Zzap! Editorials 1989

Issue 45 - January 1989

WOT? NO FISH? Get your teeth out of the Christmas pud and into this issue (what do you mean it’s not Christmas Day yet?), which closes down the year here at ZZAP! It’s been an odd kind of year - all the staff who started it have now left, we’ve undergone some changes in style and the Amiga is now a full-time element of our mag. . . But enough of this twee frivolity and frivolous twee-ity, Rockford reveals all about 1988 on pages 76-78 - so go there if you want to reminisce. 1989 promises to be an even better year - after this Christmas there should be more Amigas about than ever before; and if you want in-depth reviews and more colour screenshots of games than any other Commodore mag, look no further than us. As from this issue, we have to say good-bye to a couple of people. The first is Philippa Irving, who’s been writing our Manoeuvres column for almost two years! the strategy section has never proved universally popular and PI hasn’t got an Amiga on which to review the wide variety of Amiga Wargames. RPGs are now reviewed by our repulsive troll chum, Chuck Vomit. However, let’s put it this way - if you own an Amiga and a 64, are into strategy games and games and feel that you can write accurate, unbiased, indepth reviews, we’ll take you into account should we reintroduce the section. If there's a big outcry, then we will re-introduce it’s all up to you. The second person leaving this month is Mark ‘Markie’ Kendrick - he’s been at Newsfield for two and a half years, and our Art Director for the past year; but now he’s off to pastures new, If you’re wondering who I’m talking about, he's the man who draws Paul in ridiculous costumes and who splashes all the colour over all our pages, amongst other things - oh, and he designed the Robocop feature this month. I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing him well in the future. And that’s it for this festive month. Not quite as big as our last issue, I’m sure you’ll agree, but magazine organs do expand and contract according to the effort you put into them. See you in the New Year!

Issue 46 - February 1989

SMALL BUT PERFECTABLE FORMED I bet most of you didn’t know that the editorial page is just about the last one to be written every month. Well there’s an interesting fact. What can you find in this Paul Glancey sized Issue? Well. one thing you won’t find is Paul Glancey - except for his farewell Tips section. Our petite Geordie POKE has finally succumbed to The Other Side (cue dramatic fanfare). No, he’s not dead, he’s just opted for an office with more room in it than this one. From now on, please address all your tips, hints, maps, listings and cheats to that Flint psycho, Maff Evans. This also means that there’s a Staff Writer’s job going up for grabs - so get penning! Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Issue 46 is full of goodies: there’s the Readers Awards, with loads of free games on offer; a preview of the new wave in German software; and, most importantly, the start of a new form of competition and service to you. Scan pages 30-31 and you’ll know what we’re talking about! In the Rrap you’ll find the winner of our cartoon competition - but thanks go to all of you who sent in some dead funny ones: if we get any more, we’ll print them in a future Rrap (if there’s enough space). The most major thing you’ve probably noticed is the absence of a cassette, but I’m sure you’re all happy with the price coming back down to £1.25. The Robocop/Parallax tape isn’t the last ever Zzap! Mega Cassette to appear, but it’ll be the last one for a while. Meanwhile, keep an eye out for issue 47 it’s a new look (waargh!) issue, packed with all the reviews that just missed our deadline for this one (and there are LOADS). We’re promising you more information about the games you buy, better reviews and a brighter look to the magazine. Don't miss it! Gordon Houghton

Issue 47 - March 1989

This new gadgi ZZAP! stuff an' all that This month we’ve all had a wash behind the ears and got those spongy, cheesy bits out from between our toes. In other words, before you think I’m a complete ‘n’ utter nutter, we’ve had a redesign of the mag. Just about every section has changed slightly, but a few areas have changed in a BIG Way. First off, the ZZUPERSTORE now has a new look (a perm and blow-dry followed by a facial scrub): secondly, and more importantly, we’ve also got ourselves a new Tipster - that scruffy pseudo-Scouser ('he’s really rubbish’) Maff Evans now controls ME TIPS. Crap name, eh? Well, it suits him. Then there’s the previews, which are a bit more snazz an’ all that an’ everyfin’. Most importantly, though, there’s the change to the games bits. There’s a whole page devoted to the new reviews (p13) - we've got one or two new features designed to give you more information and a better reviewing system than before. But, since we haven’t explained just what our ratings means for a while now, I think it’s time we did. So, here goes. . . PRESENTATION This covers all aspects of the program apart from the game itself: packaging, instructions, loading system, on-screen presentation, control method and options. Is it a crappy box with shoddy, brief instructions, no on-screen aids and no options, or is it a big-boxed product with a 100-page novella, brilliant screen detail, a two-player option and a highscore table? GRAPHICS Easily explained. How impressive are the screen graphics - large, colourful and detailed with neat scrolling? Is the animation smooth? How much variety is there? Our mag photos should tell you some of these points, but this category will tell you what you can’t see from a pic. SOUND Is it exciting, effective, atmosphere, varied or just simple and repetitive? Are there music and sound FX: is there speech? Is it technically brilliant? Above all, do the music/sound FX enhance the game or detract from it? HOOKABILITY As we explained way back in Issue 1 of ZZAP!, this is a cross between playability, addictiveness and how the game feels. If this mark is low, it could means that there’s a clumsy control method, or loads of instructions to plough through, or lots of puzzling; if it’s high it’s instantly addictive and incredibly easy to get into. A low hookability rating doesn’t necessarily mean a bad game. LASTABILITY The depth Of a game, which, to some extent, takes into account the Hookability rating. Does it have loads of levels or screens? A game with loads of screens that’s unaddictive scores low in both categories; one which is difficult at first but has plenty of depth scores low on Hook ability but high on lastability; one which is compulsive but is quickly solved scores high on Hook and low on Lastability. Easy, eh? Please yourself, then. OVERALL The key mark: not an average Of the previous five ratings, but the reviewers personal rating of the game as a whole, followed by a comment in summary. It also incorporates the value of a game - a Sizzler at £9.99 might not still be a Sizzler at £14.99. . . And that’s about it for this froody and frozen March issue. Watch out for the word ‘gadgi’ - it’s a bit contagious around here at the moment. Does anyone know what it means? Gordon Houghton

