Archimedes garne ol
1987.Will Archie gel more aMention in 18?
With all this extraneous activity, it's perhaps not
surprising that there was little in the way of
mould-breaking software. More Karate, more
licensed toys, more sport. more aliens and a
clutch of Breakout clones were the order of the
day. To balance this out, we did get the graphics
in Defender of the Crown (shame about t he
game, continued high standards from Hewson,
particularly with &Non and Nebulus, the contro-
versy of Barbarian, and the playability of Bubble
Bobbie. The boys Ritman and Drummond done
great with Match Day 2. and there were more
courses to try out in Leaderboard. Adventurers
watched more releases from Infocom come out
than any mere mortal can cope with, white Level
9 kept going at a steady rate, and The Pawns
le in
sequel, Guild of Thieves, appeared. The quality
sub-
of compilations rose markedly withl he excellent
ighly Solid Gold and t he everything-but-the-kitchen
mar- sink Game, Set and Match
'hest Lastly Star Trek finally appeared and despite
frew
its tardiness became the first ST game to make it
ems
in to the Top Ten. Bets are now being placed for
which of Telecoms°Ifs titles will be a year late in
'88.
Overall, though, 1987 marked a turning point
in computer entertainment. Th e 68000-based
machines took off, as did their associated soft-
ware. The games companies are getting smaller
in number and more diverse in their entertain-
ment activities. Th e games themselves a r e
becoming more and more tied in with related
toys, cartoons, films. TV programmes, breakfast
cereals, whatever - which makes it all the more
gratifying to see wholly original and technically
innovative games such as Nehulus and Incen-
tives Driller. With TV and national press adverbs-
mg, not to mention all those Commodore hoard-
ings at Stamford Bridge. home computing is mov-
ing away from its cult status into the mainstream
of leisure activity.
Crystal Balls
Technological developments which have begun or
Even the 16-bit machines will start to look a
bit slow and cumbersome if Acorn makes a go
and further developments to the Archimedes, and
Atari's transputer makes an impact; like the STs
when they were originally announced back in
1985, neither of these will have a presence in the
home market, but come 1989, and 1990_
been hinted at this year should start to become The consoles - cheap and cneerful , but not serious rivals to the
real product in 1988. CD-ROM and interactive 16-bit computers
video, which have been much talked about for
years. should finally hit the streets, with Alan's
CD-ROM player coming out, and Virgin's Trans•
globe project reaching completion (BBC only for
the time being). Let's hope Atari can organise
some available software for its unit, although it
doesn't do a bad job of playing conventional com-
pact discs.
Next y ear should s ee t he 16-bit market
mature considerably. as the machines begin to Look Out too, for more acquisitions, as the
overhaul the old 8-bit standards, both in sales and software companies on the top of the heap lake
the quality of software. The wares on display al over more and more of the independents. In two
the 1988 PCW Show will be a true lest of how or three years tune, the giants will own lust about
well programmers have got t o grips with the everybody, and that's when you'll start to see the
power of the machines. Current rumours suggest one-person outfits start up again - rather like the
that we should see Amstrad producing a machine indi record labels.
in this area as well, which will certainly keep the And of course the issue of certification, and
interest high - and the prices down. But don't indirectly, 'censorship' is dealt with elsewhere in
count on an Amstrad 16-bit micro. Alan has a rep- this issue of ACE. but the implications are s t ag
utation for confounding the ball gazers... ;gering.
Inthearcades
Tiger R o a d S nif f - e m - ups !
Capcom's latest coin-op release. Ttger Road F.rst it was 3D t her came hydraulic cabinets.
features stunning graphics and great animation now Capcom pres dent George Nakayama is
as Lee Wong Ithat's you) rescues kidnapped talking about a whole range of games eeth 'smell
children trom the wicked Ryu Ken Oh. There are syrthesis'
four stages. each with an 'end-of-level-guardian' No titles have been announced yet. appa
to defeat. ently,because there is some difficulty in getting
What really makes the game special. how- a 'nice- smell' This is hardly suprising - most of
ever i s the animation and range of different the opponents you meet in Streellighter t or
hazards Snakes slither up and down decorated example. look as if they have serious problems
pillars ready to Strike, huge piles of dismem- in the personal freshness department Fighting
bered skeletons surround giant skulls that literal- them's one thing. but smelling them would sure-
ly hoover you up into thee mouths, and numer- ly be more than any reasonable man o r
ous assassins fly in from all directions, Definitely wornant could bear
one to save the 10p bits for in the New Year.
Slreellignier - not the Airf of people you'd want to bump in to (or
snit down a dark oily
Heart a t t a c k
Meanwhile some of the more strenuous arcade
games are running into difficulties, it seems
Capcom's Streedighter featured rubber pads
which the player literally pounded with his lists
as the on-screen character beat the stuffing oLit
of various street-wise foes. Problem is, appar
.ently. that players who got lust a little too
..Dived ran the risk of injuring themselves on
1 Just to get things moving, however, we s-ig
- That's nothing compared to the supposed gest the following titles
1
dangers of Heavy Werght Champ. whose game - kaetarn Kompost - battle you' way to the
s
Control system allows the player to swing punch- top of the heap
, at the other bloke in the ring by gripping and
es Sludge Dredd - clean up the streets Di
cthrusting specially designed 'punch levers' Mega-City One.
a
Observers have suggested that this could bring Aromarama ex plore the maze to find the
b
about a heart-attack in people with a history of 'smallest room'
i
cardiac illness. On the other hand. since people King Pong - catch the bean-guzzling ape
n a history of cardiac illness can drop dead at
with before you run out of (fresh) air
e moment, this doesn't seem particularly sig-
any Readers' suggestions o n a postcard
t
nificant. please but no 'scratch•risniffs'
s
AdvancedComputerEntertainment 9
N
E
W
S
Where does it all come
from... this high-tech gear
which we take so much for
granted these days? We all
' M o w tha t TV wa s inv e nte d
by a Scotsman, radio by ar
Italian and computing by
Sir Clive Sinclair (give or
take a few years) — but
nowadays, much of what
the Englishman plugs into
his domestic power supply
comes from the Land of the
Rising Sun. Mark Jenkins
reports...
ou guessed it.. Japan is the subject of this
roundup of news and tantalising titbits
from the world of computing, hi-fi. video
and the rest. The newly-termed Yamaha Corpo-
ration of Europe was responsible for laying on the
tnp to the East, and for making it quite clear that
Yamaha aren't just about synthesizers and motor-
bikes - they're also into sports equipment, furni-
ture, jam, pianos . etc. etc...you name it, they
make it.
Yamaha's Shibuya retail store in Tokyo has a
huge range of synths and music computers
including the CX7 anc CX11, which aren't avail.
able in the UK since the MSX standard was a
total flop here, despite being popular in Spain,
Germany and France...
Slipping into the Tokyo metro (an experience
in itself) look us to Akibara,.a kind of Tottenham
Court Road gone bananas. Block after block of
video, computing a n d electronic gear
assaults the senses, although much of it won't
work in the UK (due to differing TV standards, for
instance) and some of it is illegal (like that neat
dual disk drive copying unit for protected soft-
ware)..
r7e)MMS P n i t O r t i l i n M e n t
Everything in Japan is interactive - TV shows like
CaptaTh Power feature flashing which you can
Punieuruc's nest tox-in-s-efione
"shoot at with a "power gun 'available in all the
department stores. You can plug in a keypad
handset to your telephone and TV for interactive
banking and shopping facilities, and carry an
electronic phone number index which recalls the
number you want and then bleeps it into the
phone f or y o u (only possible o n all-digital
phones, unfortunately)..
You can also buy a Panasonic fax machine
with built-in telephone for about E1.000 (half what
1 0 AdvanCe0 Compiler Entertainment
ACEINJAPAN
a bulkier, but otherwise comparable unit costs
over here) and send complete printed documents
down the phone lines to other fax users.
C om pute r s
MSX is still all the rage in Japan, with MSX2
micros like the Sony Hit Bit very common. You
can build this up with a full keyboard or small
numeric keypad into a complete business system
with Comms and other options.
Lap-top computers are popular - many-
Fujitsu's Fh177 MO computer; includes eyerithing but the kitchen
sink, Brat thai's corning soon_
companies have models Sony's 'Produce 100'
weighs just a few pounds but has a flip-up 440
Character LCD display. a score of Japanese and
European fonts, an art package, and a clip-on
32x32 dot printer which can produce business
cards, Filof ax pages ( t h e J apanes e l o v e
Filofax),cassette inserts and so on. But it uses
non-standard 2" floppy disks and seems unlikely
to turn up in the UK.
One of the most exciting computers available
in Tokyo is the Fujitsu FM77, which looks more
like a piece of hi-fi than a micro, It comes com-
plete with a TV set/monitor and has a polyphonic
music ship with hi-fi outputs, optional MIDI inter-
face and music composition software, a MODEM,
SCSI for hard disks and voice sampling circuitry,
TV & R a dir
,Pocket-sized LCD colour TV's are all the rage in
Japan, with models available trom Casio. Sharp,
Panasonic and many others. One or two models
working on t he UK's PAL standard are now
becoming available here, Casio's TV-4000 at
around E108 stands up like a bedside clock and
has auto signal lock to home in on any powerful
Gadgets
s.zRepeat Lear
irce gaoget
, , yCosting
s i aroung i s actually a
e mdev ce for magnetic strip-bearing cards
A' a n very fond of anything credit-card sized and you
,'ers"
, iB unt ift youe want a high-tech replacement
i c r- -c o
h mr i - d many other companies make
h s , the size of credit cards which
o n ' io •eave a message for your loved
l o
d n
l e
signal. the tiny TV-800 model. with 1.5 'screen, is
sold as the Bell, and credit-card sized Alik f k l
radios (sometimes with digital tuning and LCD
readouts) are common.
Most Japanese video machines are VHD HQ
(High Quality) with Hi-Fi sound. or Super Betamax
with a claimed 20% improvement in picture quality
and three tape speeds. But Video 8 is taking over
from both standards with its digital sound and
high picture quality: Sony's Video 8 camcorder
range includes an underwater model arid their
Video 8 Pro (000) has a jog-shuttle dial just like
professional U-Matic editing machines, duplicated
on the book-sized infra. red remote control unit.
Picture-in-Picture TV's and videos, whic h
superimpose a small section showing another
charred onto the main picture, are c ommon as
muck in Japan and are
just becoming available
in the UK, but Sony also
have a much more pow-
erful digital frame store
with picture-in-picture,
pixel magnification a n d
much more for just 2500.
Hi-Fi
Hand-sized LCD colour TV's are available from
Casio, Sharp, NEC, Panasonic and many others.
Professional recording Walkman designs wit h
Dolby or dbx noise reduction, level meters and so
on are popular, while the new CDV standard - not
Casio's cutsey-erutsey BeBi portable LCD c olot i
lY
yet launched in the UK but able to play conven-
tional CD's, Laservision disks or 5 'digital-picture-
and-sound disks - is just becoming available,
Yamaha make a nice CDV player for around E600
(NTSC standard only - tough!) And Digital Audio
Tape players are common at around £800.
one on going out. Your dinner ' u r
I'm in the gas oven' springs t o mind Th e
Japanese. being traditionally short of space are
can pick up pen and pencil sets makeup sets
solar-powered calcutalors. world time zone indi-
cators telephope diallers. English-to-Japanese
translators 15.000 word vocabulary) and much
more
 Trf
t_t •
t

WANTED c
s

CRAZYMMUS
FOR

WESTERNGAMES

* NM WREST L ING D A N C I N C

tb .le ttig , c1 t h e b i c e p s ! ) ( c a n - o - C a n • C n n 7 ) (o r b ro wn e ye s b o o k ! )

SHO O T -T HE-BEER
M IL KING F I L L VER r C F
( N d I l l . . p t, • n o
r i l l Nu n c o w s c o m e h o r n e ) , n v I )

ellootatt_pmeil 6111#1
:
ATARI ST ,
Ts
t_

ATARI ST - £19.99
AMS TRAb AMIGA - £19.99
C 6 4 CASS - £ 9 . 9 9
C 6 4 DISK - £12.99
AMS TRAD CASS - £ 9 . 9 9
A MS T R A D DISK - £14.99

MARKETED &
. D I S T R I B U T E D BY
‘
/ C
KM,GPC
7 BYTE (
.
.4
r NEWS

OCEANGO
The year is 2499 and arcade action
Snippets... is still the name of the game. Head
for the project centre destroying the
evil life forms and re-starting the life-
support systems on your merry way.

INTERACTIVE
r
- Blood \/
r Gremlin
39cs
u
p
l
while the rest of the game works
e
something of a buzzphrase similarly to a conventional board
I among software houses. Ocean game. s
ti2n1
isn the latest company to move into *It's really a hallway house,'
this
t field with the import from the US Ward admitted. 'You can take the
of
e the ABC Sport Winter Olympics view that the TV is a pre-requisite
The computer version of the Doard (••tv„•,'
r
game, a v ariant o n t h e t r u e for family entertainment, but it's a •
interactive video theme_ one-way system - you just sit there game t h a t as k ed t hos e s oul-
a ,P 4 ,
and look at it. Eventually you'll be searching questions which you, of
c course, answered truthfully. Should
t able to interact fully with TV images be in the shops as you read this.
i this is just the beginning.' The
v Winter Olympics video-with-game C atch 23 The pricepricemay not yet be confirmed,
e costs E19.95 and should be on sale Martech but it looks as it Blood Valley will be
v shortly. • 950 Gremlin's first Amiga product. The 8-
i Ocean are also hoping to move bit versions should be here before
d into the video market by buying that though. The game is based on
e distribution right s t o mov ies , fantasy role-playing books and the
following on from their joint release player has a choice of character,
o
with RCA/Columbia of the Vietnam each one with a specific objective
hWinter Olympics you get all this rot your 09.95, hidden somewhere within the central
awept the ice tilm Plat oon. Da v i d Wa r d is .
plot of a man-hunt.
s Ocean chairman David Ward however, c aut ious a b o u t t h e
bdescribes the game as a 'Heath- company's prospects in this area.
S pa c e A c e
eRobinson way of approaching the 'Yes, we're looking to build up a
Intogrames
cinteractive video format. The game video library, and we've set up a Atari ST C 1 9 95 dk
ois primarily a board game, with the division to do that: its lust another IBM PC 1 1 9 95 dk
The t hree dimens ional v ec t or
m video images randomly selected to way of entertaining people in the C64 E 8 . 9 5 cs
home,' he said. He added that graphics arcade adventure is about
edirect the games progress. Spectrum £7.95 cs
to make its appearance on the 16 bit
'It's a precursor to the eventual although Ocean wanted to continue machines. Steal the plans from the
interaction o f c omput ers a n d licensing films for computer games, CK 23 test development site before
TV/video data - where the video will it would not necessarily buy up you nuke it. Should be in the shops
create backgrounds to a game and video rights for films with a view to as you read this.
the c omput er wi l l c ont rol t h e micro conversion.
interaction', Ward said. :•-r O l y m p i a d '88
In Wint er Olympics,
a random s eries o f £7 95 cs
£9.95 cs
numbers a n d g a m e
information w h i c h £7. 5 cs
E19.95
changes ev ery f rame '
(every tenth of a second) This first of a new series of games
is s h o wn on-s c reen. introduces a h e r e by the name of
Six Oly mpic sports are combined
Players press the pause Lee Enfield sounds familiar). Set in
with t he gameplay strategically
button to freeze one of balanced bet ween s peed a n d the 22nd cenauy this first game is a
these s c reens as t he Oceangalier 0 vid Ward plays the game with es-Hiss uk Debby control. The 8-bit versions should be shoot-ern-up which sees Lee in a
Greenwood and ex•Kid• Dayid Jensen heck of a lot of trouble. The second
equivalent of a dice throw Out as you read this with the 16-bit
in the series will be set in the Middle
versions following 'real soon'.
MAD a d d X Northstar
Ages, but may not necessarily be
another shoot-em-up, so watch this
as:erlcorics E2 99 MAD range is to get a facelift and become space. 16-bit versions will be arriving
£7,9 first (February) with 8-bit versions
the MAD X series Ingredient X is an added B side. so Mat
E9 shortly after.
you'll now get two games for the price of one Some of the B c s99 cs , dl•
sloes will have a d Warrior
that
. bmany e e nwill be brand new games
p r The e vfirsti release of this record-industry-inspired range will be on • I L . . . A • 4 C r . IL C64 F . 9 95 c5
,
o u s l6th
January y for Spectrum. C64 and Amstrad machines. the A side will The team who programmed J et -
r e Energy
feature l Wareor. the 6 s,de Molecule Man - this has been around Boys reviewed this issue) are set to
e some
for a s time. and you can coincideatally1 read about as re-desic." release another arcade style shoot-
feature
e d in the Games Creator article in t h em-up. I t 's a sort Of O u t Ru n
i, Second release will be Rockford, inspired by Boulderdash. w meetsSpy Hunter as you drive your
sBack
n i ,sTos Reality
u e on the B side b Ut Rockman on the Spectrum'. This car through eight countries and try to
1 1h 1
LP L . eliminate the nestles. Look out for it
trelease marks an interesting move by Mastertroric Rockford is one of the
when the March winds are a-blown',
first
e titles i out on their Super Select arcade system and has now been put
Also f rom CAL in February and
rstraight or to 8-bit budget with no intervening full-price stage I t could
March will be Amiga versions of
om• Tau Ceti and Academy.
w-
nn i
1 2 Advanced
r s e Computer
i Entertainment
DINAM/C:
.

spee4vuA, AM S T RAD
COMMODORE

TPS EACH
C C D S
EACH
I M A G I N E S O F T W A R E 6 C E N T R A L S TR E E T •
PREVIEWS

ACTIC
FORI
1 \ 1

B 8
It's heads
down and tin
helmets on as
the first shots
in the 1988
software
campaign
start bursting
overhead.
Ati isobar is a measure of equaf Grab a look at
Temperature the latest
'Pressure 'Rainfall'
Me ight
command
Amiga: Tbe Gorgon biclor - gel three questions right and your opponent turns to stone. intelligence
POWER here-all of
P L AY
Amiga
these games
Out on the BBC yanks ago cmd
are due for
no spring chicken on the other 8-
bit m i c r o s e i t h e r , t h i s deployment in
mythologically-inclined board
game is finally corning out on the next
the ST a n d A mig a . E a rlie r
versions won a lot of friends with
their clever integration of trivia
couple of
questions a n d strategy, b u t
Arcana have spiced things up
months. We'll
quite a bit since then as you ccrn
see. The graphics coent the only
sort the duds
Which role ;lid Mowarti Kee( plati in Dallas?
Nino
changes; the strategy element is
more complex and important from the live
now, with factors like a piece's
liobbij Ewing C lif f Borttes
amitoti Tarlow •:111 strength mattering just as much rounds next
as t ri v i a kn o wle d g e . We ll,
Amiga. The mein playing board. t's your torn, but you'll have to ansviera question correctly beton
'gym move.
almost issue...
1 4 Advanced Computer Entertainment
 PREVIEWS1

HALO
JONES
Piranha
Unemploy ed lif e i n Ne w York everyday occurrences and Toby
ma y n o t s o u n d l i k e g r e a t t he pet pooc h is a ps y c hot ic
material for a computer game, robot , Bas ed o n t h e a w a r d
but were talking here about the winning 2000AD comic strip by
NY of the future where oats are Alan Moore and Ical Gibson, the
g a me i s a l l a b o u t b u y i n g
groceries - not Cr piece of cake
in The Hoop, a fl oat ing ghet t o
where shoppers go armed to the
1. THE CLAM
PAO? :;AILI
TODAY - 4000
LUCK WUT!
_f
teeth
Spectrum, C64 and Amstrad
users s hould get a c hanc e t o 2 : e
buy in March, but ST users will t
have t o wait t ill Ma y f or t heir ‘Spectrum: d a s h i n g on to doher shopping, while hologrometle Seifty Map (bottom right) keeps
dose of future shops. g
to up to dittow1h spaceshipnews.
•
-
XENON l P I M WI S E M A W R
e .; iNozwtcq % ; • t ,
MelbourneHouse s -
s 4 1 - • •
y ou w i n t h e Super Selec t
System i n t h i s m o n t h s
competition you'll get this one all
short on the ST. as y ou c an see
from these screenshots. You con
trundle around blasting ground
4o
u

1
7-
1 1
±7 1 9 1 1 1 :9 .
5 1
,
fired up and ready to play, but targets, wa g g l e t he joystick to t v 4

-
1
even wit hout a l u c k y s t reak turn into an aircraft and then fly ,
you'll s t ill b e a b l e t o s a v e 1
around blasting air targets or the ! 5 1
yourself a wh o l e l o a d of 5 0 p 1
tops of buildings Co mp u l s i v e -
pieces if y o u b u y t h e g a me stuff a n d v ery good look ing - 1
instead I t s coin-op standard on
the Amiga of course and not far
wat c h out for t he ACE rev iew,
corning soon! 4 6
1
1 AVER ONE I gee
1

1 1 needy led oftme *dons!

ST: lough?
2
"
BLACK
•
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LAMP 1
Firebird2
1

1
This c l a s s y - l o o k i n g a r c a d e
1
adv ent ure d r o p s y o u i n t o a
1
mediaev al mi a s ma of magic .
mystery k and (uip) monsters. The game probably wont be finished
a

5
gomeplay leads you through the until Marc h or so but it's looking
fl i p l great already , wi t h marvellous
-
and K into the scrolling woods
out a n i ma t i o n o n t h e m a i n
as r l cutesy jester character is
s cyour character a n d so me g re a t
attacked
e e i f r o m a l l s ides T h e

1
backgrounds too.
$T:kirbomeonlevel 1, sodyou're rignt in the itlia ci ii, The eight-way tong you've pickedup stould n
corminhardy egliPSI those hostile gunturrets.
i n
t e
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ST!Loot
4 Evengellingtar ST:The woods an noplace to be rtyou're small trough ton, birdtocarry you at
enoughloseethem lakessomedoing!
• i
L AdvancedComputerEntertainment 1 5
 Fir!
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ter

You are one of the elite p a ra ch u ti n g alone behind enemy AIRBORNE RANGER.Achallenging combination of danger
lines. The enemy controls the terrain, hidden in bunkers and and suspense. Available fo r the Comrnodore 64/128k. In
machine gun nests ...you may be surrounded.The action is Cassette £14.95 Disk £19.95.
fierce as you control one soldier's battle against over-
whelming odds. You'll need skill and strategy to out- A A 11411101kAllik Of
1111 allEMI " U L M •
manoeuvre your enemy, plus courage and some luck to I F OW M E I m i l e r I
M in k a d M IU M I M 1 h . d E l l r 0
make your escape. Airborne Ranger is an exciting fast- M EW W O R M " re
paced simulation with 12 desperate missions in 3 different S I M U L A T I O N • S O F T W A R F as
regions of the world. The possibilities are endless!
Please send c o p y / i e s of Airborne Ranger CBM 64/128 E Cassette £14.95 El Disk £19.95 El Further details.
to
Name (block capitals) A d d r e s s
Post Code yc

I enclose L including 55p P+R Cheques payable to MicroProse Software Ltd,

No I
or debit my Access/Visa card. Expiry date
"NI r s r s A • r - 1 _ s o N e e , f fi A •1
 L EITER S
'

Joining the Elite

Firstly I would like to say how good

A
your magazine is. It is packed with
more information a n d s of t ware
news about my computer than the
magazine I gel f or my Atari 520
STM.
Now. I hav e just upgraded
from a BBC computer to the Atari. I
used to play Elite on the BBC and
really enjoyed it, so I was wondering
it it is due to come out for the Atari.

Gary Roberts
Rochdale

Since I got no o f my C64 and

changed t o a n Amiga. I nav e
missed the game Elite and won-
t • dered if you could tell me whether
or not any of the software compa-
nies are in the process of making
the game for the Amiga as. so tar, I
have not found a game with as
much of a challenge. k e these bodies being eepoited

debate on t he alleged abuse of - women are far more cunning than

Des Smith
Galashiels
There's good news for both of you:
Elite should be available for Amiga
and ST by the middle of the year.
Hole in One
Can you please answer this ques-
tion; has anyone got a hole in one
on Leader Board yet? I've been try-
ing for EONS.
Incidently, were all computer hard-
cases here and think your magazine
is the best on show and can't be
beaten!!
S P Law
Warwick
Nobody round here's ever got a
hole in one - but we wouldn't know
a golf club from a cricket bat
women i n advertising. I became
more interested when Maria Whit-
lakes name cropped up. The Bar-
barian ad sprung up all kings of
arguments, but one fact everyone
failed to mention is that there was a
bloke in the ad too, equally scantily
clad. I might mention. though I didn't
read anything from anyone com-
plaining. Is it all right to see sexy
men, but not right t o s ee sexy
women? I actually found the ad very
degrading to men - what with the
bloke having t o wear that awful
wg
Anyway, the point of this letter
is that women don't need blokes.
especially ones rike Mr Panayi, to
speak f o r t hem. I n fact, mos t
women I know would find his atti-
tude very condescending_ I'd credit
women with a might more intelli
gene and back-bone if I were you
men anyway, and they know what
they're doing. So it's time f or us
boys to shut up, and the girls t o
have their say.
MB
Dewsbury
I thtnk you'll agree. Mr. B. that
womens's scantily-clad bads fea-
ture rather more frequently in ads
than men's. D o women fi nd D.
Panayi's speaking u p o n t heir
behalf 'condescending'? It's hard to
tell, because we haven't had any
letters from women on this subject
ii we do get any, we'll certainly
print them.
Allergic to Sugar
More on the 16-bit computer (espe-
cially Amiga). Less o n t he 8-bit

The preoccupations of the festive

Controversy of months
ago season have not weakened your
I was flicking through your letters
desire to air your views — the letters
page tissue 3) when I noticed a let - have continued to pour in. Most of
ter from a D Panayi, wanting a
them have been full of interesting
langer
/128K. REWARDS! comment—on censorship, piracy,
In recognition of outstanding
epistolary achievement ACE
arcade machine tweaking, and much
Letters will, from our next issue more. But if we get any more letters
on. be awarding FREE SOFT-
WARE to 3 writers every month. from 18 year-olds asking if their
One lucky correspondent will be score on Bubble Bobble is a record.-
receive our Letter of the Month
award - software to the value of ....there will be BIG TROUBLE.
E25.
letails.
So please remember to add
Everyone else is welcome to
to your letter details of the com- send letters to
puter you have, and the game(s)
you would prefer to receive,
ACE LETTERS 4 QUEEN STREEET
BATH BA1 lEJ
Advanced Computer Enterlainmen 1 7
;.
T
I
M computers (especially Amstrads)
Excellent reviews but perhaps you
E could have second opinions, includ-
ed by the other reviewers incuding
R their personal ratings
The Pilgrim's great b u t a
S helpline would be good, and also
larger pictures of the 16 bits arid
smaller ones o f t he 8-bits and
please, some pictures have looked
very dull especially the Terra pods
and Jinxter ones,
Play By Mail is rubbish and bor-
ing. Get rid of it...please. Though
the sound and graphics specials are
very interesting, 'Of strategic impor-
tance' was unfortunately of very tit-
tle importance, and nearly sent me
to sleep. If there are others who do
like it then, perhaps it could be
made bi-monthly with o f stratetgic
little importance' and PBM taking
turns. The article on the upgrade
stakes was very good but could
have gone tuther still, like would a
monitorttv (RGB) combination telly
be able to show the Amiga's 400
lines. Also it you are trying to set up
a s t able mark et f o r t h e 16-bit
machines y ou should emphasise
they'll be around for a long time and
that your 'in the future' is still some
way oft.
Now to the controversial bit. the
Arcade feature. I have a feeling I
C64 ARCADE ACTION
TOUGH GAMES FOR AT O W
1 8 Advanced Computer Entertainment
am in a minority but I didn't find it
that interesting, although I c an
understand that it does in a way
show what is to come on the games
front. On the whole, congratulations.
ACE is brilliant, although, perhaps
slightly overpriced? No I didn't say
that. After all, ACE is full of colour,
full o f into, and free tapes, and
expensive.
Don't worry, I don't expect MiS
Dit to be printed. After all, I never
was any good at English, it's just
meant t o give you some sugges-
tions. As you can see I have a very
strong dislike of Alan Sugar and his
computers and what he did to the
Spectrum, adding a lous y t ape
recorder, then a disk drive with not
enough storage, and with his 'Sin-
clair approved' games casettes
which normally turn Out to be the
worst programs. The computer mar-
ket should be more independent
with more small firms making add-
ons, that's what made the computer
scene so exciting. And Alan Sugar
treats p a s t purc has ers b a d l y
(remember the 464) arid the way he
priced the +3. Sorry but I can't stand
the man, s omeone giv e m e a
machine gun...
Neil Wilson
DO N'T FORGET TO GET THE LATEST CRL POSTER FROM YOUR FAVOURINAR :
seni
aPP
hay
The
the
bec
Obi
edg
a no
gun
cou
The glamorous world ol computer Journalism
oec
You're certainly a fellow with some computer journalist and I would be whi
strong opinions PBM and the strat- prepared to start as a junior.
co n
egy piec e a r e bot h occasional I am 16 years old in January
E17
rather than monthly ; you might not and I am taking GCSE exams in
.be
be interested in them. but lots of English, Maths, Chemistry, Physics,
gus
other people are. Arcades is, as History, French and Design and
or
you rigtrtiy suspect. o n e o f t he Communication at Meridien senior
legi
more popular sections in ACE, so school, and Computer Studies as
we could hardly get rid of it just on an extra subject at evening classes.
tha
your recommendation. As for Alan I have already passed the Cam-
on
Sugar, love him or hate him, you bridge Information Technology word
of)
just can't ignore him. processing exam earlier this year.
rov
I have owned a Commodore 64
cor
for the past four years arid I now
me
Gis a lob own an Atari ST_ I spend most of
des
I am writing to ask what qualit)ca- my time on the computer and I am
the
lions I would need to apply tor a currently working on my project for
the
position on your computer ma g a - my computer exam with my Atari
ser
zine. I would like very much to be a ST.
C64, SPEC, AMS, ADVENTURE AR

I would be grateful if you could
send me any details o f how t o
apply. to get started on the career I
have chosen.
Lee Bath
Royston
There's no hard and fast rule about
the qualif ac t ions n e e d e d t o
become a c omput er journalist.
Obviously an interest in and knowl-
edge of computers is a big help;
and the ability to write well (and
quickly) does n't g o amiss. O f
course, it's matter of showing t o
uld be people that you have these skills.
which is where paper qualifications
anuary come in handy. 0 and A levels in
ims English and Computer Studies can
hysics. be useful, a s c a n professional
n and qualifications from the universities
senior or places such as the London Col-
ies as lege of Printing.
l• that said, I have to admit
asses.
Cam- that most of the people here (and
y word on other magaznes that we know
var. of) came to computer journalism by
roundabout routes: an interest in
lore 64
I now computers and computer entertain-
lost of ment went hand in hand with the
d I am desire and ability t o write about
ect tor them. Your best way of getting in to
pi Atari the business is to start writing and
sending in your work to magazines;
4ARCADE ACTION
Uni WORLD
OURITWARE SHOP
if editors think it's good. then they
will keep you on file and possibly
get in touch when a vacancy aris-
es. In the meantime, keep studying
and pursuing your computing inter-
ests.
TOS troubles
I purchased an Atari 520 S U M
from W H Smit h o n t h e 13t h
November 1987. with it they sup•
plied eight discs. Of the eight. five
do not work correctly, if at all. An
additional title, Road Runner, also
does riot work.
Alan have said that the new
machines being shipped have the
latest TOS revision 1.09 and this is
the reason the titles do not work.
How do you find out what revision
your TOS is?
Please would y ou and y our
readers help t o compile a list of
working titles tor revision 1.09 TOS?
Perhaps t his will encourage t he
software houses t o move. S t a r
Trek has appeared on t he shop
shelves with a sticker saying that it
is for 1,08 TOS and below Only.
Mr G C Noakes
Basildon
Atari have only ever had two ver-
MAIL ORDER:
For a Broad Sheet describing the complete range and information on
your nearest stockist write to
Electronic Arts. 11/49 Station Road, Langley, Bents SL3 BYX. England
CRL Group PLC, CRL House, 9 t(engs Yard
Carpenters Road, London E 15 2HD
sions of the operating system, and
any ST bought lately is likely to be
the latest one, TOS 1.0g. Quite a
few leading titles do not run under
Diary? What diary?
I have bought your magazine from
issue one and think it is superb
helped by its superior quality print-
ing and more mature articles than
other computer magazines I could
mention.
After purchasing issue four, I
got home and then realised that
the f ree diary mentioned was
meant to be on the front cover of
my magazine which there wasn't. I
went back to the shop where I
purchased it but they said that
they didn't know where it was or if
there was one. Naturally. I was
disappointed and wonder if I could
obtain one from you even if it
means buying one.
John Baker
Kibworth Beauchamp
Yesterday (Friday 4th December)
I t old my Mu m t o g o t o t he
newsagents and see if ACE was
in. It wasn't. I repeated the instruc-
tion on Saturday. Hooray! II was
in. She had bought it!
LETTERS
this, and your only solution is t o
take them back t o the shops o r
send them back to the suppliers.
Most software houses are planning
I looked at the cover - 'free
diary'. I couldn't see it. Asked my
mum - she didn't know anything. I
Checked the car - no luck. I went
down t o t he newsagents a n d
asked if I could have one, as the
other one must have been stolen
from my copy in the shop. The
newsagents refused ( I d o not
blame them). so I do not have my
'free' diary Could you perhaps
send me a copy please?
David Hood
Glasgow
Quite a f ew people have been
experiencing difficulties with the
diaries - largely due to them not
being on the front of the maga-
zine. Either they f e l l of t o r -
more likely - were ripped off by
unscrupulous non-purchasers. I f
you bought a copy and didn't get
your diary s e n d a s t amped
addressed env elope t o A C E
DMRY, A C E , 4 Q U E E N
STREET, BATH BA1 lEJ
AdvancedComputerEntertainmen 1 9
I r
L
E
T home computer, either an
T over half t he t ime spent on my
E seem like a problem, but
R my reasons for purchasing
S a computer may underline
to upgrade t h e mo r e popular
incompatible lilies. However. given
the number of titles which do not
work with your machine it could be
that you have a faulty disk drive.
Check that out first.
Gulliver's Travails
I would like t o express my views
about type•in listings. I think that
they are very entertaining and I vio-
lently disagree with your point of
view, for two simple reasons. Firstly,
it generally doesn't take more than
two hours to type in a BASIC prog
of respectable length. Secondly,
many of them are not as amazingly
sub-standard as you seem to think.
Recently I spent 1_75 hours typing
in a listing for my Spectrum and was
too rather surprised for words at the
quality. It was approaching that of a
professional game of a year or two
back. II also only took 3.5 'precious'
and 'valuable pages in quite large
print.
I would also like to make one
more point, how many people apart
from you have written against list-
ings?
Angus Gulliver
Letchworth
Since we don't have listings, and
we've repeatedly said that we won't
be having them, who on earth is
going to go to the trouble of writing
a letter asking us not to run them?
Eh? Yours is only the the fourth or
fifth letter we've had asking for list-
ings to be introduced.
3.5 pages strikes me as rather
a lot; as does 1.75 hours of typing
the program in. I repeat; we will not
be printing program listings.
Is this a problem?
Congratulations on an interesting
and appealing magazine. As most, I
too find it gives a good insight into
home computers and software. But I
didn't write into praise your maga-
zine with accolades, I have what I
consider to be a big dilemma. I have
£500 or thereabouts to spend on a
2 0 Advanced ComputerEntertainment
Atari 1040ST or an Amiga
500. For some this may not
my problem.
I am presently studying
for A levels in Accounts,
Geography, B u s i n e s s
Studies a n d a powerful
wordprocessor is a must.
Also I a m studying f o r
GCSE computer studies
and it would be useful it I
could u s e a database,
spreadsheet, and a drawing pack-
age for extra help at home. The final
point I don't really like to admit, but I
am an old Speccy user and would
appreciate some good games.
Please don't repeat the specifi-
cations of either machine, give me
your opinion of which would most
suit my needs.
A Churchill
London
There's plenty of the senous soft-
ware you mention for both ST and
Amiga; whichever one you get. you
should find something that will suit
you. If you are going to do lots of
spreadsheeting a n d databasing,
you may want t o s pend s ome
money on a hard disk. Your only
real problem. as far as we can see.
is deciding which machine wit! get
more support on the games front.
At the moment the Atari ST has
has more , but that is not to say
that the Amiga will not catch up in
88. But we haven't really got a
clearer idea t han y o u a t t h e
moment...
Desperate Dell
I am writing on behalf of my 13 year
old son. Dell. who is desperate to
obtain the computer game J our-
ney's End for his Sinclair Spectrum.
We have tried endless stores
but to no avail. Please could you
inform us on how to obtain it.
Mrs A D Hill
Telford
First of all., try getting in touch with
the publishers, Mastertronic (01-
377 6880). I f they no longer pro-
duce it and have no old stocks, try
putting a small ad for the game in
our Pink Pages; s omebody o u t
there is bound to have one.
Taken to task
I feel I must take you to task over
your article in the 'Pink Pages' stat-
ing that the Spectrum is a *games
machine and should be bought only
as such'. mind all the word-processing. stats
Whilst I freely admit that well and music you wanted to do, could
you seriously consider a Spec-
Spectrum 128 is games orientated trum? We don't want to be nasty to
(hence I'm such an avid reader of The Spectrum — it's done sterling
service over the years — but it isn't
your excellent magi!). I also make
use of it for a host of 'serious' appli- really a machine you could run
cations. These include some pretty your business with.
involved spreadsheets for my dais
team's statistics and home accounts
(using Vu-Calc), masses of word Arcade rip-off
processing (Tasword) , learning do not know if people who visit
new programming l a n g u a g e s arcades realise just how much they
(SpecForth a n d Logo), mus ic al can be ripped oft, not just by over-
composition ( Mu s i c b o x a n d pricing, but by by the game's level
Echosoft synthesiser) etc, all o f of play. Most of the modern arcade
which m y Spec t rum h a n d l e s machines today include a change
admirably. that allows the owner to define the
I realise of course t hat t he main aspects o f t he game. Fo r
Spectrum cannot realistically com- instance l i v e s per credit difficulty
pete with 16 bit machines in terms levels, bonus adders, player his-
of either senous software or games tograms, hi-score resets. etc.
(although the 128K version of Star- Many s ma l l arc ades g e t
glider comes mighty closel), howev- greedy. and make the game very
er. I do maintain that, amongst its 8 pricey and as hard as it will go. Two
bit rivals, the Spectrum compares examples of this: a 720 Degrees
quite favourably due t o its good machine that gives you no tickets at
sound processing (the same chip as the start of the game, and a ridicu-
the ST excluding the obsolete 48K lously hard After Burner that makes
Spectrums), fast graphics capability it almost impossible to dodge the
(C64 games crawl along in compari- enemy missiles.
son),a us er bas e a n d software Should t h e mak ers n o t b e
availability you rightly state is 'sec- slopped from making games this
ond to none' and last but not least, hard? I would like t o know what
the low cost of the machine itself other readers think.
and its peripherals and software (I
picked up all of the software pack- Craig Freeman
ages I mention above for under a Worcester
fiver each a n d the synth for a ten-
ner). We too would like t o hear from
Sure_ I'd love an Amiga or ST, other readers who know of this sort
but after breaking the bank to pur- of thing going on. And we'll look in
chase one and then being charged to it ourselves.
around £25 a shot for software. I
ceiainly couldn't afford t o own a
software library a tenth of the size I
currently enjoy.
So please don't write the Spec-
trum oft as a games-only machine (I
suspect the rather juvenile content
at some Spectrum mags has some-
thing to do with this idea).
Remember it was originally
designed a s a s erious
machine and being such a
supreme all-rounder, s t ill
represents an ideal choice
for those of us who like to
combine bus ines s a n d
pleasure and aren't made
of money_
Grant Punchard
Aldershot
You hav e a f air point,
Grant, and you've made it
very forcefully; lots of peo-
ple have 'made do' with
Spectrums for serious pur-
poses. But making do is
what it's all about; if you
were going out now to buy
a new micro, bearing in
 •••' 1 4 —_ :• ,
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r ARCADE

do:

Andy Smith en.

cranks his ea
sid

engine up to CPT
wc

Top Speed all

thi
thi
with the help of
a little Nitrous
Oxide, then
knocks off a
couple of
dinosaurs in 101

Time Soldier. TOPSPEEDOna del track headed into the mountains. Pick the wrong lane at the junction and you could add a lot or miles to your icurney. thir

and t h e ev er c h a n g i n g roadway s s c roll

• TOP SPEED
Taito
50ppergame
you've been burning rubber in Out k i n or
Le Mans then put this one on your list, Top
Speed may hav e a f amiliar scenario, but it
delivers it wit h a dose of massive torque that
should bring sweat to the brow of ev en the
most hardened speed freak.
The game makes its appearance in the
arcades i n t wo guises, t he upnght c abinet
model and the sit in cabinet version tested
here. Controls for the car are as you'd expect
from this sort of game: steering wheel, accel-
erator, brake and gear stick (giving a choice
of HI or LO) whic h together take you through
a total of five stages. each wit hin a crippling
time limit.
Mere's also a little extra in the shape of a
Nitrous Oxide switch whic h is situated on top
of the gear stick. Activating this switch results
in t h e c ar s urgmg f orward a t break nec k
speed, wheels smoking and engine whining
in true Ma d Mcvc fashion. Unfortunately the
player is limit ed t o just three bursts of NO2
per stage - this might not b e such a b a d
thing because should y ou happen t o hit a
tight bend at 400+ k mh it can prov e difficult
to retain control of the car These extra bursts
of speed cannot however, be carried over to
the next stage.
Like mos t ot her c oin-op c a r d r i v i n g
games, the player's view of the action is from
a position behind and slightly abov e his car
toward him. Besides hav ing t o stay on t he
road and avoid crashing into roadside obsta-
cles, t he player has other road users to con-
tend wit h, inc luding ot her f amily saloons
and some rather large lames.
At a point some way into the stage t he
player arrives at a fork in the road and must
quickly dec ide wh i c h rout e t o take, bot h
routes converge again some distance further
on but selecting the wrong route c an hav e
the p l a y e r c ov ering unnecessary g r o u n d
and losing valuable seconds.
The anirnahon and graphics of the game
are superb, at the start of the first stage the
player is driv ing t hrough a c it y c omplet e
wit h skyscrapers a n d larnposts, a n d ev ery
section thereafter h a s dif f erent scenery - Ic

It
e:
a
a
fc
11

a
tc
tc

jc

TCPSPEEDThe hydraulic $ii-in cabinet Stand well clear el this TOPSPEEDCenter lane and the city's in the distance - two CM Is TOPSPEEOStreaking through the city with the Nitro' burniff,
because it roots and rolls I ea a lairground ride pass and three bursts of Nitro left so MI the pettch and hang on. Cornering can be lough, and there's very little room iDf mistakes.

2 2 Advanced Compute( Entertainment

 ARCADE

don't expect muc h lime to admire it, though.

The sit-in cabinet is a pretty hairy experi- FREE SOFTWARE!
ence - ev ery rise a n d t all of t he road is
copied by the rising and frilling cabinet and Get those muscles flexing,
each c omer will hav e y ou lurc hing to one
side or other. Crashing is an experience to be get those scores soaring, and

I
avoided by those with false teeth, unless you get your hands on some red-
want to see them end up in your lap. All in
all To p Speed is a terrific game crrid if you
hot software for your machine
think the theme is a bit old-hat, c limb in and absolutely free. Every month
think again... we're awarding juicy prizes
EiC a n
t
for the best arcade tips
1_1•1,
1 • • -• 0:
, •
printed in the magazine last
1 9
month it was Will Downing of
Daventrywho copped the
crumpet—next month it could
beYOU! Send in your tips,
stating which machine you
own, to: Arcade Tips, ACE,
ki..111aP I . 4Queen Street, Bath, TIME SaDIERS That's you in the bottom left stuck inthe Roman
- BM 1E1 periodwithyour churnin the WorldWarsage.

E
p
Crosedamagingto your health - visibility is poor and don't even
ay. th
Pinkor scrapingthe Wes.
S
P
E
E
C
H
e
a
d
i
n
g
i
n
t
scroll
in the
• TIME SOLDIERS
o
a
of the enemies coloured red that appear fre-

absta t SNK quently (and are tougher to kill ) These extra

u 20ppergame weapons inc lude a sccrtter gun that tires in
con- three different forward directions at once and
n
iC e rI S
n high-powered lasers. These are activated by
eThis vertically scrolling shoot-em-up has you pressing the second lire button. Of course the
le the lin charge of an on-screen sprite searching for weapons don't last forever so y ou hav e t o
I must
ahis lost buddies. scattered through three time keep s hoot ing t h e r e d c happies f or t h e TIMESOb:HERSDefeat this 'end of lever guardianand one ot your
toth churnswiltbe treed.
lperiods by the evil Geylen - whoever he. she extras
'Luther aor it may be Youll Imot yourself in The Primi- At the start of the game the player is told •-•
have ltive Era (complete with dinosaurs and stone- in whic h t ime period one of his chums is to
round aaxe-throwing cavemen); The Roman Period
be found and is then transported to another
, •Zr 9 0 2 4 0 4 9 -

i(full of armour-clad legionnaires): a n d The

time zone where he has t o survive until he
game r
World Wars ( a host o f Amenc an-look ing can fi nd a transportation zone. These horns-
the o
modem soldiers)
l portation zones are time machines that look
nplete Control of t he character inv olv es fi rst like large brok en eggs stooci on end, just
d
every twisting a joystick to mak e y our character head your play er into It and hes transported
r
ery - face
a one of eight possible directions, t hen to another time, another place, and with any
pushing
t t o mov e i n luck the right spot for locating your chum.
that
e direc t ion. F o r
Once t he play er has f ought his wa y
example, if your char-
o through t he swarms of attacking noshes he
facter is facing nort h will b e c onf ront ed b y t h e end-of -lev el
and you wont him to
k
guardian and in keeping wit h the theme of
n
face east you have to the level, the guardian takes the shape of a
o
twist t h e s t ic k t w o
tplaces t o t h e r i g h t dinosaur. a tank or an animal-headed god
s Destroy the guardian and one of your chums
befire moving This is will b e saved, a t wh i c h point y ou're t old
c
a tricky system to get whic h time period the next chap is in and so
a
to
n grips with and can hav e your hand con- on...
torted into some uncomfortable positions What really mak es Ti me Soldiers s o
The fire buttons are located beside t he • , • IP, I re a l
enjoyable is its addictiveness and its crtmo- PUSt1 2 P .
joystick and at t he start of t he game t he sphere. That and the constant action mak e * =ere
player has only a front-tiring g u n Ex t ra TIMESt..t..C1fiS The WorldWars - Those G.I Joes hate removed
for one v ery play able game that will swal-
weapons can be picked up by shooting one one01yoor lives. Servesyouright lot going tor that scatter gun -
low your lops faster than you realise. • youknew itwasdangerous, but youlook the risk,

AdvancedComputerEntertainmen' 2 3
r C

SUPER
O
M
P
E
T I
T I
O

SELECT..
N

...SUPER
WinArcadia'sfabulous
SuperSelectmachine -
completewithFOUR
stunninggames! A
ul
No more trips down to the coin-gobbling lo
th
coin-ops; in this amazing competition ACE
and Mastertronic are giving you the chance pi
al
to become the proud owner of the brand gi
new, revolutionary Super Select system from
Arcadia. Y

This is no ordinary arcade machine. With S

Y
the Super Select system we're offering you ,
can take your pick of FOUR superb coin-op Y
games—and you won't have to cough up a
single, solitary 10p piece.

What You Have To Do

To the right you will find four screen shot sections. Each
one is taken from a different Arcadia Super Select game,
as shown elsewhere on these pages. All you have to do is
The prize
This is what the lucky winner will receive; a
state-of the-art stand-up Super Select Sys-
tem, equipped with joysticks and controllers
for one or two player action —and most Super
Select games allow two players to compete,
match up the section with game it was taken from, write
your answers on the cover-card and then send that in to
us. So, for example, if you think section A was taken
from World Darts, just write World Darts in the space on
the card.
1
2 4 AotvancedComputerEntenainment
 C OMPETITION
.'

Super Select hardware

The innovative design Arcadia have come up with means that the Super Select System is able to
store up to 10 games. How on earth, you may well ask, can they do it?
It's simple - when you know how. Super Select is constructed around an Amiga Printed Circuit
Board. Attached to this at a right angle is a 'piggy-back board', with 10 slots tor miniature PCBs. The
actual games you can play on a Super Select machine are to be fOund in here on ROM cartridges,
which is how Super Select manages to provide up to 10 games on the one machine.

uper Select Software

oij think thehardware's pretty astonishing, wait till you see the software. The prize machine comes
plete with tour Arcadia corkers, plugged in and ready to go. Each one of them is the sort of thing
t is going to have less fortunate mortals emptying thelr pockets to play down in the arcades.

PRZE RASTABALL
WORLDDARTS
No prizes for guessing what this games all about:
yes, i t s on the oche and aim for double top.
What will surprise you though, are the superb
graphics.
You play 501 in an international tournament
against a series of increasingly skillful opponents
Each player has a distinct style of play, and it you
are to make it through to the top levels you'll need
to develop your own.
Even in the distant future - and were talking 3613
AD here - competition is alive and well, especially
in Blasta Ball, The object of the game is to score r•

goals by firing the laser on your spaceship so that .1• •,"-= •

the ball ends up at our opponents end of the field E
- ideally, in the net.
D 1
The action is viewed from above the playing
field and is centred on a radar-style showing the
H,
whole of the pitch. There are barriers on both sides 1
1
XENON of the pitch, so the ball is alwys in play and the
action is always intense.
4
:

;
A really last-moving ventcally scrolling shoot-em- q
up with wickedly classy graphics as you - the
T
lone Federation ship in these parts - battle
through the tour sectors of 16 zones. You can
switch your craft between a ground vehicle and a
SIDEWINDER A
l
ce plane, depending on which you think is more l evil alien
Fly your ship in to the bowels of the
approvilae for destroying the installations and i it before it
space cruiser 'Star Killer and destroy
ground-based aliens. Pick up tokens along the destroys the sun. You must negotiateg five differ-
rom way to add firepower and manoeuvreability to ent levels of 3D maze before reaching Star
.
your ship. Killers command level and getting a chance to
Al the start of each stage y ou will b e
o
th stunnned by the digitised graphics and sound as
put an end to the cleft that wants to put us all in
the dark. •
your task is announced, At the end of each level j
you will be horrified by the enormous guardian RuirwS
)p you must destroy before making any further I . The closing dare tor entries is February 14th 19611

a progress.
2. Emptoyees or Mastertronic Ltd, Future Publishing Ltd.. and their families are ineligibie tor entry.
3. The winne' of the competiton shall be the first correct entry drawn at random horn among those re<eryed prior in the
closing date. No correspondence shall be entered in t o .
Xenon is a game that any action-fan would
4. The winner will be notified by post and rim or her name pablished in the Aprg issue of ACE.
spend a lot of lop pieces trying to beat.

Advanced ComoulerEntertainment 2 5
 A

he
pu
pu

ac
to
Pa
tec
KA
yo
sic
thi
thi

sh
thi
ga
ga
in'
thi
fi t
Ce
de
ge
ca

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Ban

A

ARETHESE
GAMES
ILLEGAL
BARBARIAN- hack off the
head. RENEGADE- kick,
punch and stomp until the
punks blood flows. DEATH
WISH- use pistol, pump-
action shotgun and bazooka
to massacre the scum (or the
police, depending on how you
feel). INTERNATIONAL
KARATE c h o p and punch
your opponent in to submis-
sion. GREEN BERET k n i fe
the fur-hatted foe, or flame-
thrower them if you can.
We've played them all; but
should we be able to play
them at all? An ACE investi-
gation reveals that all the
games above may be break-
ing the law, simply because
they do not carry a certificate
from the British Board of Film
Certification - the people who
decide whether a film or video
gets an 18, 15 or PG classifi-
cation.
Green Beret
Flame throwers come in real handy some times
SPECIAL
B a r ba r ia n
()coops he's lost his head again. Excuse me officer, bulls
that a spot of 'gross violence'?
•
SCORE - 6 8 5 9
NiSCORE+0 • %
allJU R Y - - . (4i -of
• •
D e a th Wis h • •
wkill?w
Spat! Does 'gross violence lust refer to the number of people you can
(a), produc ed electronically
b y t h e use of
The Video information contained on any disc or mag-
netic tape, and
Recordings (b) shown as a mov ing picture.'
The second t erm means: a n y disc or
Act 1984 magnetic tape containing information by the
use of which the whole or the part of a video
work may be produced.'
•'41 So games should hav e been submitted
for classificcrtion all along, lus t lik e v i deo
sf
Well, n o t quit e. A g a m e i s specifi cally
4about? The law I n 198,
So what's all the tuss
and 84 public debat e raged about t he so-
excluded f rom t he ac t - unless (and here
comes the interesting bit)
4
called Video mashes'. films of a violent or sex-
ually expbcit nature I t was widely believed
to any significant extent, it depicts-
(a) human sexual activity or acts of force or
that wit h the growt h in ownership of v ideo gross restraint a.,cictated wit h such activity,
recorders children could be exposed to films (b) mut ilat ion or torture of, or other acts of
which, it was suggested, might hav e serious gross violence towcads, humans or cmimals,
psychological effects. (c) human genital organs or human urinary
The result was the Video Recordings Act, or excretory functions;
which sought to bring videos under the same or is designed t o a n y signifi cant extent t o
kind of control as films. What s it got to do stimulate or encourage anything falling with-
wit h games? Well might you ask, in paragraph (a) or, in the case of any t hing
The a c t c onc erns V i d e o work s ' a n d falling wit hin paragraph (b), is designed to
'video recordings'. The first of these is defined any extent to do so'
as: 'any series of visual images (with or with- So pret t y clearly, all those games we've
out sound) - mentioned on this page should hav e been
AdvancedComputerEntertainment 2 7
SPECIAL

So. pret t y c learly , a l l those games we' v e

mentioned on this page should hav e been
submitted to the BBFC for certification before
they got on to the shelves of the shops.
THECERTIFICATORS
Does it all mean that the games c ompo
rues are In for VMS from officers of the law? The business of granting certificates to films, was expressed about Gremlins Deat h Wis h
How many games might get those 18 certifi- videos and computer games is carried out by 3.
cate whic h woul d c ut t hem off f rom t heir the British Board of Film Classification. Every This brings us on to another problem; lust
largest crudience? A n d - horror of horrors - time you go to t he cinema you see their cer- what is 'gross violence'? The Video Record-
will w e n o w hear c alls f or censorship of tificate before the fi lm starts. ACE went to see ings Ac t does not defi ne i t n o r does t he
games? For a f ull discussion of these issues the B E M Secretary. J ames Fe r ma n a n d BBFC. It's a matter for the courts', says James
and how they will affect you, read on. • Deputy Director Ken Penry, wit h a selection Ferman. A n d , pres umably , a mat t er t hat
of recent games we'd video taped. We want- producers of a game have t o determine for
ed their views on whether t he games should themselves bef ore dec iding whet her t hey
West G e r m a n y have been submitted to the BBFC, a n d - if ought, or ought not, to submit games to the
they had been submitted - what kind of cer- BBFC.
While here in the UK we're only talking
tiliccrtes they would have got The BBFC has o n l y ev er been c alled
about the possibility of certificates and
First off was Palace Softwcaes Barbarian, upon to classify three games - all from CRI -
censorship, in West Germany the whole
on t he ST Wo u l d t he dec apit at ion a p p a l and t hey are not really equipped t o deal
business has been in full swing for several
them? Par f rom it, it was merely 'storybook with a flood of programs. As yet, they do not
years. Skyfox, Guadalcanal. Beach Head 2
violence, J a me s Fe r ma n s aid. B u t . h e even hav e a home computer, let alone the
and, most recently, Gunship are just some
added, it probably should have been submit- whole range of popular micros CRL hav e
of the games which have been banned by
ted before release, as one could argue that it submitted their games on videotape, wit h a
the Bundesprufstelle Fur Jugendge-
fahrdende Schritten. contains scenes of 'gross violence'. But i t printout of the text (all hav e been graphics
would probably hav e received a PG certifi- adventures). Such a form of scrutiny will do
This august body translates in to
c at e wh i c h means t hat alt hough perrents for adventures, but for an arcade or arcade-
English as the Federal Office for the Exam-
might not wis h their children to see it, those adventure it ' s hard t o see how y ou c ould
ination of Harmful Publications, set up in
children would not be prevented f rom buy- easily tape the whole thing. Expert ev alua-
the 50s to protect German youth from
ing t he game in a shop. A similar opinion tors would be needed - but they'd have to be
morally corrupting publications in a vari-

THESOFTWARE
ety of media, Works likely to corrupt are
defined as 'immoral or brutalising ones or
those which incite violence, crime or racial
hatred or glorify war.' So far it's the war
games which have suffered, in particular.
those from Microprose - who are now vig-
orously fighting the ban on Gunship.
HOUSESHAVE THEIR
SAY
The West German situation points Out
some of the absurdities which can occur
when censorship bites. Any product which
Is put on the list of prohibited publictions
cannot be advertised anywhere and must
not be sold to anyone under 18. It can still
be sold, but only in shops specifically P a la c e He goes on to clown t hat Jack is 'a break-
designed to exclude youth - which means Pete Stone of Palace, producers of through' in computer entertainment, bnnging
Sex Shops. So if you want to buy a copy of Barbarian. is aware now of the Act, hitherto undreamed of ' drama a n d excite-
Silent Service or Gunship in West Ger- but s ay s t hat a t t he t i me Barbarian wa s ment' to the consumer. The better the game',
many, you could find yourself among some released 'it didn't cross our minds But I hon- Chambers maintains:the greater the effect it
interesting reading matter... estly don't feel that Barbarian is a case where has.'
the Ac t applies: Pete Stone believ es t h a t He also feels that he has bewn the victim
Barbarian is very muc h in the mould of fan- of a backlash f rom other figures in the soft.
tasy. cartoon-style action,' I f I strongly felt ware industry. because Jack the Ripper has
that Barbarian w o u l d inc it e v iolenc e. I 'brought at t ent ion t o people break ing t he
wouldn't release it. But I don't believe it does.' law.'
Will h e s ubmit games t o t he BBFC And what about the f ad that the game
future? 'If it bec ame may not hav e needed a certificate after all?
the accepted thing. 'rm not a solicitor', says Clement Chambers.

