Carnival

Your Spectrum

Frank Pelling MISS

Ian Hemmingway HIT

Owen Pugh MISS

JOYSTICK JURY Your Spectrum is on the lookout for clubs to take part in Joystick Jury. Interested??? Just drop a line to Ron Smith, Joystick Jury, Your Spectrum, [redacted]. This month's joystick jurors are all members of the Stevenage Computer Club, [redacted]. They are: Ian Hemmingway, Phil Morse, Frank Pelling, Owen Pugh and Monty Trent. The club was formed about 18 months ago and currently has a membership of about 45, with members' ages ranging from eight to 70 years. It meets twice a month - at the Stevenage Library and the Leisure Centre. Membership costs £6 per year... half price for children and OAPs. For more details, phone Frank Pelling on [redacted] (evenings and weekends). CARNIVAL Eclipse Software £5.95 This is a good old shooting gallery game where your job is to clear all the targets from the first round, then shoot the prowling bears before moving on.

Read it at Your Spectrum Unofficial Archive

Personal Computer Games

Graphics 5/10

Sound 4/10

Originality 1/10

Lasting Interest 5/10

Overall 5/10

Bob Wade 5/10

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K CONTROL: Keys, Kemp, Sinc, Full FROM: Exclipse Software, £5.95 Fairground mayhem abounds in this copy of the arcade original. You have a limited number of bullets to shoot cute little ducks, rabbits, owls and pipes but the action is a bit slow. You can afford very few misses even without the diving ducks trying to steal your ammo. The tune is annoyingly repetitive but you can turn it off.

Sinclair User

Gilbert Factor 5/10

NO FUN AT THE CARNIVAL Memory: 48K Price: £6.45 Joystick: Kempston ZX Interface The idea of presenting a carnival shooting gallery as a computer game would be interesting and the software would sell in great numbers so long as it was programmed in a moderately competent manner. Carnival, for the 48K Spectrum, succeeds on the first point but fails miserably on the second. The game involves shooting ducks, owls and rabbits as they move across the shooting rank. You must be wary of the ducks which can swoop and take some of your limited number of bullets. The bullets can be replaced by shooting a square card which moves with the animals and contains the bonus number of bullets. The letters b-o-n-u-s also travel round the range and you should shoot them to obtain extra points. If you hit the pipes which spin round at the top of the screen like a windmill you will also get more points. Points may win prizes but not so far as Carnival is concerned. The graphics are only just presentable and they flicker during animation. The game could have been written as easily in 16K with Basic - it certainly looks as if it has been. The idea of Carnival is good but more time could have been spent programming it. If a better version is produced, by all means buy it but we do not recommend Carnival even for children. It can be obtained from Eclipse Software, [redacted].

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

Crash

Use of Computer 77%

Graphics 73%

Playability 78%

Getting Started 76%

Addictive Qualities 75%

Originality 70%

Value For Money 76%

Overall 75%

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Eclipse Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £6.45 Language: Machine code Author: W. Moore On looking at the cassette inlay, it's a bit difficult to decide who really is responsible for marketing this game. The copyright says Eclipse, but as the game is part competition this is run by British Micro of Watford, below which is says created and produced by EMS (Holdings) Ltd. EMS (Holdings) Ltd is, among other things, an advertising agency which handles a number of computer and software-related accounts. Carnival is a fairground sideshow shoot 'em up. You start off with three lines of objects moving in opposing directions, bears, rabbits, ducks and a alphabet letters. At the base of the screen is your rifle, which may be moved left and right. Below that is an allocation of bullets. The yellow ducks have a tendency of breaking line, flying down and robbing you of some bullets. The letters should be shot in the correct order to spell the word B-O-N-U-S oddly enough, this awards some bonus points to your score. Hitting targets on the upper row awards more points than hitting any on the lower row. Above the moving rows is a carousel of clay pipes which must also be shot for bonus scores. The game ends if you run out of bullets before clearing the screen. Bullets may be replenished by shooting two litre blocks with a 5 and a 10 in them, bullets awarded according to the number. COMMENTS Control keys: CAPS/Z left/right and SPACE to fire Joystick: ZX 2, Kempston, Fuller Keyboard play: responsive Use of colour: good Graphics: above average to good Sound: good with on off option to kill the carnival sound Skill levels: 6 speeds Lives: 1 Originality: novel idea for a shoot up, well implemented

'Roll up! Roll up! Shoot the flying ducks and harmless bunnies and win yourself a Graphpad.'