Issue 48 - April 1989

Merry Christmas Welcome, all you alien thrill-seekers, to a special April Fool’s issue of ZZAP! We’ve got plenty of surprises packed into this month’s mag or have we? Are we telling the truth or have we got no April Fool’s surprises whatsoever? Well, there is ONE - and the first person to spot it and write in will get an April fool’s prize. One thing that won’t surprise you is the amount of reviews - once again just under 50 games passed through our internaI digestive systems this month, all of which get the definitive ZZAP! treatment (ie. dipped in a bowl of custard, stuck into a C2N or the side of an Amiga and then played until dead). The other things you don’t need telling about - the exclusive review; that wather pwetty poster in the centre; the Zzaptionnaire. More important than all these, though, is the introduction of two new 0898 lines - we’ve been saying up our coppers to rent a couple more phones, and we’ve finally put Maff and Ken under one of Exeter’s sun lamps and bullied them into writing something a little different each month. On Maff’s line you’ll find tips, most of which won’t appear in a future ZZAP! and all of which are brill, on Ken’s line you’ll learn about what's going in ZZAP! next month and a little bit about fish hygiene. Don’t forget the cost and check out page 85 for more details! By the way, we’ve already found ourselves a new staff writer, so no more applications, please. With luck and a bit of bullying, we’ll introduce him, her or it next month - as long as they shave off all that gorilla hair and stop using the KY, that is. Aye, mon. Aaaand, it’s only two more issues to go until our half century: we’ve got a special little something planned for that one if you want to find out more, you’ll just have to ring up Ken next month, won’t you? Let’s just say, you won't be able to resist Right, a-tha a tha a-tha that’s all, folks, Back to the Interociter for another session. Gordon Houghton

Issue 49 - May 1989

When the boat comes back The last week of this month schedule brought with it all the Sizzlers you'll find in this issue - no less than seven of them! The best of the 64 crop includes Renegade III, Silkworm and Run The Gauntlet; on the Amiga side, we've got Voyager (one of the best 16-bit games we've seen), Cybernoid 2 (an example of just how to upgrade a brilliant 8-bit game), War In Middle Earth and Robocop. In this month's instalment you'll also find. . . a couple of features - an exploration of the current console boom(page 12), the traditional eeh-bah-gum ZZAP! Games Index (with added shoes - page 43) and no less that 12 pages of tips (beginning on p. 56) Maff’s been a regular busy beaver, hasn’t he readers? On an entirely differemt note, the first person to write in and correctly identify the April fool was. . . wait for it. . . Simon Hadlington of Stouroridge. What’s his special April Fool’s prize? Nothing at all - sorry Simon but we are unbelievably miserable and perverse around here and we’re always thinking up sick jokes like that one For any of you who are still wondering, the April Fool was the 64 hydraulic chair in The Word and not, as several of you thought, the Joystick Junkies feature. But perhaps the biggest news this month is the fact that we’ve reeled in a new staff writer. We went out in the ZZAP! Trawler, lost our way somewhere in the North Sea, caught one of the biggest mackerel we could find, and fed it to the new man at ZZAP! Towers. And what better way to let you get to know him than for him to write his own introduction? Take it away. Paul . Awreet, marra. Me name’s Paul Rand. A’s seventeen year owld, an ‘a come from a borin’ little pit village called Easington (which isn't anywhere near Newcastle at all). A’ve gorra Commodore 64, and hods er games fer it, an’a think it’s reely hellish. Me favourite games are Operation Wolf, Robocop an’ Gunship, but a’ll play owt, reely, as long as it’s not git crap. A like listenin‘ to Tha Smiths, and Erasure, and stuff like that, yer naa. An’ me favourite pastime is gannin down the pub fer a pint an' a tab. Cos a like beer an tabs, me. An ‘am THAT haaard, cos’er it. And that’s about it, reely, yer naa. Teraa. Translations on the back of a postcard, please. If any of you did understand it, we’d like to point out that what Paul does is illegal and should not be encouraged in any form. Anyway, I’m sure you’ll all make our newest pseudo-Geordie recruit feel very welcome. Next issue is the Anniversary ZZAP! (cue dramatic fanfare amid gasps from hoards of tearful millions) Yes! We’re 50 copies old from 18th April. What have we got planned? Well, you can ring Ken D Fish’s hot line 0898-555055 if you want the full details, but let’s just say it’s going to be packed with all the stuff that makes this still the best selling Commodore magazine in Britain. . . Teraa now. Gordon Houghton