CRL
Cl e me n t Clare Hirsch says that Activision is
Ch a mb e r s • aware of t he implic at ions of t he
of CM. is the man at A
VRA but t hat c ompany polic y is t o av oid
the c e n t r e o f t h e games of a part ic ularly gruesome nature.
c
storm. He vigorously She'd 'hate to think we'd hav e t o submit a
denies a l l e g a t i o n s
tgame like Rampage. It's so mindless.' Com-
that Jack the Ripper i
puter images, s he feels, are s o muc h less
was submitted to the v
realistic t han videos t hat t he s ome proce-
BBFC me r e l y a s a dures
i should not apply.
publicity stunt She goes on to mak e the point - voiced
Indeed. i n h i s s
by m a n y ot her people, s of t ware houses
defence, he takes the high moral ground: We iincluded - that a game 'attracts a teenage
were concerned t hat c ert ain categories of o
cruidence as soon as you say it's not for them:
people should be protected, he says. It there n She also points to the practical problems
hadn't been any procedure to get a certifi- for software houses in getting certificates in a
cate we'd hav e toned it down significantly.' fast-moving market where it's essential to get

2 8 Advance°ComputerEntertainment
 SPEC IA L
.'

'S a game out as quickly as possible after its

completion
Were in the busmess of home computing -
and that means for Mo m and Dad and the
kids.' • • None at t he software houses we
He reckons that t he nature of computer W to seemed ready to t ak e the plunge
spoke
g i r t US G o l d a r e anot her c o mp a n y graphics - including la-bit software - is such
ath Wish and
h start submiting games t o t he BBFC for
U1 S that violence in wanes is not a real problem, classification. A s l o n g a s t hey genuinely
1 Germany a
G
West o Their crtest game to fall foul 'Until we hav e really good CDI t he graphics believe t hat t heir products d o not c ont ain
lust of1 the Bundespruf are lacking.' t
o Record- letc. di s E x p r e s s 'gross violence' or any of the other factors the
" He would. though.like to see the software n mentions then they hav e a v ery strong
does t he act
w
12adeL a c oin-op homes get together to discuss t he issues 'I case
rys James conversion
h
o for not submitting programs
would love', h e sorys,lo see a participatory
alter t hat o Tim C h a n e y , body here to discuss not only the problems of
w So is any one else likely to take steps to
?mune for bring computer entertainment under closer
US' Gold's O p e r a - the indus t ry b u t n o w opport unit ies f o r s?out iny '
ther t hey v
tions Manager, growth,'
hes to the ) A t do so The BEFC is unlikely to take any
would
believes
e the ban to t h eaction; as t heir Deput y Director Ken
direct
bef ridiculous, a n d
called Mic r opr os e m o sows; 'It's not our iob to police the act
Penry
e c ompc my a r e
the !t W i l d Bill's outfit nave suffered more m e But it is possible that at some stage the
om c a - l
lighting the case in than mos t i n t he German wars ; n t or an indiv idual could bring a private
police
a to deal t
Germcmy at the they've had several war simulation progrecns ,
prosecution against a particular company, or
ey do not moment.
t banned On the question of submiting games I
retailer. II only needs one such case for com-
alone the h As far as our very own VRA is concerned for classification over here, Mark et ing man- t
puter games to be brought under t he spot-
- e
Chaney says that he 'wasn't aware it cov- ager Co h n Bas t able says, ' W e c ert ainly s
light of adverse publicity
2 with a c computer games . While US Gold, h e
ered wouldn't submit a game lust to gel the pub- h As the technology of computer entertain-
•Rgraphics e
says, hav e had plenty of violent games', he licly.' Microprose games, he believes, do not a
ment progre%es, the chances of this happen-
L
iy will do n
doesn't believe that the kind of violence they really fall within the terms of the VRA. ring must increase: while 8-bit and even l a-
xh arcade- s
contain is any t hing more t han To m a n d dbit micros may not quite hav e the graphics
a
rOU could o
Jerry Cartoon-style stuff. US Gold, he suggest, t
power to truly shock us. CD-ROM and Irons-
v evoilua
rt
isr unlikely to start submitting games for clas- o
puters certainly will.
e to be
love '
sification unless everybody else does. s By then t he software producers ought at
s least
e hav e met t o discuss t he issues, t heir
l Electronic Arts e
responsibilities a n d t heir response. I i t hey
a • Th e US giants hav ent been estab- w
have not, then computer games could be at
s lished t oo l o n g i n t h e UK, b u t h mercy of any crusader who wishes to get
the
they're
h well a wa r e of t he l a w; n o t leas t o bit of c heap public it y b y 'exposing t he
a
because
i they are CaS distributors, computer game noshes' •
n Mark Lewis, EA's boss on this side of the
Atlantic, doesn't think the VRA will affect the
J a c k t he R ippe r - why it
company's o wn s of t ware games ; I c an' t
imagine EA producing such titles', he says
doesn't need a
c e r tifi c a te

VIOLENT GAMES - Irony of Ironies - it seems that the game

that's caused all the fuss, CRL's Jack the
'a break- Ripper, doesn't need a certificate after all.

VIOLENT PEOPLE?
:, bringing The game Is a an adventure, with graphics
id excite- The pictures - which caused the problems
he game'. - are all still. Now, the Video Recordings
le effect it Act defines a 'video work' as: 'any series
of visual images (with or without sound)-
the victim (a) produced electronically by the use
71the soft- Is there any persuasive evidence to suggest of information contained on magnetic disc
reflexes, t h e y d e m a n d a ' judgement al
?ipper has that the games you play can influence your response' (you have to make decisions), y ou or tape, and
f eria t he behoMouP Could you become a raving psy. need to work out a pattern. mak e maps etc. (b) shown as a moving picture.'
ccpath through playing Hack-em-Up 2? Clearly, a still illustration is not a 'mov-
Whatever violence is going on in a game is
the game Relax - it seems unlikely that you're in only a part of the whole process of playing it. ing picture'. Similarly, while the game's
! alter all? any great danger. Martin Barker. Senior Lec- text may well be a series of visual images.
There ma y ev en be a sense in whic h
ambers. turer in Communications at Bestol Polytech- it obviously isn't shown as 'a moving pic-
computer violence serves a useful purpose
nic, has made a study ov er a number of Gones, says Mart in Barker. often serve as a ture.' Which all seems to point to Jack the
years on the media, their effect on the con- retreat from the pressures which surround us. Ripper not needing the certificate after all,
awsion sumer and the issues of censorship He thinks parents, educ at ion, work . Violenc e i n a and the whole furore being a storm in a
as of t he that there s no conclusive evidence to prove tea-cup
game can sometimes act as a harmless way
to av oid a link between the entertainment we con- of hitting back at the things that are bother-
e nature, sume and our subsequent behaviour. ing us and can help to release tensions and
submit a Most of the laboratory research done on trust rations.
Corn- the effects of, for example, TV on c hildren Finally, one of the central points of Mar.
nuch less assumes, he says, that we are 'passive recipi- tin Barkers views is t hat violence in games
he proce- ents' - that we just sit there and take the sluff (or any other form of entertainment) must be
m uncritically But it seems that the quite the seen only as a part of the wider whole - soci-
: - voiced opposite ma y b e t h e case, e v e n wh e n ety, culture, call tt what you will. If we are to
e houses watching the telly we can be 'active users', make a fuss about Barbarian or internahon-
teenage commenting on the action and even, when al Karate, t hen we need to look as well at
for them.' alone, talking back at the screen. the TV news. TV programs, =boons . news-
problems The same goes for computer games, but papers, advertisements. a n d that's a muc h
cates in a to a muc h greater extent. B y t heir v ery larger matter.
hal to get nature, games are interactive; they test your

AdvancedCompute(Entertainment 29
 T4SiMULRT:OO OFFin ECOSPHERE - A COMPLETE WORLO WHERE M I CEfAlt PS RO
: t - ' O F YOU POSSESS THE 5K:61, ROO STRATE6Y; MT° THE 001111nEn:'
R • ' T : HE WEATHER, POO F000 SUPPt,y

1RTRR1STROOSMIGR • r, Poul R O D
ROOSOOOFOR P R O C:RR, R WORLD
E A YOU
T Ecan BE A PAEOPTOROR A TRSTY SOFICHFORSOMECIOE ELSE,
U PCCOITIPRT:OLJES P S ECO..•R GRIMEOFSURVIVAL
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 GR A PH IC Smil

GETIN Part I
in' o u r n e w
series on

To graphics
techniques

GRAPHICS The s oftwa r e

So, you want to brush up When : t c omes t o s lapping those gobs of
your pixel power? With pixel around on t he old electronic c anv as
the sophistication of several recent arrivals
the arrival of sophisticat- on t he domes t ic c omput er graphic scene
ed art software for nearly has shown up the rest of the software market
as woef ully inadequate, especially for 8 bit
all 8 and 16 bit machines machines.
different pac k age A shame the same look'
could not hav e been kept to ensure ease of
upgrading.
Assuming that its facilities are the mini-
mu m n o r m t o demons t rat e t h e m o r e
advanced techniques of 'paintbox' style on-
screen paint ing, w e will use AAS o n a n
Amstrad CPC t o produc e most of t he 8-bit

it seems like a good time The whole point of using a n electronic

medium as opposed to dirt y old paint and
pictures f or t his series. Eac h t ool wi l l b e
examined in turn to see what it is capable of,
for us to provide a guide pencils. paper and canvas is t o mak e
easy use of t he wide range of tools at
to advanced computer manipulation that a modem micro can
paintbox technique. provide.
These make up for the inadequorcia
Over the next few- of most c omput er images (low resolu-
months some of the tion, f e w av ailable colours) by provid-
ing the ability to transform the screen in
secrets of achieving pro- unique ways. So f ar t he easiest av ail-
able means of doing this is wi t h a n
fessional-quality pictures Amiga and Ddux e Paint H or appc hnt •
on a whole range of descnbed in our last issue.
On lesser machines than the Amigo,
machines will be revealed Rairibird's Adv anc ed Art Studio seernr

byour resident dauber
Brian Larkman.
BLUE S P ACE CRAFT
Sphere- dghee4Illedcircle. Canopy - simplewhite ellipse withhigh-
lightssprayedan, Interior - shapedennedby canopy'brushand
tiledarithsoldcolour, Ribbedbody shell - simplebrush. The shape
otoneribdraggedrepeatedly toa focus before spherewaspasted.
thenribseachplacedcarelully adjacent Planet - large dither filled
arc*. Spacecrafttumes - paintedenwithSmoothingselected,
I
best to fit the bill. That is not to say that
other programs on some micros cannot T E X T U R E G RI D
do part of what AAS can do, just that The lull rangeOrtertures that the CPCversionof AdvancedArtSaudio
AAS can do more, and more easily, on provides, usingjust lour colours.
most machines. It provides what should now how you can best use it and, in some cases,
be seen as a de facto standard or bctse-line how it might be improv ed Wherev er possi-
for graphics packages ble the equivalent tool in Deluxe Paint II will
Nevertheless. AAS is by no means per- also be described for comparison, a n d II a
fect on any machines. Alt hough they would particular mac hine has some unique ability
be slower than continental drift on an 8-bitter relative to that tool it will also be covered.
there is n o reason f or not inc luding more
sophisticated manipulat ion routines wi t hi n Te x tur e d fills a n d dithe r ing
the program. Who would not give a limb to And this week we shall examine textured filic
be able t o rotate an object b y rust a f ew and dithering- the latter being my favourite
degrees on some occasion. or bend it, or give occupation. On these pages are several pic-
it perspective') Most software writers seem to tures of a spacecraft, one drawn in 4 colour
think that speed is essential but, as the long mode 1 on CPC. another using 16 colours in
render times required by ray tracing show, DPalr21 on an Amiga, (though it could as eas-
sometimes it's worth the wait! The ST version ily hav e been done on an Si) and the other
of A A S does prov ide s ome of these more a ray traced 4000 colour picture from Sculpt
complex tools working at a reasonable speed 3D definitely on an Amiga. What's interesting
plus all t he usual facilities, but it seems so about t hem is the way that the curved sur-
very different to the 8 bit versions as to be a faces are rendered in each picture. The t wo
Advanced Computer Entertainment 3 1
F
G
R
A
P
that concern us most are those using only 4
or 16 colours.
Normally t he first t hing t o consider i n
shown in the illustration of the Texture Grid.
Other versions hav e a similar range. These
can all be used to fill an area of the screen or
I
the
as

H drawing a picture is stmcture - the way the
I parts of o n object hang together and fi t in
C wit h a n y ot her s urrounding objects. ( We
shall delv e more deeply into stmcture nex t
S month). But in this case t he structure is rela-
tively simple; it is the light that is most inter-
estng
To giv e t he effect of three dimensional
space in a picture t he position of the light
source and the amount of logic that you use
in s hading t he surfaces is v it al. Th e t our
colour CPC drawing uses the least amount of
shading. Mo r e c ould h a v e been us ed t o
model t he surface but wit h so f e w colours
this would tend to be messy and complicate
the image. Initially the sphere relies on t wo
simple hic k s t o ma k e i t look spherical -
curved lines on t he surface a n d a spot of
specular reflection in the right place
Specular o n s
erything we can see is visible because of
tight reflected from it into our eyes. It is a
aular colour because the surface absorbs
wavelengths of light of that colour. If the
rface is dull then we will see the object in
ge of tones of that colour It it is reflecti
will see the surrroundi rig world including,
light source reflected - usually with a lot
distortion - but tinted in its colour. If the
object is to some degree shiny the surround-
ings are not usually reflected but the light
they c an he sprayed, paint ed or drawn on
using any drawing tool in conjunction wit h C
Wash Texture O n the right of the grid is a iSu(
column of larger boxes showing the range of nth
shades that are av ailable f rom ONE of t he 16
textures b y s wapping t he f oreground a n d ma
background colours. A l l o f t h e ps eudo- car
colours' s hown c a n b e used on screen a t
soft
shc
ptical m sho
Althogh the human eye is an astonishingly owl
sensitive organ the brain has the ability to be
selective about the way it interprets what it 5CTE
_s ees . especially when viewing a flee grid of S P ACE effe
dots. Provided the dots are small enough t , Mode1HI colour). Made inpads Iwindowsi andlater assembled. bac
eye can mix two adjacent colours into a thi Body - shortcylinder draggedekingmimedpathwithmultiple colc
This is called optical mixing. pathwithmuhple repeat. Superimposedthree times. Sphere -
pet
tilledcircle withsprayedhighlight. Shadows - sprayedon asWash
Texture. nes
abl
once as only four 'real' colours are used, wit h then c onv ert ed t o t he defi ned texture b y elle
the extra hues produced by 'optical mixing. selecting Was h Texture. A l l c olours s how abi
You will fi nd it very useful if you prcduce through the transparent bits but the darker nex
a similar grid to help in the selection of tex- grid overlay gives the impression of shadow fast
tures as the range is so large - and c an be This technique is extremely effective and can
greatly enlarged because t he textures are save lots of t ime I t works best if the picture
user-definable a n d c a n b e s av ed W h e n background is without detail and the same
using the ST version of AAS this screen grid colour as the shadows, in the case of the CPC
could b e kept immediat ely av ailable as a picture above, black
separate screen in memory Amazingly, Delux e Paint I f does not
In some way s the most versatile use of have a was h textures facility, the only seri-
textures is as Spray-on shadows' wit h Wash ous omission in t he program. But a similar
Textures By defi ning the background colour effect can be obtained by defi ning a fi ll pat-

A
source is. This reflection is called specular of a t ex t ure as transparent a n d t he fore- tern in alternative background and shadow
reflection or highlight, Adding the highlights - ground c olour as t he s hadow colour, a n y areas w i t h a n y c olour, fi l l i n g w i t h t h e
the most important final touch you can give area that you wish to be in shadow regard- defi ned texture, pic k ing u p t h e t ex t ured
a drawing to make it look realistic, They need less of its colour c an be sprayed ov er a n d area, t reeing t he bac k ground a n d pasting
to be carefully observed. The shading that
has been used is in the form of actual shad-
s positioned to show that the sphere has
lk that is getting in the way of the light. To
rtion this (and the highlights) correctly it is
essary to decide exactly where the light
Ice is. In deep space there is usually only
ne major source, making lighting much
er (which is why this subject was chosen
to illustrate light i n g ) .

When a reasonable number of colours

are av ailable - say 16 - it is possible to select
those that will give the effect of modelling or
roundness' to an object. Dark er shades are
placed a w a y f r o m t h e highlight . light er
shades close to it. the edges of each colour
blended cosily tcgether using a t ec hnique
called dithering The blue spacecraft picture
demonstrates this form of shading perfectly.
Some 1 6 b i t s of t ware a l l o ws aut omat ic
dithered fills - the range of colours used is
changed progressively along eac h line of
the fill.
The CPC is capable of manual dithering
in 10-res mode using the spray So in theory
are t he Spec t rum a n d CO4, b u t at t ribut e
problems m a k e this difficult in all but t he
simplest pictures I t is here that A n Studio
comes to our rescue with Wash Texture
Y E LLO W S P ACE CRAFT
Washing your textures Eachsectionwasmadeseparalely andlater assembled. Anangle ol appnox45 degreeswaschosen tommintisealiasingproblems. Cylthdrical
The full range of textures that t he CPC ver- body - short eiliptical sectionwithwhite edge and alew white spots to g've bands. Draggedat 45 degrees anddither-filled, Reducedtomake
Ceraral stein Fuel Spheres - dither filledcircles. How the trait wasassembled:Most distanttwospheres...central slem...lower close
sion of AAS provides using lust four colours is sphere. rear body _shading._nearestsphere,„froci body

3 2 AdvancedComputerEntertainment
 GR A PH IC S

the texture. Its a bit elaborate, but it works -

as can be seen in the Yellow Spacecraft pic-
ture

Colours
Such a strategy is only necessary when the
number of colours civcolable is limited. Wit h
16 or 32 chosen from a range of 512 or 4096
more realistic shading and surace modelling
can b e ac hiev ed wi t h c mef ul c hoic e o f
colour and dithering. The most sophisticated
software ev en lets t he artist s pray on t he
shadows b y c alc ulat ing t h e nex t dark er
shade available for eac h pixel in the shad-
owed area.
With Diglpoint us ing 4000 c olours o n
screen this can result in some v ery realistic
effects. Similar results are prcduced from ray.
$embed. traced pictures. Ex amine t he s hading a n d
nullipe colour modelling of c urv ed surfaces in t he
entre -
CMasWash picture Blue Moon'. This degree of smooth-
ness is not possible in any other way, it prob-
ably represents the ultimate in surface mod-
arture b y elling on a current home computer - a suit-
urs s how
able image to leave you contemplating the
le darker
next month. In true Masters of the Universe
I shadow.
fashion the moral this month
)cmd can
if you are going to get up to shady prac- BLUEMOON
le picture
ties make sure you wash textures*, • RayTracedSculpt 30 Piclure,

ARTWORKS
the same
if the CPC

does not
only seri-
a sirmlctr
c fill pat-
shadow
with t h e
textured
d pasting

It's here at last! The section you've all HAND

Steve Hall, London
/, been waiting for, where you can dis- Drawn freehand on the C64 using Artist 64.

.to
play to the rest of the graphics world
the work you've created.
Artworks will appear in every sec-
ond or third issues of ACE — provided,
of course, that you keep on sending
the pictures in. Please try to give a few
details about how you did them, as CARTOON
well as any tips you might have for Ronnie Tucker
This version of a cartoon by ACE's own Steve
other readers. The address to write to Spicer was drawn on the ST using Neoch roma

is:
Artworks
ACE
4, Queen Street
Bath
sCylindrical
icedinmake
:se
BA
- AdvancedComputerEntertainment 3 3
I
FEATURE

• , • • • - • d i k
•-•
_ •

HUM P HRE Y BOGART • •

1
1
• — • • 8
Patrick Kert,LangALslite *. e' 1
1
7
The great movie actor makes a return appear-
ance on the ST. •• 1
2
1

- ,
7
- 2

5 .

-
•
•

• l
- • a
• -
:-40p
u
r
DRAGONSLAYER
DavieHatay. Nottingrom
Drawn on the Amiga, using Deluxe Paint. Not bad
at all for someone who's only had the computer
for a month.

•P•

S P ACE MAN
Steve Ha Langan
Another of Steves detailed pics. produced once again with Artist 64 on the C64.

Steat
circle
these
Steat
most
can E
previ
Pleas
Nam(
T HE GOOD, T HE BAD AND THE UG L Y
FrankTaut,Torquay
I end
Produced on an Amiga using Deluxe Paint. Single items were created, picked up with brushes, saved and then overlayed.
or del
3 4 AdvancedComputerEntertainment
 Preview The Future!
ROJECT: STEALTH FIGHTER

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 1
-

Al
A WO RTHY
LAS'
SUCCESSOR TO THE EVER POPLII
MATCH DAY MOTEL'
S I MULATI O N - I P A G AME WHI CH HAS
RE MAI NE D I N THE READERS CHARTS FOR 3 YEARSI
-AvoliaittritowAvoc:3
W r i t t e n onc e a ga i n by J on P i t m a n a nd Be r ni e D r u m m o n d this N E W M a t c h Da y isil
, r esul t of all the c us tom e r fe e dba c k a n d advi ce on h o w to cr eate the pi nna c l e i n c om put e r sot
Pit y ours elf agains t the CPU or w i t h 2 p la y e rs -f u ll league or cup c o mp e t it io n w i t h u n iq u e c ode - s av e faciill
J uinp, h e a d , v o lle y a n d k ic k (us ing t h e k ic k m e t e d t o mo v e t h e b a ll f r o m play er t o p la y e r w i t h a u t o ma t ic
d e a d b a ll s et ups a n d g o a l k e e p e r c ont rol.
DI AMO ND DEFLECTI ON SYSTEM"' ensures realistic ball
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f u ll mus ic and s ound FX. •
If y ou w a n t t he v ery bes t in f oot -
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 SCREEN TEST

SCREENTEST
Road racing g a m e s h a v e SCREEN E S 1
gone i n t o overdrive t h i s INDEA

month; we give the head-to- 3839 SUPER OUT RUN US Gold

HANG ON Electric
head judgement o n O u t Run and 40 FIRETRAPActiviston
Dreams

Super Hang On. In a slightly 41 DAN DARE 2 Virgin

41 PSYCHO SOLDIER Imagine
different vein, E A want t o 42 SALAMANDER Konamt
42 FLYING SHARK FirebIrd
take you for a Test Drive in 44 RAMPAGE Activision
45 RAMPARTS Go!
some very upmarket motors.. 48 COSMIC CAUSEWAY Gremlit
49 TETRIS Mitrorsott
Old favourites have been 51STARTREK Firebird
52 GARY LINEKER'SSUPERSTAR
jazzed up; check out bounc- SOCCER Gremlin
53 MATCH DAY 2 Ocean
ing b a l l s in G r e m l i n ' s 56 DIPLOMACY Leisure Genius
58 TEST DRIVE Electronic Arts
Cosmic Causeway a n d 60 STAR WARS Domork
61 COMBAT SCHOOL Ocean
Ocean's Match Day 2. 62 HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER Arg,,
62 MICROLEAGUE WRESTLING
Most surprising 900+ programs 63Microprose GRYZOR Ocean
of this month are the board game gromes 65 CHAMONIX CHALLENGE Info

Diplomacy and the Mirrorsoft p u z - 65 CHOPPER X Ma ste rtro n ic

65 WESTERN GAMES Ariolosoft
zler T e t r i s (first Russian game 6665FRANTIC INSANITY FIGHT Microcleol
FREDDIE Top Ten
that w e ' v e e v e r seen — keep 66 JET BOYCRL. 66 GALACTIC GAMES Activision

'em I coming Ivan). 66 BAD CATS Go!

67 VERSION UPDATES
And, o f course, t h e arcades.
Some g o o d conversions t h i s month, i n c l u d i n g
Konami's Salamander, Firebird's F lying Shark
Ocean's G r y z o r and Combat School.
R POPU
Most long-awaited game a w a r d goes t o
FO O T
:H
B I HAS
Star Trek; y e s , i t really h a s b e a m e d
YEARS!
s Day is down t h i s t i m e . A l s o i n t e r e s t i n g i s
puter s
ave
tatic
Microleague Wrestling, with nifty
digitised pics o f t h e monstrous
grappler Hulk Hogan.
Eat your heart out, B i g D a d d y.
limited
AdvancedCompuierEnteriatriment 3 7
Oceans
SCREEN TEST

You hav e t o driv e a bright red Ferrari and navigabon.

A l o n g - a wa i t e d games go, t he software-
buy ing world really has been holding
its breath over this one. Did US Gold seriously
intend to shoehorn such an enormous, mind-
snappingly fast game into a bunc h of home
micros? More to the point, could they do it
Not so muc h clearing the first hurdle as
limbo-dancing under it, 8-bit versions of the
game just squeaked onto the market in time
from a start to one of five finishing lines, cor-
nering a t h i g h s peed a n d dodging ot her
vehicles you come across. You driv e against
the clock, wit h time bonuses along the way
to extend your game Run the clock down to
zero, b y driv ing t oo s low or was t ing t ime
recovering from crashes, and its game over
That's a l l standard-ish c oin-op rac ing
This l at t er i s pos s ibly t h e c oin-op's
strongest point: the junctions just before each
time c hec k point let y o u choose not o n l y
whic h fi nishing line t o go for but also t he
route y ou want to take there. This surely is
the heart of t he Out Run experience. C54
race strategy tans wi l l be disappointed t o
learn then that their INTS)911 has no naviga-

OUTRUN
tion in it at all. You must choose one of five
possible routes (compared, to the coin-op 's six-

RELEASE B O X
C64/28 t 9 99a,E11•9911 O U T NOW
SPEC E 8 . 9 9 c s I M M I N E N T

Pedal t o t h e m e t a l w i t h US GOLD. ATARIST E19.99* I M M I N E N T

AMS E9.99c s , E14_99dk IMMINENT

T I R E D o f alway s hitting top speed and

still not going fast enough? So
were Sega apparently, because they fitted
the Hcmg-On bike wit h a turbocharger for
just such moments. The result was the rip-
roaring c oin-op t hat ED's n e w t aas world
road-racer is based on.
Starting i n Af ric a y o u a i m t o r a c e
around the globe, t ak ing in Asia, Americ a
and fi nally Europe in a desperate b i d t o
beat t he clock. Bonus t ime at t he end of
each section - there are 48 of these in all -
helps k eep y ou going, b u t t he odds are
stacked against you.
As wit h C64 Out Run, this is not one
game but several. Each of t he four conti-
nents l o a d s s eparat ely , a n d e v e n o n
StageOne -Coconut Beach - is commcm to all routes. so you'll soon know its curies inside out Amstrad dis k y ou' ll h a v e t o s wit c h t h e
for Xmas The only finished version available game stuff, but a number of features lift the machine off to move on to the next one. I n
for rev iew at time of going to press was for arcade Out Run int o a class of its own. On
the G64, but US Gold were confident of get- the graphic side. l a r g e (and f right eningly
ting Spec t rum a n d Ams t rad versions int o solid) pieces of roadside scenery hurtle past
A m s t r a d V e r s ion
Scmta's grotto too very c onv inc ingly . hit these a n d y our c ar Astonishingly the game actually last colour on its
If y ou were at the PCW show this year. will go t umbling end over end in one of the way over from the Spectrum, leaving The screen
bought a copy of ACE issue 2 or lust took a drab and largely monochrome. The sound too has
game world's all time great crash sequences.
travelled badly. A poor conversion indeed that
look in t he arcades recently you'll already If gctrneplay is more your c up of t ea you'll
does nobody any credit.
k now what Out Run is all about, but for any. fi nd the coin-op's got bags of that too, what
body who's still i n t he dark here's a quick wit h cornering - take it slow and lose t ime
rundown. accelerating, or got y our teeth and steer - GRAPHI CS 5 I Q FACTOR 2
AUDI O 1 F U N FACTOR 8
ACE R A TIN G 6 7 2
S e ga Beavers
Superficially these two coin-op licenses have a great deal in common, both in the Sega originals
they're based on and in the compromises made during conversion. If anything these games are more
similar to each other than the originals were, what with the C64's memory problems killing Off the
PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
route choices that made Out Run so popular in Me arcades.
Oddly enough, the main problems the two games have aren't those that most pundits foresaw.
While the crash sequences in Out Run haven't turned out to be terribly impressive, the large roadside
features and highway traffic are surprisingly fast and the impression of speed is good.
= I =
Equally, the notorious colour problems of the Spectrum have done relatively little to spoil the look
of Super Hang-On. True, the turbo glow is nothing to write home about, but the lack of painful colour
clash is a delight and again the sensation of speed comes across well. (The Amstrad on the other
EE
hand, a far more colourful machine, is given as drab a game display as the Spectrum ever had to put
up with.) •,• d r r , • we c k I a
,
Ironically, both games suffer from gameplay problems which could put you off more than a little, Better graphics on the Spectrum give lithe edge on
Super Hang-Oils initial difficulty is infuriating, but as so often happens the frustration goes hand in day one, but both versions suffer fromexcess difficulty
hand with addiction. Out Run has its difficulty problems too of course, but verging on the insultingly in the long term.
easy as it does it'll have a rather harder job pulling through.

3 8 AdvancedComputerEnterlainmeM
 SCREEN TEST

your overall time, so what wit h the absence

C 6 4 V e r s ion
A good impression at speed and some excitingly
chunky roadside features may be tine technical
achievements, but they can't paper over gaping
cracks in the gameplay. Without junctions, tight
corners. roadsigns o r realistic acceleration it s
hard to call this Out Run at all.
GRAPHICS 8 I Q FACTOR 2
AUDI O 8 F U N FACTOR 6
PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
of any really s harp comers there's no real
need to risk crashing even on sections you
aren't fcanthar wit h. This is a l l t he mo r e
remarkable seeing as the C64 version has
neither t he wi d e stretches of c arriageway
nor the roadsigns of the coin-op
Instead y our moan problem is weav ing
through traffic, but even here there's relative-
ly little challenge The sheer volume of traffic
mot
.0
is abs urd - fi nding y our wa y c omp: et ely 0

ACE R A TIN G 6 1 0 blocked is not unc ommon - but since a l l

,

Surprising good looks will grab you at first, but the

u.
I

vehicle porttems a r e fi x ed a n d learnable game's too easy to hold your attention

0
0
r
y oull soon b e av oiding a n y collisions it s ,

teen) at load time, and if your fancy turns to actually possible t o avoid. Mas t ering a n y
,
w

a different route after half o n hour y ou'll one of the five courses is a matter of hours e
houses and dodgy bridgework to one side -
e
have to turn off and reload from scratch. rather t han day s under t he circumstances. k
it lacks the picryability and challenge you're
I

That's not the only major departure from and that's not good enough. m
entitled to expect. As a game in its own right
o

the coin-op. t he balanc e of garneplay is The ball ma y still be in the air on the n
its just too easy getting through the stages to
,

completely different too. The C64 Ferrari has Spectrum and Amstrad. but the C64 version I
hold your interest for any length of time, so
y

such phenomenal ac c elerat ion t hat brief is defi nitely dis appoint ing Though superfi-
e
US Gold lose both ways.
a

periods of braking hav e very little effect on cially not too far off the coin-op - Play School • Andy Wilton

SUPERHANG-ON
Get a grip o n ELECTRIC DREAMS.
theory t he continents are graded i n order
with Africa the easiest and Europe the hard-
est, but in practice this is only half way the
case.
You start each continent wit h 50 seconds
on the clock a n d get anot her 30 seconds
bonus at the end of each section. You'll rarely
make a 'profit on a section by completing it
in under 30 seconds, so your time will tend to
get worn down as you progress across a con-
tinent Thus. In a sense. t he 15-section EUro-
diehards) whic h engages that all import ant abort facility - and a few well-chosen exple-
turbo - prov ided you're going fast enough, tives - more than a garne ought to require
that is. You c an press for all you're worth, but
• Andy Wilton
the t urbo wo n t k ic k i n unt il y ou're u p t o
280kph. When it fi nally does fire up however.
things really start get t ing interesting. Th e a
- • P.1
extra 40-50kph the t urbo gives you is essen- m
tial if you're to stay on schedule, but it makes m
it substantially harder staying o n t he road o
and dodging other riders. M
M

111 : 0
4
Keeping your tyres on the tarmac is pret-
peal route is much harder to complete than E
ty important - hitting roadside obstacles costs
M
Africa (6 sections) or Asia (10). The opening you precious seconds - but dodging other rid-
C .
sections of the African run are at least as ers is absolutely vital. Collisions can cut your 1
O R

PI • speed in hail, and that'll lose you a good deal r M

k
•

more t han that turbo assist. Unlik e Out Run, iAmstrad 1

t
%NO 3 1 you see, the opposition come from behind as lhandl
- 7 - A e early on. 0
5 , well as appearing in the distance. Once you id r a 1
tall bel ow t he av erage speed of t he pac k ab -
1 • RELEASE B O X
you're liable to be rammed by bikers trying to lb o o
1 e
overtake you. tk i n
1 , —44511O11 C641128 E 9 99cs,E1499dk IMMINENT
tg
. s Its a vicious circle
iA SPEC E 9 99cs O U T NOW
1 , may. never
l o s get
e back again, being rammed
rs i
1 r fasters than
p eyoue can
d steer or accelerate. Parn-
M
AMS E9_99c s , E14.99dk O U T NOW
a
• t rrunga c ann lust dk eep cutting y ou bac k t o a i, ATARIST To beannounced SPRING '88
. crawl,y but oit can also block you from getting nw
kr r the lane
u you need round a curve or run you Ti
off the road entirely. If you suffer from blood It
Spectrum: Blaring across Americ.a, you'll have to weave through the
pressure problems , t h e colossal frustration Mh
r shoos your progress along the
pad. The course indicator itcy left) S pe c t r um V e r s ion
course, milt the lee-breaks marki.ng chock-points. involved here will do you no good at all It's Ma
not rust the crass unfairness of it all - no mat- ec Great impression of speed, well-animated riders
n
hard as anything in Europe or America how- ter who rams who, you're the only one who on and good c olour wit h remarkably little clash.
ever, and the first leg on the Asian route is ne Sound effects are on the weak side, but overall
loses speed - but t he ex t reme diffi culty of
nothing short at diabolic al. Th e mo r a l i s =n it's solid stuff on the presentation tront.
av oiding collision as well. Wit hout a rear
unclear, but dent feel obliged to follow the v iew mirror, you've just got t o guess where a
'obvious' order. s GRAPHI CS 8 I Q FACTOR 2
riders will appear from, Get it wrong onc e
t AUDI O 4 F U N FACTOR 8
As well as the usual steering, throttle and and it could put y ou out of the race. Addic -
y
brake you have a key (tire button for joystick tive stuff t o be sure, but y oull be using t he A C E R A TIN G 7 5 2
c
u
r
v Advanced Computer Entertainment 3 9
e
r F
E
A
T
U
R
E
FIRETRAP S pe c t r um Ver sion
The scrolling is jerky and the screen isn't very colour-
ful, though the colcurs do change for each building
Its tough to play , and you may feel a bit cheated

D o u s e fl a m e s w i t h ELECTRIC when y ou get hit by an object coming out ot a win-

dow More luck than brainwork is needed and the

DREAMS addiction wears oh pretty soon

GRAPHI CS 8 I Q FACTOR 2
you c m proceed t o t he next building irre- AUDI O 4 F U N FACTOR 6
F especially when there are five tower spective of how many others you've saved
Iblocks ablaz e. St ill, a l l t h e ex pert s a r e
on the way A s is usual wit h burning build-
ACE R A TIN G 6 4 7
Rexhausted so its up to you to save the day. ings, t he rescue operation is hampered by
E You start the game on the bottom comer
falling televisions, tables, bottles of poison -
lof the first tower block and have to reach the PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
itop of the building wit hin a time limit. Fires
g
h
t RELEASE B O X
i
n C64128 £9.99s, E12.99dk IMMINENT
g
SPEC C9•99cs, OUTNOW
i
s AMS 0.994m,E14.99dk IMMINENT I umn h C k s i I 1 5161 , r n o n l fl y e n '

b Graphics and gameplay keep you interested for only a short

e while
s
break out t rom the windows constantly cmd
t
you h a v e t o u s e y o u r wa t e r c c mn o n
l
(strapped to y our back) to extinguish them. You're facing death every second here, so perhaps you should peared off screen or has hit something. It's
e
The trapped people (and clogs) need saving seek shelter under those!Lagar:11es not t he most c ompelling of coin-op conver-
f
as we l l a n d this is ac hiev ed b y reac hing sions and all but the hardened addicts will
t
whatever window they happen to be hang- the usual sort of thing, and contact with any soon tire of this,
t
ing out of. They t hen parachute t o safety item (including the fires) results in you losing • Andy Smith
o
and you COT) go rescue the next victim. one of your live lives.
t
But play ing saviour tor everyone i s a Fire flap suffers in the play abilit y stakes
h
secondcrry consideration, for at the top of the in that once you've fired your c annon y our
e
buichng is a special lady . Rescue her and man can't mov e unt il t he shot has disap-
e
x

MASK2
p
e RELEASE B O X
r
t C64 E9•99cs.E14.99dk IMMINENT
s ,SPEC E7.99cs OUT NOW
.
M o r e V e n o m f r o m GREMLIN 128
MAS E9.99cs. E14 99dk IMMINENT
MSX C7.99cs IMMINENT
B O U L DE R MA S K . is the starting point A m s t r a d V e r s ion
Hfori lml o,t h e r a t t a c k a g a i n s t do-bc idders
Sprites are cumbersome and have a blocky look,
tV E.N.O.M
h e Th a t Vicious, Ev il, Net work Of but they are colourful. Plays well, with plenty of contact wit h water Switching between vehi-
hMayohem hav e upset everybody by kidnap- speed and just as much tun as on the Spectrum. cles is easily achieved at the press of a key,
mping ethe president and its down to you t o and is necessary in order t o complete t he
osave him. GRAPHI CS 7 I Q FACTOR 3 three different missions in the game.
f The game is play ed ov er a right-to-left AUDI O 5 F U N FACTOR 8 li you're a fart of the toys, or you enjoyed
d o -
scrolling t errain (f ull o f fl y ing, c rawling, A C E R A TIN G 8 1 3 the first MASK game, t hen y o u wi l l fi nd
gs wimming
o arid driving VENOM agents) wit h MASKII just as much fun.
othe dplay er c ont rolling o n e of t hree MASK
• Andy Smith
evehicles.
r s Initially the player has to make his
choice of v ehide from a selection of five pos- S pe c t r um Version
Large sprites across colourful backgrounds make
this a goddlokking game Its straightforward blasting
PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
good fun that won't overtax the brain and is a worthy
100
.0
successor to the original.
60

GRAPHI CS 7 I Q FACTOR 3
60
93 AUDI O 5 F U N FACTOR 8
4N3
30 ACE R A TIN G 8 1 3
20
0:
• 10
0
sibles. Each one has peculiar characteristics
Ms,
,
I
1
n0 o,
y
I
e
dov
.
I r i l r o l i t whic h hav e t o be considered before selec-
TheCPCgraphics are slightly superior. as is the gameplay_ but tion e g Thunderhcrwk (car) c an transform
here's a lot of kin 10be had from both verSnOnt into an airborne attack craft at will. whereas
Amstrad version - That's you in Rttim - psi whirl you need for
GatOr turns into a high speed power boat on smashing through boulders.

4 0 Advanced Computer Entertainment

V
.

SCREEN TEST1

DANDAREII PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE

C a n VIRGIN d o it a g a i n ?
GREA RELEASE B O X
T unleash his dreaded Supertreens on Earth
to
h
C64,128 E9.95os,El n5dh IMMINENT
in ithis
s new Gang of Five epic, wit h only the
t t o f t h e Fut ure t o s t op h i s fi endis h
Pilot SPEC E7.95cs, N4_950 OUTNOW Thegame probably wont last you a month as Cloo bat there s
• Mek or ,
a l d
schemes. Can you don trans spacesuit and Ain E8.95cs,E14.95dk OUTNOW ros s ic l
t r i the d o r
save
i i
b On each of the games four side-on v iew level
a c bef
t ore
, t he c ount down reaches zero,
a
levels, y our mission as Da n is t o k ill t h e and y ou' ll s urv iv e f or anot her r o u n d o f
r
Superheens b y wrec k ing t heir life-support ocrpsules Its a tall order, quite aside from the tougher exploration and wrecking: t ak e too
s amount of lethike-assisted exploration eac h long and its game over.
T level calls for. The main enemy is t ime a s But there's plenty to stop you: forcelielcis
h
A m s tr a d V e r s ion
scan as y ou start blas t ing Supertree's y ou block your path. airborne Treens blast away
e Terr ticMGang of liv e colours make this a real trigger a destruct sequence whic h will blow at you and tunnels suck you off course (possi-
e .trea
k to look at. and carefully drawn graphics the entire level apart. Blast all the remaining bly t o y o u r d o o m) G u n turrets, g i a n t
H cap ire the original comic-stnp's feel precisely. capsules and reach t he oarlock to t he next garbage c ompac t ors a n d conveyors als o
o cause problems . Mo s t haz ards s ap y o u r
GRAPHICS 9 I Q FACTOR 5
e stamina level - when this reaches zero your
AUDIO 6 F U N FACTOR 9
n dead - but things like compactors lose you
s ACE R A TIN G 8 3 8 one of your six lives straight off.
S Sick o f being M r Nic e Guy ? Wa n t a
p tougher c hallenge? Then p l a y t he Mek on
u instead! Don's already triggered the destruct
o
Spe c tr um V e r s ion
sequence. t he idea goes, s o you've got n o
p Bnghl bold clash-free colours make this a great- time for exploration or mistakes Das h round,
t looking game, but lough controls will cause you switch a l l t he Supertreen capsules on a n d
some problems at first.
o then g e t i n t hat airloc k bef ore t h e lev el
GRAPHICS 8 I Q FACTOR 5 DAN DARE Et c_11
11, 0 blows. Ma n a g e t hat a n d t he nex t level's
e-1.1 •0, e m m , P -t - o m m •
AUDIO 5 F U N FACTOR 9 21 timer starts immediately. so you really have
-
11 to know your way round
ACE R A TIN G 8 1 4 4 you'll be sucked-
Spectrum: Get too close to that tunnel mouth and
11 1
down into the garbage compactor below. Nasty!f
• Andy Wilton
11

PSYCHOSOLDIER
i
, 11
01
*.

Athena a g a i n ? IMAGINE!
HAVINGesc of t he levels are infested with demons, contact wit h
whom costs Athena one of her four lives

aped
more plays lead sprite in this sequel to Imag-
ines game of the s ari
At the base of the screen is displayed an
energy b a r a n d r e d ic ons s howing h o w
- many bombs she has left Th e energy bar
re n a m e . relates to the strength of the bombs and at monster that has to be destroyed by a combi-
Spe c tr um V e r s ion
A g a i n various places throughout t he levels ex t ra nation of bombs ornd laser lire - if you lose a
i This 1
t s bombs a n d e n e r g y c a n b e g a i n e d b y life, y ou also lose any bombs and energy
well-animated colourful graphics but these can-
a2 6 K destroying l ar ge bricks. Thes e bric k s als o you picked up on the way making life diffi-
not
p rgloss over the tediousness of the game. Its
hide some unpleasant icons that drain ener- cult if y ou happen t o c ome up against the
no
o fun
g to play and has few if any addictive quali-
ties. gy on contact, so you hav e to be careful to monster with only your laser.
r a The frequent death problem that marred
Athena
m has been solved true, but only by creat- av oid these. Mak e it to the end of the level Psycho Soldier may have been an addic-
ing
( ma game with minimum action. and y o u l l fi nd a building guarded b y a tive and playable coin-op. but as a comput-
u l er game it soon becomes tedious and boring
GRAPHICS
t i 7 I Q FACTOR 3 to play.
AUDIO
- 4 F U N FACTOR 3
• Andy Smith
l o ACE R A TIN G 5 0 5
a d
i RELEASE B O X
Icensed
n coin-op conversion whic h sees the
player
4 controlling At hena as s he bat t les C641128 E8.95cs, C12.95rik IMMINENT
8
through six levels of scrolling platform shoot- AMS C8.95cs.f14.95dk IMM
K
em-up.
m Armed wit h a front-firing gun and four SPEC48k E7,95cs IN
O UTE
NOW
o SPEC+3 E14.95dk NT
bombs that float around her. At hena MS'. IMMINENT
d it to the end of each level's 30 screens
make
e
that continually scroll from right to left. The i
)
h
a AdvancedComputerEntertainment 4 1
s
A
'SCREENTEST

FLYINGSHARK S p e c t r u m Ve rs i o n
With so much ground detail it can be a little diffi -
cult t o see t he enemies bullets — sometimes
you're left wondering what hit you Sound is limit-
ed to spot effects (nail) and the odd tune Igood)
Is it a FIREBIRD? N o , i t s a b i - p l a n e . . . but that doesn't delract from the games sheer
playabildy,

B I - P L A N E S aart
r e not
a e exactly
r i a l fistate-of-the-
ghting RELEASE BOX G RAP HI C S 8 I Q FACTO R 4
machines a n d c ert ainly n o t t h e obv ious
C64,128 E8.95cs,E12.95dk IMMINENT AUDI O 6 F U N FACTO R 8
choice for combat against the overwhelming
odds found in Firebird's second coin-op con- SPEC E7.95cs OUTNOW ACE R A TIN G 8 9 3
version Flying Shark. AMS E8.95a, El 4.956 DECWJAN88
Its a vertically scrolling shoot-em up in Take s ome elements f rom Moonstrike,
whic h you must fly your trusty if ancient bi- throw in a bit of 1942, a d d a pinch of Light-
plane through fi ve levels of continual bom-
force and you'll hav e some idea of F l y i n g
bardment f rom other aeroplcmes as well cts must destroy these before they reach the top Shark - Incredibly frustrating, playable and
tanks and boats. Every so often some beefier of the screen, otherwise they go into berserk- addictive
opponents will loom up behind you and you er mode and really give you what-for • Andy Smith
The e n e my at t ac k i n wav es a n d a s
you're Only armed wit h a front fi ring gun.
their sheer numbers c an prove ov erwhelm-
ing Ne v e r giv e u p hope t hough because
extra fi repower is available if you manage to PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
shoot a wav e of aeroplanes and catch the 11:10

resulting flashing square. Manage this twice 90

so
and y our fi repower is increased threefold
mak ing y our pip s light ly easier. You als o
"I I NMI=
have three smart bombs (Initially) but y ou •CI •
have to go easy on these if you want to sur- 111
vive to the end of the level. 1=1
Alternatively, at the end of a wave. you .1
Biggles never had it this lough - but then Biggles never may be lucky enough to grab an extra thou-
starred in a Firebird coin-op conversion. You're hall-way throtegh
the second level, over-tlying an worst' airier, which has alertly Di sand points, or even a bonus life to add to Alayahilrly with teeth!
deat h the three you start off with.
-

SALAMANDER
c ies li
ng
to help you on you: way.
h a r
d w The first re-stcut position is well int o the
a r e game and until you've mastered the first few
t obstacles, you'll fi nd being sent back to the
o beginning extremely frustrating I f y ou lik e
w your shoot-em-ups tough, you'll not be cliscp
KONAMI'S fl ying lizard
e l pointed wit h Salamander, it s v ery easy t o
c pick up cmd play and incredibly difficult to
Co Y N I S o f those h i g h class arc ade master. Th e K o n a mi c om-op c onv ers ion
Cm
games that c ould never be converted to an team have proved the sceptics wrong won-
e " N t h " 0 div

8t ybit
h omicrou and retain any of the gameplcry SALAMANDER • ' ' - derfully.
g h addiction
and t of t he coin-op classic. Were ''t • Andy Smith
o
Su aright?
they
l w aRa f rom it - Sakunander has made the
,1
mi a - RELEASE B O X
transition a n d has survived admirably . I n
n t d
case y ou' v e rmssed out , t his horizontally 0 C64 18.95cs,E14•95dk JAN88
eh r
scrolling shoot-em up has the player fl ying a . •
w , PEC
S E7.95cs OUTNOW
space ship through a series of alien tunnels,
a
4, HO I V A it a l . • . 128
trying t o survive bombardment f rom bot h . . . I N 4 . 0 1 ( 1 1 0 041•0 ••0 1 1 . 4 AMS E8,95es,E1495dh DEC87
s
ground-based and fl ying installations. Huge
0
,
1

o
tentacles burst from the ceilings and floors of 6:
, O l o i k e e e t

Salantaeder You've picked up two 'multiples' which should

n . • chances ot hitting those tentacles in the right place.
increase your
e
:f PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
S p e c t r u m Ve rs i o n the tunnels arid try to grab your ship - these
Though t he tunnel walls a re well drawn and have to e be shot in the right place to destroy
colourful t h e ins tallations e t c a r e a l l i n them. c Mon
monochrome Sound effects are a l ( but nothing Thet almost
I obligatory extra weapons are
to write home about. The games playability and mailable t o t he play er wh o manages t o
addictive qualities will keep lieu coming back for a M
shoot a wav e of the fl ying aliens and these
long time to come weapons S include the legendary Multiples -
egg shapedK structures that f ollow your craft
G RAP HI CS 8 I Q FACTO R 4 and tire Vwhen• you lire, effectively increasing r
-' V ''' o e a t
AUDI O 6 F U N FACTO R 8 crnd spreading your firepower. You get three
o
ACERATING881 lives to do the business , and i f you're lucky
g pic k up a few missiles and lasers
An addictive game that's m pushover - should keep the most
taper, arcade player going tor quite some time
you might

4 2 AdvancedComputerEntertainment
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SCREEN TEST

RAMPAGE C 6 4 V e r s ion
The monsters are well animated and colourful.
and the buildings have plenty of detail. The title
music and sound effects are also slick and attrac-
tive. Initially control can be tricky and it's quite
difficult to survive for long when playing a one
player game. A classy conversion.

ACTIVISION'S s m a s h - g r a b - n - g u z z l e r GRAPHI CS 8 I Q FACTOR 2

AUDI O 7 F U N FACTOR 9
A C E R A TIN G 8 8 7
of chewy sweets, Chuck, y ou are in fact one
S M A S whole n e w me a n i n g wh e n of t he monsters, hav ing a whale of a t ime
H
you're a fifty-foot lizard, smashing up cities beating seven colours of rubble out of any so:ne: You climb up the sides of the buixiings
a
and n grabbing
d people or any t hing else edi- building, vehicle or human you can find. and knock big holes in t h e m u n t i l t h e y
g r
ble. I f y ou t hink lizards are only g o a l as All three artifi cially preserved, coloured col lapse W h i l e y ou're u p t here y ou c an
a b
handbags y o u c an b e a wi l d a n d hairy and fl avoured beasts c an be under play er punch all around you, mak i ng a mess of
rgorilla
a or a n equally wi l d and hairy wolf - control, ma k i n g this t he first simultaneous everything nearby . Y o u need t o l u mp off
i
man d three player arcade game on a home micro. buildings bef ore t h e y c ollpas e ot herwis e
s These monster creations f rom Japanese If less t han three play t he computer takes you'll do yourself harm when it falls.
t
B-movies are in fact mild mannered humans control of the other monsters, but is less than The authorities - wh o aren't going t o
a
who hav e h a d one too many E additives helpful. stand by and wat c h y ou party - send heli-
k
and decided to end civilisation as we k now There are 150 different city screens to go copters, tanks, cars and snipers to mess up
e
it. Far from hy ing to stop them with a packet rcrmpagina through. In each t he task is t he your fun. They can all inflict damage but are
o
n
a
RELEASE B O X
C641128 E9.99cs,E12,99dk OUTNOW
SPEC E9.99cs IMMINENT
AMS E9.99cs,E14.99dk IMMINENT
ATARIST E14.99* IMMINENT

George the gorilla Lithe the iitard Ralph the wolirnan

RAMPARTS revealing food and other items as you punch

holes in them.
The addit ional hazards are less interest-
ing and much more lethal, comprising witch-
es who fly across the screen and a couple of

A m s t r a d V e r s ion
The graphics are much better than the 64 ver-

Knights o n t h e tiles f r o m G O ! sion, brighter and more colourtul, The gameplay

is virtually the same except that you can't even
punch upwards . Ams t rad owners a r e b e s t

COINCIDENCEcm notexplaina
game s o c los e i n
of the arcade game with their own copy.
Here you can control t wo knights as they
advised to wait and see how Rampage works
Out

name a n d c ont ent t o Rampage. I t is of lay was t e to tower5 and castles Th e basic
course Go's altomp• to cash n idea is exactly t he same as Rampage, but
or: t h e the g a me h a s b e e n
s u c c e s s implemented different-
ly in some places.
For a start you curl
only have a MCEXIMUM
of t wo players a n d if
you o n l y p l a y w i t h
one the computer does
control a s ec ond
player.
Climbing u p t he
castles is mo r e a wk -
ward o n t his v ers ion
GRAPHI CS 7 1 0 FACTOR 2
AUDI O 4 F U N FACTOR 5
A C E R A TIN G 5 7 9
C 6 4 V e r s ion
The graphics aren't very good and much Of the
time look muddy, The collapsing of the towers is
also shoddy. The music and the sound effect are
average. Control is the major problem - it's diffi -
cult to climb the castles because you have to be
exactly aligned. There are few features to interest
you and the process o l dropping towers soon
becomes very bonng, even with two players.

mi d y o u h a v e les s
moves that can be per- GRAPHI CS 5 I Q FACTOR 2
formed. The buildings AUDI O 5 F U N FACTOR 5
are k noc k ed d o wn i n
ACE R A TIN G 5 6 7
IMAS)Good looking knights can harm 'yer armour the s a m e ma n n e r .

