The Shoe People

Your Sinclair

Overall 88%

Jonathan Nash 88%

REPLAY And a personal hello to carpet-fitter Bernard Opportunity of Dalton! (He's the only one who ever reads this box, you know.) THE SHOE PEOPLE GBH Gold £4.99 [redacted] Reviewer: Jonathan Nash Apostrophes. They're a problem, aren't they, readers? Take the manual for The Shoe People for example. Filled with errors, it is - and most of them involving apostrophes. Education, eh? It's a marvel. (And yet the authors of the manual manage to spell correctly the fantastically obscure 'artefact'. It's a mystery.) Five games (and a drawing program) go to make up Shoe Peeps. Cunningly designed to teach you about shape-recognition, spelling and maths without you quite realising it, the games have a very high standard of graphics. Hurrah, eh? in the first game, Trampy Visits His Friends, you play the lovable, rascally down-and-out who has a cheery word for everyone (spot the lack of social realism). It's an all-sorts sort of game (of sorts) - you have to match shapes and spell words depending on which Shoe Person you want to visit. Good fun, but it drags on a little. Sgt Major Sorts it Out has you putting various coloured boxes on to various coloured shelves as dictated by a loony baby, and lacks variety. (When you've seen one box, you seen 'em all.) The Great Alphabet Robbery is brilliant. You have to solve anagrams to prevent Sneaker from making off with the alphabet. (It took me ages to realise 'pehse' was 'sheep'so that's the end of my junior school career.) Ha! Love it. The next game features Wellington (the chap from The Perishers) (Erm, no it isn't. Ed) who's jumping in a puddle. Lots of maths here, but fortunately no expressions in terms of 'n' which were always my problem. Finally (and best of all) there's Charlies Big Day. (Those apostrophes, eh?)You have to watch Charlie perform some feats of manual dexterity and stuff, then copy him. It's Simon, basically, and although it starts slowly, once you've got more than four tricks to keep track of things get incredibly hectic. (Far better than Triv for destroying disastrous parties anyway.) On the flip-side of the tape (or the disk) is Margot's Colouring Book, a basic paint prog. You can draw loads of straight lines or colour in some pre-drawn pics. The latter option's the most impressive as they're all craftily designed to avoid colour clash. It's not that much of a grand finale, but more of a gentle reintroduction to reality (or something of that ilk). The Shoe People is a staggeringly good collection of educational games, with a so-so paint prog chucked in as well. The only prob I had was that the bits when you fail are as good (if not better) than the animations when you win. For example, when Charlie completes a trick he bows but when he fails, a huge bucket of water gets emptied over him. (Come on. which one would you rather see?) Apart from that, it's just about perfect. Roll on Return of the Shoe People (or Revenge, or whatever).

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe. All mimsy were the borogroves, and the mome rath outgrabe. (No no. I said jabber on for a bit to fill the box, you fool. Ed)

Why is that sun red? Smacks of an imminent supernova, that does. Let's consult famous astronomer Galileo for a professional opinion. Oh, he's dead.

Sinclair User

Overall 84%

It's back to school time again and although most of you may not like the idea lets face it, things could be worse... You could be facing a firing squad or being horribly tortured with some matches and a pair of pliers, or, even more terrifying, forced to watch a Bob Monkhouse TV show with special guest stars Bruce Forsyth and Jeremy Beadle. See, going back to school isn't THAT bad. Although Mr. Brown in 4C with the long nose, dandruff and bottle bottom spectacles might be a boring old fart there are in fact far more enjoyable ways of learning. One of which is right here on your Speccy - educational software. It's puzzling, informative and fun, and best of all, it gives you an excuse to play on your Speccy during time normally allotted for homework without incurring the wrath of your elders. (It also gives you a chance to slip in the odd arcade game for mental stimulation, though don't tell your mum I said this.) There are a wide variety of educational games available so here, to help you choose, is a selection of those currently readily available and a quick guide to their usefulness. THE SHOE PEOPLE (4-6 year olds) First Class/Gremlin Phone: [redacted] Tape: £10.99 Disk: £15.99 Most kids know who the Shoe People are, and have visited Shoe Town either on tv or in book form and will have immensely enjoyed the experience. Now all their friends are available on a spanking piece of educational software. The game involves word and object recognition plus a good grounding in understanding mathematics, including recognising and adding numbers. Another interesting feature is pattern forming and recognition. Again with such young children maintaining their attention is difficult but the inclusion of well known characters with good graphics and typical Shoe People stories makes this piece of software well worth a look.

