Computer + Video Games - Commodore Is Awesome

R EVIEW P*
• //..emmiezto,
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I n the year 2029. thing's aren't
I as hunky-dory as people might
have hoped. Far from the annihilation
of the terrorist threat so
apparent in the late 20th century.
each of the world's fanatical
groups have joined together
in a bid to wipe out Western
democracy and free trading. Oh
dear. Sounds like it's time to call
for the Action Fighter.
Five missions await corn pienon
in Firebird's conversion of
Sega's rather Obscure arcade
game. The player begins by ripping
up the road on a sleek, highpowered
but vulnerable motorcycle.
Every so often a letter of
the alphabet wends its way
V The weapons truck makes a delive
1
down the screen, beginning with
A and ending with F Once all letters
up to D have been collected,
the motorbike transforms
into an armoured car.
During this little groundbased
excursion you're given the
chance to drive into the trailers
of passing Sega trucks, gaining
extra weapons. rockets (to
shoot down any passing enemy
helicopters) and limited invincibility
in the process. Once the
letter F is picked up it's time to
transform once more as you
shoot off the end of a pier and
become a jet fighter, aiming to
destroy airborne attackers in a
vertically scrolling shoot 'em up.
At the end of this stage awaits
Watch out for the chopper!
your target, which you must
eradicate before the President is
sues new orders.
The coin-op never really
took arcadesters by storm. so
why Firebird took on this
licence beats me As a game it's
quite impressive in its own way
.relying on playability rather than
pretty pictures The Spy Hunterstyle
gameplay is certainly addictive
for a while and the transformation
of game styles adds variety.
Unfortunately the whole
concept is too simple and, ever
though play is tough, it doesn't
really hold your interest for very
long
UPDATE
PAUL RAND
Amiga, PC and CPC versions
are on the way. While
the Amiga version should
resemble the ST game, Amstrad
Action Fighter will be
a colourful, slightly jerkier
copy of the Spectrum version.
ara222ZEMZ
ST L19.99
GRAPHICS 7 I cro
SOUND 6 6 To
VALUE 6 9 To
PLAYABILITY 7 8 cYo
A faithful conversion of an
obscure, yet enjoyable coinop.
it's fun for a while, but
is by no means an essential
purchase. Buy it if you're
feeling nostalgic.
OVERALL 71%
M2Zommzi2
C64 £9.99
Very disappointing when
compared to the other attempts.
Garish graphics,
horrendous sound and
wooden animation smother
what could have been a fun
Spy Hunter clone.
OVERALL 46(
e3 V I M
M"
/01
I1SPEC V t i r £9.99
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Monochrome graphics are
easy on the eye and sound
is as much as can be expected.
An admirable conversion
which is well suited
to the Spectrum.
OVERALL 7 5 %