4 4 Advanced Computer Entertainment

 SCREEN TEST

no mat c h for a fifty-foot, raging, junk-food

addict Y o u c an t ak e t hem all out wit h a
dourto I, punch in t he right direction The most scrtisfy
eie title ing are the snipers wh o appear i n windows
attrac-
and make a tasty, if chewy, snack.
s quite Food also appears in windows to r e p =
a one
damage suffered, but be careful not to eat
objects like cacti and TV sets whic h do noth-
ing t o h e l p y o u r indigestion. Cons erv ing

1
2 energy is most important. a n d diffi cult t oo
9 when t he ot her monsters c a n als o t ry t o
punch your lights cut
Building bas hing i s immens ely enjoy -
able, particularly when y ou c an have three
Actings players going at it at the some time. It lacks
a t hey variety in the long run, but its heav en sent
DU c an for anybody who wants to play the bad guy
ness of and indulge in may hem and demolition on
,rnp off a grand scale.
lertvise • Bob Wade

Arig t o
rd hell-
es u p PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
but are 100

IW iC64)doingtfieMOnSittfnosh nib acity trim's sr yowmercy

v

MT
Page vs Parts 1
0
.
Tremendous three-player fun gets you hooked, but
1
In direct comparison there's only one winner between these two arcade clones.
finally lacks variety_
,
i
t
RAMPAGE RAMPARTS t
,
It has simultaneous three player action_ 1/ IS Y o u can only have two players at a time. I

It has all the punches and controls. It Y o u can't do backhanders or. on the ,
o
including backhanders. Amstrad,even punch up. c
.
punch You can fight the other players if you want to. b/ You cant fight the other player, characters who t rav el along t he bot t om of
•
n
There are vehuJes going by to crush. v X Y o u only get two guys who can be the screen o
lt8reSt- 9 crushed but decrease your energy, -
In every depcutrient the game is inferior
l
wttch- There are 150 different screens to destroy i / X There are less than 100 levels, to Rampage. This is all the more ironic when
i
t
uple of you realise that this time last year the tables
•
v
were reversed with US Gold hav ing Gaundet,
e
.
an excellent arc ade conversion, cOpiect by
•

ver- Electric Dreams wit h a game called Dcmdy,

Napitay whic h was inferior.
even • Bob Wade
best

1
works
REIAIRE BOX
.mit•

C64128 E 9 99cs, Ell 99dt O U T NOW

SPEC E8.99c s I M M I N E N T
AIAS E9.99c s , 14,99 O U T NOW

ot the PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE

ers is
MIare
ditk-
to be
Fest
soon

min I h a, I rin y I np• •

Control problems and lack of gameptay features make

this distinctly inferior.
(VA Nocranes for this demolgion rob, jost two loco keilitis

AdvancedComputerEntertainment 45
 TOW
101Mirrorsoft - personal computer software -

State of Mind. Our polky is to publish high quality

programmes across a wide range of computers and

for a wide range of Interests and applications.

We've got what it takes - Cinemaware. Mirrorsoft.

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DARK CASTLE

F
r
Castle will take you on a macabre
e
lecorney . . . through hails and
s
dungeons.,. as you search f o r
h
the
f Black Knight . . . Computer
r
Gaming World wrote..."Perhaps
o
the best arcade g ame on any
m
computer ever."... PC, Amigo, ST
t
h
now... 8 bit soon... 1,,
e
U
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e q,
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. t of the BatH•tradc headon a n d
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a v
C64, Spectrum

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For free mail order catalogue please write to usat

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, II-E publishers reserve the right 10 alter the prices and specificof
withers* notice. Please cheek prices and av ailabilit y before odeii
Mirrersolt LissIteri
Atbene House, 66-73 Shoe Lane, London EC4P 4S8
T•lephosie: 01-3774645 Pow 01-353 0565
Telex; 9312100112
 4
I
l
l DEFENDER OF THE CROWN

A D
T eset a s tandar d... that others will
E f
be har d pres s ed to meet . . . "
e
O nComputer a n d Vid e o G a m e s
F d...Amiga, PC, ST - C 64 ... New
ecassette version available.
r
o
DEJA VU
f
t
S
h
e
eworld... distinctly reminiscent o f
t
Raymond Chandler, . . . Dein Um . C l i A
C , • r t r T l i t
i "
rI N is like n o o t h e r adventure 1
.
n 1
A
oyou've ever experienced. ST , ,
k
a 4
t
wC64._
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s I
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n S
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l i
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a e
m
_ .
m
z SIN BAD AND THE. . .
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i
h .
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y TALONS OF THE FALCON .
a '

A su
"
game to c h a l l e n g e '

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any thing... on the market.. .at

r d
d the
e moment" Personal Computer
4 World. Amiga P C ST C64
r
-
soon "<111
10-

code
" B A L A N C E OF POWER KI NG OF CHI CAGO
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perils ne o f those g a m e s a n y you w i t s . . , against t h e
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Weekly...Pt, ST, Amiga of the Win d y City A m i g a
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Ntous

d ipecificotiom
before ordering
3113VH
3
ao
a
3
)H
- tr
P4AB
i65 2
r S
C
R
E
E RELEASE B O X
who
N Brown squares Ne standard sate squares C64128 19.99cs, E14.99dk D U I NOW their
T mmt
Nootherversionsplanned
E shar
S loge
but
T live
C 6 4 V e r s ion takii
The scrolling courses are excellent. zipping by at
high speed Th e graphics have been improved talki
from the original and have sprites thrown in for geoi
the obstacles and dragons. This makes it look arec
terrific and gives a real impression of speed The thos
music too is pleasant and drives along wall. The
ther
controls are responsive and well thought oul. to
make the gameplay a joy. that
ble.
GRAPHI CS 9 I Q FACTOR 5 y ou
AUDI O 7 F U N FACTOR 9 and
ctbc
A C E R A TIN G 9 0 0 ma]

like
PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE on 4
ico,
n pia
K.
SCIE
x
, ing
tot(
quc
he(
r
its
car
1mi n I I we r1 4 m C r i l h I ye i o
t or
Greensounres speed you
It has speed. addiction, peal graphics, and lots of variety.
Takes the original concept to new heightS
up

COSMIC
the
whole s t eam of objects heading straight at the
you. These t hrow y ou off course if t hey hit wo
you. Some c a n b e s hot jus t b y mo v i n g ton
straight ahead. but others are indestructible ovE
arid you need sharp reflexes to avoid them. Iv a

CAUSEWA
Walls c an also stop y ou in y our tracks
unless you whizz through the doorways. If all lev
that weren't enough there at e the dragons,
whic h are a CMS'S bet ween something f rom of
Space Harrier and a caterpillar in a Mont y len
Python cartoon, These take mult iple shots to t ar
kill and have the unmitigated nerve to shoot go'
back.

H i g h - s p e e d balls f r o m GREMLIN On eac h s t age t here is a wh i t e disk

whic h giv es y ou bet ween one a n d t hree
credits when run into Credits can be used to
buy one of eight bonuses. las t ing f or one
B L A ZING a t stage only. Fairly cheap skills are score mul-
r c n you into ever more abstract and dan-
takes tiplied by three, rolling on the ceiling, deacti-
i t
gerous landscapes in its quest for speed and vating control disrupting squares and deacli-
addictive
t h i s gameplay. vatmg bac k ward squares The more expen-
h e You're in control of a big bounc ing ball, sive ones can give you turbo speed, a shield,
viewed
c u from m behind as the landscape scrolls allow y ou t o roll over holes and ev en slow
towards
i s you I n the original it was just a belt' the timer to half speed.
of land, but now its the whole screen widt h The credits add a n ex t ra dimension t o
T r a i l b
The original also had a split-screen display the action. Once you start surviving the first
l a z e r
for two-player action and that too has been few stages you ccm concentrate on credits to
1
dispensed with. get you even further into the game. Most lev-
g The landscape is broken into 24 stages, els c an be bottled', unt il the crunch comes
r ing up six sections Each stage has to be
mak when y ou meet the dragon. Here you need
I
completed wit hin a time limit and at the end Purple squares bounce you backwards down the course while tylii all the time you 0311 get.
t ev ery section there's a c limac t ic bat t le
of squares reverse the controls to contuse yoi.
The action is extremely fast, bewildering
wit h a flying dragon downs, abyss, control reverse a n d bounc e at first Onc e you start to know the routes it is
The routes are made up of eight different backwards. They caeni in particularly tortu- incredibly addic t iv e a n d easy t o play . It's
coloured blocks, eac h of whic h has a differ- ous layouts, but that's just as well. less technically demanding than Trailblazer
ent effect on the ball Most of the squares will What occupies most of your time is deal- but muc h more f un a n d wi t h tremendous
be familiar from Trailblazer and include: safe ing wit h the new hc2cads that are thrown in. vomety.
squares, bounc e squares, speed-ups, s low- On s ome levels y ou wi l l s uddenly fi nd a • Bob Wade
4 8 Advanced Computer Entertainment
 SCREEN TEST
.'

D O M I N O E S wmiesgthetmbe t
y p
their
,
e
when t he Russians really wa n t t o stretch
s
minces.
brains they reach straight for the tetro-
f oThese
r
but

h a n d y lit t le t hings - fl a t
shapes made u p b y joining t our squares
tcgether - may not sound terribly exciting,
but as the basis of this fnghteningly addic -
tive little game they stand a fair chance of
taking your brain over completely
rig by at As you'll probably have gathered, we're
mproved talking about abstract stuff here - and t he
m in for
geometry isn't about to let up. The play ing
; it look
ied. The area is a tall, narrow rectangle int o whic h
The those tetrominces fall. Your job is t o steer
I Out, to them down, rotating t hem as necessary, so
that they pack together as tightly as possi-
ble Fit the shapes together so s nugly t hat
5 you form a solid row across from left to right
' 9 and that row wi l l disappear, t h e shapes
above f alling d o wn i n t o t h e s pac e t his
TETRS
I
C a n MIRRORSOFT p a c k t h e m i n ?
Rotation in particular becomes very difficult
higher u p the screen a n d calls for a great
deal of dexterity, so arcade skills are needed
as well as brain power.
The games not just a damage limitation
exercise - hard work c an open pcckets up,
letting y ou c lear t he lay out bac k d o wn t o
ground level - but the play er is really only
ever delay ing the inevitable. The game will
always beat y ou part ially because it c an
cony on t hrowing shapes at you all day, but
mostly because it speeds u p as y our score
increases. There's a paus e mode accessed
from t he joystick t hat will save y our nec k
many a time, but you'll still fi nd the speed
forces errors i n positioning af t er a while.
Combine this wit h the number of a wk wa r d
shapes you have to keep stacking space tor,
and you have a horribly gripping game you
wont be able to get out of your head.
• Andy Wilton

1
makes.
Filling rows up and getting rid of t hem
Like this is essential, because the shapes keep
on coming As soon as you get one safely in
place the next one appears at t he t op of —C64/28
I E 8 99cs,E12.99di IMMINE
screen, cmd the whole time that you're mov- NAMS 2899cs. 12 99a IMMINENT
ing it sideways (left or right on loystick) or FSPEC E8.99c s . E12.99dk IMMINENT
rotating it (fi re button turns it clockwise a
quarter turn) it carries on drifting down. It the
RST E 1 9 . 9 9 d k I M M I N E N T
heap of shapes reaches the top of the screen E
AMIGA E19.99dk I M M I N E N T •
its game over, so woe betide you if a shape L
comes to rest before you've got it int o posi- IBMPC 919cik IMMINENT
borP E The layout's in line torm still, and that S AlI lit in nicely. The rust

It might sound like y ou could k eep this

A shape will be a T - it's shown at to right and that will lit OKtoo.

up indefinitely, but thars reckoning without S

the deep-down nastiness of the game. Often E
iight at the shape y ou hav e t o deal wi t h s imply
hey hit
B
won't pack neatly into the layout you've got.
noving forming either an air pocket or at best a n O
ruchble X
overhang. As you t rap empty space in this
them way you mak e it impossible t o f orm lines 1
• tracks lower down the layout, and raise the overall
fS If all E
level of the heap.
ragons, As the pile of shapes approaches the top
-
ig from of the screen you start to get knock-on prob-
Monty lems. Because shapes hav e a shorter dis-
idiots to
tcmce to fall before they come to rest, you've
o shoot
got less time t o mov e t hem i n t o position.

le disk
three C 6 4 V e r s ion
used to
Great music rind bright graphics make this very
or one
attractive sluff, though its the kind of brilliantly sim-
re mul-
ple dea that'll work well on almost any machine.
deactl-
deacti--
GRAPHICS 7 I CI FACTOR 1 0
expen- AUDIO 9 F U N FACTOR
shield,
n slow ACE R A TIN G 9 5 6

ion t o
he first PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
?.clits to IJ

3st lev- fib

comes
need
S
.
dering
tes it is
ry. It's
bkrzer I ey . I hO , rrto rw.1
in I
indous Slight notc loloka lie much, bol it's as addictive as they come
ontoyouy skirt playing. — —
'
tiWade Things have got badly out Di hand now, so there's very little lime lo work that tricky L in to position - and there s another one to follow'

AdvancedComputerEntertainment 4 9
 •

1 1
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THE EXCITEMENT IS REAL!

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MicroProse Ltd., 2 Market Place. Tetbury, Gloucestershire G L8 8DA. UK. Tel: (0666) 54326. Tix: 43422 MPS/LIKG.
 SCREEN TEST

o 116 the Enterprise bat t ling t o r i d t h e

kg a my of a new telepathic weapon Times Interstellar na v iga t ion m a d e e a s y
i hard: Federation (gc od guy ) stcristaps Want to seek out new forms of life? Then foNow these four simple steps (or five if you want to know where you're going)
are
t defecting to the Klmgon (bad guy) side andyou'll soon be motoring,
are
inf their droves under the weapon 's influence,
i
and with the Romulcms on the warpat h you Bridge. Click on Sulu to get
v
needn't expect too much help from the neu- navigation icons, (The bridge has lobe
e either,
trals on Me main screen lust - there'll be an
- You control Kirk and his c rew as t hey extra step here Oen/rise,'
ywarp f rom system t o system. f ending of f
2) Mr Sulu: Click on biue circle to get
e
enemy attack and beaming down to collect Starglobe.
a
handy items Landing parties will win or lose
ther game for you - all the possihle Klingon-
m
thwarting strategies depend on people or
iequipment located on life-supporting planets
s- but y oull need to fi nd inhabit ed systems
sfirst and they often harbour hostile ships
ibent on destroying you.
3I Starglobe a id on star you want to
o The game starts wit h t he Enterprise i n go ID, and on the Set course box. You Aga
ndeep space. so your first task is to fly to a star could click on MrSpook lot data on the h•
csystem. Like all game operations, ship navi- star in queslien, but well just select the
engine icon and ny blind lor now.
- rivoi
o
gation is controlled by an unusual and not •7
m always helpful icon system: getting to grips
iwith this is essential. •
n Along the bottom and right edges of the
gmain screen are small windows showing dif- t.0

u
ferent members of the Enterprise crew. Click
p
on one of these wit h the pointer (Cl Stasfleet
.ixicioe controlled using the mouse) and the
w ,
i
RELEASE B O X
t
h ATARIST El995dk OUTNOW F
,
C&4'128 UNDECIDED EARLY88 444 I , , ,
1 N e. P c . d

SPEC UNDECIDED EARLY88 0

SPEC128k UNDECIDED EARLY88

S To ri
ID 41Engines Click Onthe warp Mock you
•111

want, and you're on your way!

STARTREK
ST Ve r s ion
The digitised portraits and sampled sound are
just the ticket, but the combat and navigation
graphics make poor use of the ST's process-
ing power. Those icons are annoying even
with a mouse - so what'll the 8-bit versions be
like?

GRAPHICS 8 I Q FACTOR 3
AUDIO 8 F U N FACTOR 4
ACE R A TIN G 7 6 4
crew member appears enlarged o n t h e
main screen, along with information or icons
relating to that his or her duties. The most
useful people are Spook (dat a on plomets,
systems and s hip status), Chek hov (loons
controlling Enterprise weaponry ) a n d Sulu
(navigation icons). n u m. Scotty and McCoy
otter dat a on inc oming messages, engine
status a n d c rew healt h wh i l e Kirk i s i n
charge of stores and the transporters.
Often the icons call up further screens of
controls rather than affecting things directly.
The Chekhov icons, for example. call up the
corr,bat scanner, weapons selection screen
and tcagetting c omput er Cont rolling t h e
ship is largely a matter of getting the right
icons on screen - using t hem once you've
A r e FIREBIRD'S p h a s e r s set t o stun?
mcrtic - and y ou c an end u p feeling more sale, we l l equipped star system as a base
like a clerk than a stcaship captain. you can keep going as long as youi interest
As for these all important landing parties. lasts. but unless you're a mapping enthusiast
these really are a disappointment. There is wit h a low boredom threshold, that probably
no exploration as such - the only directions won't be very long.
you can mov e in are straight ahead or back • Andy Wilton
to the ship - and no pictures or descriptions of
the planet surface: rust messages telling you PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
of objects o r obstacles Ac t ions here a r e
decided by a clumsy form of multiple choice,
and these sequences soon become mindless-
ly repetitive.
lf y ou're a b i g Star Trek f an y oull b e
bowled over by the graphics and sound as
soon as you see the game, but your awe is
unlikely t o last. A s wi t h Def ender o f t he
Crown on t he Amiga the inspired presenta- ! O M 1 A M * I M O M i r e M

got them involves little skill - cmd this c an tion masks humdrum gameplay . and ev en Graphics and sound makea good hrst wnpression. but the rep-
get uncommonly tedious. Combat is part:jail- with the unhelpful icons you'll soon fi nd sur- etition soon dulls the shine
lmly dull - aiming is almost entirely auto- vival and exploration f ar too easy. Wit h a

AdvancedComputerEntertainment 5 1
 r SCREEN TEST

M A T C H D A Y has ac hiev ed Cult sta-

the definitive football game?

tus c a n Matchday 2
improv e on what many still consider to be

At fi rst glanc e, t he g a me seems v ery

sirmlar t o its predecessor Th e play er takes
charge of a six man batty/II t eam and has
MATCHDAY cmc
er L
I n:
atte
but
bat
to play matches against either the computer
or a friend in an attempt to win the League
O C E A N m a k e it 2-0
• too
I
on a s c ale f r o m
c
one t o t hree wi t h
r
three being the hard-
k
est kick. To use this farility
properly, t he play er has to keep his eye on
the meter to decide when to mak e the best
shot Thankfully the meter can be set to shoot
at a set strength throughout the game.
Basic tactics can now also be decided by
the player, though you only hav e a choice of
attack or defend. One feature removed from
the game is the ability to play a full 45 min-
utes per halt
CM version - not the best version on the gernealay front but
colourful and well animated. The superiority of the Amstrad version is cleady visible. Shameyou Garneplay has been improv ed to allow The
can'lsee the game's olayerchrty. players to mak e headers, backheel the ball !set

GARYLINEKE
C 6 4 V e r s ion
Unfortunately, something seems t o have been
lost in the translation to the C64 - the game is
not as playable as the other versions. though it is
as colourful as the Amstrad and more so than the
Spectrum versions. I t s s till a very competent
soccer game and interested C64 owners would
nal be disappointed.
plc
GREMLIN'S own go a l ?

1
prE
GRAPHI CS 7 I Q FACTOR 5
ca
AUDI O 6 F U N FACTOR 8
A C E R A TIN G 8 3 8 FANTAS7 are made of this: loin a
fourth div is ion t e a m as RELEASE B O X
on
do

centre forward and win promotion to the first

A m s t r a d V e r s ion
The graphics are wonderful. The gameplay is
slow to watch but plenty fast enough when it
Pe
division. Not only does Gary Lineker's Super- C641128 E 9 99cs, El4 99* O U T NOW
star Soccer give y ou t he chance to partici-
th<
SPEC E9.99c s O U T NOW sio
pate in the games but it also allows you to
AMS E9_99c s , E14.99dk IMMINENT re<
play manager (and coach) and make all the

!S
comes to playing. Allot the new additions make it to
really import ant decisions. Unf ort unat ely ATARIST E19.99 di( I M M I N E N T
slightly harder to master than the original but get Gremlin's program is not t he stuff of whic h Yo
the hang of the 'Kickometer• and you'll soon be at
dreams are made...
bitten by the lootballing bug. Thankfully the com- Un
There are t wo basic sections to the
puter's skill level can be raised or lowered to give During t he former y ou wear t he centre for te<
you a more balanced game game, on-s c reen p l a y i n g
and the tactical deci- ward's shirt and the computer handles the
rest of the players. The idea is to cmtici- va
GRAPHI CS 8 I Q FACTOR . 5 sion mak ing.
'—and Gremlin pate the movements of the rest of the mi
AUDI O 6 F U N FACTOR 8 have headed this no
t eam arid to put yourself in the best
ACE R A TIN G 9 0 6 one in with both possible attacking position. nc
feet...' Whenever the ball goes out of bc
or the Cup. This is where play (t hrow ins, f ree kicks etc ) the le<
the fi r s t i mp r o v e me n t screen changes and gives t he player all
becomes obv ious . N o i the chance to make the all-important tact•
only c a n y o u p l a y s olo cal decisions e.g. t he play er c an choose to
against t h e c omput er b u t Shoot. Pass or Mix. SHOOT means that all the
you and a friend c an gang players on your side in a position to kick the
up art i t both play ing for the ball will have a shot at goal, PASS means
same s i d e i n a des perat e the rest of the players will try and pass the
attempt to prove human superi-
ority. During a solo g a me y ou bad] to the centre forward (you) and MIXis,a go
u
m
n
e
th
ref
ixtu
control the on-screen player who both. There are als o defensive deci-
is in the best position to reach the sions t o be ma d e inc luding cover (
ball and when play ing in pairs you whic h is a concerted effort by your
get a player each team members to regain possession
The second major improv ement of t h e b a l l ) a n d def end whi c h
in t he g a me is t he addit ion of t he results in the players staying back
Kickometer. This is a kick strength indi- and shoring up the defence.
cator which affects the distance of each or each match a time com-
shot. The Kic k omet er ranges . broadly , pressor is included, where the

5 2 Advanced Computer Entertainment

 SCREEN TEST
I

and b:age opposing t eam members. Anoth- space) mak e for one fine football g o n e and
er improvement is the realism of deflections RELEASE B O X even i f y ou o wn t h e original game, t h e
In real life the balls angle of defl ection is sequel has enough enhancements to make it
affected not only by its original fl ight pat h C64i128 E8.95cs, E12_95ck O U T NOW worthy of purchase.
but also by the movement of what ev er the SPEC C7•95cs, E14.95dk O U T NOW • Andy Smith
ball was deflected of t t his has n o w been
taken into acrount.
AIMS E 8 95cs,E1415dk O U T NOW
All of the above refinements (and others
too numerous t o ment ion i n t his limit ed
PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
S pe c t r um V e r s ion
Despite the lack ot colour, the Spectrum version
ot the game is every bit as compelling, frustrating
and enoyable as the other versions. The charac-
tis eye on ters mov e around the pitc h slightly taster o n
e the best Spectrum turf than o n Amstrad turf, and this
et to shoot makes for a marginally better game. A minor nig-
ne. gle is the fact that it is sometimes difficult to spot
your player when there are several others jostling
ecided by I m• r•
for the ball, Every bit as exciting and as playable
choice of
as any other version.
need from The C64 version doesn't quite match the Spectrum or
ll 45 rrun- Amstrad versions for playability. But even so across
GRAPHI CS 8 I Q FACTOR 5 the board the games a winner. Overall ibis' an
AUDI O 5 F U N FACTOR 8
1to allow improvement on its predecessor and is now the best
the bail
TheSpectlemversion highlighting the colour change option which ACE R A TIN G 8 8 1 football action game for micros.
is texy134311J1it your T.e's not quite stale of the ad.

ZS
' SUPERSTARSOCCER
player oan speed up the game ( this oom-
pressor varies with the various versions but it
can be set to run at 10 times normal speed
on all versions). This is jolly handy if y ou
dont want to sit through the full 45 mmutes
per side
hO
IW Its not all f un a n d games on t he turf
though; those all-important managerial deci-
NOW sions have to be made - should y ou try to
ENT recruit a new player? Should y ou t ry a n d
trade one of y our ageing players? Should
ENT
you use some of your v aluable trade points
at the start of the season in an at t empt t o
improve the general perf ormanc e of y our
?ntre f o r team?
rides the Gary Lineker's Superstar Soccer i s a CHversion - 9raohicielysucerlersed I lot belatetopky. Areal Spectrum version - pretty tcogh to tell who's who in this version ot
to cmtici- shameabout the awful Americanisms present in the ;coarse'. the game.
valiant effort to combine two highly popular
est of the minority interests - the football game simula-
the best tion and the football strategy game. Unfortu- C 6 4 V e r s ion S pe c t r um V e r s ion
nately all it manages to do is oversimplify Generally a muc h better game o n t h e C U , The characters are welt drawn but poorly animat-
)s out of both types o f g a m e a n d c ons equent ly though it smacks ot Americanisms (the Ce4 ver- ed. the play is fast and its almost impossible to
etc ) t he leaves the player feeling a little left out of it sion was written by American software house distinguish which is your character from the rest
e player all. klindscapel Fo r example, i t you're playing a cup of the players. There are some terrible glitches in
ant tact- match and at the end of normal play the match is the game - a game of three halves would you
• Andy Smith
hoose t o a draw, the teams get to play 'overtime (not extra believe/ Its also perfectly legal to pinch the ball
time ) and the tirst team to score during this pen- from the opposition just before they kick off and
at all the
od wins. Generally the play is fast and involving run it into the back of their net for another goal.
lock the PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE and it s nice to see the players performing over- or so it would seem in G ary Lineker's Superstar
Smeans head bic y c le k ic k s wit h s urpris ing accuracy. Soccer.
a 10
pass the r ao Extras are included in the shape of 'off the balr The strategy side ot things is OK as far as it
xria. MIX Imo incidents whic h add atmosphere t o the game. goes and can be quite involving - for a while.
attire of
bre dem--
cover (
L,„,1 '
1
Since you're playing only one player, however,
the action palls rapidly. There is a slight improve-
ment on the strategy side with a couple of extra
The player gains 'trade points' depending on his
level of success during the 7 match season and
has to spend them effectively in order to further
1 options, but even s o gameplay soon becomes his club. Unfortunately the interest soon palls
by y our 1
)ssession E tedious and only the most dedicated fans will stay even here because of the limited scope for deci-
1 involved tor any great length of time. sion-making.
whic h I In n I -
E
ng back 1 .L .

Superior graphics and gameplay make the C64 version

c e GRAPHI CS 7 I Q FACTOR 6 GRAPHI CS 6 I Q FACTOR 5
c .
1joyablei game Poor graphics andgameplay make
anen , AUDI O 6 F U N FACTOR 6 AUDI O 4 F U N FACTOR 5
ne corn- •
it one to miss on the Spectrum.
r r ACE R A TIN G 7 3 9 ACE R A TIN G 4 1 9
tare t he . D
r .
- ,
.
O
H AdvancedComputerEntertainment 53
M
 litAIDCOILLO •1
TEST
- TRY;L cortr A
1
1
1 0

711 F_E_

1
111
60 ATTE MP TS 111 221
SATE LL I TE

SPACEWALKTO ACRIPPLEDSURVEILLANCESATELLITE.ZEROGRAVITY AND ARETHEYCRATERSORBOULDERSBELOW?YOUNEEDTOBECOOLTOTAKE

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r'H ::
,
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=
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141toOK.., ego 4-vaItte V-12 o
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tntrosoioo ratio7 9 . 5 : 1 11-6Apth 5 • n
111,Prpm,SAEnet: 4 2 0 @?IN 1-1110,11 o
Tonto@rpm, @ 51111 -1/4 Rile: 1 3 ,
Tolosoission: 5 sp Natal ti 1

IIE
ara Irtofres 2 5 2 f t, lTopaspeot
, 17
Tiros: P i p e ] I i PH; 1111
/111p:
325/5M-15(1) Lateral keel; I l k
345/351a-15(p) :

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AND MO IN JUST 5,2 SECONDS! TRUCKS,OTHERTRAFFIC, MENATWORKANDBECAREFULTOUSEYOUR
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T I ITHEY'RETHEBESTAROUND.
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stockists!Where you'll see this sign.
ELECT O N I C ART
AUTHORISED DEALER

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DPLOMAC
B r e a k o f f r e l a t i o n s w i t h LEISURE GENIUS

DEVIOUS ,Tea world,

oknegot iat ion t oardgames has fi nally
your t ime has c ome That grand old man of
nasty
made it onto home computers. and interna-
c It'sperfidy
tional has never been so much tun
the first year of the alt h century, and
s
Europe is on the verge of a massive land-sea
war T h e s ev en ma j o r powers - Brit ain,
h
Prance, Germany, Russia, Italy. Turkey and
Austria•Hungary - are each out to conquer
the continent. I n t heir struggle for s maller
f game, but not just any old territory: of the 75
RELEASE BOX
erous
C641128 E l 2.95a,E14.95dk F EB 88
fs o f REVIEWED
IBMPC E24.951
t h eNootherversionsplanned
while in his orders he's still k eeping up his
end of the bargain. This gives y ou at least
flict system means that units are very rarely
destroyed in battle, ( A defeat normally rust
one turn to wreak havoc, and that's a long
lime in Diplomacy.
loses y ou ground - but of course y ou c an
only lose so much ground before your supply
The g a me is play ed o n a gr and scale,
with eac h t urn equivalent t o six months of
centres start f alling)
It's hard to stress the social side of Diplo-
war The first two turns, Spring and Fall 1901,
are normally spent inv ading small, defense-
less nat ions i n preparat ion f or t h e ma i n
mac y enough - t he s olid t eamwork a n d
gleeful bet ray als t hat seem t o go hand in
hand - but there's a biggis h ment al c hal-
event, but don't get the idea that this is sim-
ply a land-rush. Territory is t he k ey t o the
lenge as well. Though t he rules are muc h
simpler t han i n most games, t he fact t hat
areas on the map, only 34 are directly useful
everything h a p p e n s a t o n c e a n d t h e
absence of random factors give you an enor-
to the players. These crucial 'supply centres'
have t he manpower and industrial muscle
mous a mo u n t t o c ons ider w h e n wr i t i n g
orders. It's engrossing, madly addictive stuff
you need to maint ain your war effort: occu-
py ing other areas, sea or land, is useful only
whatever level y ou play it on. ir c an even
offer simple fun as a single-player game with
as a means of gaining or keeping control of six computer opponents, if you want an easy
centres
Military might and control of supply cen- victory! • Andy Winn

conniv tres are directly related brc adly speaking, a

nations' (and each other's) temtory the seven
i n wi l l c ont inually ma k e a n d break
players
alliances, There c an only be one winner -
gvictory conditions ensure this - so cynical
the
attacks on allies are nor only permissible but
inevitable.
Treacherous moves are assisted by t he
game's system of c ommand, Players t ak e
turns at the keyboard entering secret move-
ment orders for each of their armies or fleets.
but all units move simultaneously - and only
once all t he orders are in. Thus y ou might
order your forces to turn on your (former) ally
country has as many units as It controls cen-
tres. I f y our armed forces conquer enemy -
controlled centres you c an use the gains to
PC V e r s ion
With a marvellous scrolling map in CGA cyan and
build n e w units bac k home, but if you start
losing centres to the opposition youll have to
Magenta, a fnendly control system tatter a Nt of
experimenting) and a built-in tinter. this version's
disband u n i t s ac c ordingly T h i s s y s t em a joy to use. The computer players may not be
means that there can never be more than 34 the strongest things ever, but they're at least
units on the map at any one time. one coun- halfway smart and realty spice up three- or tour.
try's gain being (after t he s maller nat ions player games a treat.
have fallen) anothers loss.
Even wit h this upper limit on total forces, GRAPHI CS 8 I Q FACTOR 9
the map c an get pretty c rowded in places. AUDI O 1 F U N FACTOR 7
Diplomacy's rules only allow one unit in any
one map area, and the game's unusual con-
A C E R A TIN G 9 4 9

5 6 AdvancedComputerEntertainment
7
SCREEN TE S T
I

England: With no enernies to the north or west. you II have

plenty of time to build up your naval power. Your immediate
spheres of interest are Scandinavia and the low countries, but
your beets couldeasily take the battle trtle the Het
2 A Jsiria
going
- lust to hold your ground. Miracles aside. only negotiation
o
Hr other people's stupidity cansave your skin. A strongEngland
canlake the pressure oft you, but there's still 'Turkey lodeal with.
Jn9ar
3
1 'Germany:HollandandDenmarkmakeeasy pickings early on,
but
S u your miry well have problems holding them. If the English
headsouth that'll take some al the pressure oft, but expect a
rBate
o war
u withRussel over whogels Sweden
n d e
d4 Italian YOuahauldget Tunis early andmightcatcha piece 0
the Balkans actionIOD, but it's hardwork getting any turther.
b
thwartingFrance is risky, but a beleaguered Austria-Hungary
yoauldmakea goodtarget.
e n
TUN ION e5 1.irliay
m A verypowerful country. It youget a goodshoe of the
., Balkansearly onyoucanprobably pushon intoAustria-Hungary,
i e
andcripple Russia into the bargain. A Russo-Austrian pact can
sbebed, news, so youll probably need a deal withone at the Iwo.
y
o
u
' l
l
l Why computerise?
i With many boardgames it's hard to see how
n
computer versions improve on the card-
d
board originals. Very few computer oppo-
i
nents are in the same league as average
t
t human players - chess programs are a
o notable exception here - and in cases like
u Scrabble the computer isn't even playing on
g the same terms,
h Computer Diplomacy is something of a
special case however. Despite the admitted
weakness of t he computer opponents it
offers, the game can make up the numbers
and that's notoriously difficult,
Bridge fanatics struggling for a four-
some don't know how easy they've got it.
Finding a full complement of seven f or
Diplomacy requires phenomenal planning,
especially with games often lasting a day or
two, It's rarely an easy matter finding even
five or six players, so most casual games
LIU begin with at least one country in 'civil disor-
der' - a state of chaos where units have no
Russia
restaxo
- esdangerously. The Balkans thiset), andScandinavia (Main picture ere close at hand, but soare'Turkey andEngland orders, and will disband it attacked in force.
Sta If that's the alternative, computer oppo-
rli nents are a godsend. They play a tenacious
ng game in defence, and can put reasonable
w attacking strategies together too. They'll
i t even form rudimentary alliances with each
h other where appropriate - on-screen mes-
l sages keep you posted on these - though
o
unfortunately there's no attempt at human-
u
computer negotiation. Now that would have
r
s been interesting._
u
p
p
l
PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
y
c
e
n
t
r
e
s
m
I nn, 1 hots' d a y 1 week 1 roonli
a , 1 , , ,
yFrance Rope other players in and the lun can last indefinitely
s-revies, but onlandyoushould be able to holdyour own. .
oS p
ua i n AdvancedComputerEntertainment 5 7
na
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N
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Lamborghini Combat's eel cheap, but boy. are they hist'
S
T

Chevy Corvettes are cheaperami keret but that's a tasteful

digital speedo - don't you think?

TESTDRIVE stage. a n d manage a n av erage speed of

A C C O L A D E t o r q u e y o u in t o t h e
driving seat
Robins w i l l n o t b e f o u n d
R E L I A N T alongs ide t h e Fericais• t h e
Porsches and the Lotuses in this latest variant
on the 'drive a flash sports car theme.
Hav ing made rather a lot of money from
your software c ompany - the scenario goes -
you've decided to splash out and buy your-
self a c m that is in k eeping wit h your new
found status. So off y ou'v e t oddled t o t he
local dealer (who c an smell money a mile
off) and he's agreed to let you take any car
out for a test drive
You've got fi v e c ars t o choose f rom
Porsche 911, Ferrari Testarossa, Lamborghini
Countach, Lotus Turbo Espnt and a Chev y
Corvette. When you've made y our decision
you're placed behind the wheel and have to
drive t he c ar t hrough fi v e stages along a
winding mountainous road.
Your v iew of the game is as if you were
RELEASE B O X
about 60 mp h f or eac h stage, t hen y oul l
complete the course and have the chance to
register y our score. A n av erage s peed of
below 50 or 60 will hav e the dealer reclaim-
ing the oar because he sees you a s a n
incompetent driver.
It's exhilarating stuff, and eac h c ar per-
forms differently - so onc e y ou'v e bec ome
familiar wit h one car, you c m try and mas-
ter mot her
• Andy Srnfth
in the driving seat of the car looking through
the windscreen. The road has a sheer drop
on t he left and a solid, steep bank on t he
right - remember they drive on the right In ,-• A m i g a V e r s ion
the States, s o y ou driv e wit h t he steering
-
wheel on the left.
hg car's interior being particularly well drawn.
Not only are you trying to keep your c m r
, oiling is a bit on the poor side though as the
on t he road and in the right lane, but y ou a ming traffi c tends t o move rather jerkily,
also have to contend wit h on-coming traffic. psound is tremendous with screeches and
Sunday driv ers a n d t he polic e Th e loc al ning
h engines throughout. Just sink into the
police are well aware that some people use i er and absorb the game's sheer driveability.
this particular road to test fast cars and so c
they're always wait ing wit h their radar guns G R sA P H I C S 8 I Q FACTO R 6
a
to t rap the unwary speedster (you). Should AUDI O 8 F U N FACTO R 9
r
you get c aught i n a radar speed t rap ( a
e A C E R A TIN G 8 2 6
handy dev ic e at t ac hed t o y our s un v is or
g
flashes and emits a beep when it picks up a e
radar signal) you have to decide whether to n
try and outrun the Smokies• or pull over and PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
e
pick up a speeding ticket. r
Control of the c ar involves pushing the BO
a
ioystick ( o r keys) f orward t o accelerate, l
bock to brake and lell•right for lateral move-
itt)
i tl

ment. Pressing fire normally changes gear, y

C64128 E9.95cs•El , IDECJAN a
but an optional shift pattern can be enabled
AMIGA I 9 5 d ik
E24,95cl OUTNOW and here you have to move the joystick as if t
a
ATARIST E24.951( DECklAN it were the gem stick ccrre is needed here
h
as slipping into the wrong gear at 140mph
IBMPC E24.95ck DEDJAN can have you in an awful lot of trouble. Thesense i ol speed grabs and holds you tor some toe, but
there'sga steep talkh once you've masteredThe controls and
If y o u manage t o survive eac h stage h laminar with the course.
become
without crashing more t han four times per 1 q
u
5 8 Advanced aimputer Entertainment a
l
 Yaereqi5ditke etftti kottke jit
tutt
i ofjascoldtutopeti,mad,.therest(isuptog5u,„( Sereenelkee Item Clef 64/110 weralea.

s jorgaits,

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rn p t
cU u
Scvvereihelbeen Atari ST seleiee
I n
w
m
i o
n Bigg
Compu.
e r
Game in 1987 is Still
tearing up the
streets in 1988"

The ultimate experience los

motor spode alintdation the absolute
challenge to nerve and reflexes. Feel the wind in
your hair and the pull of the G-force as you power your way
along the highways and byeways, a gid 4 your side and open
country before you Eammitmce the exhileratlim and excitement of
driving a high performance sports car in this teasing time trial where
your co•rdhsation and nerve will be tested to unbelievable limits,
Out Run the cola op starred as an arcade sensation. Out Rtm the
computer simuladon minor, this exciting all action spectacie.

CBM64/128 1 1 1 M A D 4 4
C
1ASSETTE€919 DISK €11.99 CASSETTEL9.99 DISK €14.99
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---

The machine becomes a home

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SCREEN TEST

STARWARS 1988 released across all major formats it's

D O M A R K f o r c e t h e i r w a y in
I M P E R I A L oppression e again a ugly
time the bad guys have got a battleship the
size of a planet. Unsurprisingly, t he rebels'
answer is t o s end y ou out i n a pint-sized
fighter to take on the massed forces of bad-
ness (more or less) single-handed A l l you've
got t o do is trash some enemy TIE fighters.
blast the tops off a whole bunch of towers, fly
the lengt h of a heav ily defended trench at
top speed and hit a tiny duct at the tar end.
Piece of cake. right?
Well, yes it is actually now you come to
mention it I n fact, f or a full-price game in
almost ins ult ingly eas y t o see ev ery t hing
Star Wars has got t o offer. That's not t o say
that it's a bad conversion from the cult vector
graphics coin-op - f ar f rom it, in f o c i - b u t
rather t hat t he original is. t o say t he least,
past rt.
For a start, there ccre only three stages to
the game. Once you've shot the TIE fighters,
towers and that final duct it's round again for
more of the same You're meant to keep try-
ing for ever higher scores - blasting the tops
off all the towers, hitting that duct first time
every time, and above all surviving longer -
but where's the variety to keep you play ing?
Increasing diffi culty levels might hav e c ut
the mustard four years ago when the original
hit t he arcades, but nowaday s you're enti-
tled to expect a little more.

AFTER a es successful Sc hool h a s h

0 m th o t he home micro. The
fi nally made it ont
, ) varcade
e r yversion ofasthis game was track-ball
SH 0 1 1 ,4 1 PEFILLS controlled but n oew it's waggle t he joystick
time, exchanging bruised hands (from slap-
ping the ball) for aching wrists as you under-
go seven gruelling tests of agility, strength
and reflexes,
Combat School can be play ed by one
or two players who compete simultaneously

wk

ogirtErsh .

\'\
%\
„tort-46. :
The gruelling Iron Man race - asold the obstacles and waggle lor all
you're worth.
C64: Flying down a rathe• jagged trench, with that exhaust pert still someway oft
against either the computer or a f nend The
first stage is an assault course that has you
C 6 4 V e r s ion A m s t r a d V e r s ion lumping over walls (of various heights) and
The C64 isn't a great 3D machine by any means Again the obvious comparison is with Star Stoke swinging on Monk ey bcrrs' before reaching
so the slow, jagged wire-frame graphics - espe- and again Domark's baby loses out. Though bet- the finishing line wit hin the time limit. Next
cially on the lower sequences - were only to be ter defined, its graphics look slow and colourless comes t he first of t hree visits t o t he fi ring
expected The sloppy collision detection is harder compared to Real Time's gaudy. oh-so-playable range - targets appear at regular intervals
to excuse, senously hampering playability. Oldie. My, hasn't the games industry come on in as you control a sight wit h the joystick and
leaps and bounds. try to hit as many as possible i n t he time
GRAPHI CS 7 I Q FACTOR 1 allowed. Then it s waggling again f or the
AUDI O 5 F U N FACTOR 7 Iron Man race - a timed course full of boul-
GRAPHI CS 6 I Q FACTOR 1
ACE R A TIN G 4 7 5 AUDI O 2 F U N FACTOR 7 ders. mines a n d puddles t o t rip and slow
your progress.
ACE R A TIN G 4 4 0

ST V e r s ion RELEASE B O X
Nice soundtrack snippets and goodish graphics S pe c t r um V e r s ion
make t his t he mos t attractive version o f t he With Real Times ancient 3D Star Strike tor com- c64/128£8.
game, but it woefully underuses the ST's power. petition. the Speccy version will have to do a bit 9P5EC
S c E7.95c
s, s IMMINENT
With solid 3D games like Garner Command in the better than this The absence of sound effects on €129k
offing. wire-frarrie on the ST is starting t o look 48K machines is ludicrous, and the gameplay at AIAS £ 8 . 9 5 , E12•85dk O U T NOW
O U T
decidedly lame. best the equal ot the three year old Star Strike.
N O
GRAPHI CS 6 I Q FACTOR 1
W
GRAPHI CS 6 I Q FACTOR 1
The last t wo challenges take the form of
AUDI O 5 F U N FACTOR 7 AUDI O 0 F U N FACTOR 7
arm-wrestling (waggle for strength) and a
ACE R A TIN G 4 7 5 ACE R A TIN G 4 3 8 hand-to-hand tight with your instructor. The

6 0 Advanced Computer Entertainment

 SCREEN TEST

irs It's all very presentable stuff, y ou under- youll still be play ing in a years time on the
stand t h e coin-op's been slavishly c opied other hand, try looking elsewhere.
ay nght down t o the wire-f rame lettering, a n d
tor • Andy Wilton
the ST version ev en has the original's sam-
)ut pled speech - but the biggest selling point
must surely be the tie-in itself. If y ou really
want a game called Star Wars then this has
to PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
to be the one for you. 11 you'd prefer a game

for " "R=

,
ry- RELEASE B O X
los rea i t t r i s . u m =
ne C641128 C9.95cs E12.95clk OUTNOW a
r- - 4
g'
ANS E9 , 9 5 c s , E14.95dk OUTNOW 4
e 7 ""
)ut ATARIST E19.95dk OUTNOW 1 1l
1 , , o 1 r m I y001
tat
SPEC E9_95c s OUTNOW 1 1
t- Initial differences aside, all versions
1 are uniformly
1
short on lasting interest 1
ST: Hit a tower arid ill roll you over - end lose you shields ! M 1

COMBATSCHOOL
M
1
1
1

OCEAN w a n n a b e your drill instructor

mission is not agains t t he clock but y ou'll
Ten - s hun have to use all of y our new found skills in
Amstrad version- Onthe first leg and trying to swing across the monkey tars order to complete it
Combat School is a v ery c ompet ent
•
arcade conversion t hat is tough enough to
mak e y o u r c a ms a c h e a n d a d d i c t i v e
enough t o k eep y ou c oming bac k for t he
same punishment time and again
• Andy Smith

C 6 4 V e r s ion
Make the most of the breathers between waggling
bouts by listening to the wonderful music that's
played throughout. The graphics are colourful
and well drawn and animated. Though it's basi-
cally jus t a n athletic game of the Dec athlon
variety, the scenario is different and the simulta-
neous split screen two player option adds another
dimension, making this one of the more worthy
arcade conversions.

limit - tad this and its game over, succeed

and It's straight into the next event. GRAPHI CS 8 I Q FACTOR 5
Survive all seven events (the last event AUDI O 9 F U N FACTOR 8
a hand-to-hand tight against your irtstmc-
ACE R A TIN G 8 5 0
tor - who's no push over) and you may be
selected for a special mission to rescue some
hostages from t he Americ an Embassy. This PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE

A m s t r a d V e r s ion
Your tint visit to the rile range. Make sure you hit enough targets
of yoult have to setter the chin•ups, Colourful and extremely playable, just as much
fun on the Amstrad as on the Commodore. The
instmotor's v ery hard t o beat b u t joystick multi-load poses no problems (you'll probably be
plus tire bufton give various combinations of glad of the rest) so get in training for a thoroughly
enjoyable game
kicking, punching, lumping, and dodging to
help you win out here. •,,
vC

Should y ou f ail to c omplet e an event. GRAPHI CS 8 I Q FACTOR 5

you may (if you were very close to comple-
tion) get a chance to continue by perform-
ing a set number of chin-ups wit hin a t ime
Both versions have very similar gamerday, though the
AUDI O 6 F U N FACTOR 8
multi-load on the Amstrad may see your interest wan-
ACE R A TIN G 8 2 6 ing slightly before the Commodore version.

AdvancedComputerEnterianment 61
r S
C
R
E
E
N
HUNTFORREDOCTOBER
T
E Will ARGUS bring o n their sub?
S
As well as getting to grips with the point-
T S O V I T a rule, defect. You're an excep-
er system - a tricky business given how unre-
E
tion it seems, because you're t ry ing t o sail or s e e p • o p
sponsive the controls can be - you'll hav e to S ono.. = o n ta g t • e a r inn 2 4 2
s u bboat
your m Re d October t o the States. Its a d O O rr0 0 0 s i r ,
decide on a general tight-or-fhght strategy.
a r i n
pity y ou had to let y our c omanding officer Attack is risky: raising your periscope or emit-
e
k now about this really , because n o w t he ting an active sonar pulse will pinpoint your
centire
a Soviet Northern Fleet are on your trail.
target for you, but it may also betray y our use i n real-time games a n d this program,
p You
t start the game in Arctic waters east own position even mo r e t h a n S t a r Trek s h o w s wh y
a i
of Iceland, a n d have to sneak or fight your The t radit ional s ilent rf deep approac h they're such a bad idea. Delays as you fum-
n
ways to the US cauM Us ing an Icon system to has its problems too. Your boat's equipped ble t o s wit c h bet ween scopes, s onar a n d
d
access the subs fi ve main systems - sonar, with a special low noise transmission system weapons hav e no counterpart in r e a l sub-
o
periscopes. engines, weapons a n d ma p - for Just this kind of tactic, but it means mov- marine warf are, a n d don't really a d d t o
n
and a point er-driv en set of steering a n d ing very slowly - and of course your pursuers game interest either.
o
hydroplane controls, y ou hav e to nav igat e are already aware of this top secret mecha-
t nism. • Andy Witton
over undersea ridges and evade your angry
,
compatriots. The game task is certainly big enough.
a
arid t he play ing area comprises t he entire
s
Atlantic Ocean, but getting involved in the
PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
A ta r i ST V e r s ion
action is hard and often tedious work. Icon
Sound effects are good — especially the cavitation 00
and pointer systems were nev er meant f or
noise of the propellors — and the periscope view's
impressive. There's good use of colour on the
icon-driven front end too, but the pointer control
is unreliable and clumsy at times RELEASE B O X
ATARIST E24.95dk OUTNOW C.
GRAPHI CS 7 I Q FACTOR 7 IBMPC E24.95dk IMMINENT
AUDI O 8 F U N FACTOR 2
AMIGA E24.95dk IMMINENT
ACE R A TIN G 6 9 7 Interest submerges steadily

A ta r i ST V e r s ion
r — Great use of digitised graphics, a witty commen-
tary line and some lovely c r u n c h
M I
C MICROLEAGUE twist your arm -
effects all go down a treat, but ST drive capacity
t h w a cyou'll
means k shave o uto switch
n d disks to gel Hulk v.
R Paul 'Mr. Wonderful' Orrndorff
O L
ES TA RAP Y its t GRAPHI CS 8 I Q FACTOR 1
rviolence!
iZ The i m World Wrestling Feder-
official AUDI O 7 F U N FACTOR 9
G leinect
! c omput er g aeme is here.. a n d giv ing
ration SmOrdl
UC CE' No ss t L o d i ACE R A TIN G 7 4 0
people an elbow smasho n t will never be quite
Wthe same again. a tF o o
S i d d r. B i d s

R The WWF m any not b e a hous ehold LVS

Smolt",
Ename on this side of d the Atlantic, but over in to g Droo
Block
RELEASE B O X
S the States wrestlersrlike WWF champion Hulk
Hogan hav e huge s cult followings. Wit h its ATARISTE1995dk OUTNOW
T Omit
unusual gameplayo a n d emphasis on pre- ,.oa tnt C64 UNDECIDED IMMINENT
L • t N
sentation this new m import aims to sweep you o
I away in a flood of eHulk omania ie
w
;
N After ex t ens ivie pre-mat c h int erv iews c
Gand raczamatcra. nthe contestants enter the a

arena and the bout t begins. Taking the role
o ghting Hulk himself or
of either the clean-fi
t
one of his more ruthless real-life opponents,
h
you control your wrestlers strategy over 10.
20 or a punishing 60e minutes in the ring.
Your role in the bout consists simply of
picking the next move. There's no co-ordina-
tion inv olv ed on y our p a r t just choose a
move f rom the onscreen menu and wat c h
the results. Depending o n v arious factors
t PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
Used shotsc f rom ac t ual wrestling matches.
When a movh
e succeeds you'll see a rough
o
movie of the
t subsequent action, wit h sam-
pled s ound effects f or good measure. I t s
pretty brutal stuff in a cartoon violence sort
of way , b u t great f un t oo Th e c omput er
doesn't put up a tremendous fight and you
may well beat it first time out, but (as in real-
life wrestling) the show's the thing. Press H
for Hulk to appeal to the c rowd Press S for CXI V1 ,

either your move or your opponents will suc- Savage t o pull a dirty mov e while the ref o , .

1
r

ceed - and then the tun really starts. isn't looking! Who could ask for more/ q
EvenHulks/mania wears oil eventually r

All action in the game consists of digi- • Andy Wilton

,

6 2 Advanced Computer EnteUnment


F E E L I N G c old' a l e w e l a t Th 's t hos e
nasty Durrs f rom t h e planet
Suna of course, altering our weather pertterns
to suit their evil ends. Its a simple plan real-
ly: t hey bring on anot her ice age. h u ma n
civiliscrbon grinds to a halt and the alien tot-
ters take over Earth from the comfort of their
jungle HQ. Who can possibly stop them?
You c an, of course, but as t ough g u y
Lance Gryzor you've got a daunt ing m o n
ahead of you. Side-on v iew screens of multi-
level blas t ing ac t ion i n t h e j u n g l e a r e
packed wit h hostile gun turrets and enemy
marksmen, s o y ou' l l h a v e t o master t he
game c ont rols quic k ly . L e a p i n g u p a n d
down, crouching to shoot and fi ring directly
upwcxrds are s imple stuff, but fi ring in mid
leap or blasting diagonally on the run may
take a bit more joystick drill.
Firing at odd angles and dodging hostile
bullets are vital skills, what with the strength
and nature of the opposition. You'll usually
need to get several hits in on a gun turret to
destroy it, av oiding return fi re and android
footsoldiers the whole lime. Timing and dex-
terity count for a lot here, but as you learn
the game layout you'll fi nd that entering the
next screen o n t he nght lev el smooths t he
way a good deal.
You'll als o t e a m t h e pos it ion o f t h e
games ma n y ex t ra weapons caches, a n d
these mak e a phenomenal difference. The
laser takes out multi-hit opponents wit h one
shot, the scatter gun cleans out nasties with-
out putting you in danger and the rapid fire
machine gun cuts simplifies shot timing enor-
mously. All three of these are avortlable from
-,
RELEASE B O X
C64128 E8.95cs,E14,95111( IMMINENT
SPEC
E7,95cs,E12,95tic IMMINENT
AMS EB.95a,E14.95ct OUTNOW
Amstradlhe loser's impressive, but onlevel1 you'll tind the scalier
gunmoreuseful. Collect the 'eagle' to am up!
brniterittrilliii•ii •!,!•, M u h l ! •
, the defencesystem beyonddandyou'll clear your coth.
blind: there'sa torce-tieldinyour wayonthis screenfrom level 2. Blast
th
GRYZOR
O C E A N L a n c e t h e alie n s
the Weapons eagles releas ed wh e n y o u
shoot c ert ain static or mov ing targets, b u t
you're bac k t o t he boring old start-up gull
every time you die.
Blast, leap and run to the end of the tun-
gle section and the action moves indoors. I n
SCREEN TEST
a series of forced perspective screens viewed
from b e h i n d Lance's bac k y ou'v e got t o
dodge bullets and leap over barrels to stay
alive, while blasting a wa y crt security con-
soles. These control torcefields whic h block
your pat h wrec k them, the defence systems
pack u p a n d y o u c a n das h t o t he nex t
stretch of corridor. Some consoles are so high
up you'll hav e to leap and shoot simultane-
ously. while others only appear alter you've
shot preliminctry targets
Mak e it to the end of the corridors section
wit hin t he t ime limit - you'll lose a life f or
every minut e y ou overrun - and you're up
against a terrifying challenge: t he computer
room. Here you must blast four coloured pan-
els on the computer, knock out six defensive
guns and then deal wit h a last-ditch defen-
sive cannon to wreck that mainframe.
The ac t ion continues f or anot her three
sections of )ungle platforms, conidors and
computer room but only the very toughest
will make significant inroads here. The first
computer room is murderously difficult, and
an ex t ra life at t he end of eac h section is
small compensation. There's worse to come,
but it'd take you weeks of effort to see for
yourself just how much worse.
There's certainly a task here that's a
match for even the greatest garnesplayers,
but Ocean are treading a line line here Later
levels are so tough that it's easy to be dis-
couraged Enormous leaps in difficulty make
money for coin-ops alright, but they're not
always what the home market needs
• AndyWilton
CP C Version
These really are CPC graphics at their very best; that
colours positively glow, and aremation is excellent_
Mulbload will inevitably annoy 4641664 users some-
what. but 6128 owners get the whole game loadng
at once.
GRAPHI CS 1 0 1 0 FACTOR 2
AUDI O 5 F U N FACTOR
A C E R A TIN G 771
PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
Looks greal otos great but you'll probably hit a dead end
alter a couple otweeks
AdvancedComputerEntertainment 6 3
 - -
SPECTRUM 418 • 121 , m um

What if you could buy all these hit games in a special pack for the price of one...
Wouldn't that be fantastic?
And what if there was an extra FREE game included —say the best selling
martial-arts simulation "Yie Ar Kung Fu". Wouldn't that be sensational? t l I

M 1 1 1 /
It's called...

