Previous Next

It's time to sharpen up your bar-room brawling skills, saddle up the horse and get into the Wild West spirit - the coin-op train robbery game has moseyed into town. Eight trains are out there for the robbin'. Joystick-and-fire button beat-'em-up skills are tested on alternate trains along with your prowess in a shoot-out.

There are eight trains, with the odd-numbered locomotives involving head-to-head fighting. The train begins to pull out from the station, but before you can board there is a belligerent cowboy to be beaten up. With that menace out of the way, hop on the guard's van and start fighting your way along the rooftops of the moving train. Six types of opponent are encountered on the rooftops: while most of them are straightforward bare-knuckle brawlers - gunmen, seated bottle-hurlers, ankle-grabbers and non-fighting crate pushers are also encountered. Reach the locomotive and two lovely bags of money come into your possession.

In the fighting sequences, a tug o' war in the centre of the status area at the top of the screen keeps track of the hits, moving left as you are pummelled and to the right as you land punches and kicks. When the bar fills its window, the current opponent is defeated and a nifty leap takes you on to the roof of the next carriage - a bomb placed on the coupling is automatically defused during this exercise.

Mounting a horse and galloping alongside the even-numbered trains, the aim is to pick off the onboard gunslingers. The horse gallops along in the foreground, and moves up and down the screen allowing you to dodge the weapons and bullets hurled from the carriages. Pressing Fire shoots a bullet from your gun's limitless reserve.

Some of the trucks are open-top goods wagons, where the gunslingers pop up above the parapet to fire at you, while other carriages are armoured passenger cars and the defenders slide open the shutters on the windows before loosing off a shot or hurling a weapon. Open-sided goods wagons provide cover from which bounty hunters also take pot shots at marauding robbers.

It's possible to duck behind the horse to avoid the fusillade that heads your way, or a particularly well-aimed shot can take out the approaching projectile in mid-flight. A little row of boxes at the top of the screen indicates how many gunslingers have to be shot before the next carriage can be attempted.

Occasionally a bird flies past carrying a bag of money - shoot if for bonus points. Bonus points may also be won by shooting the sack of money that a frightened clerk hurls from a window in the armoured carriage - but take care not to shoot him. If you blow away your benefactor, he shouts 'No' and all the little boxes at the top of the screen fill up again: the gunslingers you have killed in the carriage are miraculously reincarnated.

Whether shooting skills or fighting skills are being tested, each carriage in a train has to be dealt with inside a time limit. In the combat sequences, failing to jump to the next carriage in time explodes the bomb on the coupling and the train separates. Natural hazards, including tunnels and dangling signs complicate matters when you're fighting along the rooftops, sapping the energy reserves of a careless cowboy. The higher levels feature tougher defenders, and the quantity of the opposition increases - extra gunslingers have to be faced on later shoot-out levels, although a few seconds are added to the target time for each carriage.

Four skill levels are offered on the start screen, and three modes of play. In practice mode you have 32 lives but can only attempt the first two trains; five lives are supplied in normal mode, but when they are used up pressing fire within ten seconds allows play to resume at the guard's van of the current train. Super proficient train robbers can attempt the advanced mode, where the game restarts from the very beginning after five lives have been lost.

Express Raider is a very simple game, but it has an enormous amount of instant appeal with the urge to get 'just one stage further'. I must admit to playing this mostly on the practice level, which provides you with plenty of lives and allows you to get further into the game itself.

The graphics look slightly shoddy, but they work well enough - as does the sound. I have my doubts about the lasting appeal after it's been completed, but if you're after a fast enjoyable action game then Express Raider is worth checking out.

This is fun to play and, like most arcade games, is very addictive. Running along the top of the train bashing the robbers is a great laugh, and the horse-riding levels are enjoyable too.

The graphics aren't bad at all, and capture the atmosphere of the arcade game nicely - the sound, however, is dire and only serves to annoy. The thing that puts a damper on the proceedings is the big question mark hanging over the lasting appeal?

The eight levels shouldn't take that long to conquer, especially as you can restart the game where you died, and after they've been completed there's no compulsion to return. If you're interested try it out first - you might be disappointed.

This is quite a frustratingly addictive game that combines two styles of game quite nicely. For the most part, the fighting sequences don't present too much of a challenge - advancing on your opponent while jabbing the fire button frantically, usually ends the conflict quickly and cleanly.

The shoot-out sequences, on the other hand, are a much trickier and require a lot of concentration if you are to manoeuvre the horse to aim the gun and avoid the missiles coming your way. There are a few neat touches that add to playability. The graphics are suitably atmospheric but the sound is decidedly dodgy. Overall, a compulsive game to begin with, but one that might pall once the full set of eight trains has been completed.

Presentation 74%
Sufficient instruction and a useful practice option.

Graphics 82%
Effective scrolling and definition.

Sound 62%
Awful tunes, but good spot effects.

Hookability 76%
The simplistic arcade action proves instantly addictive.

Lastabiltiy 57%
Not enough variety to hold the interest for very long.

Value For Money 49%
Expensive for such a limited game.

Overall 60%
Nothing special but it may provide some short-term entertainment.