Computer + Video Games - Commodore Is Awesome

Loud and proud and ready toshock. Yes, C + VG's veryown Mr T - Tony Takoushi- is back to rant and raveabout computer games. Loveor hate him, just read him.said Amigo gamesA software wascbeginning to arrive in qualityoand volume. Some of theubetter games to hit the UKrecentlypore impact,Mousetrap, Mission,Elevator, l Bad Cats, DrFruit e (Mr Do), The FinalTrip, o Garrison and CityDefence f - on absolutelyBRILLIANTmversion of MissileCommand.oThis month I'm taking a lookat n a game called SpaceRanger t - previously titledTASAR, h weird huh? — for theAmiga s 500 from MastertronicaA scaled down version fromtheir coin-op division SpacegRanger is a Defender-stylegame o with some tastytouches. IYou control a SpaceEnvironmental ProtectionRanger (SE PR to you) whichhas to zip around variousplanets rescuing animals fromthe clutch- f beastly aliens.Jeff Minter, they need you!The first three planets orecalled Zyphoor, Jospoor andCervix. To get the lowdownon these worlds the instructionmanual explains via arather wild storyline — whatyou have to collect anddestroy.On entering the first levelthe first thing to grab your eyeis the speed at which theaction takes place. Don'thang around nothing if forfree here!You can fly or walk to theleft or right as the screenscrolls straight out ofDefender.The obvious difference isthat the backdrop is a threelayered scroll which is finelydetailed and absolutely pixelsmooth. Nice one guys!There are various 'untiesflying around which try topick up the creatures from thesurface. Creatures includingdinosaurs, turtles, weirdrunning eyeballs andbouncing squids. Oncecaptured the animals orțaken to a mother ship whic.teleports them into her holdvia a beam.You can make the ship dropthe creatures by shooting it.But ovoid taking too manyshots as this can releasepounding lists which batteryou around the screen.The enemy aliens come instrange forms, there arerolling hands, prongedWasps, which like to sting—yellow flying jokers and thedreaded Skull which followsyou around firing viciouslooking hook bombs.To aid your mission thtascanner at the bottom 0screen which dearly detailsthe enemy and where thecreatures are on the plane,You must use this to getanywhere in the game.At the end of a wave youare given a tally of thecreatures rescued — extra lifeat 25 — and progress to th.next wave.The game should beavailable by the time youread this and on balancerecommend it. It takes theDefender idea and enhancesit. Action is fast, sound isgood and it's a ronlshoot'em up.areas of the0 software Ile ol ihe dodgier industryare conversions of arcadegames.It really is worrying thatsoftware houses ore contentto simply hock across codewithout eye for detail or thecapabilities of the machinesthey ore converting coin-opson to.fa date there have beensome horrific conversions ofhit arcade - titles from leadingsoftware companies. I conunderstand the commercialreality of releasing a game tocoincide with a hit movie orarcade machine. But what Icannot understand is theapparent willingness ofcompanies to sully theirreputations with shoddy,rushed programs whichbarely resemble the original.The main reason all this isbubbling up in my brain at themoment is that with increasingpopularity of the ST andAmiga machines, softwarehouses are, it seems, contentto simply port 68000 codeacross from ST to AmigoWITHOUT using the extrapower of the Commodoremachine. This is such a waste!The iromc part of it is thatthe Amigo is incrediblypowerful and should beLEADING the way, but as theST now has the moss presenceit leads the software marketfor produFt.Take a long hard look at thegames for the ST and Amiga.They are getting better but Istill feel that the machines arenot being used to anything-- like their processor or designpotential.Name me just one realclassy classic shoot'em up forthe Amiga or ST that blowsyou away with presentationand sheer heart thumpingaction?There really isn't that muchmore effort needed toenhance ST to Amigo productso software houses PLEASEtake time out to vamp it upIt will increase soles andyour coders ability toproduce hot 68000product