Computer + Video Games - Commodore Is Awesome

REVIEW
NE0 CEO £120
BY SU
The Earth is ruined. Constant expo-
I sure to pollution and nuclear contamination
has wrecked the planet
completely. Children are born with
two heads, five legs and other, more
horrible aberrations. Only people in
Yeovil fail to notice the difference. A
crazed scientist has deliberately increased
the level of radiation on the
planet in an attempt to breed a race
of super mutants and Earth needs a
hero or two to save the planet from
this menace. Who can they turn to?
Who's hard enough to take on the
challenge and survive? Enter Ken
and Baz, both shop assistants in a
Manchester Tesco's when the catastrophe
happened. They decide there
and then in the vegetable section to
save the world and destroy the evil
scientist bloke once and for all and
without pausing to stick the price
label on another can of baked beans,
oft they go to kick some behind...
The Neo Geo has more
than its fair share of this
type of game and you're
really spoiled for choice
when it comes to scrolling
beat 'em ups. This
one features nothing
new in the way of gameplay,
but it does take a
novel approach to
graphical style. All the characters in the
game, disgusting mutants the lot of them,
are brilliantly animated mutants and
graphics as a whole are quite outstanding,
even by the mighty Neo Geo's standards.
Music is a little disappointing, but the
sound effects are groovy. One fault with a
great deal of Neo games is the lack of
attention to character animation. but all
that's changed here - even the most unimportant
sprites are fluid and lifelike. Gameplay
is as good as you would expect from
this kind of title, with basic punching and
kicking the order of the day. The problem
is that there are similar and better games
on the Neo Geo and you'd probably be
better off choosing something else. All in
all, a solid and impressive release which is
utterly lacking in imagination or originality.
FRANK O'CONNOR
071/ AV rif
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BLIMEY! THAT'S ORIGINAL!
No it's not. Mutation Nation is virtually the same as almost
every Neo Geo beat 'em up so far! Yup, lilt's Final Fight style
games you're after, you won't go far wrong with a Neil There
are some excellent scrolling beat 1
em Burning u pFight, s 8 Man and the superb Sengoku. Some of the
older
a v a
games
i l a
are
b l
a
e
bit
,
cheaper now and you can pick up the
likes of Magician Lord and Ghost Pilots for almost reasonable
prices. i n cIf you l fancy u d a ione n on gone
beater then try King of the
Monsters or Fatal Fury - both excellent.
MUTANT MALARKEY
Play Mutation Nation and you'll quickly discover another vanation
on the age-old theme of Smart Bombing. This time
though, the smart bombs are mystical mutant psychic powerst
To use these, you collect tokens marked A, B, C or D as they
appear at various intervals around the landscape and let one oft
(pardon) by holding down the kick button while an energy bar
rises to its peak. When it reaches the top, release the button
and one of four bomb types goes off:
BOMB A: Your own body
becomes into flames the and bomb- splitting bursting apart. n •i
l tti
BOMB 8: A flaming fireball stiti
which blasts the baddies to
kingdom comet
BOMB C: A lightning strike
which builds up when you
throw yourself to the ground.
BOMB D: This one's a big secret
and very spectacular. We
won't spoil it by telling you
what it is!
NO BOMBS: If you don't have
a token and try any of the
above, your energy bar will be
quickly depleted and you fire
off a series of superfast kicks!
Ad
o player ass-kicking action!
MAD MANIAC
MORONS
The Mutant Scientist is a total
loony - the sort of bloke who
' votes SDP and teaches media
studies for a living. To reach
him you'll have to defeat his
most twisted creations on five
different levels - but be prepared
for a big surprise when
you finally meet him face to
face!
a.
NE0 CEO
GRAPHICS SO
SOUNDS 85
PLAYABILITY 844
LASTABILITY 70
4
OVERALL
P
r
75
et