Your Sinclair

Life Expectancy 84%

Instant Appeal 82%

Graphics 82%

Addictiveness 79%

Overall 85%

Linda Barker 85%

Gremlin £10.99 cassette/£15.99 disk [redacted] Reviewer: Linda Barker I love shoes dearly, so much so that I own about ten pairs that I've never worn. I just put them away in my wardrobe and completely forget about them. I might take more notice of them if they spoke and did sums. Which, as it happens, is what the Shoe People are dead good at. The Shoe People is Gremlin's first release on First Class, their new educational label which is aimed at four to six year olds. And its a bit of a beauty. There are six separate programs here, and each one has two or more sub-sections. The programs are fun and colourful, yet incredibly educational as each one fits in with National Curriculum guidelines. Let's take a look at the games... TRAMPY VISITS HIS FRIENDS Trampy comes across loads of strange things lying in the road. At the easiest level children nave to match the first letter of the object with one of the letters at the bottom of the screen. At the hardest level, the word appears on screen for a few seconds and then disappears and the child then has to spell the word. SGT MAJOR SORTS IT OUT Naughty Baby Bootee has messed up Sgt Major's shell. His coloured shapes are scattered all over the floor and the child has to tell Sgt Major where to put the shapes. The idea is to have all one shape on one shelf and all of another on another shelf. THE GREAT ALPHABET ROBBERY There's a nasty thief trying to steal the alphabet, to help PC Boot the child has to work out what letters the words begin with and, on later levels unscramble simple anagrams. WELLINGTON GOES TO THE PARK On one end of the see saw there are a number of blocks. Count the blocks and choose the right number to balance the two ends of the see-saw. At the more difficult level the child has to add up the values of two dice and balance the see-saw with the right number. Get it right and Wellington jumps in a puddle. CHARLIE'S BIG DAY Charlie has a whole caboodle of tricks and the child has to remember what order he does his tricks in and, on the later levels, follow the pattern and predict what trick comes next. Each time the child gets it right, Charlie will add another trick MARGOT'S MAGIC COLOURING BOOK There are two options here - drawing or colouring in. On the latter, there's a choice of pictures and using the menu bar at the side the child can colour them in. Using the drawing book all manner Of patterns, doodles and complete messes can now be transported onto the TV screen. Now I'm quite a lot older than six, but even I had fun with these programs - especially the drawing one. I've been laughed out of the office for my lush and gorge designs, but hey! I think they're ace. Mind you, I did get a bit lost whenever Charlie did more than four tricks. For the recommended age group, The Shoe People make letters and numbers seem like a good way of passing the time. Strange but true!

Ladeez and gennelmen, for my next trick I will eat a rubber tyre to the sound of The Flight Of The Bumble Bee. Silence please!

Stop! I'm sorry sir, but there's no admittance beyond this point. Turn back please, or I shall be forced to bring in the yellow duck.

Read it at Your Sinclair Rock'n'Roll Years

Sinclair UserSinclair User Silver

Graphics 83%

Sound 79%

Playability 84%

Lastability 86%

Overall 84%

Alan Dykes 84%

Garth Sumpter

Label: First Class/Gremlin Memory: 48K/128K Price: £10.99 Tape, £15.99 Disk Reviewer: Big Al Dykes Shoe Town is a happy place where all the shoes and boots and slippers go about their business in their funny old way and where learning is always the most important thing, just as it should be, eh kids? Well, The Shoe People are now available on Spectrum and Trampy and all his friends are about to show four to six year olds exactly what spelling and counting is all about. The game is divided into two parts, the first is segmented into five different word, number and recognition activities and the second involves learning to draw and colour screens. Margot's Magic Colouring Book contains a sketch pad and a set of colouring templates. It is very well laid out and easy to use with lot's of facilities and colours. The graphics are very good and represent the individual shoe people delightfully. When you get something wrong they all react with sad faces, when right the beam with pleasure. There is a merry tune which carries through the whole game and the overall presentation is simple and clear. For first-time players or younger children, parental supervision would be advisable at first but the nippers will soon get the hang of it.