,
/ t a m DM
. ,,
P
L S
e y
i
r
r
i i
t l
t
i i
b t
.
:
a
4 At o f i
course it's courtesy of Y o u
8 n can buy
-
1 a it on
2 j December 1st
8
r 0.K2
 SCREEN TEST SHORTS

WESTERNGAMES
MA G I C BYTES g o w es t
MI LKI NG cows and dancing on
stage are odd events for a wag-
gling game to hav e at all, but
when the participants are cow-
boys rat her t h a n athletes y o u
just k now someone's trying to be
funny. These me the silliest (and
toughest) events in this spoof six-
eventer, b u t wi t h bean-eat ing
arid beer-shooting o n t h e lis t
things dent get much saner
The graphic s a r e p a c k e d
with c omic touches and there's
plenty t o l a u g h a t fi rs t t i me
through, but the sports parody's
too accurate for the fun t o last:
strange pystick mov ement pat -
terns a n d bursts o f wa g g l i n g
CHAMONIX
really can't pass for go:meplcry
any more - can they'
CHALLENGE
) • Andy Wilton INFOGRAMES c l i mb peak s
RELEASE BO X
RELEASE BO X ERIC Es c of fi er, t h e w o r l d
641 famous mo u n t a i n e e r , h a s
2 C 9 99cs.C111.99ck a n NOW
MS ATARI STr15956. c u t KW
loaned his name to Infograme's
E MIS f 9 6 c s D 4 9 5* ASIMIENT
latest release. Its a Waggle the
L CE4 E 9 9 9 c s C149501i 9111EN1
pystok t o c limb the mountcdn'
9
PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
game wh i c h requires precise
9 M E M M E E M I E
t iming a n d c onc ent rat ion t o
9
c complete y o u r c hos en c l i mb
1=1•MMI E ME (you have a choice of six)
s ' W O E =
. You hav e t o prepare
a 1 :1 2 ...11111 your c l i mb e r propert y bef ore
9 4M119 . •ml you start the ascent however as
9
ACE RATI1NG 487 he c ould freeze t o deat h, g o
c snowblind o r c at c h s unburn.
l Chcanonix Ch a l l e n g e h a s a
i novel scenario and some colour-
C
U ful and well animat ed graphics
T but it has poor gctmeplay a n d
N unless you're a real f an of t he
O sport you c ould well find the fun
W weoxmg off quickly.
• Andy Smith

PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE

..,
MEEME
I
, E I W 1 R ME
; .• " % E M I M
M E f f - - • I•
i n i N I M I I
•IM
1:111 1 1 N• 1 1
M EI N
N M
A C E RATI NG 5 1 7I

INSANITYFIGHT CHOPPERX
MICRODEAL scroll v ertic ally R otoring w ith MASTERTRONIC
VERTICALLY s c rolling shoot- looking a n d s ounds s uperb. FERG'S t h e n a me , fl y i n g a what bare, but its an enjoyable
em-ups are ten a penny or. most Moderately addictive and tough Heward X X 6 6 A s s a u l t H e l i - game wit h a moderate amount
machines, but not on the Amiga enough t o k eep y ou going f or copters t he g a me - o r s o t he of addiction.
- especially shoot-em-ups t hat some while.
blurb ac ompc my ing t he g a me • AndySmith
are playable as well as pretty • Andy Smith goes.
The play er takes c harge of
Its a v ert ic ally s c rolling
a s pac es hip ( v i e we d f r o m
shoot-em-up v i e w e d f r o m
above) a n d has t o fl y ov er a
above, t hat has the play er con-
down scrolling landscape a n d
RELEASE BO X trolling a helic opt er i n a n
destroy the various installations.
attempt t o destroy huge n u m-
Insanity Fighl wins no prizes AMIGA 1 RELEASE BO X
bers of tanks, boat s a n d g u n
for onginality but its very good , ATARI tc.15c14 O u r NOW
emplacements. Sc rollings poor
. and t he landscapes are some-
24,K
PREDICTED INTEREST CURV E
cii
O 1 1 PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
1 = 1
L 1 1
I M E M M E =
I 1 1 . 1 11
1 '
T 1 1
1 " 1
N = 1 = - 1 'g in e
O , ata, •= i rm. 1
W ACE RATI NG • 752 1
1 Tar •

ACE •
RATI NG 739
•
•
AdvancedComputerEntertainmenl 6 5
SCREEN TEST SHORTS

GALACTICGAMES FRANTICFREDDIE
H eads fl y a t ACTIVISION TOP TEN g o u p t h e p o l e
HERE'S a novel variation on an CREEBLIES a r e w h a t d r i v e RELEASE BO X
PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
old t heme Its a sports simulation poor Frantic Freddie up t he pole
26 199z5 O U T
broken d o wn i n t o fi v e ev ent s as he greedily tries to grab all
including: 10Orn slither, s pac e the crocks of gold in the magi-
hockey, head throwing, psychic ' cal telephone system he has for-
judo, a n d t h e me t a mo r p h
marathon.
1
1
1 tuitously stumbled across
Like i t s s c enario, Fr a n t i c
It's a nice idea that =f ort u- Freddie is a pretty tired game;
nately just doesn't work too well
the games are simple, unexcit-
1
A
A CE RA •TI NG 3 5 7
1
there's a modic um of f un to be
had as y o u s c ramble u p a n d
PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE

mem

RELEASE BO X
1
E
ing and tedious1 to play. Graph-
ics are very straightforward
= wit h
clown t he [adders t o av oid the
grumpy Greeblies, but at heart
1 1
=
its just an old platform game in M i
CS44128 E999es EI4.99cli IMMINENT little detail and1the sound is eel-
budget shape. n
SPEC E9.99cs art NOW 1 crow about. Try
toanly nothing to • Pete COMO mACE RATI NG 345
AMS ES99cs, IMMINEN7 before you buy.1 , e
M
• Andy Smdh
M

JETBOYS BADCAT
CRL s end t h e jet boy s r o u n d Street c r e d c ats f r om G O !
RELEASE BO X TAKE y et av erage furry RELEASE BO X
dress h i m i n a d e n i m cut-off
C64,13 E 5 jacket, headband and give him ATARI ST E19995., O U T NON
9 5 . N 95cs 04956 U g h %
SPEC some shades to wear and you'll C64
E S1 4E . 99 %es NOS& O U T WIN
AIR have s ome i d e a o f t h e hero ,MAGA E24.99(11; I M M I N E N T
5 d t ofBaci Cat 128
O u The g a me consists of f our N
t N
levels and can be play ed by a
P C
PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE t
max imum of four people (turns in a s wimming pool to hit over-
P W s
alternate) I t ' s a pos it ioning head symbols. Cu t e graphics,
E
game for some of the levels as adequate
l sound and moderate-
1 you t r y t o c ros s a n as s ault ly addictive gameplay make tor
SPACE age coppers are k nown '

1
1 course a n d a t iming game f or a9 g a me wit h a higher novelty
as jetboys, wh o patrol the min- 'NM
1 value than compulsion factor.
ing quadrants on the moons of the rest as you try to knock your 9
1
Saturn. But t he System Council opponent o v e r w i t h b o wl i n g d • Andy SmiM
1
balls or leap f rom pads located I
boobed b y s elling o n e of t he ACE RATI NG1 690
c
moons to a crook, who threatens 1 I
to b l o w t he moon u p a n d s o 1 M
destroy all t he other moons as attack i n formation, I a n d has a PREDICTED INTEREST CURVE
M
well. Yes, it's d o wn t o y ou t o guardian monster atMthe end.
I 11
stop him. The one player option
I is not N -
01
This one or two player game particularly g o o d bEu t I n t wo E 1
1 '11=M11
player mode wit h its simultane- 1
has t he player(s) fl y ing ov er a N ••
ous action it c an be enjoy able 1
parallax s c r ol l i ng l a n d s c a p e T •• 1111
for a while. 1
through four levels. Each level is 11 4111
1
s warming w i t h a l i e n s t h a t • AndySmith 11
ACE RATI 1 NG 665
117
11
1
11
1
11
6 6 AdvancedComputer Entertainment 1•
1
E

AMIGA
MOEBIUS
Origin systems/Microprose E2419dk
CM version reviewed Issue 2 - ACE Rating
628
The Orient al r ol e•pl ay mg g a m e fi n a l l y
makes it to the Arrnga. Its very similar in fee:
to t he C84 version a n d play s ident ic ally
Superior graphics and sound and improv ed
garneplay mak e this a slightly better game
on t he Amiga however, a n d the increased
score reflects tha.
• ACE RATING 655
EAGLE'S NEST
Pandora E19 95dk(Also Atari ST at S19 95 dk)
One of t he bet t erarunt let clones f or 8-bit
machines i s jus t a s p l a y a b l e o n 18-bit
machines B o t h versions are colourful a n d
play identically to each other Th e Armga's
graphics are not signitioantly better than the
STs but the sound certainly is I f you like the
Gauntlet-style games then you won't be dis-
appointed wit h Eag)ess Nest.
• ACE RATING 900 (AMIGA)
• ACE RATING 904 (ATARI sT)
AMSTRAD
PHANTOM CLUB
Ocean E8.95cs E14,95 dk
Spectrum version reviewed Issue 4 - ACE rat-
ing 845
The Amstrad version of the Mov ie sequel is
as playable and as colourful (if not more so)
as the Spectrum version. Garneplcry is identi-
cal and t he missions are just as t ough t o
complete. Wi l l k eep t he k een adv ent urer
busy for a long time
• ACE RATING 645
YOGI BEAR
Piranha 9,9.95 cs £14.95 dk
C64 version reviewed in Issue 3 - ACE Rating
152
SCREEN TEST UPDATES1
A mixed but tasty bag of version updates this month.
The real biggy is, of course, Bubble Bobble on the ST.
Its massive rating is justified by its awesome
playability and very pretty graphics. Should keep ST
owners busy on these long winter nights.
Worth looking out for, too, on the 16-bit side is
the Gauntlet-ish Eagles's Nest, weighing in with over
900 on both ST and Amiga.
And big news on the C64 front is the arrival of
the infuriatingly addictive Dellektor. Not a bad old
month, is it?
Jellystone Park is just as colourful o n t he get a lot of enjoyment from this game
Amstrad as it is on t he C64 a n d t hat t hat
trapper has still got hold of Ol Boo-Boo Wi t h
• ACE RATING 837
instant appeal t o y ounger games play ers
especially Yogi Bear retains its intial rating
• ACE RATING 752
C64
ATARI ST DEFLEKTOR
Gremlin £9. 99 cs £14.99 dk
Spectrum version reviewed ACE Issue tour -
ACE Rating 906
BUBBLE BOBBLE
Firebird £19.95 dk Well. t hey ve cleared up the cursdr problem
C64 version reviewed issue 1-ACE Rating 958 (as reported in ACE 4) and t he g o n e is a
treat to look at and listen to. As compelling
A very lively game taking advantage of the as ever, t he CM version is just Os addictive
Atari STs smooth movement and speed mak- and just as frustrating as the other versions
ing the game pleasant to play and the best
conversion of t he Tonto hit.The animat ion of
the ST complements the colourful sprites and
the 100 screens.each wit h their own pattern
of play The music is s imple for t he s
-
lively - livelyness being t he k ey word i n
r b u t this arcade hit.
describing
• ACE Rating 906
SPECTRUM
• ACE RATING 958
ACE 2
Cas c ade £8.95 cs (48k) £9. 95 dk (128k)
LIVINGSTONE, I C64 version reviewed ACE Issue 2 - ACE Rat-
ing 590
PRESUME?
Alligata £1495 dk The gcaneplay hasn't improved any and the
graphics are worse mak ing ACE 2 a v ery
This wit t y jungle arcade adventure has the avoidable game on the Spectrum Again the
player struggling through seven levels in the lack of opponents and t he limit ed cockpit
attempt t o locate t he lost ex plorer Cut es y view fail to compensate for the lack of realis-
graphics that are well animat ed add flavour tic controls
to the game, and if you like your adventures
in the Jack The Nipper 2 mould, t hen you'll • ACE RATING 530
Advanced Computer Entertainment 6
7
 OR
1
COMPUTERS 10 BEST ATARI ST ADVENTURES
CBM Amiga A500 with nearly E200 Of tree SOftware Phentesie III E24.95
accessories , • . ...... , • , • £ 4 9 9 .0 0 2 The Pawn E24.95
CIPA 84C Starter Pa ck with cassette recorder, joystick and E100 3 The Bards Tale E24.95
iree softwate • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , • C179 95 4 The Guild of Thieves £24.95
COM 84 Computer only C 1 2 9 95 5 Nord B e r t £29.05
CBM 154IC Disk Drive with tree soMware only C 1 8 9 95 6 Gnome Ranger C14.95
Spectrum Plu s 2 Computer with free joystick and software 7 Space Quest £24 95
C 1 3 9 95 8 Knight Oro C19 95
Atari 130 XE Starter Pack with cassette recorder. jo ystick and 9 Plundered Hearts £24 95
free software £ 1 3 9 . 9 5 10 £24 95
Nitendo Games Console with free Super Mario Bros. game 22
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COMPUTERS a
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k Sage Accountant Plus £99.95
Man 520STEM including ry,e, E100 worth ol software and 4 Superbase Personal
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Alan S2OSTM i• Mouse • SE354 Drive E 3 5 5 00 S
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Alan Mega ST2 E 9 . 9 9 90 r Hatiaview
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Monitor and Now inciude Slitter Chips! t
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Alan 51.4-125 Mono 1 2 3 Typesetter Elite . . . £34.95
4 Art Director £49.95
- s cSM
Alan r e-I e
25nBought with Computer M O CIO
PC Data £79.95
CPhilips CM1 8833 Med. Res Colour 14 I n c. lead C 2 8 5 00
6 Pro Sound Designer £57.44
2DISK DRIVES5 £29.95
7 Professional Icon Editor
0 8 Cad 30 • • E24.95
Atari 8E354 .5trib Disk Drive E99 00
0 E79.95
Atari 5E314 1mb Disk Drive C189 00 9 Easy Draw 2
CUM3112 1mb Disk Drive C149 00 JO Back Peck £49.95
Cumana 2mb Dual Disk Drive C255 CO
Cumana 5.25 D isk Drive E169 CO
ACCESSORIES
10 • 3 5 SSrOD Disks Branded £14.95
10 • 3.5 SSrOD Disks Unbranded £12.00
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Mouse Mal £4.95
PRINTERS
Mcro P, M P 135 C 1 8 9 00
Citizen 120-0 C 1 9 9 00
Citizen LSP-10 E 1 9 9 00
Epson LX .800 C 2 7 5 . 0 0
Star N1,10 £275.00
Star N924-10 printer - Sheet Feed , , C854.00
Jule 5520 Colour Printer • C573.85
An our software is marked al the recommended retail price but
we give discount of S% tor AccessNtsa sales or a lu ll 10%
disco
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A flight sirn a m be the most
frustrating purchase you'll
ever mak e for y our com-
puter T h e promis e i s
tremendous and so, all too often. is
the disappointment - a program
tricrrs either so complex it's impossi-
ble to use. or so mclimentary that
you fall asleep at the keyboard. If
you really want t o conquer t he
skies. join us in a spot of formation
flying as we 'buz2' a f ew of t he
contenders for your cash
Despite the glamour of flight,
one of the main problems with a
flight simulator is pure boredom.
Imagine a driving simulator that
allows you to drive a Ferrari. Once
you've mastered t he gears, t he
brakes, a n d t he steering you're
going to want to do more than zip
up and down the country lanes
Tarmac-bashing games give you
more in a dozen different ways,
from t he rac ing scenario of Out
CRASHLANDING!
Pun to the chase and chivvy of
Spy Hunter.
In a plane. however, things
we a little different. First, you've
got rat her mo r e t h a n gears ,
brakes. a n d steering t o worry
about and there's a danger of loss
of interest d u r i n g t his lengt hy
learning curve. Secondly. onc e
you're up in the air what do you
see? Answer: not hing b u t sky,
unless y o u look d o wn a t t h e
ground arid producing convincing
aerial views of landscape is not an
easy thing to do on a micro.
The way in which flight simu-
lators have tackled these problems
determines what son of program
you get and whether you're going
to buy it and fly it. or buy it and
unit.
POI, t here a r e t h e 'added
challenge' games These offer typi-
cally either varied fl ying assign-
ments (e.g. different airfi elds t o
lcmd and take off from) or combat
reMihilitieS in an effort to keep the
pdot interested Then there w e
garnes that try t o overcome the
learning problem, e i t h e r b y
bypassing it (making the program
more simple) or by trying to make
a virtue of it (making things more
complex and •cmthentie). Finally
(and more recently) there are the
programs that hav e tackled the
aenal view problem and attempt-
ed to enhance the appearance of
the ground beneath you, thereby
giving you something to find, t o
look at. and to avoid crashing into!
In addition to the style of the
FLIGHT SIMU LA TOR S
program, y o u should also giv e
some thought to what you wont to
fly. Typically, programs available
cover jets, light aircraft, and heli-
copters Jets are the easiest to fly
and unless there is a good deal of
added interest y o u m a y fi n d
things a bit dull alt er a while.
Light aircraft, on the other hand,
can be very twitchy in the air but
do giv e y ou a great sense of
achievement when you can con-
trol t hem properly Finally . heli-
copter simulations tend to concen-
trate very much on the attack and
destroy scenarios, since t he air-
craft themselves do not offer much
in the way of aerobatic challenge
Omni'beering indicator with
ox landing/takeoff gidesiope .
The very best games combine
varied flight options, combat possi-
112: iST version' Cockpit display as youcome in to land. Numerous control options Maxie the it iity
bilities. realism coupled with care- 10position your plane anywhere in the sky - useful for setting up practise landings Note the drop.
ful tuition. and a pretty landscape down rrap menu, showing your posifien• Thirty hire diflerent instruments and read-outs give unrivalled
to fly over. Find a game like that opportunity fag controlling your aircraft.
and you've found one of the most
scrlisfying entertainment programs
you're likely to buy. So you wanna earn your wings, eh,
buddy? Feel the urge to climb into the
FLIGH T
S IM U LA TOR 2 cockpit and roar oft into the empty
Atari ST
SubLogic
E49.95dk
skies? Then you're in good company
IBM PC E49.95dk - flight sims are amongst the most
• Cessna 182 trainer' Gates Learjet
Well, there's no doubt about it. When
popular micro applications, but
it comes to serious flying, as opposed sometimes they'll let you down with a
to combat, this program is deservedly
the standard by which all other flight
bump. ACE spots the aces...
simulators are judged. Th e latest
version offers a solid 3D landscape somewhat twitchy creature but this is And that's really what this pro-
together with 120 airports in five differ- more than compensated for by the gram us all about - mastering every
ent areas ranging from San Francisco excellent control which scans Key- aspect of flying, from navigation (there
to New York, plus a whole host of press rates and makes either a 'micro are extensive radio and visual naviga-
other features that any experienced adjustment' or a normal control adjust- tion opportunities) in a micro-environ-
pilot would like lo see but not expect ment to the elevator position accord- ment that includes almost every con-
to find on a home micro. ing to how last you tap the keys. This ceivable variable from cloud height
The choice of plane is important. is much closer to the feel of actually through turbulence to icing hazards.
Jet simulations lend to be rather easi- flying a small plane than the normal, You can even fty under the Golden
er to fly for the beginner and in addi- very coarse control offered by other Gate Bridge, but antics apart, the pro-
tion they obviously move quite a bit programs. gram will leave those who persevere
faster. The Cessna. by contrast, is a The 'pet is extremely easy to fly, and master it with an unrivalled sense
and also rather boring, but you can of achievement.
pull some nice stunts with it without
worrying about your life insurance. Display quality 9
Sound 4
' Best option of all however i s the
World War I ace simulation. This is Instrumentation 10
cu 1
.
••• 4
0 -
' • -
•
I
n
t,
•_
really just the Cessna with a gun on
its front but it's still very enjoyable as
you confront the 'enemy' on a small,
Documentation
ACE Rating
7
9
T ot2•V
T'
r r intimate landscape. Gain points by
4 - . bombing his factories and shooting FA LC ON
4 1 .
FS2:1STversion' One of several di
4 fferent view down his six pilots, each of whom Spectrum HotobytelMirrorsoff
,
options: here you can set yourCessna banking
shows different tactics. Don't expect Apple Mac E 2 9 . 9 5
overTheGolden Gate Bridge. prior to returrang to come out victorious, however, until IBM PC 1 2 9 . 9 5
for tending at Oakland international Airport. You
caneven worn the displays to take a closer look you're really mastered control ol your • General Dynamics F-16A
al the scenery. aircraft. This game falls squarely into the 'up-
AdvancedComputerEntertainment 6 9
r FLIGHT SIMU LA TOR S

and-at-em category of flight sim and
comes close to doing for combat sim-
ulation what Flight Simulator 2 does
for light aircraft training. The 140-page
manual has scant coverage of flying
techniques but is positively bristling
with authoritative details on weaponry,
air combat manoeuvres, and the vari-
ous military ranks and decorations
which rest upon your success or fail-
ure in battle.
What's impressive, however, is
that this has not detracted too much
from t h e s imulat ion s i d e o f
things.There are 12 missions avail-
able. pitting you against both airborne
and surface opponents. but before
you can master these you will have
of Fame, which allow you to record
the achievements of up to ten players
on disk. Success on missions is
rewarded by decoration and confirma-
tion of higher rank. Rank is more than
just status, however, since it also
determines certain flying characteris-
tics and enemy behaviour. Al 1st Lieu-
tenant level, for example, you get
unlimited weapons without having to
bother about weight, and the opposi-
tion lust sits there waiting to be shot
at It you're a Colonel, you'll be worry-
ing about being captured, stalling.
missile attacks, overloading, blacking
-out due t o high G forces, and a
dozen other factors that lesser ranks
don't have to contemplate.
Amstrad CPC E9.95 cs E14.95 dk
IBM PC E 2 4 . 9 5 dk
• Helicopter simulated Hughes AH-64A
Apache
Helicopters have come a long way
since the old days when Westland
ruled the waves. Although the British
company came up with the excellent
Lynx when did you last see a heli-
copter loop-the-loop?) the Americans
have been hard at it and the Apache
shows lust what modem US technolo-
gy can stuff under a rotor blade when
it sets its mind to it
Digital Integration leapt to fame
with their Fighter Pilot simulation,
which was the first flight sim for 8-bit
micros to give a no-compromise corn-
bination of combat challenge and sim-
ulation authenticity. It's still an excel-
lent buy but misses Out somewhat in
the ground detail stakes. Tomahawk,
on the other hand. draws — and
improves — on the tradition estab-
lished by Durell's renowned Combat
Lynx wh i c h gave improved wire-
frame landscape features arid a rea-
sonable degree at flight control real-
ism.
First. the instrument display is
excellent. Clear, sensible read-outs
give all essential information. The
landscape is slightly crude but still
ambitious and effective f or 8-bit
machines. It would be nice to see this

Wha t the e x pe r ts s a id...

Your KO ',HeadUpDis-
play/ is set tor bombing
Falcon * l c version'Cockpityiew stotigH ahead: you're on the Milk Run, easiest of the twelve
sines. andyou've got tobombthree targets. Asmallkendscapeismorethancompensatedfor by a nry
testinginitiliwy challenge
spent at least a couple of days lust
learning to handle the aircraft Keep-
ing in the air is a doddle in this game,
but proper alignment for landing and
practise is quite another matter.
The manual approaches training
from the practical, rather than the the-
oretical side, giving you some easy
flying tasks to accomplish and also
setting up the flight characteristics to
make bot h crashing and stalling
impossible for the beginner. Although
rather daunting at last, this approach
works well and makes the learning
process far more immediate,
The display is very attractive.
Instrumentation includes most essen-
tials plus a 'Threat Warning System'
(spot that MiG) and a selection of
HUDs, or 'Head Up Displays'. These
give essential flight and target infor-
mation by reflecting it off the wind-
screen, thereby enabling the pilot to
keep an ey e o n altitude, speed,
course and so on without taking his
eyes off the action.
There are different HUD's for use
when various weapons systems are
activated, including guns. venous mis-
sile types, and bombs. Mastering their
use is essential for success in even
the simplest missions,
There's a duty roster and a Hall
The best thing about this game,
however, is the extensive nature of
the gameplay. When you start, you'll
just be concerned about getting into
the air. By the time you finish fit you
ever do) you'll be confronted with a
very wide range of decisions, many of
which have to be made instinctively
and immediately, both in the air and
on the ground. Should you foil that
heat-seeking missile with a flare?
Should you use the AIM-9L or the
AIM-9J missile on that elusive MiG?
And, i f t he unthinkable threatens.
should you eject and risk capture for
even death) or should you try to nurse
your plane back home? Certainly the
nearest thing to joining the USAF cur-
rently available to a computer flight-
sim enthusiast, but more of a militaris-
tic than a flying challenge.
Display quality
Sound
Instrumentation
Documentation
ACE Rating
TOMA H A WK
Digital Integration
Atari 8-bit E 9 . 9 5 cs E14.95 dk
Spectrum E 9 . 9 5 cs
C64/128 E 9 , 9 5 cs E14.95 dk
ACE visited the Bristol and Wessex Aero Club to see how flight sims mea-
sured up in a professional environment. Byron Caws. Operations Manager at
The Club and himself an experienced pilot, put SubLogic's Flight Simulator 2
Through its paces and had a lot to say about simulators in general.
first, he pointed out, 'there's a huge difference between simulation flying
and the real thing. The difference is down to the method of control. Using keys
and joysticks is a far cry from handling an aircraft in the air, no matter how
good the simulation,'
To prove his point. Byron showed us the Clubs own simulator (see sepa-
rate box) and pointed out how 'twitchy it was in performance. 'If you can fly
this thing accuraftly.' he said, 'you can fly anything,'
Other reatworld hazards that a pilot has to cope with include turbulence
not often properly implemented in
simulators) and other weather con-
ditions. Tomahawk and Flight Sim-
ulator 2 both include some weather
factors but you're unlikely to run
into a full-scale hurricane while sit-
ting in you armchair.
However, the pros do have
some good things to say about sim-
ByronCaws of the Bristol aridWastes MiroClub
ulators. 'They build up a habit of
puttingF1414Sfrnubtor2through it's paces Steve
Cookelooks onas themanwiththe knowhow instrument scanning', pointed out
makesit all look soeasy. Byron, 'which could certainly save
your Irte in a real plane. And in this respect they are also helpful for instrument
flying practise.' But what's really needed is a greater degree of visual feed-
back outside the cockpit. 'Visual flight rules are an essential part of flying'. say
the professionals, and it seems that until we get more extraneous visual detail
into a simulator they will remain a little bit like driving your car without seeing
the bends in the road,
8
7
7
8
8
Torristrawir (C64YeSi0111There'sanenemytarget5milessway art we're citisingsteeday. Thelaser guid-
edNetlikemissilesareaimedandthatrectangular sight ale sot', be lockhgore* someunlucky 'hostHe'.

7 0 Advanced Computer Entertainment


game running on an ST or an Amiga,
but for time being this will do nicely.
Landing pads, pylons, tanks. guns,
helicopters, trees, and mountains all
come and go with simple but effective
majesty as you search out up to 1024
targets on a large map. There are tour
missions of increasing difficulty and
complexity, culminating in an almost
impossible game o l noughts and
crosses with the enemy as you each
seek to support your ground forces
and occupy whole rows of the grid.
thereby taking them out of the game
while you proceed to the next
You have guns, missiles, and
rockets to fight with and flying options
include variable cloud cover height,
Instructors aileronand
elevator position1targe
reclanglei
ChuckYeager onthe Ceik, a spot of landingpractise ina Cessna before frying out the Latestecpenmen-
MI let can't be a bad idea. There's a goodzoom option on the scenery, as well as numerous view
options, includingtrackingandgroundperspectives.
dayMight flying, crosswinds and tubu-
tenet). There are lour pilot ratings with
enemy action and skill doubling with
each increase in player status. Flight
sim fans used to the muscle of big jets
may find the Apache limited by com-
parison in some departments, but
push the machine to its limits and
youll be surprised what you can get
out of it. A must for chopper champi-
ons and a strong contender for the
rest of us, though simply applying col-
lective and rising into the air doesn't
quite compare with roaring down the
runway.
Display quality
Sound
Instrumentation
Documentation
ACE Rating
CHUCK YEA GER 'S
ADVANCED FLIGH T
TR A IN ER
Electronic Arts
C64128 E 9 . 9 5 cs E16.95 dk
IBM PC E 2 4 . 9 5 dk
• 14 ptoduchon and experimental air-
craft. ranging from Sopmth Camel to
XRH-4 MadDcg experimental aircraft
Stange how nobody's done it before,
but this is the first flight sim to make a
serious attempt at flight traintng. AFT
offers four modes of operation, Test
Right Formation Flying, Airplane
Rang, and Right Instruction—a wide
range of activities, but it's the training
side that really stands out.
The system works by giving you
a HUD (Head Up Display) with two
rectangles. The movements of the
smaller rectangle reflect the aileron
and elevator movement of the player,
the larger rectangle shows you what
the instructor would do it he were fly-
ing the plane instead at you. This
means that to find the correct flight
path and attitude you simply have to
keep your rectangle nested within the
instructors —and provided you're also
adiusted your other controls (throttle,
flaps etc) correctly all should be well.
There's help there too however, since
insouetar's message
clear instructions about control adjust-
ments are given via brief messages at
the bottom of the screen.
There are a number of different
training options and in each case you
can choose either to observe the les-
son, or actually to carry it out. The
small but informative manual gives
essential back-up information, includ-
ing recovery from stalls, take-offs,
landings. a n d ot her basic aerial
manoeuvres
Once you've mastered the tech-
niques. you're ready to try Test Flight,
putting various planes through their
paces and exploring the scenery in
7 the process. Most enjoyment to be
4 had here is from locating one of the
8 seven 'obstacle courses' scattered
4 round the terrain, presenting streets to
7 fly along, pylons to fly between, and
so on.
Equally challenging are the aero-
batic routines in the Formation Flying
section — there are six pre-recorded
routines and you can devise and
SAVE your own. However all these
pale into insignificance beside the
Race section. which has you roaring
along a few feet above the ground.
passing through gates i n correct
sequence. You won't get far in this
until you really know your aircraft.
The graphics in AFT aren1 bad at
all for an 8-bit flight sim. though PC
owners may be disappointed by what
they gel compared to other PC pro-
FLIGHT S IM U LA TOR S
.'
C ould a fl ight sim s a v e y our life?
There's a fantasy locked away in every armchair pilot's imagination. ..the plane
he (or she) is travelling in suddenly goes into a steep dive,..the pilors had a
heart attack •Joe or Joanna) Doe leaps from their seat, clutching their Strike
Force Harrier manual and yells 'Don't panic! Ill take over". A short while later
you're landing safely at Kennedy Airport...
Hmmm_Supposing Joe Doe really did leap up in front of you like that,
claiming to be able to save the day, should you let him get on with it, or should
you just club him over the head and start saving your prayers?
Well, when Joe sits down in the pilot's seat. he's going to see something
like this screenshot in front of him. He'll probably recognise the articifial hori-
zon, airspeed indicator, and tachometer. He'll probably have some idea of
what he ought to do to get the plane out of a stall (if this has occurred). But
whether he can put it into practise is quite another matter,
To start with. he probably won't be that used to mastering rudder control
and dealing with yaw (where the
plane slews from side to side) The
altimeter may b e wrongly set,
showing height above sea level,
which means that if you're crossing
a mountain Joe may be landing
sooner than he'd like to. I f the
engines have actually died f or
seine reason he's highly unlikely to
be able to restart them (that sort of Cockpit of a Non Saratoga. Canyouidentity the
thing is always done for you in a dirlerent vlstrirments
7 T hsiml.
flight ere bt e i e et l ' anyilxing)that youwon't find in ROI( SimuttIor
2 but it looks lustawee bit nonecomplexthan
l i Oftcourse,
l e the plane
h may e wellr Sperm
e 40• NO expect any thongs oul ! MOW
be behaving quite happily. Like t or oneotthese,
cars, planes don't immediately go haywire the moment you take your hand off
the steering wheel and at 20000 feet you've got a lot more leeway than you
have in a country lane. But even it it is. and even if Joe gels it under control,
there remains the problem of what to do next. Most flight sims have you pot-
tering around a limited map with lots of visual clues and an easy-to-under-
stand map display. Joe may not have the faintest idea where he is, and even
less idea of how to get to where he wants to go.. .So better start saying your
prayers alter all, because when it comes to flying, a little knowledge isn't just a
dangerous thing, it's fatal!
grams available. There's a lot to this GU N S H IP
program. making it good value for Microprose
money and an excellent trainer for Atari ST E24.95 dk
those keen t o progress t o more IBM PC E34.95 dk
sophisticated simulators when hard- C64128 E14.95 cs E19.95 dk
ware or cashf low permits Spectrum E9.95 cs E12.95 dk
CPC E14,95 cs E19.95 dk
Display quality 7 Amiga E2415 dk
Sound 3 • Hughes AH-641) Apache
Instrumentation 6
7 Major Wild Bill Stealey has carved
Documentation
7 quite a reputation for himself in the UK
ACE Rating
games industry. His company Micro-
unship:(Commodoreversion)UnlikeTomahawk, Gunshipgives youthree viewingoptionsholm your
cockpit, ikerewe're lookingstraightahead but the wire(tame graphs ore psi abit too ciude10be resi-
t,. convincing,
Advanced Compiler Entertainment 7 1
r FLIGHT SIMU LA TOR S
prose do have a knack for turning out
impressive products with quality pack-
aging and a good dose of healthy
gung-ho aggression. Hostiles beware
as Wild Bill sends you off on mission
after mission with the promise al pro-
motion to Colonel and the award of
the Congressional Medal of Honour.
Gunship makes an interesting
comparison with Tomahawk from Digi-
tal Integration. The former has all the
hallmarks of an American up-market
product with an excellent manual and
a lot of backslapping throughout the
game that helps keep interest from
flagging Disk versions have a Hall of
Fame, and the structure of the pro-
gram is cleverly designed with enemy
recognition tests, training missions,
radio transmissions from base, arma-
ment screens and so on. Some ver-
sons even have a cassette tape fea-
turing a live tutorial from Major Bill
himself, Yee harl
By contrast. Tomahawk seems a
rather restrained affair, but once
you've put down the bulky manual and
started flying, Gunship shows definite
disadvantages over its UK rival I t s
easier to fly, but somehow less con-
vincing, and the landscape (although
more colourful) i s les s effective.
Instrumentation is as complete but not
as neatly laid out and as a result
rather more tiring to look at after a
long time in the air. There's even a
rather clumsy screen glitch that regu-
larly flickers across the screen on the
Commodore version.
These niggles apart, this program
still represents reasonable value for
money - but Major Bill has some
tough competition in Tomahawk.
Display quality
Sound
Instrumentation
Documentation
ACE Rating
Strife?Face amerfST vetsicinThere's aSAMmissile sitesomewhereroundhere thatReedsblowing
up - andyoucanstrafe a leis trees dyou're latliRgreally aggressive. Clever use at displaymakesmaxi-
mumuseel instrumentationpossibilities, butdisplay°paellaendinstruneotreadoutsarestill whiled.
7 2 AdvancedComputer Entertainment
S TR IK E FOR C E
H A R R I ER
Mirrorsoft
Atari ST E 2 4 , 9 5
IBM PC E 2 4 . 9 5
Spectrum E 9 . 9 5 cs £12.95 dk
C641128 0 . 9 5 cs E12.95 dk
CPC E 9 . 9 5 cs C12_95 dk
Commodore Amiga E 2 4 . 9 5 dk
• Harrier GA 3
The Harrier has been a highly suc-
cessful aircraft, combining agility with
VSTOL capability. It does this by hav-
ing engines that can be tilted through
just under 100 degrees, and although
Mirrorsoft's program only allows three
tilt positions (horizontal, 45 degrees.
and vertical) this feature still makes
for some interesting flying techniques.
On the ST this program is a win.
ner for those who want an easy-to-fly.
fast, highly manoeuvrable aircraft with
a very large map and straightforward
shoot-10111, bomb-to-blast combat
opportunities. Even the 8-bit versions
come out looking pretty good, but
obviously they can't match the ST's
solid graphics and extremely smooth
operation,
There's only one mission -
destroy the enemy HO 125 miles from
your start position. The map is divided
into grid squares and you are provia-
ed with tour ground sites where you
can rearm and refuel.
To capture the enemy base, you
must strike into enemy territory and
identify grid squares with minimal hos-
tile activity. These sights are suitable
for use as ground sites and by land-
eig and calling up ground support you
can usually move one of your sites to
The new location By doing this you
5 0
can move your resources across the
6 map which is tar too large for you to
5 traverse without fuel and armament
8 backup en route.
6 There • is therefore a c ert aT
strategic element to the game, as well ed, the sheer playability of this flight
as the fun of flying an agile plane and sim makes it a good buy for search-
the challenge of developing tactics to and-destroy buffs - particularly on the
dk defeat t he opposition. Thrown u p ST - but don't expect bulky training
dk against you are Surface to Air Mis- manuals, total authenticity, or dozens
siles. Anti-Aircraft Artillery, ground lire of contradisplay options.
from enemy troops, and enemy air-
craft (which are a lot faster than you Display quality 7
are). Chati and flares are provided to Sound 4
help you foil radar guided and infra- Instrumentation 5
red seeking missiles. Documentation 4
Although instrumentation is limit- ACE Rating 6
Sim ula te d Soa r ing
Nowadays commercial simulators have become so sophisticated that British Air-
ways, for example, can train people on the ground and then put them straight into a
jumbo jet. Naturally these beasts are just a little beyond the purchasing power of
even the average millionaire, but even smaller simulators have a role to play in
flight training.
Al the Bristol and Wessex they use a dedicated simulator to practise instru-
ment flying. The model you see here has all the instrumentation required to simu-
late flight including navigational data and a plotter to determine your course. As you
can see it has a number of instruments that would be familiar to any home micro
enthusiast who's put in a few flying
hours on a good simulator
For those without simulator
experience, the ones to look for in
parbailar are your Artificial Horizon
(or Attitude Indicator,. which will
give you a good idea of whether your
banked left or right anclior titled for-
wards or backwards - essential
information if you want to know ACessna152 - not a far cryfrom the planes avail-
able inChuck Yeager'sAdvance FligrgTrainer or
whether you're headed for the gods night Smote°
or the ground. in
, this
2 . before gettingyour license - andMenyou
Your Airspeed Indicator is just can E xbuy pyour
e cmin for tI5000 Ftying reel plane
as important - every aircraft has a isol t wise the finicky experienceasimulator might
leadyoutoexpect, since you've gal the physical
certain stalling speed which will t o
feedback front the controls aswell as visual bight
have you heading earthwards with srulesptohelp e you.
dismaying rapidity. Check Yeager's n d
Advanced Flight Simtdatot was the only aprogram b to give advice on how to get out
of stalls, a technique which involves restoringuair-flow over the wings and therefore
o
t
lilt) by releasing back pressure on the stick.
3
Your VSI or Vertical Speed Indicator will tell you how last you are gaining or
losing height_ This is especially importanth when o landing - used in conjunction with
airspeed you can ensure that your landing u is asr smooth as possible. And of course
you'll need to keep a close eye on your Altimeter.
s
Finally, there's your compass which, of course, tells you which way you're
going. but just to give you an idea of the complexities of real (as coposea to simu-
lated) flying you should know that even instruments as straightforward as your
compass and your altimeter could be inaccurate unless properly adjusted to take
atmospheric pressure, virbration_ and magnetic variations into account. FIrght Sim
2 does introduce some of these variations, but no other simulator we tested did.
To get yourself a real pilot's license nowadays would cost you about £3000.
including at least 30 hours Hying time. A good simulator can give you a reasonable
idea of the different elements involved in flying, though the actual feel of flying a
plane is obviously just a teens*/ weensy bit different.
111
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New software and hardware is constantly being added to our list m massive discounts so ,
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Army Moves 14.50
14.50 Earl Weaver Basebah 17.50 game
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Mcetvilie Manor 1750 Watall
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14.50 Terratporls 17.50 stantly involved i n conquest, a playing area o f
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14.50 Road War Eurcpa 17.50
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14.50 Faery Tale system with 1000 , trade items, merchant and political
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at the magazine, asking ourselves how the following equipment:
we can improve it. And that means how
we c a n ma k e i t t h e ma g a zin e Y O U COMMODORE 64128 0
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ATARI 8-BIT )
just t o t e mp t yo u w e r e offering fi ve
ATARI ST )Are there any other sections or subjects that
lucky respondents t h e chance t o win COMMODORE AMIGA D you would lik e t o s ee introduced int o t he
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7 4 Advanced ComputerEntertainment
t

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* All computers fully overhauled and fully * We repair commodore 645. Vic 205, r i b b o n c able
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faults within your computer pl powe r tra nsforme r
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0 w eeks f or your estimate? - - , - - - • .106W* APO
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1t l 1 Need y our c omput er repaired faSt/ Th e n send it now t o thp Number One Repair C Spe ctrum ke yboa rd
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(12.
w trchd other Repair Companies offer We don't ask you tosend a cheque in for tne maximum amount and ) 9 0l m e m b r a n e s
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AND SPECTRUM
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e cah t c omplaint agains t a Manc hes t er repair fi rm Ma n c o mp . was upheld by the Adv ert is ing LEADS
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SOFTWARE TO DISK USEANY
r sloue
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 SPECIAL

What have Airball, Boulder-

dash, Mastedronic's E1.99
oldie Molecule Man and the
as yet unreleased ST ver-
sion of Thrust all got in
common? Construction
sets, that's what. All of
•
195 them can be redesigned
195
750
154
using utilities either given
195
1.95 away with the game or sold
195
1.95 separately. You want to
195
115
395
reposition objects or
1.95
3.95
reshape tunnels? No prob-
1.85
1.95
lem.
115
1.95 If you're feeling more
495
499
99
ambitious, systems like
195
Outlaw's Shoot-Em-Up
•
5.95 Construction Kit or CRL's
3.911
995
750 3D Game Maker aim to give
515
7SO you game creation power
4.95
495
95
without the need for any
495
195 programming knowledge.
495
4.95 Can an affordable system
995
1.95
1.95
really turn you into a red
'7.95
1751
hot games author
2.95
2.95 overnight?

DP/GAMES?
195

4115
115
95

1795
11.95
295

95
95
1495
199
1799
1195

11.95
Construction sets of y or e didn't k now how to go it alone like this, but or so, like games creation utilities would soon
i9.95
i9.9S The idea of t ak ing a n existing g a me and the door was not completely closed. Small put professional quality home-brew pro-
altering room layouts,, mo v i n g lands c ape ads for Knight Lore 'editors' started to appear grams within everyone's reach. Develop-
1999 features around and so on Isn't a particulculy in t he computer press at t he height of t he ments in the adventure world seemed to
1995 Spectrum world's Ultimate frenzy, promising point the way: alsoft's The Quill already
1695 recent one I n the early days of home com-
19. puting there was simply no need for this kind the power to completely redesign the game offered budding Scott Adarrses real game
16.
9 595
19.95 of thing. You c ould create a state-of-the-art (arid v ent urmg int o a rat her grey area of creation power without a byte of ccde in
19.99 copyright law to boot) sight, and the Lightning series of program-
19.95 game us ing y our mac hine's built-1n Basic
19.95 With s uc h a n obv ious d e ma n d f r o m ming utilities from Oasis (now defunct) raised

1
1999
with, f or t he fl as hy elite, a f e w by t es of
15.99 machine code POKEd in f rom DATA state-
19.99
19.99 ments.
1595 The emergence of an organised software
12.99
1915. industry and t he meteoric rise in program-
1915
19 95 ming stondards soon changed all this. By the
boom years of 1983-4 when games like Ulti-
mcrte's classic Knight Lore hit the streets, t he
cutting edge o f games writ ing we n t f a r
Dl
beyond t he av erage c omput er us e's pro-
•ramming expertise.
Make no mistake about it however, peo-
ple still wanted to get involved in profession-
al-looking games, ev en if that meant other
people's games Fo r t h e code-litercrte. t h e
growing complexity of c ommerc ial games
made t hem fascinating t hings t o ex plore
and tinker wit h - and so t he games poke
was born. The vast maprit y of users simply
computer users f or redes ignable games it hopes of similar arcade game tools.
seems surprising that these should have been
so few and far between I n the States, where
the idea of continuing support for garnes is
muc h stronger, construction sets hav e long
been s t a n d a r d f ollow-ups t o successful
arcade titles I n Britcan t he idea is only just
starting to catch on in any sort of a big way,
but wit h the increase in disk ownership and
the big emphasis on adding 'extra value' to
games a construction set boom could be lust
mound the comer. Wouldn't you rather hav e
a game redesigner than a novella. Wi n a T-
Shirr entry form or little metal badge?
Real pr ogr a m m e r s don' t
Arnst
use S.E.U.C.K. seemed like a tremendous bargain when il!iras first released. how
,
It really did look for a while, three years ago the
k big IA are giving d away as a 8 side on their MADX range!
M o
l t a AdvancedComputerEntertainment 77
k
SPECIAL

Was it a l l pie i n t he sky? 3DGM a n d

SEUCK would have been hailed as works of

0 6 v 80 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 towering genius bac k i n those early days.

but neither of them offers the kind of freedom
and scope for ingenuit y y ou need to mak e
your programs stand out these days. Even if
everyone else didn't have access to the same
utilities too, no SEUCK or 3DGM game could
•
cla771e anyone with its originality.
••• - g o . 0 • •
••• -. l a - a V P " 0 C ,110 .111 M D . 1
n , o M ma 110• . 11.• M S• . •1 1 1•• 1 M E , M P . 1 ' • • . 0 WM MO •
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•11,0
a MN • • the games industry has progressed over the
moo. ma • M • fl u
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M
,•• I 0 s, m •No . 0 M I • • • • M O W I • • .61 . M b . 0A . 0 l ei o . 1 0 N o m • •
Ee 0 eI M M P . C
C
M writes t he game code on a n ST or Amiga.
R • U' R N
M 1 0 P
N
P
S
M P - C
C •I• • transferring it to the 'target mac hine' (Spec-
M MP WI MO1 o w I S .110 q • e w e e c e MIA1111 o w o s p• C
OM •M M D Me °O P m i N O NIP mop"lip .1. we me . . . a 1/9 WO IP l e 11PAph • trum. CM or whatever) only to test new sec-
O C
M V S on
P
P , •W P• • • •60 •Ml C C C a tions or debug old ones. The reason for this
.• v ico e . 1 0 . •
1I m i
v s , . approach i s s i mp l e mo d e r n g a me s a n d
•
D g 1 . 1 1 0 , modern programming tools won't bot h tit in
n 1 / 0
i
l e your average machine smultcmeously
•
mT O
Amstrad Boorderdash: nowData Byie bring you an ednor program tor the classic earth-moving brain-stretcher Furthermore, s imply because a game's
o

. m technically adequate doesn't guarantee it a

o
. place in the shops anymore. Where the pro-
4
•
SH OOT-EM-U P CONSTRUCTION KIT grammer cant produce a techrucal tour de
•
•
Outlaw Prcduchons, C64 E14 95 as E19 95cik force, h e usually has to rely on hav ing a n
•
. anginal idea to sell has product By their very
1

Although styled a 'construction kit' this utility's a

1
there's no way of implementing smart bombs, nature these games creators can't implement
I

good deal more than that name would normally

M collectable weapons or wave bonuses, nor can really original ideas. The whole point of them
P

suggest. It assumes the barest bones of simple

M
you have alternating t wo player action. You is that they turn out games like the ones the
I

2D shoot-em-ups and lets you redesign the rest.

.
can't send the player right back to the start of professionals are already writing.
I

You can draw your own sprites (animated or

P
the leveligame when he dies either, though per- To a certain extent any success games
•

not), design game backgrounds and maps. your

P
haps that's something to be applauded. creators hav e c on only serve to underline
I

own sound effects, enemy attack patterns and

P
These clearly aren't minor omissions given how stagncrnt t h e ma r k e t h a s a l r e a d y
M

generally set a whole host of game parameters

P the sort of shoot-em- ups most people will want become. Users of 3DGM can't hope to com-
•

the way you want them. P

to create, but they shouldn't be allowed t o pete wit h the likes of Jon Ritmorn (author of
m

The system is nothing It not flexible. It

•
obscure the system's many good points. It's got Batman and Head over Heels) - his game
I

allows for game sections that scroll vertically or

M a consistent feel in use, it's very flexible within system is t ec hnic ally ic a superior, a n d i t
o

horizontally, either at a fixed speed or using a

l the limitations mentioned above, but mos t shows in t he end products - but if SEUCK
•

'push scroll" system where the player's sprite

N important of all it can produce excellent finished could handle extra weapons and alternating
I

forces the scroll by trying to move oft screen.

P products. It would be perfectly possible to pro- two-player action you could clone an awf ul
N

You can loin sprites to make the large end-of-

I duce good budget-standard games on the sys- lot of full-price CA54 games quite acceptably
I

level enemies s o popular in coin-ops these

l tem, though it remains to be seen how long wit h it,
l

days, or link a sprite's animation to its direction

I they'll be marketable as such once all those Games are mov ing on, of course. Soft-
M
of movement. P SELICK buyers come on stream. ware s prit es a n d p a r a l l a x s c rolling a t e
•

Surprisingly f or such a recent product

M becoming increasingly c ommon on the CM.
M
c the ancient Knight Lore is now a budget title
c
on the Spectrum, and both machines are get-
ting a little over the hill now anyway.
With id-bit machines the story could be
very different. however - at least for a while.
ST and Amiga programs don't necesscmly
the machine's memory, and even if they do
there's a quick-ish disk drive handy for stor-
age. Wit h the dearth of good software for the
new machines it often seems like almost any-
thing t hat runs will sell, a n d wit h 'budget
prices starting at around the SIO mark who
needs to hit the full-price bracket'?
If there isn't an explosion of Amiga or ST
games creators - and there probably won't
be - the lemon won't be far t o seek Quit e
simply, what's the point in selling your sys•
tern to everyone else once. if you can keep d
to yourself and sell them the products of the
system time and time again?
It that sounds cynical or greedy bear in
mind t hat programmers h a v e a liv ing to
mak e t he s ame wa y any one else has. All
programmers end up recycling their old pro-
SEUCK: The demo game Slap and Dade shows vital the system's capable oh -and makes quite playable sluff in its own right. grams to some extent, whet her its just high

7 8 Advanced ComputerEntertainment
 S P E C IA L
,

these companies simply can't afford to give

away fancy extras or glossy mcrnuals, but
the B side of the tape is (more or less) tree
As for the programmer's time spent creat-
ing t h e edit or, t hat t oo c a n prov e v ery
cheap: f o r l a r g e mult i-lev el g a me s t h e
games author will probably hav e to create
some kind of level editor to use in designing
the built -m screens, a n d t he ex t ra wo r k
involved in mak ing this presentable c ould
well pay oft in the extra ease of use for this
purpose.
There's more in the pipeline in the way of
echtable budget games Mastertrones classic
3D isometnc title Molecule Mon was the first
ever such game to have a built-in editor, and
is about to get a new lease of life as the B-
side of t he first MA D X g a me Als o on the
horizon is ST Thrust: no release date has been
hnctlised for this long-awaited conversion, but
the current work ing version contains a first-
rate planet edit or. DI Y tunnels, h e r e w e
come •
k
-
STAirbek the constructionset tor lAtcrodearsimpressive bounce-ern-upcosts nits but wouldn't youlike tobe able torearrange the Isom*
_
ricfurniture? 280 s r= 3 : 8 g l
i
, e t Tr
score t;able a n d software sprite routines or proved most popular in this country wit h the
4
vast chunks of game code. Ma n y dev elop big budget houses Not selling the fruits of the
_
them own gczne-creation tools: Rcriribird's ST programs mi n d y o u Ma s t e r h o n i c won' t
h
e
Adv anc i ed Art Studio began life as a sprite even s ell utility-produced adventures, a n d n
cmd g•a me bac k ground design utility, a n d the other major firms seem unimpressed wit h w i t
still has i strong games leanings to it. It games the possibilities of arc ade games creators - h
writers don't actually go the whole hog and but actually giv ing game editors away wit h B a
- the games themselves l l
create t heir o wn s uper-S=7C systems, it s
probably t because they c an work tine wit h Recent examples that spring immediate-
i
the set-ups they've got and still keep the flex- ly to mind are Mastertronio's highly play able
ibility ;they want. Spore and Firebird's e2 99 release War Cots
Construction Set It's not h a r d t o see wh y STThrust a greal yersionot a greatgameis still on the starting
: g'curnes like these appeal to budget houses in blocks at FirebirdSiting. but it they throw tothe planetredesigner
B udge E t enough,
builde r s SSwell Int be worthwaitingtor.
Surpnsingy construction sets hav e particular wi t h their narrow profi t margins
N
3DTG A M E MAKER ( 3 D GM )
CRLR Spectnim S9.95cs
O
More than a construction set but only just, this
O
CAL oftenng would have been an answer to
M
many people's prayers a few years back. Essen-
tially: it's an isometric 3D room-by-room game of
5
Me Knight Lore or Batman school - not in the
same 4 league, mind you - only redesignable.
The redesignability extends t o the object
7
and room background graphics as well as room
layout and map, but not to the way objects with-
in the game behave. You're stuck with the sys-
tem's rather limited repertoire of killing blocks,
bouncing nestles and the like. Giving them a
new look is easy, but it'd take more than that to
disguise where y our finished product c ame
from.
The object of a 30GM game is always to
reach a fixed finishing point alive, which limits
gameplay to put rt mildly. Even compared to
Knight Lore the puzzles you can reasonably
construct are on the weak side and the screen
slowdown in a full room is way behind the state
of the art
None of this is to say that you can't have a
lot of fun with 3DGM, but don't expect the fin-
ished product to measure up to budget titles like
Chimera or Moiecule Man. As for Head over
Heels, forget it. 30Gkl
-
Re
ar AdvancedComputerEntertainment 79
ra
r gi
 It's hem-The retum of Elvin Atombenderl

n13 TM

After two year's wait at last its arrived—the sequel to beat all sequels! Impossible
UnsurpassedEspionage Action... Mission II retains all the fun and strategy of the original as once again you embark
onthe challenge to find a safe route to Elvin and the finalshomdown where he will
meet his end! Search each room, find code numbers. obtects and keys to help you
with your mission.YOUmust avoid or destroy the guards
androbots that patrol the five towers or risk being
destroyed yourself.
Successfully dispose of Elvin and your quest
1. is half over! Now your Mission becomes
truly Impossible as you strive to escape
the towers, avoiding guards, robots,
mines, trap doors and elevators
without detection!

_...From the lilt you enterthe first room...

11 I

II I :
1
:1
..Running into more
1 trouble?
1
1
Butwhere to next?

...Why is the robot guarding that table?, ,

...Who or what is lurking behind these cars?_

Amessage on the tape recorder?

, Canyou access the next tower?...

