Computer + Video Games - Commodore Is Awesome

furthest platform or ledge and
jump from platform to platform to
get at you. You mint throw the
Shuriken oi those fast moving
figures and put them out of action
before they get too close. It's hard
work and they need careful aim,
but if you clear the screen you'll get
the extra lives,
A mop at the beginning of each
level shows how for you've
travelled and by the look of things,
it will take you a fair amount of
time to clear the three or four
stages on each of the five missions
assigned to you.
Fast moving and very
challenging, Shenobi is well worth
playing. I particularly liked it for the
controls which weren't too
complex. A straightforward kick
and punch game with bogs of
action.
• HEAVYWEIGHT
CHAMP
Heavyweight Chomp from Sega is
a boxing simulation that resembles
Punch Out!! in that you are seen as
a semi-transparent figure with your
bock to the screen fighting a very
solid opponent. However, where
the controls are concerned,
Heavyweight Champ is in a
category of its own. For instead of
punch buttons, you hove two levers
sticking out from the side of the
machine which must be swung and
punched inwards to simulate your
player's hooks and jabs.
This must be the most exhausting
game I've ever played. By the time
Id got my first knock out, my orms
were so tired I couldn't even have
bopped a featherweight on the
nose let alone another bout with a
heavyweight.
41-1
'
Swinging the monitor from side
to side allows defence and blocks
while punching and turning the
levers lets you go in tor the attack.
• BLASTEROIDS
Atari's Blosteroids came as o bit of
a surprise. Firstly, because ifs so
playable and secondly because ifs
a 3D, highly coloured and
enhanced version of their 1979
classic, Asteroids. Still reloining the
old movement patterns and basic
gameplay, Blasterods has been
given a brand new image. It's
brilliant, and will revive all the old
skills.
There ore lots of new features,
the main ones allowing you to pick
up bonuses like extra firepower,
energy and shields which are
obtained by shooting the enemy
and picking up whatever they
drop.
Energy crystals can be found by
shoohng red asteroids. These
explode into a zillion fragments
leaving behind the crystals. Picking
them up can be a problem as they
float through the space scope.
Once you've got the hang of your
turn and thrust controls, the job
should be much easier. Blasting
some objects gives you a magnet
which attracts all cD
,
area to your ship. This is a real
bonus when playing with o partner
stols as you'll come i n out o winner while
this hship ecomes
to a virtual standstill
All the bonuses ore disguised
ond youll need to learn whkh
ships, stars or rocks are concealing
energy boosters, tanks of fuel or
even the ripstar. This latter object
acts like a smart bomb and
explodes with a cathenne wheel
effect, shattering everything in
range.
There are 16 sectors to a
galaxy., each carrying a new space
scene and accompanied by
various noshes_ The worst aliens I
came across were space lobsters
which clutch your ship with deathly
claws. The only way to get rid of
these monsters is far your partner
to blast them off you
The sectors are quickly cleared
arid a transporter window soon
appears to suck you into its vortex.
The first person into this window
gets extra points and is allowed to
choose the next sector.
You can change the size of your
ship to large, medium or small to
help get through different sectors.
Large means you lack the speed to
fly quickly out of dodgy situations,
but at least if you're hit, your ship
doesn't lose so much power. Small
size works the opposite way round,
but as you can change quickly at
the press of a button, you should
be able to combat most situations.
Blasteraids is being heralded by
Atari as a 'Blast from the Post'. It's
brilliant and, like listening to on old
record, it'll awaken lots of
memories.
• VIGILANTE
Vigilante is vets, fast. punchy and
similar to Double Dragon in style.
You play the hero who's got to
save Madonna (I) from a bunch of
skinhoods who're holding her
captive. The streets are kill of thugs,
law and order are words of the
post and single handed you must
kick the thugs where it hurts.
Weapons like Nurtchakus can
be found en route and will be
needed to fight knife wielding
delinquents. This is a game which
takes you through the meanest
streets in the town, the type of
place where cors ore found
dumped in the gutters, where
everybody carries a gun or uses o
knife. The scenery is depicted in
minute detail and sets the scene
brilliantly.
The boddies wear different
uniforms, and the colour of their
clothes will tell you how to
approach them. Some will need to
be hit severnItimes before they
topple, others will fait at the
slightest hint of resistance. At the
end of each level you'll meet a
monster thug — don't you always —
and he must be hit again and
ogoin before he dies. It's a help at
this point if you've picked up on
extra weapon.
And so this hard hitting game
continues, level after level, The fifth
stage is fantastic as it's played on
the girders of a bridge high above
ground level. The skins and thugs
scrombte up the struts of the bridge
to cut you off , ond the only way to
save yourself is to punch them off
balance and throw them into the
void. Gaps in the girders don't help
matters, especially when it comes
to fighting the monster at the end
of the level. If he gets close enough
he'll pick you up by the scruff of the
neck and pound you to pulp
before hut fog you to the ground,
it's a long drop, though if you've
got _your wits about you, you can
grab onto the side of the girder
and hoist yourself back up for
more punishment. I thought that
was a really nice touch.
Vigilante is great — fans of
Double Dragon will love it.
• THUNDERCADE
Thundercode from Taito i a
vertically scrolling shoot 'em up
and is not particularly brilliant. The
only thing really different about
this one, as you travel up the
screen blasting away at tanks,
enemy outposts and soldiers is that
you're riding a motorbike.
The graphics are tiny and a bit
flickery. The aim of the game is to
collect extra weapons and a side
car with mounted cannon for your
bike. The further yoe travel up the
screen, the harder the going with
more enemy, tanks and guns. Not
a game that's going to shake the
world. Tito' s Twin Cobra is much
mc re likely to stick in your memory.