Reviews

It's a shooter by Players.....again! This is like Cybernoid and it also has a little minigame inside...so it's not all the same. Rather good, rather misses the mark, nevermind it's still more decent than most of Players' catalogue which says something.

It's practically impossible to review this game without mentioning Cybernoid, which it heavily resembles - the ship movement is very similar, and the add ons (bouncing thingies, homing missiles, rotating shield) are pretty much identical to Mr Cecco's masterpiece.

Despite some colourful and smooth-moving graphics, there's something not quite right in its gameplay and lastability. The game area can feel very cramped, and despite your spinny-roundy shield and assortment of weapons, it can be very difficult to avoid some of the enemy shots, which are fired at very close range. The lack of sound or other effect makes it even harder to tell when your energy is being drained, until suddenly you see your ship exploding into a thousand pieces (quite a nice little effect, as it happens).

There's even a mini-game - remember that pyramid game where you have to move bits of a pyramid from one 'spindle' to another? It's a nice idea, though the controls feel somewhat heavier in this section which means that even if you know exactly where to stick the pyramid 'slices', it's quite easy to run out of time and lose a life.

It's clear that quite a lot of effort has been put into the presentation of this game, including some nice 128k music, which has boosted the rating slightly. I think if the frustrating gameplay niggles had been improved, this might have been one of more impressive Players games, albeit an unoriginal idea.

It's similiar to Shark, another shooter from Players' which was appalling. This is a far better game, it looks nicer and has a better choice of weapons. A lot of Players' games don't deliver on the gameplay but I think this one does to a degree.