Ourck!Escape from Elvin

I rnpassbhP R e g si ettd E P / X
Ire E FII Wed M a 10213
...Could the final PIA. numberbe here?.., c• v a l A l r g tt, ti a
-brrpted,
U fl JI d 1 . 6 , 1 , 5 , 1 0 1 1 , 1 1 c ,
Mt t h W t o r e d
Commodore i n E1 4 .1 9 disk £919 cased. i l l
I
4. dis k £9.99 cassetkt ,
candle
ST £ 1 9 . 9 9 disk COMING SOON!
• I B M PC&Cornpailbles U4.99 disk MI N G SOON!
 ADVENTURES1

Magnetic Scrolls' Jinxter— does it uphold

this premier company's reputation as
Britain's answer to Infocom
9back w withh o Border a rZone? e Plus Deja Vu on the
Commodore
fi g h t 64 i n g
9 witha Shadowgate9and of games that were
with
g l iSuspect.
m p s Forget those pesky aliens and
e check out some game-worlds where YOU
call the tune...
o f

JINXTER
g a m
e s
C th a r m i n g lit t le n u m b e r f ro m M A G NE T I C SCROLLS
o facility, so if you've got a single disk machine
ill
c i
o
s adventure,
only Magnetbut icit Scrolls'
shows
how little activity there is on the adventure
tyhird
ou y oull hav e t o s wap disks ev ery t ime y ou
want t o RESTORE or SAVE, wh i c h becomes

m
scene (at the e
professional end of the
when y o u realise t hat t hey are already
market) slightly tiresome cis y oull need to go through
this process frequently.
approaching the number one slot in The storyline shows a n improv e-
the UK ment o n earlier games as well.
The g a me boasts t he s ame The Pawn wa s altogether t oo
excellent graphic s a s it s t wo obscure to be really enjoyable
predecessors, Guild of Thieves as a n adv ent ure G u i l d o f
and The Pawn. It also features Thieves was muc h better - a
the u s u a l ex c ellent p a r s i n g simple t reas ure h u n t w i t h
we've come to expect from Mag some excellent locations. J inx .
Scrolls, but interestingly the com- ,
pany 's.crve remov ed t he GO 1 0 - it's
e a treasure hunt again, but
oommcmd wh i c h a l l o we d y o u t o with ronly six items to collect you'll
move to a named location. A pity, but per- find a lot hof lat eral t hink ing and explo-
haps t h e m a p lay out i n J mx t er ( wh i c h ration required.a You mus t fi nd fi ve charms
Includes several areas of wat er a n d other and a bracelet s whic h y ou then reassemble
hazards) would hav e made the c ommand to resurrect t he
g Bracelet of Turani, t hereby
too difficult to implement. defeating t heo power of t he wic k ed Greer.
One thing it doesn't have is a RAMSAVE Witches wh ot a r e draining t he 'luck' f rom
t
h
C o m p l e x pa r s ing m us t c om e e ...
There are some rather annoying moments in ,finxter, whicn you onlyb notice because the parser is so
good in almost every other respect. These moments involve what you a might call 'complex actions'. A
typical example of a complex action would be LIGHT THE CANDLE.l In dime( this involves.
1) Opening the matchbox. a
2i Taking the match. n
3 Striking the match. c
4) Lighting the candle with the match. e Aquit ania
I.E. Four distinct commands. Each of these stages is necessary. jas you'll discover if you try GET The design of the go. ,
MATCH before you've opened the matchbox - me program will reply cm ember
,, ACE article. Is innovative in that
u YOU CAN'T SEE ANY MATCH
HERE, despite the fact that any sensibre person would know wheresit was. death ne.is not
a spossible You hove a Guardian
Another example from Jinxter involves opening the can of worms. t You are holding the can open- whomappears
e n t when
i o nneeded
e to save your skin
er, so you type OPEN CAN, to which the program replies: SHOULDN'T r WE BE HOLDING OUR LIT- and dlet you carry on with the game. but you
TLE TOOL IN OUR LITTLE HAND FIRST? You are holding it. but i you have to type OPEN CAN won'ti scoren max imum points that way . This
WITH CAN OPENER. g allows s ome pret t y t ough puzzles t o c hal-
Even more annoying is the fuss involving walking through doors.h Suppose there is a door to the lenge t h e experts wit hout put t ing of f less
east. You type GO EAST and the program replies THE DOOR IS tCLOSED, or words to that effect. experienced players and adds enormously to
So you must type OPEN DOOR first. the enjoyment of the game Get t ing around
What we need is a parser that: J2nxter, t hen is no problem, a n d as before
- answers LIGHT THE CANDLE with WITH A MATCH?, and Of you reply YES) responds there are large numbers of encrypted clues
with YOU OPEN THE MATCHBOX, TAKE A MATCH. STRIKE IT, AND LIGHT THE CANDLE. in t he ac c ompany ing documentation if y ou
- if you want to go east (for example). arid all there is is a ooSed door in the way. opens it get stuck.
for you, whisks you through it, and closes it again after you. Come on chaps.. We know you can do Sally there are a ooupie of minor bugs in
it... the production version - if you ve got Version
1.05 (check by typing VERSION) you'll crash

Advance('ComputerEntertainment 81
r ADVENTURE
the game by going south to the bar in t he
pub. You will also have difficulty lighting the
c andle in t he Pagoda. Howev er neither of
these two actions cue necessary to complete
the game - if you think you need the candle
to illuminat e darkness, y o u s hould t hink
- : V e r y 5 D u t h Of TuirE
eNti rier,k I c or ;giaqs
Pity wewecan't show this in colour. but rest assured that the grapetics
in ,horrer are really something rather soKial Spectrum •30woers
shouldn't gel too excited however - their versgins are text-only.
I N F O C O M me now,really branc
so what's thehing out
score?
Well, about 2-2, I ' d say. First w e h a d
romance. passion, and pirates in Plundered
Hearts No score there. I d say. because the
game was really rather t oo easy, but defi -
nitely a oomrnendat ion f or opening u p a
BORDERZONE
T hr ee- par t thrills f r om INFO CO M/ACTIVISIO N
new genre. Then wi n e Nord and Bert. One
goal t here f or hit t ing t h e puzzle mark et .
alt hough t radit ional adv ent urers w o u l d
doubtless call t out 'Third I n b o r n release (in
as many mont hs - must b e a record) was
Beyond Zork, whic h defi nitely gets the ball
through the net in all departments - fun. dif-
ferent. and challenging.
And now the c ompany cue fi elding Bor-
der Zone The new angle on this one (there
has t o be a n e w angle on ev ery Infccom
game these day s ) is 'real t ime' I n ot her
words, f r o m t h e mo me n t y o u start p l a y
there's a little clock in the top right hand cor-
ner ticking away. You can PAUSE the action.
but as soon as you start up again its back
into t he race wit h old Father Time, ev en if
you don't hit a single key.
Border Zone presents the tale of an assas-
sincrtion„ o r a t leas t a n at t empt ed o n e
Whether it succeeds or not is u p t o y ou
There are three k ey characters involved, an
American businessman, a n Americ an spy,
and an American double-agent posing as a
top KGB executive. Each character lives out
their ciliated s pan i n o n e of t hree g a me
'chapters' and you c an choose at the begin-
rung of the game which chapter you want to
play.
Chapter One giv es y ou c ont rol of t he
8 2 Advanced Computer Entertainment
again - so neither of these bugs is too disas- houses. I t y ou f anc y a pint of Old Moose-
trous. bolter in the pub, a s wim in t he lagoon a
There's a magic al element wi t hi n t he 51301 Of mousecalching, a n d s ome s uperb
game that Induces a new dimension of puz- graphics int o t he b a r g a i n t hen splash out
zle solving. Each of the five charms has mag- without fear of regret
ical propert ies , i n c l u d i n g t h e a b i l i t y t o
change the weat her (whic h plays a signifi•
cant role in t he game), freeze objects, a n d SYSTEM 9 1 E NCO UNTE RS 85
tag' them so that they always return to you if CHA L L E NG E 8 5 L A N D S C A P E 9 2
dropped o r otherwise remov ed f rom y our VERDICT 9 1 6
inventory.
Magnetic ScollS text style improves wit h
every game and Jinxter has excellent looa- RELEASE B O X
lion descriptions and responses. Even trivial
objects sometimes carry a carefully crafted C64,128 E19.9511 JAN88
description, as in the beer garden SPEC+3 E15,95dk FEB80
.>EXANIIIE BENCHES
What y o u d o i s s a t o n t h e benc hes a n d AMS6128 E19.95dk JANes
d rin k a l o t o f b e e r a n d t h e n y o u f a l IBMPC E19.95dk JAN88
of f t h e benc hes . O rt hodox , t r u e , b u t
fun, ATARIST E24,95clk OUTNOW
Jinxter enhances Magnet ic Scrolls' repu- AMIGA E24.95dk JAN•••
tation still further and confirms their position
as one of t he country's leading adv ent ure
American businessman, giv en a document Chapter One is a bit of a doddle and Chap-
ter Three about av erage. s a y straight
by a wounded secret agent while on a train
journey across the border f rom Frobnia. The away t hat I didn't t hink this game one of
agent charges you with delivering the dccu- Infocom's strongest releases. The real t ime
ment to his contact at the next station D o element doesn't add muc h to the game - all
_
this, and the assassination will be averted it means is that when your time runs out and
Chapter Two gives you the control of the you get caught by dogs or guards or what -
BORDER
ZONE
same Americ an agent f rom Chapt er One
who leaps from the train after handing over
the document and must then escape across
the border on foot. I n Chapter Three you're
the double-agent at the scene of the assassi-
nation whic h y ou must, quit e naturally, t ry
to stop without compromising your personal
security or true identity.
You c a n t ac k le t h e c hapt ers i n a n y
order. Chapter Two is undoubtedly the hard-
est (in the Pilg's opinion, any way ) whereas
Who's N um be r One ?
There's a lot of competition between adventure houses to see wno can iay claim to the 'Number One
Slot', That slot is still, in my opinion, occupied by Level 9, but sadly the Level 9 reputation rests large-
ly on their older games. Their insistence on slicking with ores, gnomes. and other fantasy scenarios
no longer holds them in good stead as games like Guild of Thieves. Beyond Zork. and Hitchhikers
open up new realms of interactive fiction for larger audiences. Let's hope Level 9's planned game
based on the Arthurian legends brings their catalogue up to dale,
Magnetic Scrolls obviously Mink they're in the top UK slot. They hobnob with Infocom and have
evening included one of Infocom's writers (Dave Leblingj as a character in „limier. Their games are
certainly improving, but I reckon we need to see a couple more titles and a teensy-weensy improve-
ment in the game design before we can give them top honours.
Infocom don't count because they're American, But I still wonder how it is that three out of every
four Infocom titles are leagues better than anything we've come up with in Britain, The Inf000m pars-
er isn't much better than either Level 9's or Magnetic Scrolls. Their games don't have larger vocabu-
laries. They certainly don't have graphics. What they do have, though, is superb game design and
excellent atmosphere. Having said that. though. I was a bit disappointed with Border Zone,

SHADOWGATE
S t a t e - o f - t h e - a r t s p o o k y sa fa r i f r o m MIRRORSOFT
is t he t hird g a me in s e r i e s pro-
T H IS a M
O
yIC
b
d
ce
u
Sm
i ua
l to
i ns in the
US for Minctscape, and licensed in the UK by
Minorsoft. The games are good examples of
how t he increased c omput ing power of a
lo-bit mac hine (in this case a Mac) can be
used to introduce new playing styles
The game is entirely mouse-controlled
The screen has four main windows display-
ing inv ent ory contents, c urrent location.
av ailable exits, a n d text messages. This in
itself is not ent irely revolutionary. but t he
way t he g a me is play ed certainly is. For
example, if you see something you fancy in
the current locaton - a jewel. perhaps - you
don't t y pe GET JEWEL. instead y ou pic k it
u p wit h the mouse pointer and drop it into
ever then you RESTORE and try again.
Once y ou'v e work ed out wh a t t o do.
doing it in t ime is no probiem To help you.
however, you can select FAST or SLOW clock
speed depending o n y our self-confidence.
The puzzles are as ingenious as even but the
first two chapters held a certain disappoint-
ment for me. In the first the atmosphere was
great, but the task too easy. I n the second,
although there's quite an exciting dog chace
to keep you busy to start with, the locations
were rather dull.
The third chapter is by far the best First,
the bustling city in which the assassination is
to take place is a more lively, if rather limit-
ed, setting t han the t wo previous scenarios
Secondly, the time factor seems better imple-
mented in this section as t he seconds tick
away before t he shot rings out, rat her lik e
the climax of the scene in the fi lm Day of the
Jackal.
Border Zone, lik e all Infocom's games, is
faultlessly executed as f ar as t he pars ing
and programming is concerned, but it didn't
grip me as muc h as t heir other releases. I
would have preferred o single scenario wit h
more locations and more puzzles. As it is, the
fragmentation at the plot (although original)
seems to detract from the atmosphere, a fail-
ing not adequately compensated for by the
added excitement of 'real time'.
RELEASE B O X
C641128 E 1 9 . 9 9 c t O U T NOW
IBMPC E 2 4 9914 O U T NOW
AppleMac T o beannounced F E B 88
Other versions to be decided
SYSTEM 9 3 E NCO UNTE RS 86
CHALLENGE 7 9 LANDS CAP E 8 2
VERDICT 8 9 5
ADVENTURE41
RELEASE B O X
Apple Mac E2995c11( O U T NOW
C64128 • Amiga * AtariSTversionsdue1988
your inventory! NG everything in sight, whic h doesn't help
Mov ing around is conducted in a simi- gcrmeplay one jot. Nat urally t he stunning
larly visual manner - just place your mouse visual display and sense of realism compen-
pointer on the door you want to go through. sate for this, but it's a pity they have to
clack t he button, a n d y ou're off N o need Your quest in Shadowgole isn't towering-
either to EXAMINE objects. since plac ing the ly original - stop the baddy from unleashing
pointer on t hem and double-clicking on the the Behemoth on the unsuspecting world by
mouse will get you a description in the text grabbing a f ew magic al artefacts. There is
window.
limited ma g i c a l int erac t on i n t h e g a me
For anyone who hasn't played this sort of (using the SPEAK c ommand) otherwise it's all
game before, the visual realism is stunning search, solve, and SAVE as often as possible.
Not only c an y ou get and drop objects etc But wit h a game system like this to build on,
by mov ing them round the display, but you expect some impressive stuff In future
can even hit them up and see if there's some-
thing underneath!
In addition to the visual dimension, there
is also extensive use of sound Doors creak
open, spectres laugh a n d gibber a l y ou,
dragons burst int o fl ame wit h a deaf ening
roar - a l l s ampled sounds t hat a d d enor-
mously to the enjoyment of play ing
That's the good news, but I'd be mislead-
ing you 11 I left you wit h the impression that
everything's perfect First, there are very few
control options. Y o u c a n EXAMI NE. GO,
SPEAK. OPEN. CLOSE. HIT, CONSUME a n d
OPERATE - and that's all To some extent this
limitation is overcome by the OPERATE com-
mand whic h in effect provides a whole load SHADOWGATEon the Mac There's a torch homing in your invert°.
ry, and a dragon wading so ahead tc burn yoo
of dif f erent functions, dependi ng o n t h e
object t o whic h it is applied. Thus y ou ccm
SYSTEM 9 3 E NCO UNTE RS 62
use OPERATE to light a torch, lift a skull, pull
a lever and so on CHALLENGE 8 0 LANDS CAP E 9 2
In practise, this means you are OPERAT- VER D IC T 8 9 8
DEJAVU
M I N D SC APE s q u e e z e 1 6 - b it syst e m i n t o 8- bit,
DEJAVU appear
was t he first I COM g a me t o
o n t he Ma c a n d is
also av ailable o n t he A mi g a a n d ST (for
which machines it is highly rec ommened)
Its also the first to be ported down onto an 8-
bit machine Ho w does it look?
The s y s t em is the same as that used le
Shadowgare (rev iewed o n this page) a n d
04 4 P 0 .
has transferred surpisingly well onto the C64 our o u t .
. 1 4 .1
Recovenng consciousness in a house wit h a V VO U.0
0 m e m or y
_
corpse upstairs you find yourself a prime sus-
pect for murder. Can y ou escape arid turn DEJAVU DI theCE4 - this is what you see when you recover con-
the tables on those who have framed you? sciousness - there's agun in that coat so grab it!
The screen layout is v ery similar to the Mouse control isn't quite as stunning as it
Macintosh version. though the graphics win- is o n t he Ma c because. o f course, y ou're
dow is larger to accomodcrie the Commodor- using a joystick ins t ead Furt hermore t he
e's lower resolution The program makes fre- manipulation of objects is not so graphically
quent disk accesses as you click y our way
through the rooms and out onto the streets SYSTEM 8 5 E NCO UNTE RS 58
which slows garneplay down somewhat but CHALLENGE 7 8 LANDS CAP E 8 2
accesses are surpsingly quick and the pace
VERDICT 8 1 9
is no slower than, say, an Infocom game.
AdvancedComputerEntertainment 83
r ADVENTURES

e's lower resolution. The program makes fre-

was t he first ICOM game t o appecu on t he
Mac cmd is also available on the Amiga and
ST ( t o t w h i c h ma c h i n e s i t i s h i g h l y
tecornmened). It's also t he first to be ported
down ont o a n 8-bit mac hme. Ho w does it
look?
The s y s t em is the same as that used in
Shadowgcrte (rev iewed on this page) a n d
has trcmsterred surpismgly well onto the C64
Peoovenng consciousness in a honce wit h a
corpse upstairs you fi nd yourself a prime sus-
pect for murder. Ccm y ou escape and t urn
the tables on those who have framed you?
RELEASE B O X quent disk accesses as y ou click y our wa y
through t he rooms cind out ont o the streets
C64r128 E14.951( OUTNOW whic h slows gcuneplcry down somewhat, but
Atari ST E24,95dk OUTNOW accesses cue surpisingly quick and the pac e
is no slower than. say, cm Infocom gcmse,
Amiga E24•95dk O U T NOW Mouse control isn't quite as stunning as it
Apple Mac E29 951( O U T NOW is o n t he Ma c because, of course, y ou're
using a py s t ic k instead. Furt hermore t h e
manipulat ion of objects is not so graphically
The screen lay out is v ery s imilar t o the impressive because of t he lower resolution
Macintosh version, though the graphics win• and some smaller ° Wet s are barely recog-
dow is larger to accomodate the Corrmsodor- nisable unt il they hav e been double-cecked

tne chop

Pat's Patch Almost a l l t he many characters in t he

game c an b e addressed as y ou question
them about eac h other, themselves, t heir
This month Pat looks at Gilsott's Professional Adventure Writer. love lives and their business °taus. You will
spend t ime hiding i n comers, lis t ening f or
PAW has already appeared for the Spectrum range ot computers and it has recently been converted to the indiscrete conversations and rooting around
Amstrad machines. There are slight differences of implementation on the two 'armee. with the Amstrad in personal documents. as well as s olv ing
version running under OEM. The Amstrad PAW also offers an incredible 60K of space tar your adventure the usual locked-door and inaccessible-loca-
arid that's before the 40% text compression arid ignonng the possibility of disk access for more data. tion puzzles.
PAW has the best parser I've ever seen, with up to nine significant words of the player's command The magic of this game lies in the com-
capable at being individually recognised. The lust five letters of each word are scanned and these letters plex movements and actions of the different
must all be typed unless the programmer has deliberately inserted shorter synonyms. characters, all of whom you must keep track
Ail the well-loved c o m m a n d s are built-in, like getdrojaNyeaeremave all, and in addition a do-all' of and check out during your investigation.
command is provided which allows you to create your own automatic routines to recognise and act upon A s mall map, lots of conversations, mu c h
commands such as 'Throw everything except the bucket down the well' Objects can be normal, charac- brain work , a n d a n excellent atmosphere
ters, or containers and those flagged as containers can be carried around and even put inside other con- make this one of the all-time adventure clas-
tainers sics, arid deserving of a wider following. The
Up to 255 locations can be defined and the descriptions for these can be as long as you like while N g has seen versions for all the usual Info-
around 450 messages are available in addition to the 60 provided. Again the messages can be of any corn formats, inc luding Ams t rad CPC, but
length, only restricted by the overall memory limitations at your system Using the 'Extern' action it should check wi t h Actension f or crvailabilay a r i d
be possible to create random access text files on disk tor even greater capacity. In fact it should be possi- pricing
ble to use most of the RAM space tor conditions aloneewmv!
If you have any experience of the Quill you'll find PAW simple as it uses the same basic lay-out and
coding techniques. PAW is much more flexible than Quill and with more commands but you needn't use all
The Pitgrim's Players'
the extras at once. Guide to Hitchhikers
One major difference between PAW and Quill is the way you teed inlormation to The database, The Ye Third and Final Parte
CPsfyl version at PAW consists at two pans, a compiler. and an interpreter. Data is put together using a
word processor in straigM ASCII tiles, then passed to the compiler which checks syntax and creates a
Aha, thou hast conionted ine Sc reening Door,
database. Then the interpreter is used to load the database and create a runnable game
eh? If you've done the Maz e, then you'll have
Unfortunately, while text editing is easy using your favourite word processor (or the simple text editor
enough common sense to Get n o t e a Any
supplied on the disk), compilation takes ages when files start to get large. I'm currently working on a game
sane door, on seeing both no t e a and t e a is
which occlupies 30K uncompressed and this takes several minutes to compile. On the other hand, the
going to have a tit, but don't go west until you've
speed of editing more than makes up for this. I would suggest that you tackle the coding first before writing
got as high a score as possible. Having a drink at
reams of text. That way the file can be kept fairly short during the testing stages.
this stage might help.
As for coding. conditions are split into several tables, 'Response' which acts an the players input, sev-
Marvin can r e p a i r t h e h a t c h and of
eral process tables, two of which tackle actions alter 'Response' but beim the What now?' prompt, and
course you did remember the t ool as pointed out
several more which are used as subroutines. These others can be 'called' from within any other table and
in the last issue, didn't you?
nested up to ten deep. The most obvious use is in creating interactive characters and conversations but
Ah well, you're nearly there. Can you bear it
the sky's the limit once you put your thinking cap on.
Can you bear the fact that you have almost fin-
Graphics aren't supported as such. although provision is made for you to patch in your own routines
ished a program that cost you.,..Yes. well. less
using "Externs' - but with all that memory tor text. who needs pictures? At last it's a practical proposition for
said the better, eh? Take your trusty belongings,
non-programmers to create detailed, in-depth adventures to rival the big boys' Buy itl
wear your gown. and descend through the hatch
into a brave new dump er...world_

A Pilgrim Retrospective... Next month The first instalment of the PH-

grim's Players Gui de to... The Pawn.

Suspect by Infocom
'Never h e a r d o f r e s a i d a n Ac t iv is ion
spokesperson when t he N g rcusg t o check
the pric e of o n e of his f av ourit e I nf c c om
games. That lust about sums up t he treat-
ment this letle gem has had since its release
This is mainly because the game c ame out
cit t he s ame t ime as Hitchhikers and was
rapidly eclipsed b y its more f amous c om-
panion
Thcrts a great pity, because it really is an
excellent ex ample of interactive character
N ext month...
programming. Stuck i n a large Americ an
Sappho's Shades Diary returns with more
country house, attending a fancy dress ball,
whispers from the outrageous Micronel
you discover the corpse of your society host- multi-user game and the White Wizard
ess. s t rangled b y t he lariat f rom youz cos- makes another guest appearance with a
tume. The police are on the way , t he clock
survey of role-playing games. Don't miss ill
ticks remorselessly towards midnight a n d if
you c ant fi nd out who did it then you're for

8 4 AdvancedComputerEntertainment
 SUBSCRIPTIONS

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 yr

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GA ME S E T a nd
MA TC H
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A massive compilation of 10
complete sports games - including
Konami's HyperSports. Ping Pang
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Spectrum cass 1 2 . 9 5 9 . 9 5 A 120SC
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Amstrad disk .... _17.95 13.95 A l 20AD

STA R G A M E S 2 CBM 64 disk 12.95 10.95 A131CD ECO 19.95 14.95 A136ST
Amsead cass, 8.95 6.95 A131AC World Games 24.99 18.95 A108ST MA GN IFIC EN T
14.95 11.95 A131AD Arkanoid 14.95 11.95 Al 12$T
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Spedrum cass 7 99 6 . 2 5 A l 02SC
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CBM 64 disk „ , . . 1 4 99 11.95 A 1 0 2 CD Hours and hours at entertainment Version A R P ACE vim Order cm Version P R P ACE Om Order node
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Spectrum cass 9 9 9 7 . 9 5 A l2 2 S C Spec+3 disk 1 2 . 9 9 9 . 9 9 A 1 3 5 S D CBM 64 cass 9 . 9 5 7 . 9 5 A l 2 9 C C
CBM 64 disk 1 4 , 9 5 11.95 A l 2 9 C 0
MASK TWO Amstrad cass.. 9 . 9 5 7 _ 9 5 A l 2 9 A C
Amstrad dis k _ _ 1 4 . 9 5 11.95 A l 2 9 A D
Gremlin
The Mask team are back in another
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US Gold/Taito CBM 64 disk 14.99 11_95 A l 22CD
Follow up to the big arcade hit Amstrad cass 9 . 9 9 7,95 A l2 2 A C
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Top Gun 1 9 . 9 5 14.95 A l 14ST *ST version imminenl Amstrad disk._ _14.99 11.95 Al 24AD

8 6 Advanced ComputerEnterlamment
 MA IL OR D ER

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 MORE
BANGSFOR
LESS
Choosing a drum

BUCKS
machine involves
first assessing your
needs, then checking
out what's available,
and finally trying to
ierie
ktart's
get the most 'beats
outer,
per buck'. It can be a
A
tf 512
ulator re y o u s it t ing c omf ort ably ? t hen I l l clan-folk of t he t ime were great ly af raid of
* l our
flossy
nightmare. Keith begin.. , the drummers , a n d t olerat ed t h e m o n l y
sri ST
ready Ansa raises the Once upon a lime, bonds of large,
hairy creatures r o a me d t h e eart h Thes e
because t hey emit t ed noises wh i c h were
strangely attractive to the people, and which
its not drummers, as they were known. were sub- no other creature could make.
ni will
;ROM
.20ST-
tempo and rounds up ject t o fi t s o f unc ont rolled v iolenc e a n d Then someone had a revolutionary idea
aggression. a n d required frequent offerings What if we made a mac hine that could gen-
r Atari
aelow- the competition... of hop and barley ferments. The good must- erate all the noises made by the ctrurmners
but wit hout t ak ing up so muc h space. with-
)
I nc a out requiring constant propitiatory libations,
9
9 and wit hout t he same tendency t o ran off
with our wiv es and daughters when were
not looking?' And so was born the concept of
the drum machine, or as it is more trendily
called these days, t he Digit al Rhy t hm Pro-
grammer.
The first automatic rh!'.nm devices were
- steam-driven fcargrounu organs. whic h had
real instruments controlled by pianola-type
rolls, these were followed by the great Wuxi-

fczAcda___ \
u - itxer c inema organs of the thirties, and then.
in t he sixties, borne organs featuring preset

- \. rhythm accompaniments. Gradually manu-

1 I :
facturers realised there was a market for the
rhythm unit s b y themselves. K o r g a n d
Roland were among the first to produce self-
4
0
l contained preset mac hines f eat uring, f o r

liii
0 example. Foxtrot, Samba and Swing rythms.

ST 0 1 %
The first digit al mac hines were dev el-
oped by Roger Linn, sometimes referred to as

1 i - the 'inventor of the drum machine': some of

his machines offered remarkably sophisticat-

t M O W
6 , ; ed facilities for t he t ime inc luding features
such as touch sensitivity, whic h are still not
1 c ommonly found in todays machines. Then
Rol a nd T R 6 2 6 — 3 0 0 Sequential Circuits introduced the abilit y to

o
ball-insoundsources tor yotr to play arwnd with, plus 48 presetrhythm patterns andspace or 48programmedones. MIDI implementationis
etwient, includingsongpointsr. programmable trigger output0

1
anda tape sync 'unction.
change each voices pitch and level on each
beat wit h their Drumtracks machine, and E-

AdvaRcedComputerEntertainment 8 9
TMusic
mu Systems we r e o n e o f t h e leaders i n
developing s ampling d r u m mac hines wit h
their SP-12 Drum Comput er Mos t of todcry's
advances are in terms of increasing afford-
ability, a n d t he facilities offered by recent
introductions lik e t h e TR626 wo u l d h a v e
been env ied b y major rec ording studios a
few short years ago
Who needs 'ern?
If you are a drummer, then clearly y ou can
manage wit hout a d r u m mac hine a t all,
although a r h y t h m programmer c a n s t ill
offer y ou a lot, part ic ularly if link ed t o an
electronic kit - a wide range of sounds t o
play with, the ability to create rhythms that
would be physically impossible to play, the
opportunity t o practise in the dead of right
without the neighbours c alling in the police,
above all, perhaps, a huge extension to the
creative possibilities of y our medium. A n d
you no longer need to be concerned about a
MIDI Panel of Experts
Dear ACE MIDI Panel,
First, I think the idea of a panel is a great idea
and wish you the best of luck. but do questions
have to be about MIDI? What about computers
and music in general? For example. I find MIDI
quite expensive, but I'd still like to use my com•
outer (a Commodore 641 to make music. What
are my options?
James Brinston• Surrey
Howard Ingram replies:
The problem with any new technology is that it
is always going t o be expensive. Advertise-
ments will try to woo you into believing that you
need MIDI but never forget Mat advertisements
are trying to 'educate you into buying MIDI. In
advertising parlance, the word 'education' can
always be substituted for 'brainwashing'.
To answer your question. I would agree that
MIDI rs expensive, but if you wait two or three
years the secoad•hand market in MIDI will have
expanded, and it will be possible to buy equip-
ment at more affordable prices. In the mean-
time, I'd suggest that you consider buying some
non-MIDI musical software because, although
these may have limitations, they are often excel-
lent introductions to computerised music•mak-
ing.
It's all too easy to believe that if you aren't
using the best available equipment then your
music will, in some way, be second-rate. That's
nonsense. I firmly belive that you create music
to the best of your ability with the equipment
available to you. Buy what you can afford and
explore every possibility oh that software.
You are fortunate i n owning a DBM64
because it is possibly the best computer to own
as regards music-making on a budget. This is
due almost entirely to SID (the Sound Interlace
Device chipn which is dedicated totally to musi-
cal applications. It is possible to create complex
pieces of music using no more than the Com-
modore 64's user manual and a series ot POKE
instructions. More importantly, the introduction
9 0 Advarbeed Computer Entertainment
mac hine s hac k ling y o u t o it s t empo. a
device like the Kohler Humom Clock enables
you to dictate the tempo of the programmed
rhythms from your live picrying
If y ou are a non-drummer who requues
some sort of percussion capability, then there
are several possibilities. You ma y just want
some rhy t hm t o bac k u p y our k ey board
playing, in whic h case a preset-only d r u m
mac hine or a home organ wit h rhy t hm pre-
sets c ould b e enough Thes e range f rom
acceptable t o fl an, a n d generally y ou get
what you pay for.
Alternatively, y o u m a y wa n t t o us e
rhythm creatively in home recording or per-
formance. a n d here t hings get more c om-
plex Dedic at ed rhy t hm programmers ( we
will look at some examples later). c an offer
terrific v alue f or money . T h e y hav e t heir
indiv idual strengths and weaknesses, but all
of t hem suffer from the restriction of a single
line dis play f or programming, a n d a l l of
We throw your questions
at the panel - this month
Harold Ingram tells you
how NOT to get into MIDI!
t l e . 1 1 4 1 ..1••
HMI the man who's answering sour question, James. We could-
n't Id his photo in last more, 5o here d is just tor the record.
of SID meant that there were soon a plethora of
software packages for your time and money.
Probably the best non-MIDI software avail-
able for the C64 is The Music Studio by Activn
sion. This program requires you to use the joy-
stick to place notes on a musical stave, and
then by pressing the lire button on the joystick
you can listen back to your composition. There
are excellent editing facilities which allow you to
repeat sections, change entire sections. change
keys, and change sounds. The sounds them-
them limit to some extent the sounds you can
play. It y ou wont to see all the drum voices
you are programming at the same time a n d
have more fl exibility i n t he wa y y ou pro-
gramme them. then you will need a comput-
er and sequencing software, and d y ou are
programming your rhythms on a sequencer,
then y o u c ould dispense wi t h t h e d r u m
mac hine and opt for a mult i-s ampling key-
board or sounds to play with. You pays yer
money (in the case of samplers, rather a lot
of itt) and takes yer choice_
Facilities
Most o f t h e criticisms lev elled a t d r u m
machines i n the past hav e been implic it in
the wo r d 'mac hine' - infl exibillity. ruthless
and monotonous accuracy. lack of feel. etc
(Perhaps t hat i s wh y mcmulacturers n o w
seem t o av oid t he wo r d i n t heir produc t
names). However, ma n y of these criticisms
are bec oming out dat ed as t he technology
selves are a bit questionable, and as usual the
'Guitar' pre-set sounds nothing like a guitar. but
you can even change the pre-sets, adding arid
subtracting filtration, ADSR and all of the other
parameters. But wait, it gets better' Having writ-
ten your first work. you can print it. complete
with a set of lyrics if required.
The Only drawback is that The Music Studio
does require some knowledge of musical nota
tion to begin with, but don't be put oft it you don't
know a crotchet from a minim, the extensive
booklet which accompanies the software will
make life easy for you, and you'll be surprised at
how quickly you actually peck up the intricaoes
of musical notation. I recommend The Music
Studio highly.
I also took the opportunity to visit some
local software emporiums, just to see what was
readily available off the shelves. Two software
packages predominated, these being LIbiks
Music and Micro Rhythms + (both from Firebird).
priced at El .99 and E2.99 A t these prices its
unfair to expect anything special, but I was sur-
prised at the quality of the sound. The Ubiks
Music program supposedly turns your computer
into a sythesiser (where have we heard that
before?) but the main drawback is in using the
Owerly keyboard. The sounds are good, but it's
difficult to play. Micro Rhythm + is equally limit-
ed in versatility, but its easy to play and some
very interesting rhythms can be achieved. I'd
recommend it and at these pocket money prices
you can't go far wrorog_ To help you on your way
I've twisted the editor's arm (Ouch' Ed.), and he
has agreed that ACE will send you both UbikS
Music and Micro Rhytrn + to get you started_
Good luck and have funl •
OK So Howard twisted my arm. I n future,
however, we'll be giving some tree software
to everyone who has a letter printed in the
MIDI Panel section - so if you've got a prob-
lem, get it solved, and get some software
into the bargain!

advances, it is now possible to achieve rea-
sonable s ubt let y o f perf ormanc e f r o m a
drum machine, a n d t he sounds themselves
have come a long way from the tan-can and
cardboard-box effect of the early models.
The facilities offered b y mo d e m d r u m
machines v ary enormously, b u t mos t wi l l
allow y ou to choose between selecting pre-
set patterns or prcgrammung your own: most
have a number of buttons whic h c an b e
tcrpped to play the drum sounds in 'realtirne'
(although i n mos t budget mac hines these
will not respond t o velocity Or dynamics),
and mo s t c a n b e p l a y e d a n d / o r p r o -
grammed via a MIDI cable from, say, a key-
board or a sequencer, e n whic h case most
machines will respond t o velocity inf orma-
tion if y our c ont rolling instrument transmits
it)
You could, (if y ou sold enough grand-
mothers). pay E2,0004 for a drum machine -
something eke the E-MU SP 1200, for ex am-
ple - but we will assume that this is not on
our menu. At the other end of the scale, it is
now possible to buy good.. fairly recent but
now dis c ont inued mac hines s uc h a s t h e
Yamaha RX2I . f or around E150 i n mus ic
shops, or ev en less f rom the classified sec-
tions of mus ic magcrzines. Suc h mac hines
are still used effectively by many people on
tight budgets, and it may be wort h outlining
what facilities they can offer
All the machines mentioned in the boxes
give good v alue for money in one wa y or
another, and other combinations to facilities
Will be found on other machines.
The f av oured w a y t o produc e rhy t hm
sounds these days is by the sequencer/sam-
pler opt ion, b u t as t he cheapest s uit able
samplers cost as muc h as the most expen-
sive drum machines, y ou hav e to be taking
it very seriously t o f ollow t hat path. If y ou
already o wn a computer, t hen a software
sequencer driving a drum machine is proba-
bly the most cost-effective wa y to produce
geed quality rhy t hm sounds, and gives you
great flexibility and control. Whichever route
you choose, you're sure to find a rhythm pro-
grammer a n exciting investment t hat c an
add depth and drive to your music
Y a m a h a RX21
The RX21 is a fairly basic machine,
0 with a 'standard' kit of snare, bass,
three toms, Open arid closed hi-hats, cymabl and
handclap; it has 44 preset patterns, ranging from
vanations on 16-beat patterns for jazz or rock, to
reggae. disco, and Latin American rhythms, and
inducing a selection at fill and rest patterns. As is
often the case with presets, these do tend to have
a rather inflexible, mechanical feel, and they are
best regarded as a basis on which to build, using
the 56 user-programmable pattern memories,
Programming, either in real-or step-time, is
somewhat easier than on many machines as the
9 irkstrumentvoice buttons are not required t o
perform any other function, such as pattern selec-
tion. In fact, the usual trade-off between button
cost and ease of use has been fairly well-man-
aged here, with multiple key-presses kept to a
minimum, The sounds produced by the RX21 are
dry and really need treatment via an external
reverb unit to be acceptable by the latest stan-
dards. Bear in mind, though. that you can only
treat all the sounds, or nor*, as the machine only
has stereo outputs. However, some flexibility is
provided by the ability to programme different vol-
ume and accent levels for each instrument and if
your needs are not too elaborate, and your bud-
get is tight then the RX21 or its Latin equivalent,
the RX211_ may be worth thinking about.
R ola nd TR626
Moving up a notch in the price scale
enables us to consider Roland's latest
machine in a long line at successses, the TR626
for E350, a lot of extra facilities become available.
The first thing to notice is that we now have thirty
on-board sounds to play with, enough to give us a
choice of different basic kits and a wide selection
of Latin sounds Up to eight of the voices can be
sounded simultaneously, (with some fairly severe
limitations on groupings), and the sounds them-
selves are excellent - clear, believable, and with
Pa d The B e a t
Some drum machines allow you to play
their sounds from external controllers,
such as drum pads or electronic drum kits
(EDKs). Even for a non-drummer, this can
otter great improvement in the dynamic feel
imparted to rhythms - sticks bouncing off a
surface induce a very different response in
the player from fingers tapping little but-
tons, and even more so from the intellectu-
al exercise of programming patterns in
step-time. The Cheetah DP5 is likely to be
the most affordable EDK yet produced, at
£159.95, excluding cymbals - (and only the
most expensive sampling systems can
offer convincing cymbals). Other, more
established, makes include Roland and
Simmons, and their products usually con-
sist of the kit itself and a 'brain' which
actually produces the sounds, allowing you
to synthesize the sound of each
instrument.
Cheetah on- ail this torE159,95
just the right amount of revert).
Any of the main drum sounds can be routed
either through the stereo outputs or through one
of the eight seperate outputs for individual effects
treatment, and all the sounds can be tuned up or
down by seven semitones, the tuning can be pro-
grammed to change within patterns, as can the
accent level and overall level for each instrument
MU SIC
these features combine to produce great flexibili-
ty, limited only by your programming patience.
Patience is a necessary virtue, however,
since the key-press sequences required to pro-
gramme the 1F1626 are quite difficult to memo-
rise, although the learning curve is shortened con-
siderably by the operation chart supplied with the
machine. The beautifully produced but poorly-
translated manual is decidedly hard going.
What else do you get for the extra shekels?
Tape sync capability, programmable shuffle and
flam effects which actually work, MIDI transmit as
well as receive (great for programming base•lines
for your synths), and quite a lot more that space
does not permit...etc. There is even a section in
the manual headed 'Writing Flames' - now there's
a novelty;
Alesis HR-16
£450 brings you what may be the best
specification possible for under half-a-
greed. I say 'may be' advisedly, since we have
been waiting for several months for Alesis's first
drum machine, the HR16, to reach the shps, If it
gets there before you have given up and bought
something else. expect it to have 48 high-quality
percussion sounds. any 16 of which can be
assigned t o t he velocity-sensitive pads and
played simultaneously, (incuding the same sound
16 times if you like). Four fully-assignable out
puts.100
, pattern memories, (which can also be
used t o store instrument tuning, and panning
data for recall from a sequencer), tape sync, and
100 song memories are among the other goodies
this machine will otter - when it eventually makes
its appearance,
C he e t a h M D 8
At a similar price level to the Yamaha,
(E139.95.to b e precise). Cheetah's
MD8 should be arnving in the shops before too
long. Although it has proved impassible to get
hold of one for review, I understand that it will
include features not found on many more expen-
sive machines, such as the ability to load low-cost
libraries of alternative soueds into its eight voice-
slots, and an integral pad bus to enable the MD8
•le
ChtetakMOO
to be dynamically controlled from Cheetah's 0P5
electronic drum kit (illustrated elsewhere in this
article)
Add to this its 16-song capacity (the RX21
has four) and separate sound outputs and things
look very promising for the MD8. The critical fac-
tor, of course, will be how good it sounds, but as
long as the sound is acceptable, the ability to
escape from the tyranny of built-in instrument
voices should make it a winner at that price. •
AdvancedComputerEntertainment 91
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Price to* MSX 6 • P r i c e
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 r TRICKS'N'TACTICS

FREDDYHARDEST • It is not essential to get the captain code, but

you do have to programme the ship to hyper-
space.
Gettough with theAmstradversion
• The holes in the passage ways are useful for
moving around the base.
•Ac c es s code 897653
• Always check each terminal.
40 Micro sounders can be kicked, punched or
ducked. • The four captain codes are: FENIX, ADDAX,
Prke
ARTEX, BORAX.
1095 • Robots can be kicked or shot.
10 95 • If you get the captain code wrong when board-
7 50 • Aliens can be kicked or punched.
1999 ing a ship you can try again using a different
999 • The lifts are dark blue squares and are activat- code:
4995
299S ed by standing on them and pressing up or down.
2995 M A R T I N CO LE S , De r by s hi r e ,
7599
2194
• Hanging bars are above gaps that are more
29.99 than two blocks wide. Press up when on these to
27.99
1995 kick the micro sounders and robots,

999
• You can't fall off ledges without dying, so don't
95 do
95
2415 l•t ,The red squares are nuclear fuel for the ships
SS
.95 se pick them up.
.95
915
995
• Drop the fuel on the squares marked with an
'N', then go to the computer terminal to see which
995
495 ship is being fueled.
995
9 95
2999
9 95
915
995
991
Achieve hi-score
999
995
995
995
mastery with this
4 95
9.99
495
1995
month's selection of
445
195
495
999
expert hints and tips.
.999
i9 95
I2
199S
Nebulus, Bobsleigh,
Driller and other
• 14.95
• 495
14.95
14 91
BOBSLEIGH recent releases yield
149C.
495
Bob'Sleigh-em
7495
1495
coot up their secrets...
1 on the slopes...

TACTICS
I 4.95
_ 19.95
_ 111•91
.• 1495
_ 1999
W a d yourself
First equip e with an amateur two-
2295
.• 1495
1199
p bob.
man l aForythe first three races make
14.95 sure you get fitness training for the team
19.95
14.95
s they are super-human, Then tram
until
them every other race to keep them at that
14.95
..• 2495 i t
level.
_ 14%9
_1495
1499
, 1 4 99
i When c you are choosing your runners
you should follow these rules: if both air
1999
_ 1999
e ice temperatures are below -3 then
and
_ 1999 use type 4; if the air is above zero then
12.99
19.95 use type 1, In between these levels you should because you risk a crash coming Out of them.
14 95
14 95
1995
0'25
1495
use types 2 or 3. 3 will give you more control but
there isn't much to choose between their effect.
More likely is that you will set up a pendulum
effect that will make control extremely difficult on
THUNDERCATS
14.99 lite following two or three turns.
19.15
__ 14.95 The medium length turns are the easiest to
Miaow for ever withthis infinite
_ 11.95 Crucial starting
The start and early part of the run are the crucial deal with. The hardest are the very shod kinks and lives pokeonTheC64
, 1999
999 lime. Failure to get a maximum strength push long curves. The kinks can throw you oft at a cru-
19 95
1995 start or clipping the ice wall on one of the early cial moment either entering or leaving a turn, while Type in and RUN this listing:
1915
corners will cost a lot of time. it's easy to lose concentration on the long turns 100 DATA
__ 14.95
14.95 The waggle start is easy enough, but don't and let the bob drill just too far up or down. 169,0,141,26,4,169,208,141,
1995 get carried away and forget to rump in the bob, 27
499
999 because one crash can ruin a whole season. This ;110 DATA 1 4 1 , 1 6 , 2 3 7 , 7 6 , 1 3 , 8
95
is particularly true in the first few races when cash Winning thr ough 4
2 120 FOR I , 5 3 2 3 5 TO 53255: READ A:
- Youll need t o win consistently t o get enough
is tight and if you don't do well you'll soon be ,
POKE A ; Ma'
9 Sponsors cash to buy the expensive bobs. There
9 bankrupt 7 Now enter:
appears to be little difference between the two and
9 On the first few corners you pick up 6
NEW (return)
four-man vanelies, s o
speed quickly and must avoid the wall ,
LOAD (return)
go for two-man at first
because at this stage they can literally 1 When READY appears, enter:
because it's cheaper.
take seconds off your time. 3
POKE 1011,243 (return)
Once y o u hav e a n
2
POKE 1012,207 (return)
Olympic bob you just
Right on tr a c k need a top three sea-
RUN
, (return)
Try lo keep to the bottom of the track on 2 The game will now load
son finish t o get into
the turns, using the vertical inner wall as a the Olympics a t Cal- T5H E H A C K E R , L o n d o n .
guide. Don't ride high o n t he bends gary. 5
,
1
Advanced Computer Entertainment 9 3
 TRICKS'N'TACTICS

DRILLER
the southern wall in Opal allowing access to Dia-
Ge ne r a l tips If you've lost your way on the mond
1. Activating teleporters reduces your travel time vastmoon of Mitral, these 4_ To pause the game — call up the information
around the moon and to activate them you should
initially head west to Topaz. Drive onto the lift. non-machine-specific tips screen as this stops the dock.
activate the lift by firing at the upwards switch.
Enter the suspended complex and find the hidden are just what you're looking
tunnel Follow the tunnel to complex Kl. Destroy
the four blocks to materialise the teleporters. for. Incentive's very ownIAN
2. The jet is in one of the hangars in the Aquama-
ANDREWgivesus the low
nne section and the best way to gel to the sector down
is to go west to Topaz, over the wall and west
again to Beryl. Sever the powerlines to disable
the vicious downwards pointing lazer beacon and 3. To gain access to the Diamond sector (see
then set the symbols all to squares (including the map) first set all the large switches in the Nicco-
building). Now the doorway to Aquamarine will be late, Alabaster, Opal and Quartz sectors to down
revealed. so the tour lights are illuminated. This destroys

• Emerald (East of Lapis Lazuli)

Drilling Toavoidbeingshotby the beacons its best to gel as close as
possible to the waitwhenmovingThe westernbeaconis
inactive
Ga m e pla y

EMERALD
1 • 1 1
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- lhawthe westfacingarrow tar sate positioningonthe girders
in Rubvi
Us e l i e
l i l t ..
W e i r s
MALACHITE t o
fi n d • Obsidian (North of Amethyst)
t h e Tocrass the ravine youhave to shootor knock over Oleslabto
c e n t form abridge. It you'regoirkglor score thenknock it over as
r e you'll genitors points. Whenenteringthe stiedWSbest10use
the rear entrance.
RUBY a l
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AQUAMARINE
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• Topaz - The exactcentre is over the southend 0 theIOW

wall

• Topaz (West of Amethyst)

Thelazer beaconhere Ismoreanannoyance thana tenet but
shoot ii and it will turnthrough90 degrees.
- ME THr 1 +
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QUARTZ NICCOLITE
LAMS LAZULI

Am ethyst - The bigcross onthe groundmakes it

Otis

• Am ethyst (start sector)

Destroy the wall for points lup to TN dependingonorder at • Lapis Lazuli (East of Amethyst)
snoti. Don't shoot the lop at the lawer as this holds Blastthe pyramids togainaccess to the east At thelow watt
considerable shieldandenergy fineries, Landthe let on this ALABASTER raiseyoursenupandactivate the switchonMe far side
toabsorbthe power. Shoot the switchonthe northwall to gain
accesstotheObsidiansector

• Store shed on Amethyst • Al a ba s te r

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special properties that giveextrapowerandscore.
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9 4 Ad•,..ance0 Computer Ert1ertarime1 f r o
1
TRICKS 'N ' TA C TIC S1

TERRORPODS M a nuf a c t ur ing c e ntr e s

Co-ordinate A l m a needed to Compo-
nent
build trade
The map and the tips — c) buy aIl crliuma at manuf ac t uring centres
and alluma mines for fuel 34, 600 100 100 1
brought to you by 4 Wh e n you get beck to the start, go round 45 640 300 300
CHARLEY ALLAN of again (but not INDEing) giv ing alluma t o 48 920 430 400 5
the manufacturing centres for fuel When it Oil, 828 500 500
Ipswich. Nice one, Charley. 4,412 100 100 3
has enough cilluma (see below) it will say
'component ready ' ' Da d e again. I f y o u 15, 212 2013 200 4
Alway s use y our drover, as this doesn't have enough aluma (see below) it will give
use u p f uel, y o u c a n t h e n t r a d e y o u r you t he option of buy ing the component -
remoorung fuel. Park the DSV at Z=0. do so. The greed spaces at t he side will spoilers, dodge missiles and missile Terror-
show w h i c h c o mp o n e n t s y o u h a v e . pods.
2. Going round to the right tactic to ev ery Remember - eac h manuf ac t uring c ent re
installation, m a k i n g t h e m mdes t mc able will only produce one component, but the 6. When y ou fi nally build the Terrorpod (on
(INDE) unt il y o u reac h y our start agc rin shuttles wi l l still g i v e it alluma, s o k eep level 1 t his takes about an how) y ou will
:•.X=34.000) checking. have t o missile 15 Tenorpods in 8 minutes.
Luckily you will be given 18 missiles They
3 While moving around 5. You will need to go round several times probably won't all be in the same screen -
a) collect all fuel at pick-up points before y ou hav e t he f ull Terrorpod. Keep use your map to find them
0) trade for as much detonee a possible saving at regular intervals. Alway s shoot
A R ESO U R C E C EN T R E FU EL M I N E RADIO BEAC ON M ANUFACTURING SI EU T T L E
0 M I N E R AL D U M P M I N ER AL M I N E FUEL PI C K - U P POI N T EXPL OSI VES SH U T T L E
• F U E L DUMP EXPL OSI VES M I N E trra.ay SI t irT T L E RADIO R EPAI R SH U T T L E

A M AN U F AC T U R I N G C EN T R E c2 I EXPL OSI VES D U M P - - D I ST R I BU T I ON SH U T T L E

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NEBULUS
TowerTumblingwithBobWadein
Hewson'sinstantclassic
To start with you have to learn some general
rules Patience is vital and panic is lethal,
The spinning object that enters at intervals
can arrive at the most inconvenient of limes Gel
used to the intervals at which it arrives and wait
at doorways. lifts or stairs where you can easily
avoid it. It may seem like you're wasting time but
getting knocked off after bulling ahead will cost
you more
Disappearing blocks are a nuisance. You can
guess where some are located but the Only way
to be sure is to find out the hard way and then
make sure you remember where they are.
When you come through a door always be
ready to shoot a ball, but don't panic or you'll end
lernoing straight into it. Also try to stay cool if
you do get knocked down: it doesn't necessarily
mean you'll die and there's usually enough time to
recover on the Spectrum version, but less time on
the 64.
If you are gripping on to a lift by just your
IDOS, don't turn around or you'll slip off. Just use
the lilt and it will centre you on it.
Towe r 1 - Towe r of Eyes
There s only one nasty feature here and that's
near ihe top. You take a lift past a black ball and
then appear to have an easy route to a door.
Beware, because the first block disappears plung-
ing you straight down to the platform where the
ball is waiting to bounce you down.
Towe r 2 - R e a lm of Robots
Go left at the s:art For the first time you have to
jump over robots as they cycle through their pat
terns. The first one is at the bottom of the tower,
and the second one halfway up. You have to leap
over the second and on to a waiting
At the top of the lift there's another robot to
walk under. Be careful of the timing here because
the blocks underneath it are conveyors and can
take you by surprise.
Al the top of the tower are two long spiral
walkways, On the first one go through the door at
the bottom to take a short cut to the lift_ On the
second don't use the door as it plunges you
downwards on the other side.
At the top of the second spiral, after avoiding
the robots, there's a disappearing block that drops
you onto a Ilk Pause before doing this because
otherwise the timing is such that you'll nosedive
straight into a robot.
Towe r 3 - Tr a p of Tricks
A very nasty trick at the start_ Go left, shoot the
ball, through the door, up the lift walk right and
wail. The spinner will appear and knock you down
to the next level_ which was bypassed by the lilt
Walk right, block disappears and you can take the
lift up.