Issue 50 - June 1989

50 AND STILL KICKING! Hello, folks! Well, what can we say?! What does one say to friends at embarrassing dos for your birthday after they've desperately had a go at singing (?) the called for ditty, you've blown out the candles, gasped for air and made your wish? The obvious thing is - to belch! All that food and DRINK... Well, Chuck vomited, of course, and Ken burbled bubbles from his specially laid-on bowl of champers. Us humans decided to play it cool. Avoiding that eternal prattler Rocklord and his bouncy sidekick Thingy, we got to work on the next fifty Zzaps, so there! Why? Cos it's you lot reading this with your fish (ouch) and chips who've made Zzap what it is. Yes, folks, the most riveting, authoritative and occasionally silly, but always world-shattering mag for Commodore - and now Amiga - games ever. And we want you to carry on voting for us with your hard earned pennies! So we're racking our combined brains for great and fab stuff to fill your months ahead with - should be easy peasy with all the great games coming up for our fave computers! In the meantime you can all go spare trying to beat the hell out of our birthday Megatape game Zig Zag and drool over phobia to come - all to Martin Walker's music. A real birthday treat, as our Randy Paul would say. Birthday drivel over, thanks a lot and now start reading... THE ZZAP TEAM (all and sundry creatures included) (N.B. Gordon originally wrote a different editorial to this one, but it was changed to the above after Gordo, Kati and Maff "left"! - IB)

Issue 51 - July 1989

After the party No sooner than a birthday bottle of champagne is broken over the free cassette on Issue 50 than it's all change at the Towers. Gordon Houghton, after a year as Editor has left along with Kati Hamza and Maff Evans. While Maff plans superstardom - or preferably cult status - with his group Assimilate Four, Gordon and Kati are pursuing the slightly more prosaic career of freelance journalists back down South. The new ZZAP! team includes Robin 'from the Valleys' Hogg (winner of last year's intermagazine challenge (ha!), military enthusiast, Kerrang! reader (Lorraine Lewis - phwoar!) and estate agent firebomber), Phil King (sports fan, Alice Cooper devotee and skateboarding superstar) and me (trekkie, REM fan and C128 owner - there has to be one). Together with Paul (how many pictures of me can I get in one Issue?) Rand, Ken D Fish and new contributor, Prof Norman Nutz,we hope to keep increasing the quality of your monthly ZZAP!. To this aim the reviews have been tinkered with (again), the intros lengthened to allow more detail on games as complex as Millennium 2.2 and Archipelagos, and emphasised to make them stand out. So even if we go wild over a game in the comments,there should be enough information to decide if it's the type of game you'll like too. We.ve also trying to more clearly separate C64 and Amiga reviews and have brought back the irregular strategy section, with Robin Hogg drooling over some of the best games around. It's not the sort of column Randy likes, but he's just discovered an unexpected enthusiam for Compunet, staying on-line to all hours at night. So unless the phone bills bankrupt us in the meantime, see you next month! Stuart Wynne

Issue 52 - August 1989
	There was no editorial. (N.B. Unfortuntly the beginning of a trend with Zzap! - IB)

Issue 53 - September 1989
	Again, no editorial.

Issue 54 - October 1989
	And again.

Issue 55 - November 1989

A C64 Xmas? Finally, the summer software drought seems over with high quality games flooding in for the C64. While the Amiga lacks a single sizzler, the C64 wins TWO Gold Medals and one sizzler.Hats off first to Ocean, for putting so much time and effort into their movie licences. The number of sub games and levels offered by the two products is astonishing, as is the sheer polish which makes them so much fun. And applause too, for Chris Butler doing the impossible for Activision. Clearly the C64 has plenty of life left in it yet. ln terms of presentation, playability and the sheer amount of levels crammed into C64 games today's programs blow away all but a few classics from the old days. The technical excellence delivered by Power Drift, and promised by Turbo OutRun, is simply amazing. And who would swap the value-packed, multiload Ocean licences of 1989 for those of 1985? Particularly as the good games that were around then can now be picked up for £2.99 on rerelease, or in mega-value compilations. As the 1990s approach,the c64 offers all this for a quarter of the price of an Amiga with new releases costing half as much as Amiga software. lf you want amazing graphics the Amiga certainly delivers (see Batman preview), but for the moment C64 owners can remain content: their machine offers by far the best value for money with a range and quality of software second-to-none. And with so much happening on the C64/Amiga scene it's a pity Paul Rand has decided to leave Newsfield for a job with publishing giant EMAP. Best of luck to him, and Robin Hogg who's bravely stepped into his shoes with a 'Pig in The Poke' playing tips section. Stuart Wynne

Issue 56 - December 1989
	No editorial

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