Balance the see-saw and you've got the number right.

Bit of keyboard letter recognition involved in this exercise....

Word recognition is well done with good graphics and multi choice. Bon, bon!

SIZE UP TO SHOE PEOPLE Activity 1: 'Trampy visits his friends'. An object recognition and name matching game with two difficulty levels. Activity 2: 'Sgt. Major Sorts It Out'. Recognising shapes and objects by placing placing them among groupings of like objects. Activity 3: 'The Great Alphabet Robbery'. Recognising the importance of capital and lower case letters and where they should be placed and sorting out simple diagrams. Activity 4: 'Wellington Goes To The Park'. Recognising and adding numbers. Count the balls or numbers weighing down one side of a see-saw and balance up the other side with the right answer. Activity 5: 'Charlie's Big Day'. Recognise developing patterns as part of a circus clown's tricks and puzzles.

Crash

Presentation 82%

Graphics 84%

Sound 76%

Playability 80%

Addictivity 78%

Overall 84%

Alan Green 90%

Nick Roberts 75%

Although the oldest statesman of the CRASH team, Alan Green has the mind of a young child. Indeed he's the ideal choice to look at this fun-filled educational release from Gremlin. So put on your kinky boots and walk this way... Gremlin £10.99, £15.99 disk We at CRASH are usually far too busy to pop home for Childrens BBC (more's the pity). But whenever I get the chance to escape, there's nothing I like more than to settle down in front of The Shoe People. This delightful cartoon for younger children (and regressive adults such as myself) stars a whole community of footwear. There's all kinds of boots and shoes bizzying around the place, from Sid Slipper to PC Boot, and all the favourite characters have survived computerisation in this educational collection of games for the 4-6 age group. PUT THE BOOT IN The five games are watched over by PC Boot, who tells you if you're right or wrong and helps out in various ways. The first stars that scruffy old boot, Trampy. It's a lovely day and he fancies visiting his pals. However, as he saunters along the lane, he finds some fool's scattered objects all over the place. Apparently they've fallen off the back of a lorry (officer). Unsurprisingly, PC Boot has a few questions to ask. Identifying objects, spelling and counting are all part of the fun, and there's an easy/hard option for different ages. If you and Trampy get all the questions right (clever cloggs - hew haw!), Trampy'll see his friend in a cute graphic sequence. If he gets some wrong then his pal will probably have gone out by the time he turns up (altogether now, ehhh!). SNEAKY THIEF The next activity involves Sgt-Major Boot. He's a bit cheesed off because Baby Bootee has knocked everything off his cupboard shelves. The good old Boot decides to make a game of it, though, and asks the little chap to sort out the mess. You select and match colours, shapes, patterns etc. The Great Alphabet Robbery stars dastardly tea-leaf Sneaker, who's been stealing words. Fortunately, PC Boot nicks him. But when the words come out the SWAG bag, they're all mixed up! You've got to descramble the anagram to get Sneaker locked up. Wellington Goes To The Park is a mathematical game, and consequently proved itself a serious challenge to the CRASH team. It's basically a case of balancing numbers on a see-saw. Finally, Charlie's Big Day stars Charlie the clown (no, not the CRASH arty person!) who's putting on a show for all of Shoe Town. You've got to watch his repealing sequence of circus tricks closely then predict which one he'll perform next. GRAPHICS GALORE All the First Class challenges are very pretty and the characters look just like their TV counterparts. Each activity's intelligently put together to make learning easy. You usually only have to use two keys and the speed's about right for younger children. The screen's never dull, the shoes are super cute and the reward sequences when a game's completed are impressive (and funny). Each activity becomes progressively difficult, ensuring a continued challenge for older children. And if you flip the disk/cassette over, there's Margot's Magic Colouring Book to add yet further fun! It's a very simple but enjoyable painting and drawing program, in the same clear and pretty style. This collection's extremely well put together. Parents and teachers will find their kids love it - and learn from it. ALAN 90%

Erm... 'nep'? No maybe its 'pne'? No I've got it it's... erm...