AdvancedComputerEntertainment 9 5
r TRICKS ' N TA C TIC S

flashing block round the lower, then walk forward

Towe r 4 S l i p p e r y Slide
WIN!WIN! Hard right from the start and jump the two robots
as last as possible before the spinner arrives. Up
over the disappearing block arid take the lift
After the Iwo spirals, jump to the left, fall onto

WIN!
Yes, every month Tricks 'n' Tactics gives you
the chance to win addles of lovely software_
Howl Simply by sending in tips, pokes and
maps for the games we all want to beat.
This months biggest prize goes to
Chadey Allan for his Terrorpod map and tips
Charley gets SIX games for his Amiga. includ-
ing this months releases Insanity Fight, Test
Chive, Eagle's Nest and Western Games.
But he's not the only winner, Martin
Coles' Freddy Hardest tips get him Matchday
2 for ins Amstrad and the Thundercats tps
earn The Hacker a copy of Rampage for his
C64
But look —you only win it you send in tips
So write to
TRICKS '14* TACTICS, ACE
4, QUEEN STREEET
BATH, BA1 1 EJ
the lift and shoot the flashing block to your right.
Then proceed to the left, shooting the blocks
your path.
There's a tricky section halfway up where two
flashing blocks have to be removed. The first is
easy but to get the second you proceed to the left,
after shooting the first block, shoot the ball and on
the far left ol the same platform you can shoot the
block around the cornet
After the next long lift ride, wail for the lift to
go down and then jump the gap to the door. Make
sure you jump early or you will bang your head on
the block above and fall back down onto the lift.
Last nasty trick is at the top. Don't go down
the large column of disappearing blocks, jump
over them and walk to the far right Allow the spin-
ner to knock you down ard then take the lift to the
top.
Towe r 5 - B or de r Path
Take the first Mt up to the second platform, the
first is suicide if you gel off. Walk left and shoot
the ball. Edge forward until you can shoot the
the first lift, shoot the two flashing blocks. Take
the lilt up y ou will get knocked off but it is essen•
fial to get the height to remove the circling eye.
Backtrack and take the second lit
Jump left. over the first eye, shoot block to
the left, jump back over eye, walk right and down
onto the lilt Take the lift up and jump lett.
Try to cope with the rest yourself. Higher up
you'll want the last door in the first spiral at doors
and the third door in the second spiral. Watch Out
for two eyes that appear just when you're about to
deal with a ball,
Tower 6 - Swim m er 's D e light
Not much to say about this one, except that there
are no disappearing blocks at the bottom, so try
anything and everything And as for the double-
step spiral at the top - bottle it as fast as possible
while the robots are appearing.
Towe r 7 - N a s ty O n e
Aaaaaaaaaaghl Help me please'

IN THE No contest this month for the arcade tip prize; PATRICK
CADONA's beautiful map and detailed tips for DOUBLE

ARCADES
1. Simely keep going right
2. Kill the two unarmed men. kill the baseballman and pick up his
baseball to kill the giant man Also kill the woman and take her
whip
3.Use baseball bat to kill gam, pick ina barrel to throw. Beware ot
men throwing the knite.
4Beware or eapioding dyhtimile Pick up box to throw, kill all men,
pick up baseball bat
5. Beat baseball hat man with flying drop lock
6. Keep going, taking care not lo tall down the hole.
, -
DRAGON beat the field by a mile. Match this sort of stan-
dard and you could win yourself some real nice software.
7. Wall beside the door tot Daddies to come and then hit them with IS. Don'tFall back down the edge. Pick up boulders to throw and
kill karate men
the bat. Also try to kick them on to the pulley belt, which kills them
16. Pick up barrel to three* on giants. arid then jusl generally beat
- or you - instantly. them to *alb
B. Kill the karate man using first a kick move then switching to
17 Welch Out for the giants smashing out ot the wall. Kill them,
punches. Watch out for his flying drop kicks.
ie. Watch out tor the spears thrusting at you. Time your run pre- •
9. Jump down on to the ledge andn kill the karate mart.
10. Kill karate melt oiseiy.
It. Watch out For the stone blocks trying to crush you.
11. slump this hole or you're a gonner!
12. Kill giant and baseballmenas usual 20To save the girl. kill the men - especialy the one with the
machine gun
13.Watch out tor men lumping down Dom trees.
14. Climb ladder ante 21.Wowyou arid your partner have to light tor the girl; the one with
, k illing
g i a n t
5 6 7 G O N G DC3Arl

00
START • •
001P * o Y 000

8 12 3
1 1 1 4 C L I M B UP
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FIGHT FOR
THE GP I_

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NORMAL MAN MAN + M ACHI NE G UN MA N + K NI FE

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* BIG G I A NT M A N
• WOMAN + WHI P n
K * G REEN G
GII A NT
MAN + BASEBALL BAT +A M A N + D Y N A M I TE
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9 6 Advanced ComputerEntertainment
 Acce ss

iii
Best Prices
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Fahrenheir 451 1 3 . 9 5 .
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Locking Disk Box (40) 9.00 Mouse Max 900
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p 15.00
3.5* Disks D SC !) (x10) Suncorn joyslck 8.50
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Fast Basic (Porn) 6 4 _ 9 5 Joystick'Mouse extension 4.95 Quickshol II 8.00
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a Basic Corrrilket_ 3 6 . 9 5
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 PINK P A G E S

ACE 11:
"'

PAGES
0 11
Welcome to theACEPink Pages - our regular Buyers Guides to home computer hardware,
software and peripherals. The software and peripherals guides are featured alternately, with
the peripherals taking their turn this month. Watch this space in the next issue for the lowdown
on50 games we recommend.
Thismonths guide is intended to give you the information you need to buy the right
hardware and peripherals at the right price. We've listed details of 12 basic machines and
their various models, plus consoles; and in the peripherals section we've given the lowdown
onperipherals we recommend. Each month we'll be updating the information to keep you
informed of the swings and roundabouts of prices and availability.
We've also got the firstof our Reader to Reader pages; in here you're able to place
yourown small ads - free, gratis and for nothing. Is there a better place to sell your machine
whenyou want to upgrade? In Reader to Reader you'll also findAdventure Helpline (a boon
to all those stuck in a dark room with a goblin), Pen Pals, and much more.
ThePink Pages are a valuable reference guide to anyone making a computer hard-
ware, software or peripheral purchase, and to those seeking help from or contact with other
readers. They're your pages; so use the form on pages 120-121 and get yourself into print.
The ACE buyers' guide is essential you decide y ou can't c ope any • a mail order company across a cheaper price. I f you order
reading for anyone who is consider- longer without a disk drive, or a • second hand. your micro through the post, make
ing buying a new computer, whether monitor. sure you know exactly what compo-
it will be your first ever foray into the Secondly - and just as impor- In the high street stores you should nents you are getting before you
micro market, o r y ou hope t o tant - what do you want to use the get a fair price f or your machine: send off your money, send a cover-
upgrade your current system. We've computer for? Are you really going you should also be able to take it ing letter with any money and keep
compiled a list of features and spec- to learn to program? Do you sin- away w i t h y o u immediat ely . copies of those letters, and keep a
ifications for all the models suitable cerely want t o p u t y our home Furthermore, ma n y Stores ot t er note of the cheque,P0 number. If
for h o me u s e i n t h e s hops . accounts on computer, or produce attractive 'bundles', giving you lots possible, stick to a mail order com-
Graphics, sound, software availabili- the company newsletter? Do you of extra goodies wit h t he basic pany you know and trust.
ty, prices, bargains. .it's all here. want a 'serious' micro, a games machine. B u t t h e salesperson Buying a micro second hand
micro, or something that combines behind the counter won't necessari- has advantages other than price.
Before buy ing a bit of both? Think carefully about ly be very knowledgeable about the Frequently, the previous owner will
Even it a new computer is only a these points before you buy: there's systems y o u wi s h t o c hoos e be selling software and possibly
dream at the moment, the buyers' nothing worse than being lumbered between. Also, it is not always pos- some peripherals with the machine,
guide will make it clear just what's with a machine that doesn't really sible to have an in-depth demon so you can stan up with a more
on oiler, and help you decide which suit your purposes. stration of the various machines on complete system. Obviously, how-
system is best for you. But before The ACE Buyers Guide can't display. ever, software and add-ons being
you rush out to the shops there are make your mind up for you, but we In a n independent specialist sold with the machine will bump up
two things you need t o consider can give you the facts that will allow shop, t he salesperson could well the asking price, so check the price
carefully. you to make a sensible decision. know the machines better and be 01 the individual components first -
Firstly, h o w muc h y ou c ar able to demonstrate them more fully they may not be the bargain they
afford- to spend, whether it's in cash. Whe r e to buy but you might have to pay slightly seem! Second hand micros can be
hire purchase, or plastic money. Basically, you have four choices: more for the system. found on offer in tile specialist com-
Remember to leave yourself a bit of • the high street chain store - It you buy on mail order, you puter magazines, usually in a classi-
moneylcreclit over for software, and Dixons, Currys, Boots, etc. can't, of course, have the machine fied advertising section towards the
If possible, for peripherals. It may • t h e independent computer immediately and you can't have a oack. Its a good idea to try to buy
only be a couple of months before specialist shop demo of it, but you might come from someone who lives reasonably

AdvancedComputerEntertainment 99
11.
PI
NK
P near you, so that you can see the
A machine before you part with your
money and have a demonstration_
G Again, before you pay, check what
E you're getting for your money. and
S even if you're buying from your best
friend, it would be no bad tiling to
put down in writing what you'll pay
for what, Remember that you run
the same nsks buying second hand
computers as second hand cars;
you may end up with a duffer.
Setting u p
Apart from the computer itself, there
will be plenty of other items you
need to buy in order to get your sys-
tem up and running. These can all
too easily be forgotten in the excite-
ment of buying the computer. so go
through this checklist now - you
don't want to spend all Christmas
waiting for the shops to open before
you c an load u p y our favounte
game.
• Plugs: most micros don't come
complete with them. Nor do disk
drives, tape decks, monitors...
• Fuses: check that the plug has
the right fuse in it (normally 3 amp)
before you get it home.
• Leads: yes, the micro may well
work with the television, but is the
correct lead in the packaging or do
you need to buy it separately?
• Adaptortralling socket it the
number of plugs needed comes to
11a rd wa re
AcornArchimedes
Models: Archimedes 305,
310 and 310M
Package: Keyboard,
mouse and drive; keyboard,
mouse, drive plus monitor
(colour or mono); 310M - M
denotes inclusion of PC
emulator
Memory:305 5 1 2 K
310 1 M b
Processor: A c o r n ARM
Recommended Retail
IS D i s k s
Format 31,2 inch
1 0 0 Advanced Computer Entertainment
more than one, are you sure that
your power points can cope? An
adaptor will almost certainly b e
essential, and a trailing socket (box
with three or four plug sockets on
it) is a good idea, because there is a
Murphy's Law of computing which
states that a micro will always use
more power sockets t han y o u
expect
• Y splitter: jolly handy if you're
going to use the micro with the tele-
vision. A Y splitter is a box which fits
into the TV socket (on the TV itself)
and will lake both the TV input lead
and the computer lead. You can
then switch between one and the
other fairly easily, rather than fum-
bling blindly behind the television for
half an hour when y ou want t o
watch EastEnders.
Whe r e to set up
Custom-macie mahogany-look com-
puter desks are for the unbearably
affluent only. Basically, don't set the
machine up so that the screen faces
a window (you won't get t o s ee
much if you do). Remember that
cables bet ween keyboardsimoni-
torsttape decks/disk drives are usu-
ally too short to be more than six
inches away from each other, and
that if the keyboard ends up sitting
on the floor the cal will decide its an
ideal sleeping spot. Don't spill cof-
fee (or indeed, anything stronger)
Price
305 no monitor E 8 0 1 • 6 0
305 mono monitor E859.10
305 colour monitor £1031.60
310 no monitor E 8 8 9 . 0 0
310 mono monitor E946.50
310colour monitor E1119.00
310M no monitor) E958.00
310M mono) E 1 0 1 5 . 5 0
310M colour E 1 1 8 4 3 . 0 0
Price
Capacity
Around t 3 00
800K formatted
Software All on disk
Add-on drives yess
over any of the units, particularly not
the keyboard. Don't wave magnets
near your disks or the drive, and if
you smoke, don't drop ash over any
of it.
C a t e gor ie s
We've tried to include details of all
the salient features of the micros on
the market, divided into parlocular
categories_
• Memory, this refers to the total
amount of Random Access Memory
(RAM), not the amount left free to
the user.
• Packaging: it's worth checking
the details here against the price. A
micro that appears expensive may
come ready packaged with a moni-
tor, tape deck or disk drive.
• Disks: does the machine use
disks? If so_ how much do they hold
and how much do they cost? Is the
disk drive built-in or external? Are
add-on dnves available? Is much
software available on disk?
• PRP: all recummeroded retail
prices we've quoted include VAT
• Dis play : many homeivames
micros are easily hooked up to a
television, and this can be the most
convenient a n d leas t expensive
option. However, a l l computers
(except the games consoles) can be
connected to a dedicated monitor,
which will give you a clearer picture,
and save household arguments if
e• Performance
Good and fast
Yes
Graphics
Resolution e i t h e r 320x256
or 640)(256
or 640412 (multi-synch monitor )
Palette 4 0 3 6
Colours f r o m mono up to 256
(320)(256)
04 16 (640612)
Display
TV N o
Monitor output m o n o - composite
video
colour - RG8 -) sync
Monitor supplied depends on package
bought (see beiow)
Options A c o r n dedicated, 14 inch
mecum resolution,
colour; 12 inch high res, mono
Performance
Sprites 1
Scrolling No
Speed Fast
you plan to use the family TV.
• Graphics: Resolution indicates
the quality ot screen display possi-
ble (the higher the figures the bet-
ter):Palerte size refers to the total
number of colours available on the
machine; Colours t o t he number
that can be used on screen at any
one time. Sprites and Scrolling refer
to built-in hardware features (partic-
ularly useful for games) rather than
effects that can be programmed in,
• Sound: tells you what kind of
chip the computer uses to produce
sound, what the speaker quality is
like, and whether it can be used
with the MIDI standard f or linking
computers and musical instruments
• Hardware: lets you know what
the keyboard is like - can you use it
for serious purposes?: tells you if
it's possible to use a joystick or a
mouse; and lists t he ports in t o
which expansion devices can be
plugged.
• Software: gives you the love
down on the amount and quality of
software available for the machine
at the moment in the various cate-
gories, and also makes a prediction
about the level of future support.
• Buying tips: guidelines on what
the bargains might be and where
they might be picked up. Plus infor-
mation on your rights under guaran-
tee and what to do if the machine
breaks down (God forbid!)
Sound
Sound chip
Speaker quality
Custom chip
Good
MIDI Yes
Stereo output Yes
Channels 16 (8 stereo pairs:
,
• Performance 6 octaves. one inter-
nal loudspeaker
KO, H a r d w a r e
KEYBOARD: 103 keys. programmable
auto•repeat rate. Keyboard has surpns-
ingly cheap feel given quality of
In brief...
The Archimedes is at the cut-
ting edge of micro technolo-
gy. As such it is not cheap:
nor does it have the software
base o f longer-standing
machines. It's very exciting,
but one to leave to the real
enthusiasts f o r t h e time
being.
 PINK P A GE S
'',

BBCMastersales
Capacity
128 3 2 0 K formatted:
Models: M a s t e r 128,
Compact 8 4 0 K formatted
Master Compact Software m o s t available on disk
Price ot Blank Disks e l 00 to E3.00
(less in bulk)
Package: Add-on driv es yes
128—keyboard plus monitor. Performance good
Built-in
Compact -- available in four
128, no:
packages: Compact yes
(1) Complete system includ-
ing keyboard (with integral in G r a p h i c s
disk drive), monitor and print-
er. Res olution 6 4 0 x 2 5 6 mode 0,
320x256 modes 1 and 4
(2) Keyboard/drive only I 60x256 modes 2 and 5
(3) Keyboard/drive plus Palette 1 6 Hardware socket fa UHF channel ra Composite
mono monitor. video 51' FIGB TTL 0 2 0 way I DC
Colours modes 0, 3, 4 and connector user port al, 40 IDC con-
(4) Keyboard/drive plus 6 have 2 colours KEYBOARD: 64 keys plus 10 func- nector for second processor 0 cas-
colour monitor. modes I and 5 4 colours tion keys and 1 9 key numeric key- sette interface 1 5 way 0-type ana-
modes 2 and 7 8 colours pad. Standard raised keys with audi- logue to digital
ble tactile feedback.
Memory: 6 4 K main RAM Mode 7 i s a "teletext" text a nd Compact — d i s k i nter face
block gr aphi cs m ode_ Mode s 3 JOYSTICKWOUSE Non-Atari stan- Centronics compatible parallel printer
64K sideways RAM dard analogue to digital ports can be
and 6 are text Only. 00 50 way edge connector expansion
used f or ioysticks. Tak es most third phono socket i t Composite video *
Processor: 6 5 C 1 2 • Performance party mice RGB TTL joy s tic k -Mous e
Sprites n o n e
(6502 compatible) Scrolling
Display
n o
8 In brief... Software
Recommended Retail TV y e s Master series intended as
Monitor output C o m p o s i t e video EXISTING BAS E : good, but onl y
Price educational/scientific tools . because of BBC compatibility
Monitor supplied
128 E457.35 128, n o with these two machines at CURRENT RELEASES: steady flow,
Compact Compact. y e s (see Package above)
Monitor optionsAcorn d e d i c a t e d the "homey" end o f the but not too numerous
Entry system E399.85 model s range. Gamesientertainment
Mono system E457.35 not recommended as main PROSPECTS: good for education
Spaghetti factor and similar; poor tor games
Colour system E629.85 128 use, as leisure software is
average
with printer E1084.45 Compact, low Main profile i s in educationabsci-
not always converted to BBC erallic ar ena; gam es te nd t o be
format. either B B C B gam es ( a nd thus
• Sound configured i nto 32K Ram) or big-
ger (not necessarily better ) ver -
111 D i s k s Speaker quality g o o d sions of BBC B titles
Stereo output n o PORTS:
Format MIDI thi r d party interfaces available GAMES: The Master arcade scene's
128 2 enhanced Acorn cartridge
128 5 1.'4 inch Channels 4 poor, with muc h dating back to old
slots e disk interface e Econet inter-
Compact 3 112 inch 4. Performance good Beeb days. T h e sam e goe s for
face e Centronics compatible paral-
adventures, b u t memory limitations
lel printer * RS432 serial ff phono
of BBC even more apparent here.
machine Din s, 41612 expansion pan,* IEC couple of databases 'from Minerva
320 video outlet et I. interface IBBC GRAPHICS: a few; one or two of
Systems), ad packages under develop-
JOYSTICKSIOUSE: 3 button mouse compaable) ment thorn outstanding.
supped; toyst4ck not supported
MUSIC: fair selection
PORTS: AS 423 serial 8 Centronics
01 CURRENT RELEASES: See above:

Cassette loading
compatible parallel 0 9-pin mouse
socket f 35mm stereo lack * 64 way
,
EXISTING BASE: O ne game IZerch),
GAMES: One arcade M e IACE Rated
979) and at least one more on the way. supported only on 128

S A couple of adventures in development

Buylines
GRAPHICS: Potential is enormous; cur-
o rently a couple of packages i n the
pipeline MAINTENANCE: Within one year's
f guarantee, return faulty machines to
dealer
MUSIC: Again, enormous potential
t Very klile activity as yet. however.
BEST BUY PRICE:: As RRP

w SOFTWARE FORMAT: Disk oray

SECOND HAND AVAILABILITY:
Limited Try education magazines as
a PROSPECTS: Very good, but not nec-
essarily for games market well as computer press.

r Buylines Both machines are upwardly BBC

e BEST BUY PRICE; As RRP
B compatible. Compact has built-
in di sk dr i ve l ucked under key-
board. Distinctive BBC brown and
SECOND HAND AVAILABILITY: Not cream styling.
y€
,
MAINTENANCE: One year's guaran-
1
tee. Faulty machines—return to dealer

AdvancedComputerEntertainment 1 01
r PINK PA GES

AmstradCPC In brief...
The Amstrad CPC family is a
port • ROB with sync luminance •
sync 3.5mm stereo socket • expert-
siciell.0 * TV

value-for-money and versa- al Software

Models CPC 464, CPC
664, CPC 6128
Package Keyboard. monitor
(mono or colour) plus built-in
M Graphics tile breed. You get everything EXISTING BASE: Good ev en if not
Res olution M o d e 1 320x200 you need and the whole busi- as large as Spectrum or C64
Mode 2 640x200 ness needs just one plug,
Mode 0 160200 CURRENT R E L E A S E S :
Palette 2 7 They'll do sterling service as Reasonable, mos t major Spec trum
Colours m o d e 1 4 games micros, but they are and C64 titles are converted.

tape/disk, plus software (usu- mode 2 2 also able to turn their hands
mode 0 16 GAMES: Good, but some converted
ally 12 games), joystick. CPC to more serious matters. titles run slower than the Spectrum or
664 is no longer manufac- C64 originals. Adventures O K . but
Display Infocom c ons idering wit h d ra win g
tured but may be available on TV Y e s support for this formal.
special offer from retailers in Monitor s upplied Y e s
GRAPHICS: Good selection of titles.
different packaging configu- Options S t ic k with Amstrad's own:
need external power supply to use
Hardware
rations. any independent models MUSIC: Reasonable number of titles,
KEYBOARD: 74 raised plastic keys b‘il poor in comparison with C64.
• Performanc e with a u d i b l e t a c t i l e f e e d b a c k
Memory: 464/664 64K None Separate cursor cluster and redefi n-
Sprites SOFTWARE FORMAT: 464 t a p e .
6128 1 2 8 K Sc rolling Vertical (rough) and able numeric keypad. Very useable us ing b u i l t - i n t a p e d e c k ;
Horizontal (very rough). for word processing etc. 664/ 6128 d i s k , u s i n g b u i l t - i n
Speed Average to slow disk drive
Processor Z i l o g Z80 JOYSTICKMOUSE: Standard 9 -pr
D•type. Third party mous e devices SOFTWARE LOADING: Ta p e load-
Recommended Retail Sound are available. ing is reasonably quick and reliable.
Sound c hip AY-3-8912 disk loading last and reliable.
Price PORTS:CPC 464 P C B edge con-
Speaker quality Adequate
464 mono E199.99 Stereo output Yes, need cable nector - t a k e s d i s k d r i v e a n d PROSPECTS: Uncertain. After initial
464 colour E299 99 MIDI No RS232C interlace • Centroeics par- interest, sales of CPC software have
Channels 3 allel • 6-pin Din R G B with s y n c dwindled b u t t here s hould s t ill b e
664 unavailable luminance • s y nc 3. 5mm s t e re o areasonable amnount of games and
6128 mono E299 99 • Performance socket it joystick C cassette port t(x utilities around.
6128 colour E399 99 Has 8 octaves. but is basically as CPC 66416128 * PCB edge coenec-
tor - t ak es RS 232C interfac e i x
for the Spectrum +2 - but it does
have stereo output, if a little rudimen- Centronics parallel printer e Add-on Buylines
tary disk socket I t Joystick ,,
•5 C a s s e t t e BEST BUY PRICE: Curry's is offer-
Disks .ng £20 off both and mono versions
of the 464 in pad exchange for an old
computer. Dixon's has colour 6128s
Format 3 inch, fl ippable at £349.99. You could also try for a
Capacity 1 8 0 K formatted per side CPC 6 6 4 f o r around E60.00, b u t
SoftwareYes, although disk versions these a r e bec oming inc reas ingly
may be harder to find in shops than rare. If the extra memory of the 6128
tape. is not important. t h e CPC664 c an
Price a b o u t £3.00 represent a bargain if you c an fi nd
Add-on driv es A ms t rad 00I-1 fi rst one,
drive
for CPC464. Amstrad FD•1 or third SECOND H A N D AV AI LABI LI TY :
party drives tor any CPC. Very good O f t en plenty an offer in
Built-in 4 6 4 no classified a d sections o f specialist
66416128 yes. r I • 1 • '6,11 . I magazines
•
• Performanc e t MAINTENANCE: One year's guaran-
Reliable and quick ,
• tee. Faulty machines ret urn to deal-
r
.
er. 664 statutory rights only.
;
$
I
t
i

AmstradPCW
r
e
1

Models: P C W 8 2 5 6 printer. Locoscript 2 word

PCW8512 processing software.
PCW 9512
0 Disks In addit ion t h e mac hines res erv e Memory:
18256, 8512 Drive A)
some of their memory for use as a Package: 8256 256K
RAM drive, with obvious benefi ts
Format d i s k s speed. 8256 - keyboard, monitor 8512 512K
Format* 3 inch tlippable with s i n g l e d is k 9512 512K
Capacity 1 8 0 K formatted per side
(8512 Drive B. 9512) m Graphics drive, d o t matrix printer,
Formal 3 inch double-srded Locoscript 1 word process- Processor: Z i l o g Z80
Capacity 7 2 0 K formatted Display
Price of Blank Disks a b o u t $3_00 TV n o ing software, CP/M operat-
Add-on drives f ro m third party com- Monitor: s u p p l i e d ing system, DR Logo. Recommended Retail
panies only. mainly 5.25 inch format monochrome only.giving 8512 - as 8256 above but Price:
Add-on dr i v e s ha v e b e e n p r o - 90 column text display.
duced t o tak e 5.25 inc h dis k s , s o
with two built-in drives. PCW 8256 E343.85
that s tandard ASCII fi les in CP/M Res olution 7 2 0 x 2 5 6 9512 - restyled keyboard, PCW 8512 E458.85
formal c an b e trans ferred t o t h e Palette PCW 9512
monitor with single built-in C573•85
PCW machines 6256.8512 g r e e n and black,
9512 b l a c k and white disk dr iv e, d a is y w heel
Performance Colours N A
Reilatale. reasonably last and quiet. Performance' N A

1 0 2 AdvancedComputer Entertainment
 PINK PA GES

Sound PROSPECTS: would be poor but for

none as such launch of 9512. Revival will depenr1
Sound c hip
on new machine's popularity.
Stereo output no
Channels NIA
Performanc e beeps Only. Some GAMES: A r c a d e t it les a r e v ery
scarce and. of course, monochrome
third party sound enhancement mod-
Wes available. only. Adventures a re s lightly more
numerous, b u t again t he range is
small. A number o f Infocont titles
available under CP/M, but outlook for
future releases uncertain.
In brief... GRAPHICS: v ery tew but some tow-
The P C W r a n g e w a s end CAD-type software available.

designed as a word process- MUSIC: none - machines not con-

ing machine rather than a
general purpose computer.
Non-word processing soft-
ware was produced after
sales rocketed. Not recom-
mended a s a g a m e s
machine
MI H a r d w a r e
KEYBOARD: Includes extra keys for
word processing functions, Keyboard
in 9512 a substantially improved ver-
sion.
JOYSTICICMOUSE Not supported.
Joysticks and mice can be attached
via a separately bought interface
PORTS: O n e expansion pore tak es
RS232C s e r i a l a n d Ce n t ro n ic s
Parallel interface ( i n t e r port t or
bundled printer
SPAGHETTI FACTO R: L o w . Only
one plug needed. Cable f rom k ey -
board t o monitor: t wo c ables f rom
monitor to bundled printer.
Disk driv es are s et 'v ert ic ally I n
monit or c as ing t o right of screen.
Short m o n i t o r t o p r i n t e r c a b le
means print er mus t b e plac ed t o
figured as such.
SOFTWARE FORMAT: Disk only.
Good for small business applications.
left o f mo n it o r. Mo n it o r t o k e y -
board c able means k ey board s it s
E Buylines
naturally 6 inches to a foot In front
of monitor. MAINTENANCE: O n e y ears guar-
antee. Fault y mac hines r e t u r n t o
dealer
i• S o f t w a r e BEST B U Y P RI CE : A s a bov e
Generally not sold below ARP.
EXISTING BASE: not wide but gen- SECOND HAND AVAILABILITY
erally programs o f g o o d qualit y .
PROSPECTS: for 8256 and 8512.
Appeals to specialist/niche type mar-
kets good 9512 too new for second hand
market as yet
CURRENT RELEASES: very few

AppleMacintosh
SE 2; Apple Desktop Bus connector 2
FIS232.IRS422 serial • External disk In brief...
drive a 96-pen Euro-Din expansion slot
SCSI - 0I3.25 connector • External A very expensive up-market
audio amplifier machine for those keen on
02 R5232/1RS422 serial 08-25 SCSI T
Palette desk-top publishing, wimp
Models: M a c i n t o s h SE SE black,and while systems, and up-market soft-
Macintosh II II w i t h colour monitor - 16 milhon
• Software ware. If you can afford it,
Colours with colour monitor - 1610 256 EXISTING BASE: W id e range of soft great — but remember that
Package: Monitor with ware
, exists in virtually all fields except software is very expensive.
Display games.
built-in cpu and disk drive, TV n o Games are Imostly imited to
separate keyboard Monitor output i n t e g r a l monitor CURRENT RELEASES: a d e q u a t e : icon-driven adventures (little
Monitor supplied B O N in largely Of US origin and in the business
or DTP field
arcade action software avail-
Options
Memory: 1 M b SE use dedicated model only able). Good for MIDI musi-
Apple hi-res monochrome GAMES: very few arcade games, but cians, but be prepared to pay
Processor: or AppleColor hi-res RGB adventures are more plentiful
through the nose.
SE M o t o r o l a 68000 • Performance GRAPHICS: lots of interesting software
II M o t o r o l a 68020 Sprftes None foe those involved in Die pubkshing
Scrolling None
Speed Reasonably fast MUSIC: Very wee supported for M e t SECOND H A N D AVAI LABI LI TY:
Recommended Retail Price software - but its expensive stuff Reasonable: b u t n o t exactly c heap
SE E 2 , 2 9 4 . 2 5 upwards t Sound SOFTWARE FORMAT: All software sup-
Check small ads in specialist magazines.
II E 4 , 3 2 9 . 7 5 upwards Sound chip A p p l e IASC) plied on disk MAINTENANCE: One year's guarantee,
Speaker quality G o o d Apple offers Applecare 'insurance' you
Stereo output SOFTWARE LOADING: Quick and rah- take out to cover cost of repairs alter
*Disks SE
It Y
N
e
o
s
; abte
guarantee h a s
lapsed.
Formal 3 5frich
MIDI T h i r d party interfaces available. PROSPECTS: Excellent.
Price Around E3.0e Channels 4 especially in business and
Capacity 8001e DIP
Software All on disk
Add-on drives Performance G o o d
Yes
Built-in Yes

StPerformance • Hardware Buylines

Fast and reliable. but watch out for US
software that hasn't been thoroughly test-
ed
• Graphics
KEYBOARD: Suppked 81 keys ioclud- BEST BUY PRICE There
ing function keys and numeric keypad isn't much of a discounted
Optional extra is the Apple Extended key- market in Macs: you gen.
board, with 105 keys &ally have to pay the list
JOYSTICKASOUSE: Joystick not sup-
price

Resolulion ported Hig h quality one-button mouse a . MO l a IME

SE 5 1 2 x 3 4 2 supplied vath machine = •
NM •
a
•
l
•
O
•
.
•
a a
•
al l a MI Et
• l • M .
a
• • • •
III 027k 760 •O M =• a•
• • MI • • - - - - - - : I
I
PORTS:

AdvancedComputerEntertainment 1 0 3
r PINK PA GES

AtariST Sound
Sound c hip
Stereo output
MIDI
AY-3-8912
no
yes
Software
EXISTING BASE: Though on the
low side by &hit or PC standards,
the number ot ST titles makes it the
Channels three
Software o n l y supplied on disk • Perf ormanc e best-supported of the new machines.
Models: A t a r i 520STFM, Price of Blank Disks a b o u t E3.00 8 octaves, envelope shaping.
Add-on driv es y e s CURRENT RELEASES: Mos t major
1040STF. Mega STs Built-in y e s
Hardware software houses convert their output
to ST now, and several smaller hous-
• Performanc e F a s t and reliable es specialise in ST titles.
Package: 520STFM a n d KEYBOARD: 9 6 keys including 10
104OSTF k ey boar d with PROSPECTS: V e r y bright indeed.
built-in disk drive
Graphics Junction keys. Fu ll trav el keyboard
with audible click. Could soon rival Spectrum and C64
for number of new releases_
Res olution h i g h res 640x400 JOYSTICKMOUSE: J oy s tic k ports
medium res 640)(200 are s t andard. Two-but t on mo u s e GAMES
Memory: low res 320)(200 supplied with machine bad a n d adventures, though rarer,
.
520STFM 512K Palette 5 1 2 are
R a n generally of very high quality
Colours m o n o c h r o m e in high res.
1040STF 1Mb 4 colours in medium res. In brief... g e
GRAPHICS: Impressive, with several
Mega ST 2Of 4Mb 16 in low res ofirst-rate packages on the market.
Excellent a s a general f
Display purpose home mac hine aMUSIC:
r excellent. Many companies
Processor: TV cproducing
a s ound editors , samplers,
520STFM y e s . for games , s mall bus i-
Motorola 68000 dsynths,
e etc
Other models v i a TV modulator ness, and productivity —
t i
Monitor output RGB(monoc hrome it's also the number one SOFTWARE FORMAT: Disk only
Monitor supplied n o t l
Recommended Retail choice for MIDI musicians. eSOFTWARE LOADING: A 360K
Options dedicated Atari monitors, in
Price monochrome or colour, SM124 high The ST's price could still sdisk can't hold a really large ST pro-
res mo n o , S C1224, me d iu m res . igram, so two-disk titles are becoming
520STFM E 2 9 9 . 9 9 colour give it the edge for artists
sincreasingly c o m m o n T h e d is k .
1040SIF E 4 9 9 . 9 9 over the Amiga.
nchanging t h e s e re q u ire c a n g e t
• Performance
none ' tedious, especially where you've got
Sprites to swap disks during play,
Scrolling t
good vertical, PORTS MI DI out (5 pin DIN) •
Disks poor horizontal MIDI in (5 pin DIN) * Audio Out I;
Buylines
Format 3 12 inch Audio in • RG B monitor * mo n o
Capacity 360K formatted High res olut ion i s o n ly av ailable monitor • serial(modem port 0 sec-
on m o n o monit ors ; me d iu m a n d ond disk • hard disk * mouse/joy- MAINTENANCE: One year's guaran-
(1,2 Mb drive)
low res olutions are only av ailable slick Oloystick • cartridge • TV tee Ret urn to dealer it faulty
720K (1Mb drive) on c olour monitors or TVs_

r
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 PINK P A G E S
,

AtariXL/XE III D i s k s ports, mouse not standard

Format 5.25 inch PORTS: Rom slot • 2 poystickS edge

Price Around Z1 00 connector S monitor
Capacity 360K formatted
Software M o s t titles available on disk
In brief... Models: A t a r i 800XL Add-on drives Yes Software
Built-in No
(no longer manufactured), EXISTING BASE: Good but long In the
Once the choice of the dedi- Atari 65XE,
r Performance Good tooth
CURRENT RELEASES: T h i n on the
cated arcade games player, Atari 130XE
these machines pioneered III G r a p h i c s ground: mostly budget

Resolution 3 2 0 x 1 9 2
the use of sprites and quality Package: Palette 2 5 6
GAMES: Arcade range is ot high qUaMy
Adventures poor to avddling
sound. In their later configu- 800XL retailers own - look Colours 1 2 8
rations they remain attractive for keyboard, plus tape deck,
Display GRAPHICS: S om e good programs on
TV Y e s the market.
purchases for the wealth of joystick and software Monitor output C o m p o s i t e video
existing software, but sup- 65XE A t a r i Starter Pack Monitor supplied N o SOFTWARE FORMAT: tape o r disk.
Options N o Atari dedicated monitor
port is fading very rapidly includes keyboard, tape deck. Disks are quick. b u t tape software can
manufactured Us e TV or monitor be a real bargain.
and the outlook is grim joystick, software (10 games) with composite vbcleo output
130XE A t a r i Starter Pack Performance MUSIC: Well supported in this area.
Sprites 8
A v e S r con,
includes keyboard, tape deck, Scrolling N o
PROSPECTS: N o t brilliant now that
BEST BUY PRICE: You won't gel joystick. software (5 games) Speed A v e r a g e
attention is focused on Atari STs.
much under the RRP. but try for spe- Memory:
al bundles W H Smith, tor instance, 800XI 64K itt S o u n d
is selling the machine together with
£200 worth of software 65XE 811K Sound chip A l a n custom chip
Buylines
130 XE Speaker quality O u t p u t thru TV
128K Stereo output BEST BUY PRICE:
SECOND H A N D AV AI LABI LI TY :
MIDI N o t supplied. Third party 800XL shop around - machines are now
Yes. look in classifi ed ads of maga- scarce
zines. Processor: 6502 interlaces available.
Channels 4 65XE DIXDFIS is °Hering the Starter Pack
• Performance at 09.99
Good
The S T i s a n attractive l ooki ng
machine w i t h s l a nte d func ti on Recommended Retail Price 130XE geneally as RRP
keys above similarly styled slats.
It was one of the first machines to
800XL n o n e Hardware SECOND HAND AVAILABILITY: (lute
Include a dis k driv e In the s ide of
65XE E 1 2 9 , 9 9 KEYBOARD; 62 keys including some a few around: took in the mags
the console - this design i s now 130XE E 1 3 9 . 9 9 special tunction keys f or BASIC com-
mands MAINTENANCE; One year's guarantee
also taken up by Other manufac-
turers, Return to dealer if faulty
JOYSTICKMOUSE Standard joystick

17 EVERSLEY ROAD BEXHIL L E SUSSEX (0424) 221931

SPECIALIST COMPUTER DEALERS FOR ST & AMIGA
Amiga A 500 M o d u l a t o r
• Pa i l • 3 Top Games E479 95 Philips 8833 M e e Alan 520STEM £279.95 Phillips 8833 Ma d
Amiga A 500 * 1081 M om lor Monitor
- • Cable 5.27495 Alan 520STFM• Phillips Morttor
- C a b le t274 95
Paint 3 To Ga - n e s Star
R e sNLIO Pr intO' C219 95 8833 Co lo u
E749.95 549.95 S tar N L IQ Prinler * Cable C219 95
Curnana 1 M e o f ' 34 9 SEGA
C o lCa o u r E99.95 ,Cumana 1 Meg Drive E134.95 Re s
PelONE FOR MORE
,5 C o l o u r

AMIGA SOFTWARE ST SOFTWARE WIP

Gnans.Leteure
GO4t1 01 T h a V e S 16.50 501bacl 19 Gatreesi-elsere
Adyeuture Censtructlan 30 Galas Las Vegas 7.95 bustneasit111111es
Set Ha Ck e f II 16.50 S ay Flatlet 13.50 Leaderboard
1995 elechhiters 0 ,0 3 , Accaurnani ISagel 1 2 9 9 5
19.95 Shylor 1 3 . 5 3 OM Frerne 7650
Men S loe 10 Leadertetard Tournamer9 67.95 ADCOuntagi PUS,1 6 . 1 6 6 gt5
Holy...rood Poker 12.95 S owe c ol 1 3 . 5 0 A lba 16.50
Amnon °1 Mareis Mitiefreas 13 64V5rract OCP Art,
Hunt Irn R e d a 16.50 S pace ganger 7 . 9 5 4111:81 Conn.:lion Kit 10.00 5 95 An
S ,Dt
,recSor
019 9 95 Impact Mercenary Campenclion 16.50 3495.
ArCh e f , 11 ft
12 96 -i
ArentinBratannan 10.03 Scelbrualter 1 2 . 9 5 Alternate Reality 1653 0
Metroctosa 16 50 Asserniserigetacornoa 34.96
12,95 S tam os s 1 9 . 9 5 &mix Foy 1
Bac*0Pace
9 10.50 5 0
Attic Ft). 1995 S u te r ?Agra L.o.sue Wresaing 13,50 3495
Aremeent
Elacelesn 13 5 50 losanty
r Fight 16.50 Stenglder 1 6 . 5 0 1000 Mesion Elevator 13 50 CA030 3 4 . 9 5
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E la te 19 y Mortreas Manor 1650 Cattelge Irtogralid
K a fr Ol ar 19.95 S tattnntit 1 9 . 9 5 1 Balance ot Bowe, 19.95
Elatoran
- /" k Nord and Ben 16.50 Accounts 2 4 9 9 5
Karate
1 tEgersok 16.50 S uOM Huey 1 3 50 Baroamr, 1E50
Rags Tale 1993
5 - Not a Penny Mete 13.50 Degas Este 1 7 . 5 0
c ool y
Karate Kd it IS 50 Surgeon 3 7 sc '. Bards Tale 15.95
Burrowed Time 1993 PP0 ,12.96 Suspect Pawn 10.50 Devac 3 2 . 9 5
n o Clcur Feotnali - o
Verve Guest III 1 2 95 Be&feinall 12 96 Plundered Hearts 16 50 0 9 Drum 1 6 6 0
0 Kings Quest Triple Pace
5 1650 Suspender) 1 2 95 - Bureaucracy za 90
w *
Buirmiscracry 1.5 005 Prontaram 13.50 PastBeare Mists, 3 2 9 6
° Kregni Orr 13 50 Terroroods 1 6 50 16 50
Cnellerge
. uoade
EO I TO •Ye a T i m e
Doulderdaalt Constnuction 16 50 Pawl:Via& 16,50 Fag Bawd:1061i 6 4 95
C h ..P 14 1554) Test Drr,e 1 6 . 9 1 ., Flon Poen" 4 1 9 5
Leal ter Goddesses & m k t &lost Roadwar Europa 16.50
12.95 , 19,95 Thai Doing 7 95 l a 50 Roa±onat2009
Cerlimutonstiqu
, Oct .= Lefrallan 16 50 F i l l W0
Chessmmte200e 13 Chess .:Psonl, 16.50
b o a Madness
15 50 PArtee SD i 19 95 F86455.1:I
, Putesno 6 4 95
on 13.50
. La r ne ii, 1 9 . 9 5 enessmasear 2003 16.50
Crary C o 1993 Mean 18 GO Serapel 13 50 GFA
6 !Mac 3795
795 ,Mirdshadow 19.95
5 0 Unfurled
0 1 9 95 Cnopuer X 7.95
Ovicbei Facto,' 06altS tr ee 12 95 GFA
P U Cernpler
S 3 1 . 9 5
Ceara,.
h13 12 d 15.50 V a da t, 7 , 9 5 7.95 &clefts*
Missonfimmoc, T 13.50 OFA
5 Companion 2 3 95
Deleeder M eye Crown 13.50 Winter Gamft 1 6 80 Dolomite It Me Craw, 19.95
B a .1 i N 5 Trap SAert Serwce 16.50 GFA Craft 0 8 , 9 5
Mmase e0
1 Data 0u 16.93 4
Dely
sCsago e 1.
9 55 &Sum Dreams Irtogy 'Elsa K• Dem 3 5 . 9 5
,13 50 Nola
5 C 0 lAtsw&I
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070 Enies Nest 13.50 13.95 9
KMeigrel .:6
o Eflersor 13 50 Sotmocia Key
b a
Cr File 97.95 Pavel m K.Spread 2 5 6 . 5 0
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16
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50 Z a k 11 1 2 . 9 6 V Stings:1m 16.50 1
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Acyureee 37.50
9 M artastelli 16 D9 50 Zork sit
o 1 2 95 • R o l Sowkitor it 35,50 4111 C IMelaceercol 6 9 9 5
57.95 iPtunclerac1Healls
Fine T v Se, Wars 13,50 lup 16102mm:el I le 95
n5 51) ,
r16 GM- Ansancer Football 16 50 2
Firepower 16 50 P n lum Gauntlet %nee Force Harrier 10.50 ahoy 4ellme
, Gime Card 2 0 9 5
tYi Dc. U• tIlligia
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Sipe. Huey 13 50 9 5 Diego 1 2 . 9 6
Mugu
Figni Simutalor II 37.50 Portal
, God Runner
e8...95 Aegis Areraim & Images 9 9 3 5 16 50 Suporcyde 16,50 Pascal VIIMetacomcot 7 2
Sigel II Refer 16.95 0 Bali 1]7x3 . Guldoi Theres Ta. Part
Feud 13 50 Pro
9 6 Sauna Ceasgner 4 4 . 9 5
5G
7.95 Ficadwar 2000 *6 Oe HeCtAlusrs Gude 19.95
, Tertorpods 16.50
49
GM Hurt tor Pie° cimege 16.60 PIA34strin9 Partner 1 2 4 95
/ D Bashed:lel 12 95 Roadwat Euteps aI6 39,95 T.147 13.50
u l s D engem 10.00 ST Pygmy 5 4 3 5
:5
GFA Focteati 12.96 501 m 7 y Tracker
7 Igg$
e Or g Point 3 7 50 Inciana Jones 10.50 Super Conductor 3 4 95
Gad k r ne f 13.50
7650 S I V n t l a 1 Tnyial Pursue 13.50
le20
5 Karale Kid11 16.53 %rear Games Saperbase Personal 6 7 . 9 5
5, 19 95 5ntril F,,noun 2
•6.50 s 9 S n i tti e 11 5 0 9 5 k; 16 50
5
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. Prices Inc VAT 8 FREE Deliveq Sem/ Ch im e s Or ViSaACCOSSdetail to
CBS Computers, 17 Eversley Rd, Bexhill,
5
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r PINK P A GE S

11 Sound
CommodoreAmiga
standing

Sound chip Commodore custom chip MUSIC: Potentially superb. Little MIDI
Stereo output Y e s support as yet.
MIDI N o t built-in.
Third party interfaces available SOFTWARE FORMAT: Disk only
IP Disks Models: A m i g a 500
Channels
• Performance
a
SOFTWARE LOADING: A noisy process
Format 3 1i A1000 Built-in tex t t o speech synthesis, 9
Capacity 880K formatted
. octavos, programmable waveforms, PROSPECT& Good, but A500 needs to
Price Around A2000
2 E3.00 amplitude and frequency modulation establish a larger user-base before
Software All on disk
in becoming a prime development machine.
Extra drives Yes Package: keyboard. with
Built-in c Yes built-in disk drive. A1000 is Hardware
• Performance
h
discontinued, so packaging KEYBOARD: 94 key, 10 function keys Buylines
numenc keypad separate cursor cluster BEST BUY: Not at present sold below
Noisy and surprisingly sluggish will depend on different deal- RRP, although it can be worth checking
er policies. JOYSTICKMOUSE Mouse supplied as venous dealers for special packs.
standard
IP G r a p h i c s SECOND H A N D AV AI LABI LI TY :
Resolution 6 4 0 x 2 0 0 Memory: PORTS: Two poystickernouse • Audio Limited as yet.
Palette 4 0 9 € A500 5 1 2 K output Sett and right I Extra disk drive
Colours 1 6 in high res
32 in low res A1000 2 5 € 4 ‹ Serial (RS232, I Centronics parallel * MAINTENANCE: W i t hi n guar antee
RGBNideo • Monochrome video • should be returned to the dealer.
4096 in hold and modify A2000 1 0 2 4 K Expansion bus

Display Processor: Motorola 68000 In brief...

TV N o but modulator Et S o f t w a r e
avarlable for A500 only at C_241.99 EXISTING BASE: Small in companson
Stunning s pec ifi c at ion.
Monitor output S C A R T Recommended Retail Price to 8-bit machines Despite initial uncertainty,
Monitor supplied N o A500 E 4 9 9 • 9 9 software support now seems
Options Commodore A1081 at C349 98 A1000 none discontinued CURRENT RELEASES: Beginnning to
pick assured, Although overshad-
4 A2000 E 1 2 3 6 . 2 5 owed by the ST in the UK to
Sprites
, 8 GAMES: Arcade products not yet up to
Scrolling V e r t i c a l , hontontal
date, overseas sales (partic-
P the capabilities o f the machine. Fe w
Speed
e V e r y last with right soll• stances and otters powerful window- adventures are available, but they are ularly in US) are high. An
ware ing capabilities, while block image excellent machine for those
rGraphics co-processor allows sprites generally of a good quality
transferrer (blitter) speeds up large-
f be 're-used' under some &cum -
to scale graphics work enormously.
. who can afford one.
GRAPHICS: Du a lit y and range out-
o
r
m
a
n
c
e M E G A B Y T E M E
SCOTI4N/3'S PREMIER COMPUTER CENTRE SCO TIANO S PREMIER COMPUTER CENTRE
12 E ttr i c k S quar e. Tow n Centr e. Cum ber naul d_ 0 6 7 I N D , G
12 Ftir ickA
Square, Town centr e, Cumbernauld. 0 0 7 1 ND.

PRINTER SUPERDEALS FROM SCOTLAND B PYR O U D L Y P R E S E N T

A L I NE U P O F CO M P UT E R A N D P E RWHE M AL P AO DUCT T O S UI T T HE T AS T E AND AUDGE T O F
ALL E N T H U S I A S T 2 • a n t . AL L O V E R T H E U N I T E D s i N c t o o m W E N U D E Cl u l l 1 1 1 o 2 s I N

THE FULL LINE UP OF STAR PRINTERS T E

AT T E M P T I NG T O S AT IS F Y T HE N E E D S O F AL L Y O UR GO M O u l . N o it...7 0 2 E5 1 S G A L L US O N
0731 7 1 8 1 8 8 O P BE T T E R S I I • • CO M E U P ANO SEE US SO ST IM E
S T AR NL IS Z 2 /1 6 O U R P R I C E -1 1 1 1 S.SS ALL T H E P R I N T E R S r i p f0.00/00i
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THE C I T I Z E N R A N G E AT YO UR SERVICE CONSDERS e yrmet w i M / n its s/ wa rte sI NGL AI N P L US Z I I I $S
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CI T I Z E N P RE M I E R 0 1 9 6 . 0 0 O U R P RI CE - P/ a s. THE A V O N O RGANI S E R
8 4 E 1N9 OVERTURE
CITIZE 0 0 110 1 1 7 E 0 _ 0 0 O U R P R IC E , - 4 . , , C MODEL CM 1 1 2 2
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5 .0 0 MO DEL X P .
AMIGA ATARI ST SOFTWARE ,T
. e r r y / p o d s
L e h . e 1 7 8 9 0
S 4v . C o n e t K i t . . . 1 4 9 5 . . . . 1 0 . 9 5 AcodeMY 1 9 93- 14.95 IT r V A / o d a / s t a r E R F F
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1 0 6 AdvancedComputer Entertainment
 PINK PAGES

Commodores64/128
Models: C 6 4 , 128, 128D
Package: C64 and 128 key-
board p l u s C 2 N t a p e
recorder, plus accesories
(according to individual deal-
ers). C1280 keyboard plus
disk drive.
Memory: C64, 64K: C128,
128K; C12811 128K
Processor: C 6 4 , 6 5 1 0 ;
128,1280, 8502 plus Z80 for
use in CPM mode
1281280 R O B tor 80 column display Stereo output N o
Monitor supplied N o Channels 3
Monitor options MIDI N o , tut many third party
CI 900M £ 1 1 9 . 9 mono interfaces available
C1901 E 2 4 9 . 9 9 colour n Performance
Disks C1084 £ 3 4 9 . 9 9 colour
or suitable RGR(oomposile monitor
Very sophisticated f or the price Th e
Commodore 64 used to be most popular
Performance budget music computer for both MIDI and
Two disk drives are commonly avail- Sprites 8 programming its on-board chip.
able - the C1541 and the more recent Scrolling v e r t i c a l , horizontal
C1571.
Format 5.25 incti
Speed G o o d for scrolling and sprites.
poor otherwise • Hardware
Price E l .00 (less in bulk) Hardware stashes and scrolling have proved
Capacity both a blessing and a curse for Commodore
KEYBOARD: Raised plastic keys with
audit* tactile feedbacii. plus function
1541 1 4 0 K formatted graphics. They make certain tasks (panicu-
lady the programming of sprite-based shoot- keys Cursor key arrangement very awk-
1571 3 4 0 K formatted
ern-ups) much simpler but more recent 3D
ward.
Software M o s t titles available on disk
sonware tends to run slowly i i at all).
Add on drives Y e s , including JOYSTICKWOUSE: Provision f or two
third party units with improved
performance In brief... standard Joysticks. Mouse not supplied
Commodore 1350 mouse available, plus
120D only third party manufactured models.
I Performance Commodore 1541 drive The 64 is an excellent games
is notoriously s low and noisy: 1571 machine. The 128 and 1280
PORTS: 2 joystick I expansion 41 cas-
marks substantial improvement. can be configured for busi- sette non-s tandard serial I composite
video (C64) RGH (128+128D) I TV I
ness use using the CP/M
M Graphics standard and giving access to
User port

Recommended R e t a i l
Price: C 6 4 , E 1 5 9 . 9 9
-E179.99t C 1 2 8 E199.99
stand-alone; £22999 with
C2N: £249.99 with C2N +
software C128D 0 9 9 . 9 9
t according to individual
dealers' packages.
Resolution
C64 3 2 0 x 2 0 0 a vast range of business and • Software
C12111280: a s 64 in 64 mode, plus utility software, 64 is a partic- EXISTING B A S E : Ex c eltent. O n l y
640x200 in 128 modes 180 column dis ularly difficult machine t o rivalled by the Spectrum, but in many
Palette I D learn programming on due to cases. Commodore versions of programs
are superior
Colours 8 outdated BASIC.
Note Attribute system places minor limita-
tions o n number of colours displayable in
CURRENT RELEASES: Still pouring out
any tre pixel square.
GAMES: Arcade action second to none.
Display TV
Monitor output
Y e s Sound Adventures - good selection
64 C O m p u s r t e video Sound chip 8 5 8 1 sound interlace chip
Speaker quality O u t p u t thru monitor GRAPHICS: Good selection q u a lit y of

WIGHT Computing Home Micro's

Atari 520 STFM 2 7 5 . 0 0 Repairs
Amiga 500A includes Modulator E 4 7 5 . 0 0 Spectrum Key board faults 8 . 0 0
SEGA System 9 5 . 0 0 Spectrum 1 8 . 0 0
Commodore 1541 C disc drive includes 29 games...159.00 Commodore 64/C16 Plus 4Nic 20 2 6 . 5 0
Commodore 64 C Sports Pack 165.35 Acorn Electron non ULA Faults 2 5 , 0 0
Spectrum 128 plus 2 129.00
PCW 8256 includes Disk Box Recondition Vic 20 Modulators 1 7 . 5 0
344.00
PCW 9512 includes Disk Box 574.00 Other Machines Please P hone
DMP 3160 (PC compatible printer) 199.00
Used Spectrum 48K includes 3 months warranty 6 0 . 0 0 TV or Tape leads Spectrum 1 . 6 0
Spectrum 48K pack Joystick Interface Games E 5 5 . 0 0 Large Range of leads & adaptors in stock
Part Exchanges Welcome Minimum £ 2 0
Phone for items not listed
Commodore 64 PSU repairable 2 6 . 0 0
Spectrum Power supply unit 1 1 , 0 0

Due to the V A S T S TO CK of software we keep we are unable to list it. use the table below to work out the price t o pay
(e.g Action Force Spect. rrp 7.95 our price 5.99)
Sega software deduct 2.00 from rrp

RRP O u r Price R R P Our Price

6.99 5 . 2 8 7 . 9 9 5,99
8.99 6 . 7 5 9 . 9 9 7.43
10 99 8 . 2 4 1 1 . 9 9 8.99
12.99 9 . 5 2 1 4 . 9 5 10.93
19.99 1 4 . 4 6 2 4 . 9 9 17,99
34.99 2 6 . 2 2 4 9 99 35.42

Barclay Card phone orders 0983 68978

Or write to W C H M, 122 High Street, Ryde, Isle of Wight. P033 2SU
All prices include VAT g 15% postage & packing *(UK) BFPO
Dealers for Time Works Software phone for prices
Software bundles El 0 for 10 tapes

AdvancedComputerEntertainment 1 0 7
InP
IN
K
P
graphics means that programs can be
reasonably sophisticated.
A portability of games from US.
G MUSIC: Good wide range of sound edi-
tors. some samplers. Many MIDI utilities
E available.
S SOFTWARE FORMAT: C641128 - tape
Or disc from external dedicated tape deck
(C2N) or dsc drive. 01280 - tape from
C2N or disk from integral disk drive.
All Com m odore m a ch in e s re q u ire t h e
Commodore C2N Tape Deck tor loading tape-
based software. Some third party interfaces
are available t o enable a normal domestic
recorder t o be used with the machines but
this arrangement may not be as rehable
SOFTWARE LOADING: Stow as always
on cassette arid disk loading not as fast
as it should be due to slowness of deci•
cated drive. Most software produced with
fast loader routines.
PROSPECTS: Supply will eventually
TELE-GAMES
Europe's Largest Stock Of Video Games & Cartridges For - -
A L
ATARI
allnixdoir
2600
IN STOCK NOW
WICO JOYSTICKS FOR NINTENDO IN STOCK NOW
The leading Video game specialists Send for lusts (state make of game)
TELEGAMES, WIGSTON, LEICESTER, LE8 1TE (0533-880445)
NEW COS_ECO TITLES NOW IN STOCK NOW OVER 100 TITLES TO CHOOSE FROM
slow. but Commodore games may welt
last longer than Spectrum, due to direct
IN Buyl i n e s
BEST BUY PRICE: Old style C645, dat-
ing back to before the redesign can be
picked u p t o r a ro u n d E130•E150.
Otherwise. with Commodore's policy of
letting the dealers devise their own -
dles',
b u n -it's a case at picking the one you
like best_
SECOND HAND AVAILABILITY: Good
for all models_ Check small ads in various
magazines.
MAINTENANCE: Under guarantee - take
machine bac k t o dealer_ Should get
straight replacement Whin 30 days of
purchase (a t dealers discretion). Es -
guarantee - use independent repair com-
pany.
IBM&compatibles
Disks Palette
Colours
6
1
4
6
Normally fi tted as upgrade t o bas ic
Format M o s t l y 5_25 inch machine, but comes as standard on
some very new models use 3 .5 inch some PCs (eg Amstrad PC1540).
Price W e l l under El 00 tor 5.25 Hercules
around E3.00 for 3.5 Resolution 720048
Capacity Almost always 360K formatted Colours Mono only
Software A l l on dish Often built-In on mono PCs.
Add-on drives Y e s
Built-in Y e s These are the three most common dis-
play slandards. accounting between
• Performance them tor almost all cheap PCs current-
Reliable and pretty fast, hard cisks, at ly in production, but other adaptors do
course, are even faster exist. Buying second hand you may
well encounter machines with unusual
or text-only displays.
Graphics
Graphics are not provided as standard Display
on PC machines, although nowadays TV n o
most all machine are s old wit h t he Monitor output N o r m a l l y RGB
necessary add-on b o a rd s already Monitor supplied Wit h most packages
installed. There a re three c ommon Options D e d i c a t e d monitors are
standards, CGA, EGA, and Hercules: usually supplied or available
for machine Generally. any
CGA (Colour Graphics Adaptor) ROB should do.
Resolution 3 2 0 x 2 0 0 kivo res
640x20G medium res
Palette n o n e as suchbut three Sound
different colour schemes Sound chip None as such - need
available in low res direct speaker modulation
Colours 4 in low res. mono in high res Speaker quality G e n e r a l l y poor
CGA us the most common PC display Stereo output N o
standard far colour systems. MIDI T h i r d party interfaces available.
EGA (Enhanced Graphics Adaptor)
Both CGA graphics modes. plus high res- Performance
olution as follows Not really a machine for the musician in
Resolution 6401350 view of the more recent competition from
BEWARE
THE E M P T Y SHELF
Don't run the risk of missing a copy of A.C.E.
With many newsagents selling out fast, you
should guarantee yourself a monthly copy,
either by subscribing or by handing your
newsagent the completed form below.
Dear Newsagent
Please order me a monthly copy of Advanced
Computer Entertainment magazine (A.C.E.).
Name
Address
Telephone
Note to newsagents. ACE Is distributed by SM Distribution (Telephone
01.274 8611). It is published the firsi Thursday of the month prior to
cover date, priced E1.50.
 PINK PA GES

Atari and (at the uppper end ot the mar- not too much for the artist
ket) Apple Macintosh.
MUSIC: Fair selection of MIDI packages
IN H a r d w a r e and interlaces these these lend lobe
expensive.

