Previous Next

This is a game for loonies, pure and simple. I mean, in most shoot-'em-ups you're saving the universe from unimaginable evil, rescuing a beautiful damsel and making lots of dosh. You can earn a bit of cash here too, but this isn't a mission, it's a holiday for one or two suicidal maniacs!

The notorious Alien Safari freezes, fries, skewers, slices, swallows, and explodes dozens of tourists every month. So far, no-one has survived it. But the scenery is the most spectacular in the known universe, the creatures the most dramatic and it's never, ever dull! Fortunately, you can travel with a fellow tourist if you want.

The first of the four safari planets is the appropriately named Gibba, dominated by fearless machines. Besides the gun turrets, swirling blades and slamming doors which festoon the landscape, there are walkers, poisonous bubbles and zillions of aliens ships. Even the walls are out to get you, with the scrolling abruptly switching between horizontal and vertical at various points in the game. Survive all that and you're rewarded with a big, and very mean, robot ship to fight.

Shooting the aliens cause them to lose any cash they're carrying, usually a coin valued between £10 to £25. These can be collected and spent in shops for extra lives, as well as upward/downward firing missiles, neutron bombs, rear-firing missiles, a new tank of energy and speed-up.

Planet two is Grone (groan!) and takes intrepid tourists underwater, each in his or her own submarine. Here the unfriendly natives fight back with jellyfish, colossal crab claws, subs and bullet-firing eels. Beat this level and it's time to strip down to a jumpsuit, strap on a jetpack and zoom through an ice-world with deadly icicles, rocks and alien ships. Shreek can provide plenty of cash, but its natives are friendly only be comparison with those on...

Snuff. The final planet is a hideous world constructed of blood and raw flesh. This is the most difficult and demanding of the worlds, the one where the bravest and most skilful of the tourists are buried.

It's precisely a year ago that the Amiga version of Blood Money sizzled, an unexpected reminder that it's been a year since we came onto Zzap! Hurrah! Happy birthday to us!

And what a way to celebrate, because Amiga Blood Money was a brilliant shoot-'em-up which we'd still be playing today if the Welshman hadn't tried one of his lethal pokes out on it!

But now we can, because the C64 version has arrived and it's just as good to play, and even more technically awesome. When we saw the preview screenshots with two players on screen, plenty of aliens and loads of bullets we thought: no way, too many sprites.

But thankfully we were wrong, this game effortlessly blows you away. Superslick scrolling, changing from vertical to horizontal without pause, plenty of aliens with some amazing animation, and great end-of-level monsters mean this is an utterly amazing game.

Initially it can be a little confusing with so much happening and it may seem you can brush over baddies. But the collision detection is, in fact, very sharp and drains your energy tanks relentlessly. Which means you'll have to be really on the ball to see all the astounding graphcs this game offers.

The first level is good, although the metal finish is a bit familiar, and quite imaginative. There's even the reverse-control radio transmitters missing from the ST conversion!

The later levels are even more stunning. The undersea level features some beautifully animated jellyfish and massive crab claws, while the ice world has prehistoric birds, pseudo-digitized asteroids (!) and sharp icy spikes to impale you.

This is a great shoot-'em-up full of imagination - and the urge to collect all those spinning coins is always leading me into danger. Bloody amazing!

Well, what can I say? Just this second I've just dragged myself away from the C64 after a heavy dose of Blood Money and I just cannot believe how DMA Design have squeezed near enough everything from the Amiga original into what is a superlative conversion!

David Jones & Co. seem to have totally ignored the C64's limitations and gone overboard on the number of sprites on screen, many of which are beautifully animated (witness the walker on level 1, the jellyfishes on level 2, the missile-firing planes on level 3 - wonderful!). Incredibly, even with two players on screen, aliens and bullets flying everywhere and a great constant tune constantly playing it just rolls along at a great pace (would you believe it's faster than the Amiga game? Well, believe!). It's as if the C64 has been given a much welcome hardware boost at no extra cost!

DMA Design deserve a bloody big pat on the back (and several drinks!) for having the sheer guts to convert this monster game - they've made it fast, they've made it immensely playable and they've made it brilliant!

With memory and disk space limited, there have been a few graphic omissions here and there, the first level is a little disappointing with no backdrop graphics and limited colours making up the walls, but persevere and you'll be treated to some beautiful shading and large graphic variety throughout (level 2 is simply stunning).

My only reservation is that with only four levels it might lack challenge and prove too easy. I must say that for long-term appeal, Turrican still leads the way, but Blood Money is much more fun with its two-player mode.

Great, great, great!!

Now this is the kind of holiday I look forward to when I've had enough of burning Robin's flight sim manuals and making fatty jokes about Phil. All the latest in killing machinery, from helicopters to spaceships, and four entire planets packed with weird natives to kill. And the more natives you slaughter, the more money you make, the more blistering firepower you can upgrade to, the more natives you can kill!

Well, that's the theory at least but unlike on my usual safaris, the natives here are a pretty formidable bunch. They attack in groups with plenty of support from walkers, giant claws, impressive end-of-level monsters and tricky switches in the vertical/horizontal scrolling. Their insolence really gets me blood lust up, and with so much more of the game yet to see, I'm off for another go!

Presentation 90%
Superlative artwork, simultaneous two-player option, multi-load could be a little irritating for tape users.

Graphics 94%
As imaginative as the Amiga game, technically amazing and incredibly varied.

Sound 85%
Lengthy soundtrack provides great accompaniment, but you can choose FX with a nice money collecting sound.

Hookability 94%
Instantly playable, instantly addictive...

Lastability 91%
...but fairly tough. Reward of seeing more graphics, and enjoying (or suffering) different attack patterns keeps you coming back. Possible for humans to complete (unlike Amiga game!).

Overall 93%
An utterly astounding conversion of one of '89's very best Amiga games. Just as playable, just as addictive. Brilliant!