Zzap


Major Motion

Publisher: Microdeal
Machine: Amiga 500

 
Published in Zzap #44

Major Motion

There you are, quietly sitting in front of the TV set wishing that you could have a car like Jame Bond's, when the room is suddenly lit by a weird light and your fairy Godmother appears.

"Your wish is my command," says she and voom you're behind the wheel of a mega-hard sports car, streaking down the highway with people shooting at you. As you pull into the back of a friendly looking truck a man in a suit gives you a message about an evil road-gang that is terrorising the highways, complete with bullet-proof cars, tyre slashers and missile toting helicopters. So... streak along the road in your weapon-loaded vehicle, blasting the enemy to smithereens before they claim all the highways of the world as their own.

But first - where did you put your diving licence...?

Kati

Major Motion

The only good thing about this is the sampled Starsky and Hutch-style machine gun and tyre screeching effects. Apart from that, it's more or less Spy Hunter. No, in fact it's *less* than Spy Hunter.

The scrolling is jerky, the joystick control is slow and the extra weapons system is nigh on unusable because of its reliance on using a series of keys to activate the weapons. When the slightest distraction from the screen can result in your demise in a ball of fire, this really isn't good enough - and I wouldn't recommend Major Motion unless you're desperate for a game of this type.

ME

When I saw Major Motion on the Atari ST, I though the Amiga version could only get better.

Major Motion

Wrong.

The graphics are 'nicer' and some of the sound effects are OK but there isn't much in the way of playability.

The control feels a mite too sluggish, making it virtually impossible to knock the enemy cars off the road - and who had the wonderful idea of using the keyboard to fire the weapons...? Give that man the Idiot Of The Month Award.

Major Motion

With a bit of forethought and planning, Major Motion could have been quite good - instead, it's left floundering in a pool of unplayable mush.

Verdict

Presentation 46%
Irksome delays and a useless extra weapons system only annoy.

Graphics 49%
Average sprites and backgrounds, but the scrolling is yeuch.

Major Motion

Sound 51%
A few suitable effects... very few, as a matter of fact.

Hookability 57%
The difficulty puts you off at first...

Lastability 49%
...and it doesn't improve.

Overall 54%
Could have been tons better.