KEYBOARD: A l l models use faiseci PROSPECTS: Won't dwindle as long as

plastic keys with audible tactile teedback there are PCs on desks
and include lunclion keys and separate
numeric keypads. A wide variety at third.
party keyboards is available. Buylines
JOYSTICKMOUSE: Two different joy- BEST BUY PRICE: All-in-ane packages
stick standards exist. IBM (analogue) and - such as the Amstrad - represent good
Amstrad tAtari style - the norm for games value, but if you know what you're doing
playing). Most games support either IBM even better bargains can be had from
or both, but Amstrads can now be adapt- disoaunt stores. If you don't know what
ed to use IBM joystick. Newer models you're doing go for a reputable brand.
teg. Amstrad' include mouse in package.
Third party mice are available for mouse- SECOND HAND AVAILABILITY: PCs
less PCs. can often be picked up in auctions of
PORTS: Varies. Expect Centronics par- computer and office goods, or through
allel, RS232; expansion port with most magazine advens.
machines b u t some of thes are option-
al. MAINTENANCE: Return t o dealer i f Model: IBM's PC is the origi- the bare bones or the whole
faulty, but a maintenance contract - Often nal. The many clones include works.
NI S o f t w a r e surprisingly cheap - can guarantee your
piece of mind
Amstrad's PC 1512 and 1640
series, T a n d y s 1000EX, Memory: usually 512K-6401(
EXISTING BASE: Vast Spectrum Bondwell 32, etc.
In brief... The specifications given below Processor: Intel 8086, 8088
CURRENT RELEASES: Still pounng out,
with price levels dropping as welt Superb value if you want an will generally apply to most or variants
all-round machine, but the IBM compatibles unless partic-
GAMES: Cheaper machines has meant
that more and more games are being PC still betrays its business ular riders are made. If you are Recommended Retail Price
released on the PC - both arcade and origins. Increasing number of thinking of buying a PC or From around E400.00 for the
adventure. CGA graphics standard us e games software releases, compatible check all the salient cheaper basic clones to E1500
to be predominant; but an increasing
number at EGA games with superior but few of these are of the details with dealers first. for top-of-the-range c lones
graphics are appearing. PC only recently coin-op ar c ade v ar iety . Package: Depends on manu- (with hard disk, colour monitor
perceived as a machine with games
potential. Definitely not to be consid- facturer. Amstrad supply a etc.) I BM machines them-
ered if entertainment is your machine with monitor, with or selves are considerably more
GRAPHICS first priority. without hard disk. You can buy expensive.
.ages lOr business presentation graphics;
M a n y
s o p h
i s t i c
a t e d
p
c
a
k
K & M COMPUTERS AMIGA A500 NOW IN STOCK
FOR ONLY £429
-
* LOW PRICES * FAST SERVICE *
* BIG DISCOUNT JANUARY SALE NOW ON *
Dill SPEC C 4 4 DISC AND DISC TILE ATARI ST JOYSTICKS
Sa'murkier 599 699 11.95 699 119$ WrierOlenpad88 14.95 Misted so 1 3 . 9 5
CceibelSchool 599 899 10.59 6.99 1195 0411 2495 CheemhMach1 1 3 . 9 5
Crier 1199 13.99 14.95 11* Del EuroreasPre5000 1 3 _ 9 5
1415 1 ierderol he oven 24.95 Oa:mktIiTtabo 1 2 . 9 5
599 719 11.06 6911 1195 Tenorps 1 8 . 5 0
O Al Phew Cr* 1 1 . 9 5
Rpgat
L 699 799 3196 799 II 95 BarbalansISO 1 8 . 5 0 Dinst 1 5 . 9 6
ShootEmUp
C NordABen 1 8 5 0
Cgrit9neerm161
I
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1195 94.96 - - Stemma 1 4 . 9 5
Sanskrit 5 9
OteseinotII 0 . 9 6
9
AMIGA PACK 1 INCLUDES
GaortkitII 699 799 915 799 1195 Sense 1425 Teo5 9 9 9
Amiga A500* Deluxe Paint • Workbench 1,2 •
B
e720" 799 9. 799 1195 aruler 14.96 Cheeteh126 7 9 5
1Aid:ell
y 599 6.99 10
995 69.9 1195 Gamest 14.96 Eurowo heals 1 5 . 9 $
WerewolvesolLaidon 6.99 799 10
595 7.99 1195 armed 10.95 KornSperdung 1 0 . 9 5 Very First Steps Tutorial
Zigzag 79.9 3095 - RodOctet* 18.50 Moon/Ay 5 . 5 0
Nimaus 59.9 699 1096 RyegShme 14.* Strom R ome 9 . 9 9 E429.95
Deleaks 59.9 7.99 1196 _ T1 1495 Starighter 9 . 5 0
ShaleceCoo 7.99 1195 ,herieBratame 24.95 Tie 2 1 0 5 1 )
known. Pe ro 11.99 1595 - - 41
Kreptuvre
d
11.95
kin Pickles 9 . 9 9
AMIGA PACK 2 INCLUDES
&mete 699 9.96 1.99 1195 Oueen 14.95 ACCESSORIES
a rks*
keen Fcrce
799 3199 1595
799 799 - -
P
Moabite
l
Pteo S t r i o
1850
1850
Morita Stmd 1 5 . 9 9 Amiga A500 + 1901 Colour Monitor • Deluxe Paint *
n Nike Solon 6 9 9
Gilboa! 699 699 1095 699 1095 Degas
u Eile 18.50 NiterPaperCamtw 1 1 99 Workbench 1_2* Very First Steps Tutorial
hide Cterg 69.9 699 11.96 629 1195 hberfaxd titre
n 24.95 IC Salon Rea 1 3 9 9
PhantomClub
FreddyHardest
699 619 00.09 699 1195
599 199 tO95 699 1195
litchiltersGuide 24.95 317 DiscOrmeClearer 6 . 9 9
51/4'ClicClive Clearer 5 9 9
E679.95
Jadtat 599 69.9 3116 699 1195 AMIGA OMXMwse Mats 4
Dare Socks 5.99 699 1195 - BardsTale 1850 9 5Lodubloafolir MORE PACKS AVAI LABLE, PHONE FOR DETAILS.
CationiaCarnes 699 799 11.96 7.99 1195 Lexterboard
5.9$ 59.9 11.95 699
le 50 Dile Bane
1690 lockab0 51
1 2 95
Commodore PC
AMIGA HARDWARE
Greor 1195 h - £ 4 9 9 . 0 0
Dgui 99 799 9.95 799 1125 'f,arce West TrPace 1850 4DustCorersIrmoat rracnres Arriga 2C00 £125925 £ 9 9 5 . 0 0
&pet1-13r9 799 799 1095 7.10 111$ B Pattanem ( 1855 1' DMP2160 Puller XT Bridge Card / Amiga 2000) £57325 6 4 4 9 95
Boteleip 799. 7.99 11.95 7.99 1195 The 51 Peon
X 1850 (mutant
D isc 1 5 9 . 9 5 Intefnal1 Meg Disc / Arn o 2C00) I228.85 E 1 9 9 _ 9 5
Motetsotthe timers' 5 * 7.99 11.95 7.99 119$ M ier Olympiad88 3196 Core using1:1oaor204)0 1950 1010 External Disc Drive E286.85 ( 2 5 9 . 9 5
EILD D1 .iCO VI 11.99 11.09 1695 1199 1595 0 B ' oactears 14.95 B o xII ernstad 4 4 . 9 5
suotoei Amiga internal 1 Meg Upgrade 01395 e 9 9 . 9 5
TonGreatGAMS6 7.90 7.99 1195 799 3195 Karate KittII 18.50 e s 3' Oita (10) 2 5 9 6
tersort Triangle 1 Meg Disc Drnre - £ 1 3 9 . 9 5
the mono 729 7 * 11.95 799 1125 Slargbdor 1 Cmc
18.50 31.7 2 sC6,00 (10) 1 9 5 0 Cumana I Meg Disc Drive - £ 1 3 9 . 9 5
MagrileentSeem 7.99 7.99 1195 799 1125 WelkeCarnes 3850 51.9 4 Dem
5 55.1304101 1 0 5 0 Amiga (20001 2 Meg RAM expansion £458.85 E 3 5 9 . 9 5
SoldGold 7.90 7.99 1 1 * 7,99 1415 7 ca 2405 Woven BumC4neole 9 6 9 6 Commodore 64 C pack £159.00
Garne,Set M a th 10.99 1 0 * 14.95 1099 1495 g Nni erde DOLICI 1 5 2 . 9 5 Now in stook SEGA Master Systems-C9St softvottre novi in stock
yi 14.96
&a Nett5'ol II 7.99 7.99 11.95 799 1195 Robotic&tidy e t . * PHONE FOR PRICES ON DISKS
w 11.95
ThePenn ( 11.95 1596 - 15 95 er
, mact Sega Cored. 9 5 . 9 6
Hldhittes 24.95
ktr
1 S a d o 11216
Si
2c3pPress
) IneMCI4111
Si* Press het, mewl
2995 2096 -
32_9 -
6
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20.95 ,G
4295 y
72 9 K
Cabi
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Games
Corm64Beelaowove
11.50 Com 1 9 . 9 9
1950 Sesceurn *2 1 3 7 9 9
SOUND N VISION
,d
, alettrorAet,
5please stale type
• VitenorderingtdkvoWe name aliessandphonenodposskto •
, loy min ' Al WogelidesPitchedE550kw 3(T1991• 11 Silk St, Leigh, Lancs WN7 1AW.
' price s irclude per4andpackng list a & riem!.!ent
• Drat eelardororGerdtor I s k . •EEC 6 Etacce n ye este charge •Otherovelseasadd121solosome * 0 0 ' Phone now for details - Tel: (0942) 6736139
Belehpostaicodesctsterlingchstaes•24hrs.Phooe , 069529346* ABIlek retinue.ondayotreiease • Cheques and PiOrdos payable to Sound N Vision PAP.IVAT INCLUDED
K&MCOMPUTERS,DEPTAC1,40FAIRSTEAD,BIRCHGREEN, Vsoars welcome in showroom. Send S.A_E• for price list. i s a m
SKELMERSDALE.LANCS.ViN86RD
r PINK P A GE S

MSX N Software
EXISTING BASE: reasonable. tveith
a number o f J apanes e c artridges
available Stockists now very hard to
MSX is not a computer as
such, b u t a s tandard
design incorporated into
find. a number o f computers
N Disks In brief... manufactured by a num-
CURRENT RELEASES: v ery f e w
Format: mostly 3.5 inch, a few 5 2 5
inch drives produced Mostly budget or imported. ber of (mostly) Japanese
Main strength of MSX is companies.
Capac ity 3 6 0 K formatted (3.5") ; in it s implementation o f PROSPECTS: poor. While there is
Software* m o s t l y available on disk no shortage of software worldwide,
Price o f Blank Dis k s about 0 0 . arcade games.There is a not all UK software houses include Models:
Add-on driv es y e s
Built-in n o very ac tiv e us er gr oup MSX in their plans. MSX 1 , launched 1985.
Performance reas onable M S X that par tially c ompen- no longer manufactured,
disk-drive units lend howev er t o be GAMES: s o me good arc ade titles
sates for lack of industry veell-implemented, b u t adv ent ures some models s till avail-
very expensive.
support. D e s p i t e t h e are few and far between. able a t k noc k - dow n
Graphics attractive discounting o f GRAPHICS: not much on the market prices. MSX 2 is current
Res olution 256x192 some models, t h e pur - version but machines not
Palette M S X 1 16 chase o f a n M S X MUSIC: Yamaha's now discontinued
MSX 2 256 CX5 w a s c onfi gured f o r mus ic al widely available in UK.
Colours M S X 16 machine involves a high applications: thus there are a number
MSX 2 256 degree of risk with regard of packages available
Display Pac k age: G e n e r a l l y
TV y e s
to future support and soft- keyboard o n l y S o m e
SOFTWARE FORMAT: tape, disk or
Monitor output composite video ware releases. MSX 1 models c an b e
pre-programmed games cartridge
Monitor opt ions Some manufactur- with tape predominant.
ers produced dedicated models. found with tape deck and
Monitor s upplied n o applications foremost in mind software
Performance
Sprites y e s
I Hardware Buylines Memory: MSX 1 - 32K-
Sc rolling n o MAINTENANCE: One year's guaran-
64K, MSX 2 1 2 8 K
IM Sound KEYBOARD: G e n e ra lly s t a n d a rd
raised plastic keys
tee. Return to dealer if faulty

Sound c hip A Y - 3 - 8 9 1 0 BEST BUY PRICE: MS X I can be

Speaker quality out put through TV JOYSTICK/MOUSE: Standar d j oy - picked up for as little as £20.00 these Processor: Zilog Z80
Stereo output c a n be connected to stick port. Third party mice available. days. MS X 2 is scarce, but should
cost between C100-E200. 1
external hi-fi system ! Recommended R et ail
MIDI t h ir d party interlaces available PORTS Ex pans ion bus • cartridge
Channels 3 slot • monitor output • R F TV • SECOND HAND AVAILABILITY: Price N one f o r MSX1,
it P e r f o r m a n c e g o o d Yamaha's audio * t a p e dec k * Centronic s Check small ads in computer press MSX2—E150 plus.
CX5M wa s des igned wit h mus ic al pnnter * Disk drive

ACE COMPUTER DEALERS

These i ndependent computer dealers stock copies of ACE together with a wide range of other computer products.

• S C O T L AN D Pennine TV York Computer Centre Howe Mr Disc Pro-Am Computing

5e Cavendish Street 9 Devi/gate Centre ,
622-824 Kingstana R o a d 12 Three Shires Oak Road 151 Goicuworm Road
Bowe Electronkcs Keighly York hingstandirig
ds Bearwood Welting
22 Menzies Road West Yorkshire Y01 2SV Birmingham
H o Marley Surrey
Toffy T 6
m4 4o9 R T VVMidlands
Aberdeen Worthinglons Isk:
e S t021 3542083 The Micro Shop
Scollaqd 62 Oxford Lane Lodge Se ll Serve Aird COmputer Servoas 32a Tolhouse Streei
l o r
Wardngton High Street '39 Ekoriford Road Great Vermouth
Cheshire 0
Eaton e s
John's Computer Store Fast Forward Computer Hodge Hill Norfolk
4 Graham Street Tel: 0925 56787 9
Middlesborough Store Birmingham 36 NR30 2 S0
Aird rie TS6 9.10 29 Snnilh Street Tel: 0493 842697
ML6 68U 0
Chips CompAers Tel6642 465561 Wa rwick • SOU T H
i 51-3 t , 4 Thetford Micros
Middlesborough
ntnor 8I opsoft Software Emporium 21 Guildhall Street
Mobile Micro Marketing Gleveand 6
i Eastback Street
pe 4Wellington Court Mews Complazia Magdalen Market Thetford
R o Darlington DL1 SPD 204 High Street 77-8 Magdalen Street Nertelk
B-snop Computer World UK Ltd 1 Dudley Norwich Tel: 0842 61645
a d
Elgin 208 Chorley Old Road 8
Kiosk S Book Gallery West Midlands Norfok
Morayshde Bolton 23-27 Ald e le y Road Tef: 0603 61353B I ro n ic
6
Lancs WIlmelow 144 Station Road
Tel: 0204 494304 2
Cheshire Harrow
Complazia Viking Computer
B P Micros The Snooping Mall Ardney Rise Middlesex
254 Kilmarknock Read I Colou repot Merry Hill Centre Cottongiove Road Tel 0 1 661 0036
Glasgow 236-8
- Smithdown Road Unit 148 Market Way Brie fly H ill Norwich
Cia3 2 XS l
Liverpool Arndale Centre W Mdiancts Norio* Solt Spot
L15
W SAH Manchester NR3 3 0 H 5 George Street
Tel: 051 733 1135
L 'lei- 061 834 6644 Tel: 0603 45209 Banbury
Graft ix Oaktree Oxon
u
9 Abort Place Vu Data Michelan House Computer Magic Tel 0295 68921
d
Leith Richard James 221A Old Street Gild h a il Street 24 Crown Street
o
Edinburgh 4 Finkle Street Ashton-under-Lyme Grantham Ipswich Computer Run
n
Workington Lancs 01_6 ?SR Linos Soholk 2$ Overmead Head
5
C umbria NG31 5 NJ Tel: 0473214868 Abingdon
• N OR TH S
Tel: 0946 E30903 • M I D L AN D S Chem
o GB Microlard
T&M Domestic n North Na ils Spa Computer Centre 7 Queens Parade Note to dealers
24 Markel Street Topsott 23 Outrarn Streei 22 High Street London Road If you would like to be
Kodsgrove 3 Hamblelonian Yard Sulton-in-Ashfie ki Royal Leamington Spa Waterlooville included in this iist preasE
Stoke-On-Trent Stockton on Tees Notts Warwickshire Rants teephorie Louise Cockro
Staffs Cleveland Tel 0 6 2 3 556666 CV31 1 L W Tel: 0705 259911 - on 0225 446034
i

1 1 0 AdvancedComputer Entertainment
 PINK PA GESI

SinclairSpectrum Spectrums s t rong point . a n d f e w

In brief... Spectrum software titles make much
effort in this area,
The Spectrum is primarily a

Models: P l u s (4 8 K a n d
128K); Plus 2, Plus 3
Package: Keyboard a n d
built-in tapedIclisk, p lu s jo y-
stick, selection of software.
Memory:
Plus 48K or 128K
Plus 2
Plus 3
Processor: Z i l o g Z80
Performance
games machine and should Hardware
be bought only as such. It is
Generally Iasi and reliable. Some hith- KEYBOARD: The Spedrum Plus key.
unsuitable for business use. boards are made ol hard plastic set into
erto unlores een c ompatibility prob-
lems may arise with commercial soft- with low memory capacity the casing, with a squicigy leel, The Pius
2.'3 keyboard has raised hard plastic
ware - but they haven't surfaced yet, and only a 3 2 column keys. Unhke the older model it can be
screen display. For produc- used more easily for word processing.
Graphics tivity (te, graphics and music JOYSTICKMOUSE: Non-slandard on all
Resolution 2 5 8 4 4 1 9 2
type applications) use, it is models. Suitable interfaces widely avail-
Palette 8
Colours 8 not r e a l l y sophisticated able. Compatible joystick included in Plus
2 and 3 packaging. Third party mice
Only 2 colours can be used within any enough for serious projects.
8x8 p ix e l s quare. L imit s graphic s available but mouse compatible software
potential. Utilities fair but serious users rare.
128K
128K Display will want to upgrade before
TV Y e s PORTS: 2 joystick 4. RS23.2.'Micti R G B
too long.
Monitor output R O B monitor A u d i o rt
Monitor supplied N o Expansiond.0
,, r4 TV
Performance
Options N o dedicated ArristrackSindair N u m e r i c

Recommended Retail
monitor, but any R GB suitable. Sprites
Scrolling
N
N
o
o
n
n
e
e Software
k e y p a
Speed A v e r a g e d
EXISTING BASE: Second to none
Price 4 1 .
Despite c le v e r programming. t h e
Plus n o n e ; shop around Spectrums dis play s t ill c ompares CURRENT RELEASES: Most major sod.
unfavourably wit h both the Amstrad ware firms are continuing to brog Out the
Plus 2 2 1 3 9 . 0 0 and Commodore machines. majonty of their titles on the Spectrum.
Plus 3 E 1 9 9 . 0 0
Sound GAMES: A huge number of arcade lilies
ranging from abysmal to execellent, Wide
IN Disks Sound chip A Y • 3 - 8 9 1 2
Speaker quality P lu s d r e a d f u l
range ot adventures, many Quilled.

(Plus 3 only) Plus 2 and 3 b e t t e r GRAPHICS: Fa i r selection, s ome o f

Formal 3 inch Ilippable• Channels 3 which squeezes better graphics perfor-
Price Around £3.00 MIDI P l u s 46K mance from the machine than one would
Capacity 1 8 0 K formatted per side Plus 2 . expect from the speciticabon.
Software Little as yet inon-standard
1 socket built-i4
Extra drives WI yet available ia Performance 3 . 1 2 6 MUSIC: A couple o f MIDI interlaces
Built-in Yes Poor - s ound has K nev er been t he available. plus Cheetah Specdmm drum
Y
e

STORT SOFT s

HORIEUIELLI AnLrEz,!
MAIL ORDER SPECIALISTS ATARI
osAIER 296 Brooklet, Roa d, Br ockl l y, London S.E.4 2 R A
INCREDIBLE LOW PRICES! Tel: 0 1 . 6 9 1 0 2 0 7
ALL DISKS CARRY A NO QUIBBLE REPLACEMENT GUARANTEE ARE
CERTIFIED 100% ERROR FREE & COME WITH LABELS, 5 1/4" ALSO Complete range of Atari Computer Hardware and Software also,
HAVE SLEEVES & WRITE PROTECTS FLIP SIDED DISKS HAVE 2 large range of Amiga. Sega hardware and software
INDEX HOLES AND 2 NOTCHES
Atari Mega 2 E 8 5 4 . 0 0
SPECIAL OFFER!! Atari 1040STF E 4 7 4 . 0 0
25 16.00 520STM inc. mouse, 1Mb drive, lst word E 3 5 0 . 0 0
5055
5 5 48TPI 5.25 25.00 520STFM inc. mouse. 5 meg drive E 2 8 4 . 0 0
-100
4 D
SSI S 48TPI
K S5.25" DISKS & 120 CAP LOCKING DISK BOX 39.95 Amiga 500 E 4 7 4 00
25 DS 48TPI 525" DISKS & 120 CAP LOCKING DISK BOX 17.00 Sega game consul £ 9 4 . 0 0
&
50
8 DS 48TPI 5.25 26.50 Sony MD2 DS/DD E 2 1 . 0 0
1
-100
T DOS 2I S408K S 42,00
C
-&
P A
3.5" SPECIAL OFFERS ENTERTAINMENT
P
1rI ta 21 0 Star Trek E 1 8 . 9ST 5
25 SS/DD 135TPI (NIF1 DD) & 80 or 60/90 locking disk box 35.00
L
C
505 ,SS/DD
5 2OA5 135IPI
C (MF1DD) & 00 or 60/90 locking iisk box 59.95 Trivial Pursuit E 1 7 . sr
9 5
K
25
P -. DSIDD I N135TPI (NIF2DD) &BO or 60/90 locking disk box 39.95 Chessmaster 2000 S T / A M I G A E22.45
50
G D OS/DO
I 135TPI (MF2DD) & 80 or 60/90 looking disk box 65 Barbarian S T / A M I G A E22.45
L 2 O C Starglider S T / A M I G A E22.45
D
K S
13571
5 K I
I UNBRANDED
N 10 25 50 100 500 10 in a. case Terrorpods S T / A M I G A E22.45
SS/DD
S S (MF1DD)
K 11.95 29.00 57.00 98.00 ? 00
12,95 Space Harrier S E G A E23.70
G " •
DSOD (MF2DD) 13,95 33.00 62.00 110.00 ? Choplifter S E G A E18_95
B
D &
D I
CUMANA
O 1 DRIVES The Nina S E G A E18,95
S I K
ATARI ST 1 MEGABYTE Rampage S T C 1 4 95
X
B 2
S 139.00 Test Drive S T / A M I G A £24.45
AMIGA
O 0
K 1 MEGABYTE 129.00 Out Run S E G A E23.70
NOX C
S ADDITIONAL LEADS OR POWER SUPPLY REQUIRED. All latest Atari, Amiga, Sega software in stock
A
8 LOCKING DISK BOXES Please now we can not list all software as we are currently carrying over
P
5 1/4'
1 HOLDS 50 1000 titles on the Atari range of computers
7.95 5 1/4" HOLDS 100 9 . 9 5
L
3 1/2"
2 HOLDS 40 7 . 9 5 6 0 / 9 0 (HOLDS 60 3" or 903 1/2') 9 . 9 5 All prices inclusive of VAT
O
Just Access and Visa welcome
0remitwrite for more information_ Cheques etc. payable to STOAT SOFT. (International orders
in pounds Sterling by bank draft or international money order and send amount quoted
C
Cwhich lAabe exclusive of VAT but include addelonal postage. Write for quote In any other Callers welcome Mon - Sat 10.30am - 8.00prn
currency)
K
AACCESSMASTERCARDIEUROCARDNISA = g o a t CREDIT CARD ORDER LINE -- Sun I 1.00arn - 3.00pm CLMMIE
241r answer service
0279IP 89509 24 HOURS A DAY, 7 DAYS A WEEK - VAT & PP. INC. NO HIDDEN EXTRAS -
WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU PAY. Call in and chat over a cup of coffee
N
L
G 18CROWNCLOSE,SHEERING,BISHOPS STORTFORD,
O HERTSCM227NX
D
C AdvancedComputerEnterlainment 1 1 1
IK
INK PA GES

synth Plus 2s at C139 99

IN Sound
SOFTWARE FORMAT: P lus - tape SECOND HAND AVAILABILITY: Good.
Check small ads in vanous magazines.
Channels 3
• Performance includes speech syn-
SegaMaster
System
using e xte rn a l tape d e ck; Plu s 2 - tape
using built-in tape deck; Plus 3 - tape NB: The original Sinclair 48K model can still be thesis
fusing external recorder, not supplied) found sKoortaand. It you're only interested to
and disk using built-in disk dnve
ti.e . Th ird p a rt y external d isc d rive s a re
playing games and don't mMd the rubbery key-
board, it could represent a vied invesineat
a Hardware
available for Pius and Plus 2 but no software Ensure that you gel the 48K model here is no Ports: eS R F TV, v ideo IS a u d io I
standard has been established. Disk soft- Package: console, plus
outward way of distingoishieg a from the (even game controller slots it cartridge slot
ware t o r th e se m odels I s therefore ve ry
earlier) 16K models. which are quite useless for light gun, game controller
scarce.
running contemporary software. MAINTENANCE: M a nuf a c t ur e r 's and 1 game (Hang On)
PROSPECTS: N e w releas es w i l l guarantee.
undoubtedly get fewer in number as the MAINTENANCE: A l l Amstrad-badged Software format
Spectrums have a years guarantee. If Additions of light gun and r obot
strength o f the 16-bit machines Isee make this a suitable machine for cassette no
below) grows. The user base will, howev. they go wrong within the guarantee pen-
or, last for a good couple of years yet.
od, take the machine back to the dealer y ounger c hildren.Not a t rue c om- cartridge yes
which sold it to you. For pre-Amstrad puter; re c o mme n d e d a s g a m e s smart card yes
Spectrums IPlus arid Plus 128) bought console only.
Buylines as new and within guarantee period, con.
Recommended Retail
BEST BUY PRICE Plus can now be
tact Sinclair Research
In brief... Price E 9 9
picked up cheaply as trio longer manu-
factured. Try to find a shop selling off old- Japanese software base not
stock at around £50 Curry's is offering as good as Nintendo's, but • Disks
what counts is how many Not available.
titles reach UK. Mastertronic

Atariconsoles standard Atari ioysticks.

PORTS: 2600 game controller, TV, car-

Models:
Atari XE Video
Game Console
Games System
Package
2600: console plus software
XE GS: c ons ole, software
XE GS: console, joystick,
additional keyboard, light
gun, software (3 games)
have given strong support to
machine, s o prospects are
• Graphics
Res olution 2 5 6 x 1 92
reasonable. Palette 6 4
tndge slot at VGC as 2600. with socket Display
Atari 2600 for extra keyboard in VGC as above TV y e s
Monitor options n o
1M S o f t w a r e IN S o f t w a r e
EXISTING BASE: Vast. Systems are
EXISTING BASE: H u g e fin Japan) t Sound
Atari XE compatible with ati old Atari console CURRENT RELEASES: S o m e
Channels 3
games Performance Good sound effects on
most games
PROSPECTS: G ood, b u t r a t e o f
CURRENT RELEASES: Software is still
import MI depend on machine's pop-
in production, but not in the same volume
as a couple of years ago.
ularity in UK. Because of the Yen to M Hardware
Pound c onv ers ion rat e, J apanes e
PORTS: 2 game controllers ei c ar-
software is lik ely t o remain ex pen- tridge slot
GAMES: Excellent arcade games sive.
abound: many adventures, Robust c as ing. No t des igned f o r
future expansion, Not a t rue c om-
puter: re c o mme n d e d a s g a m e s
GAMES: good range of arcade-type
GRAPHICS: very few software Some arcade adventures console only,

RecommendedRetail MUSIC: Hardly any GRAPHICS: n o t as yet • Software

Price SOFTWARE FORMAT: VCS cartridge EXISTING BASE: l a r g e
MUSIC :• n o n e
2600 E 4 9 . 9 9 only. VGC and VGS can use crIndge,
CURRENT RELEASES: well-sup-
XE GC E 7 9 _ 9 9 tape. or disk la connected) SOFIWARE FORMAT: ported by UK distributor Mastertronic
XE GS E 1 1 9 _ 9 9 PROSPECTS: Not much better than
cassette no
cartridge yes PROSPECTS: g o o d i f s upport b y
reasonable. Much depends on sales this smart card no 'Tronic a n d parent c ompany S aga
El D i s k s Christmas.
dish not yet available in UK continues

▪ Buylines
XE only: see Atari XL for details GAMES: wid e s elec tion o f arc ade
Buylines titles, generally considered to be of
high quality. No adventures. Bulk of
II G r a p h i c s BEST BUY PRICE:2600 check out
Dixon's for special offers. Console and
BEST BUY PRICE: As RRP releases currently confi ned t o c on-
Resolution etticially 320x192, 160x90 or versions of Sega coin-op games
System check for variations in packages
80x192 according to mode. Most soft- SECOND HAND: Not as yet
listed above; otherwise as RAP. GRAPHICS: none
ware is produced on a res of 160x192
Palette 1 6 MAINTENANCE: M a n u f a c t u r e r s
SECOND HAND AVAILABLITY: Good: MUSIC: none
Display guarantee
look in compJter magazines
TV y e s
Monitor supplied N o MAINTENANCE: Manufacturers guaran- Nintendo Entertainment
• Buylines
Options: W i t h Games System only BEST BUY PRICE: As RAP
tee Any problems - return to dealer.
System
MAINTENANCE;
RI H a r d w a r e
KEYBOARD Only as an extra on the XE
Nintendo Package:
Standardversionconsole,
One year's guarantee Bac k to dealer
if faulty.
Games System Of pretty good qualrly
plus game controllers, plus 1
JOYSTICKAIOUSE: All machines lake iN Disks game (Super Mario Brothers) In brief...
A disk system is available in Japan, using Deluxe version - console,
In brief... proprietary non-standard Nintendo disks game controller, light gun.
A reasonable buy if a console
The Atari range of consoles
The format provides greater memory
ROBrobot_ two games is what you want. Interesting,
capaaty and hence enhanced versions of too, because we may see
represents good value in some software (e.g. Super Mario Bros II).
more add-ons from Japan
terms of price and volume of The system is not available in the UK at Recommended Retail
software available. But note
present. Price that giv e i t extra power.
Standard model E 9 9 However, a t the moment,
that the 2600 is strictly a
games console while the
▪ Graphics Deluxe model E 1 5 9 nearly all software is Japanes
Display in origin and this is not to
VGC and VGS can both be TV Yes everyone's taste_ It remains
upgraded t o be used as Monitor options not yet supported to be seen if it will receive
Res olution 256x240
computers. Palette 52 any third-party support.

11 2 AdvancedComputer Entertainment
TURTLESOFT Check our special
deals on1040's

I11 I T URT L E PRICES ARE THE ONES TO JUDGE THE COMPETITION BY 1 I 1

11 1 ! WE ARE SURE YOU WON'T FIND LOWER PRICES AND FREE DELIVERY! 111
11 H 1 FIRST CLASS SERVICE AT FIRST CLASS PRICES 111 11
D isc D n ve s RRP Our Price
5206 -FM Keyboar o u s e . 5 meg drive 29995 259.96 isti • , Meg * dye 3 5.. ....... 169.99
520ST-FM Keytoardliloustat5 meg dr1velSM125 Mono Monitor 449.95 309.95 Curnana One Meg Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149.95 124.95
5203T-FM KeyboardWouset5 meg dr i v 1 4 549.95 Cumana 5.25 ST Drive. (CSA1COOS) -194.35 159.95
,10405T-F Keyboard/Mouse/Software only 499.95 359,95 Micro Peripherals One Meg DMre . . . . . . . . . 149.95 119.95
1040S1•F Keyboard)Mousal Meg drive/Mono Monitor 59995 47995 Alan 20 Meg Rand Disc Drive (New Modal SH205) 52295 53995
910409T•T
C1 2 2 4 Keyboarci•Mousail
C 0 1 0 4 4 Meg driverSC1224 Colour Manioc __ 999,90 669.95 apr a 204•11DHard Disc * Utilities .................................. 59995 559.95
MEGA-ST
M o n i t o r 2 Meg RarnMousaMono Monitor 99945 869.95
MEGA-ST
_ 6 94 Meg 9 RamedlouseMono
. 9 3 Monitor 1299 95 1129.95
MEGA-ST 2 Meg R 1299,95 1009.95
MEGA-ST
, 4 Meg Rwrehiouse/Coloor Monitor 1 5 9 9 . 9 5 1349.95 lt ai R a
Phillp6 CiA8.933 Colour Monitor S T lead ...... ........... - 3 2 9 9 5 27945
ani i dl ooser lPNIIps
l 0148533 CASOUr Monitor S T lead 31996 289.95
iPhilips C148852 Coiciur Monitor -4-ST lead ..... 349.95 299.95
aC Fo iFoRu rI M I l l U M High Res Mono Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Atari 149.95
Panasonic KXP•1081 PAnter, Epson corrp, NLO. 1200PS+ST lead 279.85 1 7 4 . 9 9 119,95
iM o n i A
Ii1P165 Printer. Epson corp.:vide. NIX). 165CPS•ST IOW , _ -_ 2 6 3 . 3 5 1 9 9 , 9 9 S
n1 e
t.1P135 t
o Printer.
r Epson o3mpalib4e. NLO, 136CPS*ST Sad 1 0 4 . 8 5 1 5 9 , 9 9 Discs and Things
-MP200
4 1 90 P ColE Prinier. 200CPS. Epson cowhide. NtO 40CPS _34315 2 9 4 . 9 9 • • , :a r e ty : •
klP201 136
1 1 . 1 1 1 1 Col Prillief, 200CPS. Epson compatible, NLO 40CPS _401.35 3 2 9 . 9 5 ColourAronochrome Switch (Allows 2 Monitors Connected) ...... -...... 29.99
14P480 80 Col Printer. Epson corrpalible. NLO, 480CPS-i-ST lead _424.35 3 3 9 , 9 5 9
1MP261 1132 Column Daisywheol Printer, MCP& CumeiDiabio Std _299.96 2 4 9 . 9 5 SSD° 35• Dees (10) • Lleary Case (10) - LOW LOW PRICE - 1 7 . 9 6
" : •
DSDO 3.5' Discs (1C7)-I- Library Case (101- LOW LOW PRICE - . 2 2 . 9 5
1MP401 1158 1 Column Daisywheel Printer, 40CPS. OumeiDiabio Sid -435.85 3 4 9 . 9 5 Top Quality
5 2 Branded 1 3_5" DSDD Discs (10) - LOW LOW PRICE - -27.95
1kali1 Lazar
. 1 Printer
1 (NEW) ......... ....... ......... ... ........ ... ..... ........„., ...... _1299.95 1 1 5 9 . 5 5 1
.Atari Si Sohware R e l i e d • l l
O u r Mac; ST Software R e t e Our Mari ST Software
1Arcade Adventure Straiegy P r i c e P r i c e Arced. Adventure Strategy P ( r i c e Price Business Languages Worries
110th1 r1a r e 2 4 . 9 5 16.96 aa er I • • ow nar ne 'dv• •
221B Balue Slreel 2 4 . 9 5 16_95 Lambe( Goddess or Phobos ........ _____ 29_95 20.95 Aegie Animator - 7 9 . 9 5 82.95
1 2 4 . 9 5 1095 therefor .. 1 2 . 9 5 8.99 Art Director - - 4 9 , 9 5 34,95
Attar 13.95 20.08 Back Peck . 4 9 . 0 0 35.25
Allernale Reality ..... _ ..... 2 4 . 9 9 16_95 tu 13.95 Buten Board System V2 . . -- .... ----49. 95 34.95
American Football (GFt) - 2 4 . 9 5 16,25 Marble
l Madness . - 1 9 _ 9 5 13.95 CAD-3D Vat 2.0 • Cybermile 8 9 . 9 5 62.95
Arctic Fox . _ 1 9 _ 9 5 13.95 Mean 18 Got 2 4 . 9 5 16,95 Degas Elite 2 4 . 9 5 17.96
2395 lMercenary
7 Compendium .. 2 4 . 9 5 18.95 Devpac Aasenhier (Heat) 4 9 , 9 5 34.95
Maned . 1 4 . 9 5 10.49 Millipede
H .. - 1 4 . 9 5 10.49 Digi Drum 18.25
Auto Duel 2 4 . 9 5 16_95 Mouse Trap 1 4 , 9 5 10.49 Emy r)(8012 - . 7 9 . 9 5 58-95
Backlash_ 1 9 . 9 5 13.95 o
Ogre . 2 4 . 9 5 16,95 Easy Draw 2 General Liman, .,..........- 29.95 20.95
Barbarian _ 2 4 . 9 5 16.95 r
Otticasi 9 . 9 9 6,99 Easy Draw 2 Tectink:all Library ____--29.95 20.95
Bards Tale . 2 4 . 9 5 16.95 Clui
r Run (Dec 87)- P h c c i e Phone Fast Assembler 1 9 . 9 5 13,95
16.95 Passenger on the Wind 2 4 , 9 5 16.95 Fast Basic (C4wiredge) - - - . .... -. . . . . - 8990 64.95
Banterone 1 4 . 9 5 10.49 o
POW 2 4 , 9 5 16.95 Fast Basic (Disc) - 4 4 , 8 5 32.95
Boulderdash ConstnettiOn S e t. -- 2 4 , 9 5 16.95 Perry
r Mason ____„„____ ........ _ 1 9 . 9 5 13.95 Film Director 5 8 95 41.95
Brave Starr (Dec 87) P h o n e Phone phantasla II or Ill 2 4 . 9 9 16.95 First Word Plus _ 7 9 . 9 5 5695
Bridge Player 2000. 1 9 3 1 5 13,95 2 16.95
Pinball Factory . - Flash (Comms Program) - 3 9 . 9 5 2745
Bureaucracy 3 4 . 9 9 2'3_95 9
Pirwe ol ther Barbary Coot . - 12.95 0.99 Fleet Strut Publisher - 115.00 8995
Csean America (Nov irt) _ Phone Phone Plums - 1 4 9 5 10.49 OFA Basic Interwar:sr . 4 5 . 9 5 32_95
,
Championship Baseball- . 24.99 16.95 Portal (Soon) .. _ 3 4 99 23,95 GFA Compiler (Needs Intend.) 4 5 . 9 6 32.95
Charlie Chaplin (Nov 87) __-_____„, Phone Phone Prohbakin
9 1 1 1 E 1 5 13.95 GFA Draft . 99.95 89.95
Chess (Non) 2 4 . 9 5 1695 Ring
9 of Zein (Soon)._ 2 4 99 16.95 CiFA Vector 3 4 . 9 5 23.95
203)5 R 16.95 GST C Compikw . 5 9 . 9 5 41.95
Crafton & Xunit . _ 1 9 95 o

13.95 a
d Roadww 2000 - 2 4 . 9 9 18.95 iconis Midi Software Sequencer - - - 249.95 219.95
Cryital Castles 1 4 , 9 6 10.49 r
u
n
Rogue . . ... 2 4 . 9 5 18.95 K Spread 2 7 9 . 9 6 56_95
Damocles (Mercenary II) _____ ........ Phone Phone n
e Sentinel 1 9 . 9 5 13_95 K-Corren 2 4 9 . 9 5 3615
Derdhstrike 1 4 . 9 5 1049 r

Shanghai - _ 2 4 . 9 9 16.96 K-Data 4 9 95 36.95

Deep Space 3 4 . 9 5 23,95 Shwd OSpring (Soon) - - - - - - ...... -24.99 16.95 K-Graph 2 - - - .......... .....- ........ _-___49-95 36.95
Wender of the CAVOM(Soon) 29. 95 2095 Shuttle II .. ..... -.... ....... ....... .... .............- 2 4 . 9 5 18.95 K-klinstrel ....... . .......... - - - _ ... _ .... --- 29.95 2095
Drea Vu (Soon) 2 9 . 9 5 2095 Sdewalk - 1 9 . 9 5 13_95 K-Rogell _ 4 9 , 9 5 36.95
Diablo _ 1 4 . 9 5 10.49 Silent Sarvico 2 4 . 9 5 16.95 K-Word 2 5 9 . 9 5 41.95
Eden Blues 2 4 . 9 5 16.95 Silicon Dreams _ 19.95 13,95 Lattice C Ver 304 (MCC) ........9 9 . 0 5 69,96
13_95 Skuildiggery 1 9 . 9 5 13.95 Lisp (MCC) 1 4 9 . 9 5 114.95
F-IS Seiko Eagle 2 4 95 16.95 Sky Fox . - 1 4 . 2 5 10.49 Macro Assembler (GST) 3 9 . 9 5 27.95
Fahrenheit 451 ..... - - - - - _ - _ _ „ 1 2 4 5 13.95 16,95 Macro M a ori:Aa r (MCC) - ............ .........4 9 .9 5 3696
Flight Sim Scenery Disc 11 . - 2 4 . 9 5 1695 Soace Outwit - 2 4 . 9 9 16.95 Macro Manager 2 0 9 5 20.95
Flight Sim Scenery Disc 7 2 4 . 9 5 16.95 Schee 40 (Soon) . . . . . . . -- ....... .....-- 19.95 13.95 Maps and Legends ....__ ...... _,... ...... ---29.95 23.95
Flight Simulator li , _ 4 9 _ 9 5 35_95 Star Glider - 2 4 . 9 5 16.95 Module 2 (Developers) 1 4 9 . 9 5 11415
Football Fortunes(111Clough) • 2 4 , 9 5 1695 Star Radom 1 4 . 9 5 10,49 Moduis 2 (Standard) ,.. 9 9 . 9 5 73.25
Gaur4144 2 4 . 9 9 10.95 13,95 Music Studio____ ....... -... ...... - - - 2 9 _ 9 5 20_95
GlturItist II (Soon) _ ...... .„ ..... - - - 24.99 16.95 Slationfall .. 2 9 , 9 9 20,95 Palmwods . 3 4 _ 9 5 23.96
Gokien Path 1 9 . 9 5 1395 Sinks Force Harrier . 2 4 , 9 6 16.95 Publishing Partner - - - - - - - - - - - - 159_95 11996
Gokirunnet 2 4 . 9 5 16,95 Sub Banks Simulator 2 4 . 9 9 16.95 12996
Guld of Thieve' . 2 4 , 9 5 16.95 Super Cycle _ 2 4 . 9 5 16_05 Sage Accountani Plus . 2 2 8 . 9 5 169_95
Hades Nebula . 1 9 . 2 5 13.95 Super Huey 1 9 9 9 13.95 Sage Elookkosper 1 1 3 . 9 5 84_95
Hard Ball 16.95 18.95 Saved (Hisott) 2 9 _ 9 5 20_95
Hitchhikers Guide - - - ........... . . . . . . . . . 2995 2096. 13.95 Signumi Z ) 3 1 1 0 189.95
Hollywood Hilins . 2 9 . 9 9 2095 Tar-Pen . . 19.95 13.95 ST Data Manager T h e s e three 7 9 . 9 6 46.95
Hollywood Strip Poker ...._ ... - - - _ _ , 1045 1395 Teas Tim84 . 2 4 . 9 5 18.95 ST SwetCalc P r o g r a m s 7 9 9 6 56.95
Indiana Jones . . 19.95 13.95 Terrorpods . .24.95 18.95 ST Word W t 56.95
iniernational Karaie . 1 9 9 9 13.95 Tracker _ 2 4 . 9 5 16.95 Stan Magazine (Disc) Only 1 2 _ 9 5 11,95
!nip the Eagles Nest . 1 9 9 5 13,95 Trirla Challenge . 1 9 . 9 5 13.95 .
STuft 2 4 , 9 5 16,95
Jewels of Darkness ...-- .......... ... ...... 19.95 13.95 Trivial Pursue ..... ...... . . . . . . . . . 1 9 . 9 5 13.95 &
ST-DoctorJ ..... . ............... _____ ....... .....-- 19,95 13.95
Journey into the Lair (V/Dlec) 9 9 . 9 5 79.95 16.95 SI-Replay 56.95
Turbo GT i 5.96 10.95 ISuper e (Sound Swnpling)
n tConducive 7 9 . 9 5
Joust.. 1 4 . 9 5 10.49 4 9 . 9 5 36.95
1049 Winier Games - 2 4 . 9 5 16.95 g r a t (Database) --- ...... ______-- 9995
Superbasa 73.95
Kasai° Kid Part II -______ 2 4 , 9 5 16.95 Wrier Wart (Nov 87) P h o n e Phone Trenbaaa 8 9 . 9 5 69.95
e
KingsOuest III 2 4 . 9 9 16.95 Wizards Crcmn (Soon) .--...-..-____24_99 16.95 Ilmeworks DTP (New) 9 9 . 9 5 74.95
3.95 Woad Gams ..... ....... _______ 2 4 , 9 5 16.95 7 9 179.95
VIP Professional (GEM) ...... ..... ..- ..... 228.85
1)444 1695 16.95 -
Zoornracks
9 2.. .............. . . . . . . ----- ....... 69.95 4745
1 5
Of All prices include VAT at 15% and delivery anywhere on the UK mainland
Bo How to order - Post: Send cheques, P.O. or Visa/Access details to the address below.
a r Phone: Call 0476 60488 24 Hour Service with your Access/Visa details.
d A000In Tu rtl e so ft Dept. AST, 35 Brook Street Courtyard, Grantham, Lincs, NG31 GAY
. . . Subject to availability, all items are despatched within 24 hrs. M E
. . . Cheque orders require 7 days clearance. Just because you don't see it - doesn't mean VISA
A . . .
M . we haven't got i t - phone for more details
A .
.
.

A D B R O K E
The leading North West
ATARI Specialist ATARI Dealer & C O M P U T I N G
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
DEPT ACE
33 OrmskIrk Road
Preston, Lancs. PRI 201
T e3 l : (0772) 21474 (1 tine)
( 0Bul/Board
7 7 2 ) 203166 (5 lines)
(0772) 21474 A T A R I
Som to gam

This Company has given years of full support to ATARI users Countrywide from their retail shop
premises at Ormskirk Road, Preston. Now from their NEW Mail Order Depot they can offer the same
Excellent service to all Mail Order Customers.
All Software and Hardware is fully tested prior to selling. This ensures Customers receive working items
so that returned goods, and all the attendant frustration are a thing of the past. All Hardware is
supported by our own 'ON SITE' engineers, therefore quick turn round on all repairs is Guaranteed.
All prices quoted are fully V AT inc. and there are no 'hidden extras', what you see is what you get.
Prices include delivery. Phone for latest Prices/Releases.

520STM Packages P H O N E /11111111111g111\

ST F'S 31/2 D/S 5% D/S

D/D DiD 46TPI
Per Disk fl .99 £ 0 . 8 0
10 Disks £ 1 6 . 0 0 E6.50
10 Disks+Plastic
lib case ...C17.50 E7.50 520STFM+Mouse
100 Disks 4-Cases .E150.00 £60.00 +Softwr £ 2 8 5 . 0 0
500 Disks +Cases .C650.00 ....f 280.00 520STFM+Mouse
1040STF+Mouse +Softwr
+S o f All Disks are covered by an +1 Meg Upgrade £ 3 5 0 . 0 0
1040ST F+Mouse unconditional lifetime guarantee. 520STFM Mega Pack
-
+Hi-Res Mon 520STFM+Mouse
t+Softwr
wr f 5 8 0 _ 0 0 +Softwr
f
1040STF+Mouse +1Meg Upgrade
4-Colour
4 Mon +1Meg 2nd Drive € 4 8 5 . 0 0
+Softwr
8 E 7 8 0 • 0 0 Equal to 1040STF+1/2Meg Drive
We also stock a full range of quality +Modulator
0 P/D ST Software at £3.99 per Disk
. Send SAE for catalogue. For Med Res Col Mon add £ 2 9 9 . 0 0
0 For High Res Mono Mon ad d f 129.00
1Meg Upgrades are available for the
520STM. 0These are our own design HMI All Hardware is covered for 12 months
and are very simple to fi t. AM! by our service dept. and is tested
Using the same board, all ST's can be prior to delivery to assure satisfaction.
Upgraded to 2mg or 4mg. So no need
to sell your 520 just Upgrade to a Our ATARI trained engineers will
Mega ST using our board. repair all Hardware in minimum time
at competitive rates. Please ring for a
1Meg Upgrade (STFM) 0 0 . 0 0 quotation. All repairs carry a 90 day
1Meg Upgrade (All ST's)+Board E150.00 warranty.
Upgrade Boards. fl 20.00 We have a complete range of Software
2.5Meg Upgrade +Board P H O N E in stock and fully tested.
NEWLY IMPORTED
4Meg Upgrade 4-Board P H O N E
Imager. Easily fixed to your printer We also stock a full range of ATARI
If any of the above Upgrades are it will digitise anything placed in the 8Bit Hardware and Software including
purchased with Hardware then deduct printer and save to Disk to be used the new XE range. Please ring for prices
£5 from total.
with Dega, Elite etc. RRP £99.99.
All Printers, Disk Drives etc supplied
PERIPHERALS
with cables etc. NO HIDDEN EXTRAS Triangle lmg D/Drive £139.00
All Hard Disks come with Utilities to E229.00
Triangle 2x1mg D/Drive
cure the 40 Folder problem + Backup Pro Draw Graphics Tab' E299.00
Mega ST's P H O N E
Utilities, Fast Read Write etc. Lazer Printers P H O N E Cumana 1Meg D/Drive £139.00
00
PC Clones P H O N E All Drives come complete with Software
PRINTERS
Dot Matrix DUST COVERS HARD DRIVES
Star NL10 E 2 4 0 . 0 0 Computers 0.99 Atari 20mg £560.00
NL1 0 Sheetfeeder E 5 5 . 0 0 Monitors f 4 99 Triangle 20mg Hard Disk £575.00
National Panasonic P H O N E Disk Drives £2.99 Supra 20mg £550.00
MP165 P H O N E Printers 0.99 30Meg (Cumana) £699.00
MP135 P H O N E 40Meg (Triangle) 099.00
LX86 Tractor Feed £ 1 9 . 0 0 IF I T S AVAILABLE we have it!
LX86 Sheetteeder £ 5 5 . 0 0 Send SAE for full catalogue. Any Software problems? Queries?
L0800 24pin DIM £ 5 2 5 . 0 0 give us a ring we usually have the
All Others P H O N E All Dedicated books and mags in stock answer

TO ORDER Simply send, or phone your order, stating Full Name, Address, FOR MORE INFO CALL ON THE
Visa or Access Nos, Cheque or Money order. Make payable to Ladbroke ABOVE NUMBERS OR SEND SAE
Computing International, 33, Ormskirk Road, Preston, Lancs. PR1 2QP. AND STATE FULL REQUIREMENTS
 PER1PHERALS
PINK PA GES

BUYERS
GUIDE
Whichever computer you own, there will come a time when your mind
turns to expanding your system. Whether you decide you need to improve
on the current set-up, perhaps with a faster data storage medium, or better
screen display, or whether you want to add extra features such as a
modem or a printer, the list of available peripherals is bewildering.
This ACE buyers guide concentrates on a selection of add-ons: the
most popular, the best value for money, the most useful. Check it out
before you part with your cash, and you shouldn't be disappointed.
The prices we've quoted here are recommended retail prices includ-
ing VAT. It's worth noting that many dealers sell add-ons at special offer
prices - printers, particularly. Before going out to buy your peripherals,
check advertisements in computer magazines or local newspapers for a
possible best buy price.

Printers they have also been expensive,

One other printing technique is
thermal transfer. Here the printing
Comment Generally considered an
excellent value for money and versa-
tile printer
Print head 9 - p i n

Characters per second

dot matrix

ribbon is waxed, and the pins heated, draft 1 2 0 cps max

The number of printers on the market SO that the melted wax is imprinted Commodore MPS near letter quality 3 0 cps max
on to special thermal paper. Print
is bewildering, and pnces range trom 1200
El 15 tor the very basic Samleco DT quality tends to be poor, and you Print styles
would be much better off looking at Connector
80 up to inkjet and laser printers Pica, Elite. italic (only available using
dot matrix or daisywheel models Designed to fit Commodore 64's non-
costing El 000s for heavyweight busi- parallel or serial cartridge), con-
Printers also vary in the style, or standard socket
ness use densed. proportional spacing
The home user really has two font, used in the fi nished hard copy.
Nine pin dot matrix printers will print Print head 9 - p i n dot matrix Price E 2 7 8
choices - between dot matrix printers
and those with daisywheels A dot in a simple style which uses as few Comment Interface for C64
dots as possible to make up the let- Characters per second
matrix model prints, setf-evidentally
as a series of dots to make up each ter, known as Pica, Extra features, draft 1 2 cps max
letter. Most cheap dot matrix printers such as italic, emphasised, or con• near letter quality 2 4 cps max Centronics G I S
use a matrix of 9x9 or 11x9 pins to densed type will often be available, Connec tor Cenlmnic s and AS 232
depending on the sophistication 01 Print styles Pica. Elite. co.pressed.
produce the dots - known as 9-pin.
The print quality is acceptable the model. In near letter quality emphasised, double strike, expand- Print head 9 - p i n dot matrix
mode, most machines will print in a ed, double strike, italic, underlined,
but on some of the very cheap mod-
els you may not gel true descenders: style called Elite. Again, other type- reversed, super- and subscripts Characters per second
the tails of the letters g, y, and j, for styles may be offered. draft 5 0 cps max
Price E 2 5 0
example may not properly extend near letter quality 2 5 cps max
below the line of print Printers using Panasonic KXP-1081
Comment Considerable iimprove-
a matrix comprising more pins - usu- Connec tor C e n t r o n i c s Print styles P i c a , Elite
ment over the older MPS801, which
ally 24 -giv e a much better print
did not have true descenders: repre-
quality, but inevitably cost more - Print head 9 - p i n dot matrix Price 1 2 0 0
starting at around E250-E300. sents a better buy than the similarly
Characters per second Comment slim Compact printer giv-
Daisywheels have each avail- draft 1 0 0 cps max priced MPS1000 ing good value for money.
able character etched on to a print near letter quality 2 5 c p s max
head - the daisywheel itself rotates Star M A O Citizen 12013
to print each character. Print quality Print styles P i c a , Elite
Connec tor C e n t r o n i c s , Connec tor C e n t r o n i c s .
is good but daisywheels are notori-
R5232. Commodore R5232 and Commodore;
ously noisy and slow. Until recently Price E 2 4 5
choose which one when buying.

