ZZAP!64 - Issue 2 - June 1985

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1
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(8, £1 1.95 disk, joystick only
Tired, uninteresting battles in space and at sea
T
hese two games have
been resurrected from the
far distant mists of time
and thrown together in a less
than cheap package. Both originated
in the very early days of
the video arcade and will bring
back nostalgic memories to
many ageing zappers. Unfortunately
they may not bring back
the excitement.
Starfire is a 3D shoot-em-up
Star Wars style where evil Exidy
fighters try to protect their
freighters from your murderous
fire.
The display is of the forward
view from your cockpit and you
are also given a radar scan of the
surrounding space, your laser
temperature and fuel status. On
screen from time to time will
appear your tracking computer
which locks onto the enemy
targets for a while if you can
centre them.
The only other hazards are
asteroids which can crash into
you. The ships themselves come
in three different colours, blue
rookies, green seniors pilots and
red enemy commanders. These
are worth 10, 20 and 40 points
respectively with any freighter
worth 50 points.
On each level you have to
score enough points to gain a
fuel bonus to allow you to carry
on until the final sixteenth level.
This is the main pressure since
shooting ships isn'ttoo hard and
a last minute panic to get the
points is often called for.
Fire One takes you out of
space and under the water
The stars streak towards you as an enemy ship
flickers across your view.
who can sinktheopposite sub or
the entire fleet.
You are equipped with nine
torpedo tubes and unlimited torpedoes.
These can destroy both
enemy and friendly ships so you
have to aim carefully.
The screen shows a sonar
scan of the whole playing area
and a periscope's view of the
local area when surfaced. Indicators
also show your torpedoes
ready to fire, time left, damage
to both subs, direction and
speed and your tracking computer.
There are eight types of ship
and unless you score a direct hit
in their dead centre they will take
several hits to destroy. Each hit
and sinking will score points
with the sub being by far the
most valuable.
BW
Y
is also crowd noise and a pleaswhere
your submarine has to
protect its fleet from enemy sub
and ships. You do this in a series
of battles that take place within a
time limit and are decided by
[PRESENTATION
OC7 /O
0 / Good instructions.
GRAPHICS
f\ f\ / Jerky but colourful
W '/n
in Starfire. VERY crude
SOUND
Q 00/
Back int' good old
days when I were no '
but a lad I sat in this
machine, ft were
really ace, like / were
playing star wars ont'
telly. Many years later
Hook upon t'game
with nostalgia and
nowt else. V graphics
are bad and wobble
about sommat awful
As for t' other one it's
just as old andjust as
bad.
1
/U in Fire One.
O Q 0/
^
ORIGINALITY
000/ Old games and old
yfLO /O gameplay.
HOOKABILITY
Vl. Cs /0
Epyx baffle me. How
can they release such
drive! as this, when
they've given us such
classics as Summer
Games and
impossible Mission?
Neithergame on the
tape stands up on its
own, and they don't
do too wet! together
They're very
monotonous and
don't hold any
reasonable lasting
interest I suppose if
you tike archaic
arcade decrepits, you
could choose worse
than this. But not
much.
These are really
ancient games which
unfortunately don't
live up to their
packaging and are
nowhere near Epyx's
best. They mightbe
okay as budgetgames
or in a compilation but
with just the two of
them most people will
be left wanting, ft
brings the memories
flooding back but
these are probably
best left covered m
cobwebs.
Initial nostalgia
but nothing else.
Banging and blasting
Jo / 0
0 0 / Unless you like
effects. living in the past.
WMMW
.
VALUE FOR MONEY
Old favourites but new disasters.
J Q /Q
ences.
The game is played over nine
innings, with extra innings
should a draw result. The computer
always fields first, leaving
you the arduous task of batting.
Sound during the game is
between the Activision game and the
Imagine one. Bothare newreleases, andboth
have some very strong points about them. In
my opinion though , ifyoujust want a good
game
f
ofbaseball on your computer, then
fine i
get On-Field Baseball, if you want to
bring allthe fun, excitementandhkmatatz of
the game into your home, then go for World
Series Baseball - it's§otbettergraphics and is
three goidcheaper
pretty good and includes some
short musical strains at the beginning
of the game (complete
with the American national
anthem), at the end of an innings
and on hitting a home run. There
ing thud as ball hits glove.
The two player option adds
further excitement to the game,
and a practice mode allows you
PRESENTATION
74% Q
GRAPHICS
32%
SOUND
Good instructions and
game options.
Rotten stick men,
badly animated.
Q/ Authentic baseball
sounds and stadium
64%oq ^
tunes.
VALUE FOR MONEY
73% 0
to bat away for as long as you
like, without fear of losing - an
excellent feature.
ORIGINALITY
72%
Not quite as many
new touches as Imagine's.
HOOKABILITY
72%
The graphics put you
off, but hitting the ball
feels very good.
LASTABILITY
0 / More expensive and overall not quite as good as
World Series.
0*7
You'll still
0/
want to play
q / yyj
even after beating the
^ computer.
36 ZZAP! 64 June 1985