AdvancedCompute(Entertainment 1 1 5
r PINK P A GE S

-41
-
Price E 2 4 99
Appearance traditional stick with
15 grip rrioulded shaft Comment Cheapest for
Commodore and supports most soft-
g fi Mec hanis m l e a f switches on direc-
tional movement: blister swyclhes on
ware,

1 r
-
firing

Price 18 95
C-Lab
Machine Commodore 64

7
MIDIinterlaces Sockets IN. OUT and THRU

1 1
1 -
•
,
The computer cab be used to control
and redefi ne your musical composi-
Extras

Software Supertracks package

built-in
Software

Print head 9 - p 1
.

i n dot matrix Competition Pro •

•
•
•
• tions with the aid of a MIDI (Musical
Characters per second 1 5000 •
r
Instrument Digital Interlace) connec- Price E 1 9 9 with built-in software:
tor. One micro, the Atari ST, already £99 as stand alone
draft 1 2 0 cps max Connec tor A t a n standard
near letter quality 1 has MIDI interfaces built-in, all others
2 5 cps max
Fire buttons 2 on base only need a third party device. MIDI is a Comment Arguably the best inter-
Print styles 1 standard form of transmitting music face for Commodoies comes closest
Autof ire n o data, serially between different to providing professional sequencing
10 pitch Pica. 12 pitch Eiffel. expand-
.
ed, compressed. emphasised, dou-
instruments, one of which can be facilities
ble strike Appearance two versions. one with your computer.
1 clear plastic base so that you can see ElectroMusic Research
Price E 2 0 7 all the innards and workings. Machine S p e c t r u m ,
Amstrad
Comment slim compact printer giv- Mechanism m i c r o s w i t c h e s CPCs,
ing good value for money MSX,
Price E I S A * BBC
Amstrad D MP2 0 0 0
Quickshot II Tur bo Sockets I 1 4 , OUT, THRU
Connec tor C e n t r o n i c s Connec tor A t a r i standard
Extras Software
Print head 9 - p i n dot matrix Fire buttons 2,
both on shaft Software Good range of software
Characters per second available, including sequencers and
draft 1 0 5 cps max Autotire y e s Cheetah patch editors
near letter quality 2 0 cps Machine Spectrum
Appearance traditional. design with Price E 9 9 with software
Print styles grip-moulded shaft Rubber suckers Sockets I N . OUT, THRu
Pica, Elite, condensed, double width on base Comment Not ternfi cally ambitious,
Extras S o f t w a r e but EMR is one of the few British
Price E 1 5 9 Mechanism microswitches companies supporting the 8-bit
Software Eight track recording (real
Comment sold and promoted by micros
time or step time) software included
Amstrad for its CPC range; actually Price El 4 95 Price E 4 9 . 9 5
compatible with any computer with Skyles Electric Works
standard Centronics interface.
Comment Good value for money Machine C o m m o d o r e Amiga
Compatible with Cheetah Specdrum
drum synth Sockets IN, OUT two THRUs

Joysticks )(RI Mic on Extras none

Machine Spectrum Software none built-in
With most of today's micros, paysticks
can be plugged straight into the Sockets I N , OUT, THRU Price E35-E50
Atari-standard Joystick port on the
machine: notable exceptions being Extras sync IN and OUT: operates
Comment software is still scarce on
the BBC range and both Sinclair and on 24 pulses per quarter note
Arnstrad Spectrums. For the latter. the ground for the Amiga. check out
Software not provided, but good also Daters Amiga interface at
you can either use the joysticks sup-
plied with the machine, or connect range available separately around the same price
your own favourite via an interface.
It's virtually impossible to recom-
mend a particular type or brand of
joystick, so much depends on your
Price E49 95

Comment slightly better specifica-

Modems
own personal preferences. Almost
Konix Spe e d King tion than Cheetah above.
Connec tor A t a r i standard With a modem your computer can
certainly though you will be looking
for something sturdy and durable, access the outside world, either
with easily accessed fi re buttons, and Fire buttons onemore of a lire strip sending or receiving data from anoth-
a positive teel to the directional really. Srtuated to either right or left er modem-equipped computer, or
movements I f you're left-handed, hand side of base, depending on from any number of Bulletin Boards
check before you buy that the fire whether you buy a right or left hand- or public databases, such as Prestel
ed version
buttons aren't designed for right han- with its home user section Micronet
ders 800. or Compunet,
Autotire n o Along with the modem itself, you'll
Suncom TAC 5 also need software to interpret the
Appearance unusual in design: base data transmitted or received. Some
Connec tor A t a r i standard is designed to be hand-held only. modems are now produced with
appropriate software built-in, which is
Fire buttons 3 . 2 on base, one on
top of shaft
Mec hanis m r i s c r o s w i t c h e s Datel convenient, but makes their uses
Autof ire Machine Commodore 64 less fl exible, for many you'll need to
Price 1 2 99 buy software separately
Sockets IN, OUT, and THRU
Appearance;sturdiness lightweight, Cheetah 1 2 5 Plus Pace N ightinga le
very positive feel, non-slip rubber
pads on base Connec tor A t a r i standard E WE ' S Roland sync Machine a n y with RS232 interlace
Mechanism m i c r o s w i t c h e s
Fire buttons 4 1 wo on base, two on Software Not provided but wide
shaft Baud rate V 2 I (300;300);
Price E 1 3 99 variety of existing software is com- V23 ( 1 2 0 0
patible, including Rainbird's ,
Autof ire yes Advanced Music System Auto- features
7 5auto-dial, auto-
-
7 5 1
1 1 6 Advanced Computer Entertarnmeni 2 0 0
 PINK PA GES

answe optional extras at £49

Software

Price E 9
n

1
o

3
t

. 9
built-in

0
Miracle WS4000
Machine a n y with RS232 interface

Baud Rate V 2 1 (300/300)

TURTLESOFT
AM I G A H AR D W AR E A R P
OUR
PR I C E
V23 (120075: 7511200) Army ASDOKpyboatd,Mows0D,0o - 4 9 9 99 4 4 9 . 9 5
1200: t 200 Ansga ASCIO + A510 Moduatcr 5 1 4 98 4 6 9 . 9 5
Comment good inexpensive entry
A m p ASOO + Philos 8513 Colour Mmrtor 3 1 9 9 4 7 0 9 .9 5
level modem for accessing Prestel, Auto- features: autodial, autoanswer Arraga A500 4
Telecom Gold. independent Bulletin included - N aASOO
Arroga r a + Cumin CAX 154 Second 3 Sin Drive ...........6 4 9 9 4 5 5 9 .9 5
Boards etc. Nightingale is packaged 8 8
Am 3
ga A500 + C unsan 15 in Drive + Plraps 8533 Colour M oon, 9 3 9 8 9 0 1 9 .9 5
with Cominstar viewdata and termi- 3
An-iga A500 + C uman 19 in Drive + Phitra 8813 Colour Monne
Software n o n e built-in
nal software on disk or Rom as ,S t 9e 7 9
r e 9o
6
Cornmstar CPC for Amstrad comput- Price * * All Amiga ASOO come with a FREE Sports Ba g. GFL Football, Baseball & Golf * *
E172 50 C
1 o1 2 9 _ 9 5
ers (E158.85). Similar package for l *o * As we ll as De lux Pa int, Basic, Workbe nch, U tilitie s, Manuals and Tutoria l * *
Amstrad PCWs al El 58.41, and o r
Comment Hayes compatible, OU R
813Cs at £98.90. AMM IG o A PER I PH ER AL S R R P PR I C E
includes speed bufterng n iA1010 Second 15n 880k Dim Drive 1 Al 002 or AS001
Amiga 1 4 9 . 9 5 2 0 9 .9 5
t
Cumarta o CAX 354 80014 Dove 1.5in rAl 03 or A5001 1 4 9 95 I 19.95
r
Anna 41084G:dm. Morator N OW MODEL I 3 1 9 9 5 1 3 9 .9 5
8
Philos C M883 3 Stereo Colmar Monitor + Lead • 3 2 9 952 7 9 9 5
3
Philips C M8531 Colour Monitor + Lead 119 95 2 6 9 . 1 1
9
Phil's CM8852 Colour M ower + Lead Pi9 95
9
Arras) A511 riodOatim J o Connect E ON) - 2 9 9 . 9 5
4
A m p ASO1 5 12ki 10406 RAM upgrade * clock _I 2
7
Panasonic IC/CP.1081 Printer. Epson Codes N LO I 20CPS + lead 2 7 1 , 95 1 7 4 . 9 9
1
Im 4
9P i 65 Pnnter. EpsonCI:mg:061%1e N LO. Draft I 6 5
C
MP 3 3. 5
. Pi 15
S Pnnter,
4 - Epsonl e Compatible.
a n NLO. Draft I 3SCP5 + lead 1 9 1 1 5 9 ,9 9
_9
14200 80 col Prener.11141CPS Erarm Codes IM IQ 40(P5 + lead , _ 3 4 3 , 8 3 2 9 4 ,9 4
25
M92111 i 36 Eol6P rnter. 1COCPS
3 Epson Coats N i p 40C95 + lead 4 0 1 8 35 3 2 9 . 9 5
3
MP480 SOcol Printer 5 Epson Codes. NIC/ 480c95 + lead 4 7 4 ) 99
5 3)995
1
M926 9
1 37 cokann 9
Daisywheel .
Printer, 9 1- lead
26CPS - 5. 299 95 2 4 9 . 9 5
9
MP40 1513 Column Daisywheel Printer, 40CPS + - d
a
le "
Midi Master Interlace 1 State Al OW or A5001 . • 24 13499
5 05 12499 1
. 955
OSDO 3 Sin Discs + Library Case 1101 - LOW LOW PRICE . 2 2 2; 951 4 . 9 5
Quaky Br i m a 5OSDO Ones 0( 6 - LOW LOW PRICE
1
e
d
n 2 79 . 9 5 1 1 1 9 S
Pace Linne t 5

Monitors
OU R
SPEC I AL S ( L im it e d St o ck)
Machine any with RS232 intertace Arriga A1091 coicur monno, „ _ 34 5
Commodes'e 0120 + Tape Recorder + a.stmit + sottararn 1
Baud rate V 2 1 (306300) Ccownodoe 640 Sports Pack 164C. I 5/0. Pk Sports Sag. 5 Gamma , . . 29
V23 ( 1 2 0 0 . 7 5 1 199
Commodore 640 C ops c i r r i , 6 9 1
Using the television with your com- 11
12001200 terminal to modem 69
Commodore 1530 1 Tape Recorder 4 4 9 - 9 : 34
puter is convenient, but a monitor will ,9 9.9
Commodore 15410 New D K Dim" + FREE GE05 + 10 dna 1 9 - 9 , 9 9 196 9 9$
give you a much sharper, more 99 2 2 4 . P.9 9 9 I 9.95
Auto- features Commodore 64 Mouse II Software (NE05i -
detailed display. However, monitors 1 , 51 5
auto-dial, auto-answer built-in 2 OUR Roadwar 2000 7 9 9 P3 5 5 2 0 . 9 3
start at around E200, and il may be AM9 I GA 5 0 0 Shanghai 1 4 9 9R 1695
Software hard to justify that sort of outlay. One Adventure
,9 9 COoStructl I
solution is the TV cum monitor, a AnsarKan
-19 0 0 0 Football . 2 4 9 5 1 6 . 9 5 5, 5i s m „ , : m e r.„ ,..,„ „ 2 9C 9 5 2 0 9 5
none built-in: uses AT commands television with RGB socket, which ,5n n a Karate
A 19.95 1 3 . 9 5 rt Sky Fighter 4 9 E 9
G A M
will directly connect to an Amstrad 25 Fox
Aruc 9 9 1 9 95 1 3 98 le
Price E 1 6 3 . 3 0 E S
Arenatrataccias
5 Pack 3 4 . 9 5 2 3 . 9 5 59K n Fox
Sky e lane 1 4 9LS 1
CPC, Spectrum or Atari ST. The 14 U
Balance
1 0ciPower
. .• 2 9 . 9 5 2 0 . 9 $ Spaceport
4
6 1 9 991 3 9 5
inch screen Ferguson TX 14, and 16 P
Barbarian
9 5 2 4 95 1 6 9$ Spate d 9 9Ranger
D 999 6 . 9 9
Comment Hay es compatible; inch screen Hitachi CPT 1646 are Bards Tale 2 4 95 1 6 . 9 $ Star
P R t 9 Cal%der
4
includes 2K memory for Basebal 2 4 . 9 9 1 6 .9 5 S Super Huey 2 99
both widely available from TV shops. I
Basketbas C
numberidesatption storage with bat- E
24.99 1 6 9$ 1 e 9 95
Most Sony Trinitrons include a Bureaucracy 3 4 . 9 9 2 3 9$ T 2
tery back-up. 4
n . 1
euro-connector which will give you Otessrnaster 20010 . . . . . . 24 S
9
Te
o r v e of Apelma Trilogy 1 1
an RGB display with the right lead - 9 5 1 Factory
Cnunch 6 . 9 5 9 . 9 9 6 • 9 9 'm Terrorpods 9 24,956 . 6 95
Miracle WS2 0 0 0 make sure you get a full 21-pin lead. DeepSpate 3 4 . 9 5 2 3 9$ se 9 4 9 36 7 9
Delenaer of Cmern 2 9 95 2 0 95 1 w 19 99
Machine a ny with RS232 or RS432 These TVs are all available lot rental 2 : 9 2 0 95
Deja Yu 2 9 95 2 0 .1 5 i g V 1 OUR
iitertace at most major rental companies. if 4 5
Dentohoop 9 . 9 9 6,99 1 AMIGA
xl 500110013 BUSINESS1 RRP SPRICE
you preter to rent rather than buy a Dablo 1 9 95 1 3 9S 9 "8
e
Aegis Anirnatonlmages 6
Baud Rate 300 television. OR Fruit 9 9 9 6 9 9 1
Aegis 33 50 0 1199
Faerrale Aramaean , t Artpak
1 1 0 95
120075
, .6
Aegis Digital IComms SaWara) 8 91 9 5 4695
, he Final Trip 9 , 9 9 6 9 9 a
75:1200 a
Aegis Draw 6 8 92 3
300 Flir
* . t Simulator
. . . . II 4 9 . 9 5 3 7 95 9 rs 59
Hight
4 Sen9Scenery Doc 1 4 95 1 6 9$ 5 d
Ae
s • 6 5M 1 2 5 S I 9$
Auto- features none Fund
9 ............ 9 9 9 65 "'
A4
Goadronner
9
$ 1 4 . 9 3 1 6 95 i 5
g
Aegis
Ae
r gis-54rams
s YiettoScape I D 1 4
GO1
1 1 4 95 2 1 9 5 5
Software none built-in 3
Guild
7 of Throes 1495 1 6 95 C tr
g
5
r 9
c
im
3
r
b r 5
Kings Qo m III
9 3 4 99 1 6 , 9 5 Oeluv, MuSic Construction 1
,-
9 94 9 95 2 7 . 9 9
Price E124.20 HicierI
5 I
Hardball . .
1
1
6
6
95
95 7
i o d Assembler
Devpat
s
w
OtgiPaina
6 5 $54 1 1s
Hitchhikers Gude 1 g9
5 5 94 9 9 5 3995
7 9 7 9 2095
Comment v ery well-built modem for
the price
14011yAmod1-16ins 2 1 9 9 2 0 .9 5 9 r Instant
n
I
5
lit-Seka
9
e Musc 4 , 9
C 6 L5, 681/00 Assembler ;9
14ollywood Strip Realer . . . . . 1 1 9 5 1 3 .9 5 1 Lattice
I r s i C 'Standard) MCC 1899 9$ 1 3 9 9 5
Impact
k.araplegruppe
4
2
9
9
5 1 0 49 S
99 1 0 . 9 5
m 9
Lattice
a 9 s C 10c0eloyesi MCC •
9
o
Matirmider II
299.9 95 2 4 9 9 5
p 9
1 6 95 ro
Micronet modem offer Karate K idP ir tl
knig ol Ch0agot'Soonl
1 4
2
, 9
9
5
95 2 0 95 m ,, MCCMMacro A m a in* , ...... 69
n O to
35 95 6 9 95
Knee Om . 9 1 5 1195 ,34c
l O 4 9 46 9$3 8 . 9 5
Land oil legends i Soon . . . . . . P h o n e P hone Modtiik 1
Micronet BOO is currently offering new annual subscribers a tree modem: the 14(
2
- 1 2 i,Standard) 9 9 91 95 7 7 . 9 5
leadeaboffd i Not A5001 . . . . . . . 1 4 99 1 6 95 Module c
VT)( 5000 for Spectrum owners, the Modem 2000 tor those with other 4 2 'Developers) - I 4995
9' 1 1699
Leatierboard Iournarmitt . . . . . 9 9 9 6 9 9 Must P 4S udo
C 69
machines. Both modems operate at 1200.75 baud iviewdata) and 1200/1200 Leather Goddesses . . . . . 3 4 9 9 2395 ,l 9
54 9 i34
99
halt duplex for user to user communications. Marbac Madresss . . . . . - 1 9 9 5 1 1 9 5
P ,9
u, 1 9 1 1 055 3 1 0 4 95
Mean 18 Gok 1 9 9 5 2095 t a %fide!,5
P
PAL 9
P Dtso t0 0 , 1 25
Mouse Trap 1 4 9 5 1049 1c 1
1
On the software side, MictOnet offers a variety of packages, some of which rs 85
Ninta Misson 9 9 9 6,99 E.Ad'P i
Proi•Mi 6 2 4 95 2 1 9S
will cost the new subscriber extra. 2479 1 6 95 S c i h 9 4
1a
Pr 9 lo-Midl S tudo Software 1 0 5 0 910 1499$
Pawn 2 4 . 9 5 1 6 95 V o
i.0
O 5
, 0 9 59 95 6 .9 9 ) ,
Phalanx . 9 9 9 6 9 9 n
.0 1 A
Spectrum built-in software on Rom. No extra charge se4nd
Gr 4,
Phantasm , 2 4 99 1 6 .9 5 d Superbase
99
.1 tribb
i l e r f Persona . 9 9
.495 1 0
S
a
e ' 5 95 7 9 95
le
Wo
a .4 c rde Pe rte ct ' N E W ) 1 5 95 4 95
Commodore 64 Mustang cartndge £33; or Mustang on tape or disc at ES. Portal 3 4 . 99 1 3 9 5 iL 95 " 9
,44
'n .9At 12
4 9 -14
T U R T L E PR I C ES AR E T H E O N E S T O JU ,e .9 D GE T H E C O M P E T I T I O N )3BY W E
Amstrad CPC Software plus RS232 £59.95 w 5 AN
AR E SU R E W O N ' T F I N D L O WER PR I C ES 5_
M
o c D FR EE D EL I VER Y F I R ST 99 C L ASS
t4_C
SER VI C E A T FI R STS 1 o4rL ASS PR I C ES 94
F
j_ 9
BBC Software provided No extra charge. POlt ; Se nd Cheques, P.O .o r Visa i.Acce B
D ss de ta ils to a ddre ss b e lo5w
o -
e 5
Phone 0476 60.468 2 4 HOW SC rViCin_C with your Visa-Access *Lae's 53
o
n_
Atari ST Fastcornm at £50. or Flying Start at E 10 T u r t l e s o f t D e p t ACE, w t35
n • lBrook Street Courtyard, 1
s_ 9
Amiga Ruby View at E63 Grantham, Lincs. 5
e MG31 6RY
rVv a c a t e d within2 4 Hrs. E & OE 5
S ubject to a railabilty, ite m s are &9 o
9 5
b rttb e cale le tOLC don't we - O we sn't m e . , we h ave n 't co l - C al low b e tai l !
l
5
1
4
1
9 Advanced Computer Entertammeni 1
3
9 1 7
 ACE
r PINK P A GE S

For nearly all micros, there is a Comment Of all mice, probably has
manufacturer's own dedicated moni- the widest range of compatible soft-
tor (the Spectrum. MSX machines ware, covering an, DTP and Wimp
and games consoles, which are front ends.
designed to be used with a TV. are
notable exceptions). Overall, you are Kempston
better oft with these models, rather Machines Spectrum,
than looking tor independent manu- Amstrad CPCs, PCWs,
facturers versions, However, you

Colectit!
IBM PC and compatibles
could try Microvitec, Philips or
Thomson's range. Buttons 2

Microvitec 1431/PAZ3 Software Spectrum: Toolkit

Machines S i n c l a i r Spectrum (C49 990; Graphics Kit (C59,95):
Jeeyes (desktop environment) for
Screen width Pius 3 (E69.95)
CPCs: Art Studio (E69.95)
Connec tor R G B . TI L compatible PCWs: Fleet Street Editor Plus
(C99.95); The Desktop Publisher
Colouemono c o l o u r (E74.95): Jeeves (E79.95)

Missed some earlier issues of ACE? Don't despair. Price E 2 5 9 Pries stand alone mouse, Amstrad
CPC: £49.95 PCW: £69.95 IBM:
Copies can be despatched to your letterbox for just Microvitec Cub £99.95
E1.50 each (postage free). Look at these highlights. I 459/A/DW2 Comment excellent art package in
Machines A t a r i ST, Amiga Art Studio to accompany CPC
ISSUE 1 ( O r d e r code Al20B1)
• FREE cassette containing COMPLETE
The fabulous Screen width 14"
mouse

games worth LB-E10 - US Gold's BLUE MAX

for the C64 and Ocean's GIFT FROM THE ACE binder Co lo u rmo n o colour
Widgits
GODS lor the Spectrum. Order code Al PDHR
te Buyer's Guide describing the ACE all-time Price E364.99
top 50 games.
Comment Flicker•tree high resolu- Graphic ta ble ts
• Large, colour reviews of XOR, Bubble
tion graphics available; interface Device to add drawing graphics,
Bobble, Ouedex. Impact, Barbarian, Mask and
m or e. lead included for ST range. charts. etc. on-screens. The tablet is
a pad which takes the place of the
-8 Which Console? A detailed companson of
the Nintendo. Sega and Atari machines and Samsung MD-1252G keyboard, mouse, etc, for input. By
the software available for them. drawing directly on to the tablet with
Machine I B M PC plus
TTL monochrome card a stylus, the image is reproduced on-
o Music. Intro to Midi and a review of Casio's
screen. A graphics tablet can give
Midi Guitar.
very detailed screen images -
• Great playing tips on Guild of Thieves, Screen width 1 2 "
depending on the tablets resolution
Barbarian, Sentinel, Bounder, Defender of the - because of the familarity of draw-
Crown and more. Colour:mono mono: green, amber
Don't lust leave your copies ing on a horizontal surface. You can
or paper white available
• Spoof letters page! also place drawings on the tablet
lying around to collect the
dust. Store them in this Price E 8 9 and trace over them with the stylus
ISSUE 2 ( O r d e r code Al2082) to produce screen copies. Eidersoft
• FREE cover cassette containing the FIVE superb binder - gleaming (0708 856468) is launching a new
black with the logo stamped Comment Particularly inexpensive
complete levels of the arcade smash BUBBLE mono monitor for PCs electrostatic graphics tablet at E299
BOBBLE 1064 and Spectrum versions)! in gold on the front and spine. for the ST and Amiga in Feb 88
• Buyer's Guide to budget software - 30 top Comes complete with wires
titles listed. to hold 12 issues securely. Samsung CD-1464W Memory expansion
Machine I B M PC with CGA.
• Rave reviews of RED L E D. , The cost? Just E4.50. post Ram expansions for older 8-bit
any with RGB or ROBi (Commodore
SUPERSPRINT. SKULLDIGGERY, and more free. Order using the form on machines used to be a popular add-
128) sockets; TI L compatible
o Detailed playing guides to XOR and page 106 on, particuarly for programmers.
HITCHHIKERS, plus pokes on Deathwish 3, Now with the Spectrum, Commodore
Screen width
Paperboy. Leaderboard and others. and Amstrad machines all being
el Features on recommended :joysticks. 30 graphics and measuring your game- colourtmono colour available in 128K confi gurations, the
attention has turned to upgrading 16-
playing skills
Price E299 bit machines to one megabyte
capacities. Commodore (0628
ISSUE 3 ( O r d e r code Al 20B3)
7700138) offers a 512K expansion for
•
•
Detailed comparison of the Alan ST. CBM Amiga and Acorn Archimedes.
Comprehensive buyers guide to strategy games. Mice the Amiga. while Alan (0753 33344)
otters a similar pack for the 520ST_
• Playing guides to Red LED, Skulldiggery. Boulderdash. Dizzy and many more AS & L and Ladbroke Computing
• DigiPaint and Deluxe Paint Ill compared. (0772 21474) also otter Alan memo-
• Music special on sound sampling and the Roland MT32. AMS AMX MK ry upgrades.
Introduction to Play by Mail games. Mouse
er Great Computer Disasters Buttons 3 Digitisers
• Screen Test reviews on Thundercats, Terrorpods, Indiana Jones, Nipper 2. A video digitiser is a device which
Trantor. Captain America and many others. Software (prices include mouse) will enable you to transfer images
Spectrum AMX An (E69.99) seen through the video "camera' on
ISSUE 4 ( O r d e r code Al20134) Commodore 64128: Stop Press to the computer screen The image
is scanned and each element is
• Bumper Christmas issue with free 1 988 computer user's diary! (DTP) (C69.99)
Amstrad CPCs: AMX Art (E69.99) reproduced digitally on the micro.
• Game al the Future. An ACE investigation:
Stop Press 1C79 99) Extra! Extra! Depending on the package, the pic-
• Game compilations compared. ture on-screen can then be manipu-
(without mouse) (E24.99) Max (desk-
4 Reviews of huge range of electronic keyboards. top environment - without mouse) lated, or colour added t o a greater
• The defi nitive ratings on Deftektor, Bobsleigh. Skate or Die. Buggy Boy. Driller. (E19.99) or lesser degree_ Haba Systems (0(-
Dark Sceptre and 25 more games PC arid compatibles Finesse (DTP) 844 1202) produces a digreser for
• Detailed tips on F-15 Strike Eagle. Indiana Jones and Spy Hunter (C159.99) the Atari ST and Amiga 64 at £99.95
41! Pokes for Super Sprint. Gauntlet. Jack the Nipper 2, Renegade, Bounder + BBCs Stop Press (E79.99) Extra! and El 85 respectively.
more, Extra! (without mouse) (E24.99)
How to order Superart (C79.99) Max (without
mouse) (19. 99)
Lightpens
Also used mainly for graphics appli-
Us e one of t he FRE E P O S T order f orms on page 106 (Pink cations. a lightpen is a slim stylus
Price generally sold only in conjunc- with which you draw directly on to
Pages), quoting the relevant order code(s). Or just telephone us tion with software (above). Old the monitor screen to create images.
on 0458 74011 with your credit card details. mouse can be part-exchanged tor Most lightpens come complete with
MK III mouse for E29.99. compatible graphics software, so

1 1 8 AdvancedComputer Entertainment
 PINK PA GES

you can gel started straightaway

Trojan's lightpen package has been
around for some time now, and is
available with Cadinaster graphics
software for Spectrum. Commodore
641128 (and C16;Plus 4) and
Amstrad CPC and POW machines.
Prices range from 219.95 to 239 95,
and Trojan can be contacted on 0792
205491. Electric Studio supplies a
lightpen with tape and disk based
software for the Amstrad CPC range
(219.95 and E29 95), as well as a
pen plus Screen Master software for
PC compatibles at E39.95
Printer/Plotters
While a conventional printer will print
out text in black and white, if you
want colour in your hard copy, you'll
need a colour printer or printer/plot-
ter. For drawing colour graphics
(though not screen dumps) you may
Deed a plotter
The Penman Plotter from
Penman Products (0903 209081) is a
small device which runs over the
paper, placed on a horizontal sur-
lace, and draws using its three differ-
ently coloured pens. It can also be
used as a 'turtle" for plotting Logo-
programmed turtle graphics. From
about 2200. and for a variety of 8-bit
machines.
More conventional colour print-
ers tend to be more expensive. Try
contacting distributor Micro'
Peripherals on 0256 470011 for
details of the range it sells, including
the Juki 5520 dot matrix impact print-
er at around 2320• which will print
text in colour as well as graphics.
perature sensors, humidity detectors,
infra-red movement detectors. to Red
1]:EEEi f r t E e 3
Five. a 105 decibel siren alarm, A ll p r i c e s V A T / d e l i v e r y I n c l u s i v e
The range is available for
Spectrum, Commodore, Amstrad
CPC, IBM PC and BBC machines. A L A T A R I ' 10 40STF
New Year Spec
only ial
E399.00
The Starter pack costs 2129 (IBM:
E199.95)_ and Reds One to Five 5 2 0 S T F M g o o d a v a i l a bi l i t y , g o o d pr i c e E 2 6 9 . 0 0
range from 234.95 to 299.95. 520 S T F M w i th 1 m eg m e m or y upgr a de £ 3 3 8 . 0 0
1040 S T F w i th S M 1 2 5 m o n o m oni tor E 4 9 9 . 0 0
M e ga S T2 w i th m o n o m oni tor E 8 6 9 _ 0 0
Robots Me ga $ T 4 w i th m o n o m oni tor E 1 1 6 9 , 0 0
Ata r i S L M 8 0 4 l a s e r pr i nt e r , g r e a t v a l u e a t E1199_00
While you still can't get computer
Ata r i S M 1 2 5 m o n o m o n i t o r E 1 3 4 . 0 0
controlled robots to do all the house-
Ata r i S C 1 2 2 4 c o l o u r m o n i t o r , f e w a t 2 2 9 9 . 0 0
hold chores and load up your games At a r i S H 2 0 5 h a r d di s k , n e w s t y l e E 5 3 9 . 0 0
for you, a number of buggies and C u m a n a C S A 3 5 4 1 m eg dr i v e E 1 2 9 _ 9 5
simply controlled robots have been
produced, mainly with an eye to the
C u m a n a C D A 3 5 4 2 m e g ( dua l ) dr i v e E 2 2 9 . 0 0
P hi l i ps C M 8 8 3 3 c o l o u r m o n i t o r c / w S T l e a d C279_00
educational sector. Spectravideo's P hi l i ps C M 8 8 5 2 a s a b o v e , h i g h e r r e s o l u t i o n £ 2 9 9 . 0 0
Robot Arm, sold by Logotron (0223 (Extra £10.00 discount on Philips monitors if bought with anS )
323656) at 2102.35 can be controlled All ST prices include: mouse etc. PLUS 5 disks of s'ware
by BBC computers, and Maptin
Electronics (0702 552911) sells a Including graphics, wordpro, utility, game and demos,
robot in kit form for 239.95 which can W e c a n q u o t e y o u f o r a n y c om bi na t i on o f ha r dw a r e
be programmed from an IBM PC or
520 SIBIU 11 MEG
compatible.
MEMORY UPGRADE 33" disks
Requires soldering, lull 10...C11•95 i n plastic case £13.95
Instructions supplied.
25..X27.95 i n 40 cap case £34.95
E59.00 Petty guaranteed doube sided media
our specialist
Version 1.5
ProCopy/
PROTECT YOUR
SOFTWARE
INVEST MENT

Te le te x t adaptors
Self-explanatory. really, A teletext
Extra sound
In the audio department there is little
doubt about which machine needs
........
, „ ..
adaptor enables you to access tele-
text data - from BBC and ITV teletext
pages - and download software in
teletext format when available. Volex
the most help - the Spectrum The
only way to get decent sound out of it
is to plug something extra in.
..•
pro Copy ST
....

. _
Electronics produces a range of
Possibilities include the Sound Synth
from Ram (0252 850085). at 224.95.
For all A tart
adaptors for 8-bit machines from
and the Specdrum from Cheetah
about 2200 upwards. c i Bac k up most P r oc o best s elling
Produc ts
(0222 5555251 at 234.95. See also protected software' Tm ode l s
Midi interfaces. above (tor archival c o p y pr og
Red Box The Amstrad CPC has stereo rpurposes
am only) R e g uavailable
l a r toupdates
handle
The potential of computers as the capabilities which aren't well demon- Most powerful
centre of a domestic Control system - CI ' schemes
strated by its tinny built-in speaker, even copies itseil! l a t e s t pr, otection
fi lming your lights on and off, but can be much enhanced by sever- c
providing a burglar alarm - has long al devices There's the Maestro from oC I Supports one or
two single- or
been recognised, but Only recently Vanguard Leisure (0772 617665) at pi double -sided drives'
has General Information Systems 239.95, the Sound Blaster from Siren eCr I Uses all available
attempted to realise it with its Red Software (061-228 1831) at 229.99, memory! -
o
Box range of packages. or Rams Speech Synth at 229.95.
t
Five Red Boxes are available, The Commodore 64. ST and Amiga
ranging from Red One, which will all have perfectly good sound hard- d
switch on and off electrical appli- ware and merely require software to '
ances at pre-set times, through tern- nudge them along. a e us e a nd recommend Star
t rimers. They offer a combination
Disk Drives y f features, print quality, reliability
p nd value tha t i s unbeatable.
Most micros which don't already feature built-in disk drives, or which normal- e n't make the wrong decision,
ly load software in from cassette will offer a disk drive as an optional extra. , it right with a Star printer at
Aside from the manufacturer's own models, a number of independent com- vesham Micros special prices.
panies have also produced disk drives for a number of machines. Steel computer type when ordedng.
It's worth looking at alternative disk doves for the Commodore 64 range. T h e S t a r L C - 1 0 i s t h e n e w pr i nt e r f r om S tar _ I t r e pl a c e s
if only because Commodore's own 1541 model is so slow as to make the t he h i g h l y p o p u l a r N L - 1 0 , o f f e r i n g s i g n i fi c a n t a d v a n -
trade•up to a disk drive hardly worth it. Evesham Micro's Exceleratof Plus is ta ge s o v e r t h i s m o d e l . O u r of f e r m u s t b e t h e be s t
particularly worth checking out. a v a i l a bl e . W e i n c l u d e V A T , d e l i v e r y & p r i n t e r c a b i n
Until recently the only disk drives available for the Spectrum were from P L U S 2 s p a r e r i b b o n s ( v a l ue E 1 3 . 9 0 ) al l f or C 1 9 9 _ 0 0
third party companies, such as Opus. Opus 's 3 1;2 inch Discovery drive S ta r N X - 1 5 w i d e c a r r i a ge v e r s i o n o f N L
S
- ta r N D
was, before the launch of the Plus 3, the nearest thing Spectrum owners had
to a standard drive. S
-1 ta r N D - 1 5 w i d e c a r r i a ge v e r s i o n o f N D
S 0 r N E fl 3 1 9 . 0 0
-1 ta0
You can also buy add-on 5 1/4 inch drives for the Amstrad CPC range, S t a r N1 3 2 4 -1 0 br i l l i a nt 2 4 pi n, 2 1 6 / 7 2 c p s E 4 7 9 , 0 0
-1 0
rather than Amstrad's own 3 inch variety. These have been produced 10 1 ta0r 0SCF - 41 0 D
S 1 c9u t _s h e 0 e t0 f e e d , 1 0 " m o d e l s
enable users to lake better advantage of the 6128's CP(M capabilities: most t oa n a s o n i c K X P - 1 0 8 1 v e r y p o p u l a r
P E E 15799.. 0 0
/
CP/M software being on 51. 4 inch disk. A 2 m4s t0r a d 1 0 3 5 0 0 n e w 2 4 p i n a t l o w pr i c e E 349_00 I
4 5 c
/
p s
8 0 c 'xi r • • .1 ,
E N euilwdi ar yt tde
e t live
y ry E5.00 e xtra
Sendp scheque, m o P.O. or AC C ESSVI SA de ta ils
2 u
Phone
£ witsh ACCESSI
n i e VI SA numbe r
9 o r PLC officia l orde rs we lcome
Govt.
3 goods subje ct io a va ila bility E&O .E,
All 9
Open7 t o ca lle rs 6 da ys, 9.30-5.30
.
Telex: 333294 F a x : 0386 765364
9
Also0 a t: 1 7 5 6 Porshore R d.. Cottendre, Burningh.sm. 1130 T e l M I 4 5 8 4 5 6 I
.
0
0
loP
IN
K

ACE READERS' PAGE

P
A
G
E
S The space which YOU fill
Small ads, club announcements, event details, pen pals, offers of help - all these and more are on offer here. A
unique way of contacting tens of thousands of like-minded computer users.
We're particularly keen to receive entries to the Helpline offering assistance on particular games you may have
solved - adventures or others. Or offering technical expertise on aspects of particular machines.
Why not make your contribution?
Si F O R SA LE
• Commodore 64. Commodore disk
drive, Commodore printer,
Commodore Datacassette, Simons
Basic and extension, tons ot games.
E320 ono Phone after 6pm 01 992
4247
• Amstrad CPC 464 colour monitor,
joystick and gamest Good condition.
Unwanted gift worth E400. Sell at
bargain price of E150 for quick sale_
phone John on 037681 3992
• Amstrad 6128 colour monitor, tape
deck, Amstrad Action (1-27) +
binders. E660 of top software, 95%
games, Tasword 6128. D B.
Manager. G.A C., Gauntlet, !ken,
Dexter, Batman, Mandragote,
Arkham Manor Worth E1070, E500
ono Phil. Slough 33962
• Spectrum+, data recorder,
Muttiface One, Interface One.
Microdrive (all boxes). Plus E300
software (all originals). All worth
450. A bargain at E180 ono. Phone
(0582) 507696 and ask for David
• Amstrad CPC 464 with green
screen, modulator, disk drive, built in
tape deck and plenty of software
asking E400. Write to B.KII, 3 Cecilia
Road. London E8 2EP. or phone 01-
254 -3097
• Atari 64K complete system.
800XL. disc drive, datacorder,
joystick. trakball, magazines.
complete machine coding kit
including "Mapping the Atari" book.
Also get over 400 games and
utilities. Impressed? only E225.
(0455) 618748
• Amstrad 6128, colour monitor, disc
drive, joystick, 100+ games and
utilities on tape and disc, magazines,
brand new, under guarantee, E450
ono the lotl Telephone Mark,
Portsmouth 266541 after 5pm.
• Spectrum 128K for sale Excellent
condition, still boxes with manuals,
joystick interface. Speedking joystick
and Seikosha GP5OS printer E150.
Telephone Bristow 46723
• Spectrum 48K+, Amstrad 464,
colour monitor, drum machines, midi
sampling hardware, hundreds of
software titles and loads more!!
Immaculate condition, amazing
bargain! Just £450! Worth E1500+
Phone Peter (021) 523 3993 alter
5.30pm
• Spectrum 128 (still in original box)
with synthesiser, 20+ original games,
data recorder, joystick. joybalL
double joystick interlace. E170 ono
Tel 02918 207 after 5.30pm and ask
for Nicholas.
Edgbaston, 815 3UE. Good
condition.
• Atari ST Public Domain, games.
art, utilities and demos, only E5 per
disk P&P inc Als o happy ST
enchancement. large SAE for info to
Mr Stock, 15 Woodbrooke Road.
Birmingham, B30 lUE.
• Reset buttons. compact and
reliable, for only E4.50. Send
cheques P.O's to A Mooney. 25c
Northdale Road, higher Blackley,
Manchester. M9 3WG. Order yours
right now!
• I have over 100 Spectrum pokes
for sale (cheapl) Send a SAE for a
list. Scott Campbell. 85 Forbeshill,
Forres, Morayshire, Scotland. 1V36
OJL Phone (0309) 72457 for
examples of games now!
• Spectrum 128K. Kempston
interface with 2 joysticks. cassette

THE ACE HELPLINE • Amstrad PC1640 double drive

ECD plus 32MB hard card only one
month old. Includes software
Here's a great way of receiving free advice from public- amazing value at E1150. Phone
spirited readers. This month it's restricted to adventure Paddy on (0225) 700036 in
evenings.
games, but well be expanding it to include other kinds of
help. • C64/128 El 75 C1571 fast disk
If you make use of this service, please respect the drive E180 C2N datasette E25. User
1-lelpline code: manuals. TV monitor 14" colour
E100. Sold separately or together for
• If writing for help. enclose a stamped. self-addressed
E350 n o t including monitor). Phone
envelope. Hereford (0432) 263978.
• Do not make phone calls at anti-social hours.
• Commodore 64C, cassette
• Bureaucracy, Knight Ore. Guild of Thieves, Pawn, Leather Goddesses of recorder, sound sampler. 2 joysticks.
Phobos. Wishbringer, Lark 1. Red Moon. Return to Eden. Snowball, Worm in Mouse 'n' Cheese, reset switch and
Paradise, Price of Magic, Lord of the Rings, Kings Quest II, Hawk. 140 original games. Altogether worth
Spiderman. Dungeon Adventures, Colossal Adventures, Adventure Quest. £1000. Sell for E350 coo. Phone
Macbeth I, II. & IV. Fourth Protocol I. II. & Ill. Deal 365188. Also 1541 disk drive
ROB Marshall, 3 Mereside Avenue, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 4J2. E100 ono_
• I have completed the folloWing: The Pawn, The Bards Tale, Ultima IV • Spectrum 128K data recorder.
Phantasie I, Dracula, Never Ending Story. Zork Ill, Wishbnnger, Enchanter, Ram turbo interlace. Quickshot
Borrowed Time. Kobyashr Naru, Heavy on the Magick. Legacy. The Prince of joystick including games like
Magic. Claws of Despair, Wizards & The Princess. Starglider and Matchday. Excellent
Derek Wong, 42 Ingram Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey. CR4 8E13. condition. Otters around E60. Phone
Maidenhead 22089.
• Wishbringer, Labyrinth, The Hobbit. The Hulk. Spiderman. Seabase Delta.
Kobyashi Naru. • Epson P40 printer, Rampant
Ann Gray, 9 Alness Close, Birchwood, Lincoln, Lincs. LN6 printer interlace for sale, paper and
charger included boxed and both
• Enchanter. Sorcerer, Spellbreaker, Leather Goddesses of Phobos. Infidel. new. Worth E90. Will sell for E70.
Zork I, II, Ill. The Pawn, Kingdom of Remit, Aftershock, Adventure Quest. Kimwen Lok, 113 Tanners Hill,
Angehque a Grief Encounter, Arnold Blackwood Trilogy. The Big Sleaze, Deptford. London SE8 400.
Black Fountain, Bugsy. Castle Blackstar. Castle of Skull Lord. Cursed be the
City. Dracula, Dungeons Amethysts Alchemists n •Everythin', Escape from • Casio CZ-230S keyboard as
Khosima, Espionage Island, Fantasia Diamond, Forest at World End. described in ACE issue 4. 100 P.D
Gremlins, Haunted House, Hermitage, Heros of Karr. The Hollow Text and presets, 20 P Q M rhythms etc.
Graphic. Hunchback. Imagination, Jewels of Babylon, Kobyashi Naru_ Regulated power supply.
Liteterm, Lords of Time. Mansion. Message from Andromeda, Mindshadow, headphones, midi leads and St
Monsters ot Murdac, Mordens Quest. Mountains of Ket. Neverending Story. software supplied (if required) e200
Nova. Nythyliel. Planet of Death, Rebel Planet, Rsgels Revenge. Robin of ono. Ring Swanley 0322 64273.
Sherwood. Robocide, Seabase Delta, Sharpes Deeds. Ship of Doom. Sould
of Darkon, Spytrek, Subsunk, Theseusm, Top Secret, Very Big Cave • Back issues of Amstrad Action al
Adventure. Warlord, Winter Wonderland. Wizard of Ater. 50p each. Issues 10, 12 to 26. Send
Graham Wheeler, 2 Burford Close, Southdown, Bath, Avon, BA2 IJF. large SAE plus payment to G
Tel: 0225 26919.
Greenway, 6 Balcaskre Close.
recorder and 5 octave music
keyboard. £70 worth of Spectrum
magazines and books! E400 worth of
software! Will accept E300 for the lot'
(ono) Tel: Thirsk (0845) 577320,
Amazing!
• Music routine for CBM 64. Over 35
functions available in source code for
Genius and Lightning assemblers.
El 0 or El for audio demo. Mark Tait,
2 Ewing Court, Broornridge, Stirling.
FK7 OOP.
• Atari 1029 printer + 2 spare
ribbons, manuals. leads & Atari writer
• Atari 1050 disk drive • manuals, 5
blank disc, software including
Gauntlet. Mini Office ii. Tomahawk,
etc. E90 each. Tel 0276 25769.
• Ouickshot Illoystick for sale. Only
E5 Rin g 051-428 8844 now'
• Spectrum +2 for sale. Only ten
months old. El 00 ono. Also three
joysticks and Kempston interface.
E35 phone 01•578-1543. After Som.
Weekdays, anytime weekend.
• Look, a bargain at twice the price.
Atari 800X1. disk drive plus tons of
original software including Gauntlet,
Alternate Reality. Rescue on
Fractalus. Koronis Rift. £160. Phone
Russell on (0604) 890663
• Spectrum 48K. tape recorder.
125+ joystick, dual port interlace,
printer, over 45 games, sell for
E150.00 or less. Phone Paul on 01-
595 3388. Write to 37 Stanley Ave,
Dagenham, Essex RM8 1JH.
• Amstrad 6128 mono disk system,
books, magazines. original games
worth over E200 tape recorder
included. Machine code basic

1 2 0 AdvancedComputer Entertainment

fi rmware manuals worth over E420 -
Sell E260 P&P included. Phone 0977
792361 extension 222
• Atari 130XE, Omninion. Uftimon,
1050 Happy 810 Happy 392 discs
software, printer interface, E275.
BBC Model B. 32KSWR, dual
40TRK. DeS drives 100 discs,
software, books, leads etc. E325. TeL
Malvern 64607.
• Computer Word Quest.
Educational Amstrad CPC 464 word
search game with added addictive
timed gameplay. Learn spellings the
easy way. Only E2 Robert Phelps.
128 Kings Court Lane, Stroud, Glos.
GL5 3PX.
• Atari SF354 Halt Meg Disk Drive
MC power supply, Only E70 Tel: 0993
845 425.
• 128+2 computer with rain music
machine, machine language book
and assembler, Mach l+ joystick.
dust cover and games. all worth over
£300. Sell for El 75 ono. Contact
Alan, 9 Cockerham Way, Gil!moss,
Liverpool Tel: (051) 548 3148.
• Commodore 64K computer, two
datasettes, printer, modern, joystick,
paddles, books, leads, dust covers,
plus over 70 software titles, including
educational software. G.A C B as ic
Lightening etc. Sell for £300 ono Te l
01-646-0746
Public health
warning
Needless to say, we cannot
ourselves vouch for the
credentials of any particular
entry in this section. If you
respond, i fs at your own risk.
• ABC B including data recorder,
joystick interface, all leads, 800K
dual disc dnve and over E200 worth
of latest software. All in excellent
condition £420 ono. Tel: (0423)
864573 after 4.00pm.
• Sinclair ZX printer and manual and
paper only £15. Contact D Wilson,
115 Newtown Road, Newbury,
Berkshire, or phone (0635) 31164.
• Great Amstrad Package: Amstrad
CPC 6128. DMP2000 printer, plus
E350 worlh of amazing software,
including games, word processors,
utilities and joystick. Tel: Russell on
01.207-5551 now! Complete
immediate sale E600.00 ono.
• CBM64, C2N cassette, 5 Wav e
keyboard, Sound Studio. Sound
expander. sound sampler (disk),
joystick. games, books, loads of
magazines A bargain at £250
Phone Steven 051 449 1304,
• CBM 64 and software. Shop value
E350 Selling at £170. Phone Mat on
0949 39186.
• Amstrad 6182, green, Multiface 2,
Sound Blaster. modulator. Many
software titles on tape and disc. Will
sell software and hardware
separately. 5 months old. E350 for
the lot Tel Eccleston (0257) 452268.
• Star NL10C printer for CBM
PINK PA GES
64/128. NLO or 120 cps. Rarely used NE32 4RW Court Queens Road, Skegness,
and in excellent condition. £165. Lincs. PE25 2ES.
Ring Jim on 061 773 4199. PENPALS
• Atari ST contacts wanted
• Amstrad 6128 computer with
• An Amiga owner wants to meet makelemale. Guaranteed reply. Must
colour monitor, MK5 midi keyboard,
other. Phone Alastair on (0532) be trustworthy. Only write if you are
mini interface, Arndrum with extra 14+. Neil Carr, 65 Wivelsfi eld Road,
788042 or write to Alastair Dickinson,
drumkit and joystick. Phone anytime. Baby, Doncaster. South Yorks, DN4
Crawley (0293) 24048 E290. 2 Hoftin View, Weetwood, Leeds.
LS16 5N0. OUY.
• Spectrum Plus with two
• 14 year old male ST owner seeks • Penpal computer matching. 50p +
datacorders, joystick + interlace SAE. Newsagent software being
female pen pal with an interest in
Over 100 computer magazines. written, SAE. Details listings printed
Crash, Y S. etc., plus over E700 of arcade and role-playing games. I am
for Amstrad CPC, Tasword text or
also interested in squash, tennis and
software including Star wars, listings (SAE), D Ward, 3 Pineways.
Starglider, Elite, Gunship, Catch 23, going Out, Gavin Lim. 37 Noriands
Crescent. Chislehurst, Kent. BP17 Appleton, Warrington, Cheshire.
Tai-Pan and many other. Excellent 5RN. WA4 5EJ. (0925) 64805 (evenings).
condition Boxed. E140.00 Dav id
Garner, 32 Caxton Street. Market
• s t penpals wanted all over the N U S E R GROUPS
Harborotigh. Leicestershire. LEI 6
9ER, world, New owner with interest in
music and graphical demos and • User groups for those lucky people
games. Write to Guy. at 90 Upton who have the brilliant Amiga. It
• Spectrum magazine: Eprorn issue
Way, Broadslone. Dorset, England interested write to The Amazing
four now available. 60+ pages. BH18 9NA.
Hewson interview, 128 software, Amiga Group, Lock Monzievaird.
technical pages. Designer reading G e e , Tayside, Scotland, PH7 4JFI
only 80p plus stamp from Eprom, • Atari ST penpals wanted. Write to
328 The Mailings, Penwortham, Nathan Wheelhouse (14), 40 Kirkby • Any Amstrad owners in the
Preston, lanc s PR1 9FD. Drive, Gleadiess, Sheffi eld, S12 2LX. London area? I wish to start a user
group of games, tips, hints amd
• Commodore 64, C2N, over 2300 • New 520STFM user seeks offers. Call me on 01-521-1277,
of original software, manuals, contacts worldwide to exchange info Keep Amstrads Alive!
joystick, 19 issues of Zzapl 64, dust and possible create user group.
covers & international soccer Interested? Then why not drop me a • For one of the best MSX
cartridge. Total value £550. Good iree. Norm, 5 Campioe House, magazines around try the Scottish
condition, E150. Phone (02814) Mayville Estate, Matthias Road. office of MSX Link. We publish a
3586. London. N16 8LN. So c'men write monthly magazine (on sale now at
now!!
£1.00 plus 20p P&P) which is fi lled
• Commodore 64, C2N tape with useful information, letters, hints
recorder, 45 games including Druid I • Hi, I'm 18 and own an Atari ST_ I and tips etc. Please contact: MSX
want a penpal with a sense at
& II, Delta, Gauntlet, The Last Ninja,
Thing on a Spring I & II, etc. Plus humour. Only interesting letters
Link, (ACE), North Lodge. Cairnhill
Road, Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland,
answered. Send to Fray, 14 Waterloo ML6 9RJ. Tel. (0236) 64045
over 30 mags Buy er collects. Ring
(0633) 420727 for details E140. All
boxed.
HOW TO PLACE YOUR FREE ENTRY
• Still boxed and in very good All you have to do to place a free entry in these pages is send off the form
condition 128K Spectrum, 2 below, but please note:
joysticks. Kempston interface, • The maximum is 30 words except for Helpline. (Helpline entries can extended
cassette recorder and 5 octave. 8 to 100 words max - use another sheet of paper if necessary )
voice music keyboard. (all manuals • The service is NOT open to trade advertisers.
and leads, interfaces included). E70 • We do not guarantee to print your entry in any particular issue.
worth of Spectrum books and • Entnes which could be interpreted as encouraging software piracy will not be
magazines. E400 worth of software accepted.
including Starglider• and 'G A L. '.
Will accept £300 for the lot (ono). Tel
Thirsk (0845) 577320. Amazing' ENTRY FORM
Post to AC E Readers Page, Future Pu b lish in g Ltd, 4 Chosen St, Bath, Avo n BA1 1E4
• ZX81 computer with learning lab
including 10 tapes - open to offers.
Wanted Please place this entry In the next available issue of ACE.
Amstrad
- CPC computer. Write with
details.
M u l t Penpals wanted: I am 15 Name
years old and own an Amstrad 6128
ila c
and would like penpals aged 13-16.
e
Amelia Wildey. 41 Enmore Gardens, Address
IEash
I /Sheen, London. SWI 4 8RF
I m
•m Commodore
a 64 with games mags,
joystick.
g e very good condition. Would Category of entry:
like
r to swap for Atari ST. Phone _1HO:dine . F r . i t Sale _ lW a n t e d E l Pen Pals E . User Groups DO t h e r
Workington 832348 after 4pm.
e
Write your advertisement here, one word per Nix, Include your name, address
t
IcN W A N T E D and phone number if you want them printed.
•t Pokes wanted. W ill pay Als o
solution to Hampstead and Never
o
Ending Story, Send information to my
r
home address: Burnside Cottage.
Manse Road, Abernethy, Perthshire.
Scotland
• Software wanted for Lynx
computer as soon as possible
Contact Wayne at 19 Brarthwart
Close, Cloverhill. Norwich, Norfolk, or
ring me on (0603) 744947 after 20th
Jan alter 5pm.
• Expert MK2 or similar cartridge
wanted, must be cheap. Write Joe,
42 Summerhill, Hedworth, Jarrow,
AdvancedComputerEntertainment 1 2 1
T
H

MEBUTTEREND...
E
B
U
T
T
E
R
E LUCKY BUTTERS
N to get through the door for the crowd of mlearned
D Our biggest comp yet. the great ACE/SILICA
SHOP Amiga give-away from Issue 3 is finally
over. Picking out those five lucky winners took
some doing - there were over 12.000 entries!
- but pick them we did, The lour runners up
are: A.WALKER of Worcester. DARREN
HELLYAR of Southampton. &ANDREWS at
Grimsby and D.BARKER of Kirkby-in-Ashfield,
Non. Each of these oh-so-fortunate people
wins an Amiga 500, a TV modulator and five
pieces of software. But the really incredibly for-
tunate guy is GERRY MARK BROOKS of
Bolton, who wins an A500. fifty pieces of soft-
ware and a 1081 colour monitor.
C ont a c t ...
The ACE crew's thanks go to the Bristol & Wes
Sex Aeroplane Club for their invaluable help on
this issue's flight simulator buyers guide: Byron
and Kevin, take a bow! It you fancy learning to fty
and you're within striking distance of Bristol Air-
port why not give the club a nng on Lulsgate
(027587) 2514?
Cl o p s . . .
No Baler End would be quite complete without a
decent king-size OOPS. and the minor-league
howlers in the freebie diary's phone list hardly
count. Have no tear: issue 4's Tricks'n'Tactics
steps into the breach with a dodgy data state-
ment in Marc Donnelly's wonderful Renegade
poke. The problem was with that number 2356 in
line 130 - it should have been 235 instead - and
was very definitely our OOPS rather than Marc's
* Ea t y our wor ds ...
What kind of month has it been this month? An
eating sort of month, that's what. After Nord and
Bells wonderful helping of crow - with humble
pie to follow - the ACE offices were flooded with
pies of people chewing down. Photos of those
wacky Piranha folk eating a rather fishy cake at
their birthday party, photos of those even wackier
Cascade people in fatigues preparing to eat lead-
en death, and wackiest of all, we think is this one
of Evesham Micros boss Richard Austin tucking
into his boater Now we at the ACE offices are
rather partial to the odd hal now and then - who
isn't? - but having an A500 for afters does seem
a little strange__
lertronic suing Codemasters for the rather exotic
tort of injurious falsehood, we've hardly been able
friends in the ACE offices.
Worse still, the wigged wonders have turned
their attentions on ACE itself now: those highly
artistic Quante people have written us a stiffish
letter over our use of the word PAINTBOX t o
mean a bit-mapped art package. PAINTBOX, it
appears, is a registered trademark of Ouantel (no
1222 657 to be precise) and they'd like us to slop
using it in a generic sense, but pronto.
Now with respect we think the horse has
probably already bolted here
- a not
may f t equite
r be a in
l the
l , same league as 'hoover'
' p'biro'
or a but
i na lot
t bof people
o x ' do use it as a general
term. Still, Ouantel feel pretty strongly about this
and we don't, so we're happy to oblige. Unfortu-
nately, the letter arrived too late to change the
references to paintboxes in this issue's art pages.
There's another problem, though: what are we
going to call the things now, for goodness sake?
Answers on a postcard please...
PHONE N U M B ER S
Two cock-ups in the ACE 1988 Diary - we
got the phone numbers of Palace Software
and Firebird wrong. The correct number for
PALACE is 01-278 0751. Don't ring the Fire-
bird number in the Diary - that will get you the
European Sales Office. For FIREBIRD. ring
01-631 5168,
Next m onth...
Vet another sparkling Issue of ACE will be
hitting the shelves, on February 4th. As
well as all the juicy regulars we'll have
• Are GAMES of the FUTURE being
held back by the COI N•OPS?
• BRAI N G AME S - t he complete low-
down on the the games that make you
Retract y our words! think; and what the experts think of them.
No, if you really want to know what sort of a
month it's been, if s been a legal sort of one. • GRAPHI CS - part 2 of our DI Y series
What with the rather surprising contents of the
Video Recordings Act, the ticklish subject of inter- • Software houses - who's making the
locutory iniunctions raised by Telecornsolt v, BIG BUCKS?
Hewson and the fascinating prospect of Ntas-

Ariolasoft 11 K M 109 Silica Shop 88

Ashcom 73 KJC 73 Sound 'n Vision 109
Bath Computer Shack 98 Ladbroke 114 Storm Computers 73
Byteback 97 Logotron IBC Stort Soft 111
CBS 105 Megabyte 104 Telegames 108
CRL 18-19 Melbourne House 26 Turtlesolt 113,117
Electronic Arts 54-55 Micro Snips 76 US Gold ..IFC, 3, 21, 43, 59, 80
Evesham Micros 119 Microprose 16, 35.50 Video Vault 75
Homeview 111 Mirrorsoft 46,47 Virgin 6
aV;A
IN'I Incentive 108 Ocean 1 3 , 30, 36, 64, OBC Wight Computing 107
Jade Games 73 Shekhana 92 York 68

1 2 2 Advanced COMputer Entertainment

 The Ultimate
Maze Challenge
There are no random events in XOR's labyrinthine palace and there is no
premium on hand-eve coordination. You have all the time in the world t
work out the precise nature of the hazards you encounter. Logical
thinking, strategy and tactical problem solving are all part of the XOR
experience. And XOR is not simply about finding solutions. If you can
solve the entire puzzle (15 levels plus an encrypted anagram), you qualif
to be a member of the ORDER o f XOR, with a certificate and a badge to
prove it.

...this is one of the most compulsive, cunning and

11.14 , c a b k i
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game is superb - a very classy original twist on the
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- ” „
XOR's Features

- 15 graded mindbending mazes

- Each maze approximately 16 screens
- Super smooth high speed scrolling
- High resolution quality graphics
- fligh speed or step-by-step replay
- Intriguing logical problems
- Interactive dynamic puzzles

XOR - Now available on;

Commodore 64 D is k £ 1 2 . 9 5
Cassette E 9 . 9 5
Spectrum C a s s e t t e L 7 . 9 5
Amstrad D i s k E 1 4 . 9 5
Cassette E 9 . 9 5
BBC D i s k £ 1 2 .9 5
Cassette 0 . 9 5

Cominy Soon for IBM PC and compatibles

XOR Designer - Available for BBC

and Commodore computers.
46
Logotran Guarantee: 4 .
All orders dispatched within 5 days of _ 4.
receipt of order. 1 F
1 .4
Faulty software will be replaced
immediately. :
-
Postage and Pac&tzgi1zg Free. '

LOGOTRa
4
•
R E1C R E A T 1 O N
P R5 O D L I C
O l tI I ) ‘I I s BRIAN" , (X01)1k.
 SPECTRUM SPECTRUM
COMMODORE A MSTR A D COMMODORE A MSTR A D

0 1 .: A

NINO I C S O I
11191141M 0 0 0 2 2 4

1986 Hogrcla F i r n Corporabon

MRON%wooed A computer product from Ocean. 0
Ocean Software Limited • Ocean House• 6 Central Street • Manchester• M2 5NS• Telephone 061 832 6633 • Telex 669977 Oceans G