Previous Next

In today's moral climate, it seems that more and more people are living by the rule "kill or be killed". Some people are taking the idea to extremes, plunging into danger just to prove that they're really hard and a lot stupider than all the other guys.

Kwon is one such person. Filled with the need to demonstrate the power of his homeland, he decides to travel the world doing battle with all manner of opponents. First off, it's away to Russia and to the majestic city of Moscow... to kick seven colours out of the Russians (and this month's Henry Kissinger Award for diplomacy goes to...!) starting with the nearest Kremlin guard and then his dog (very friendly - no, I think I'm

This is US Gold's first venture into 16-bit games at £14.99. For an experimental period, a selected number of Amiga titles should go on sale all over the country for five quid less than you'd normally pay for a full-price game.

OK, so this might not be the best title to start off with, but with products like OutRun Europa and Last Duel (which would have got a Sizzler if we'd known the lower price) to be sold at exactly the same price, this has to be one of the best moves for Amiga owners in a long time.

If only other software houses would follow suit...

The backdrops are quite attractive - detailed and atmospheric - in both versions of HKM; but the sprites are pretty appalling.

The animation isn't exactly incredible on the Amiga or the C64 and the blobby animal sprites on the C64 just have to be seen to be believed.

Worst of all, there really isn't any gameplay to speak of in either version - the C64's really easy, the Amiga version's annoyingly hard and both are really repetitive with little skill involved. Avoid.

I usually love this kind of game - in fact IK+ is one of my all-time favourites - but Human Killing Machine fails to generate any excitement in the old fighting genes at all. The similarities to Street Fighter are inescapable - apart from one thing: HKM is actually worse because you get one game instead of two.

The graphics are poorly animated, the sound is annoying, the multi-load drawn out and the playability virtually non-existent. In fact, it lacks just about everything that a good game should have, so stick to IK+ until something better comes along. The Amiga price tag is a great idea - I just hope better products will suport it in future.

Presentation 43%
Drab appearance - nothing special.

Graphics 36%
Tiny C64 sprites fight over dull backdrops.

Sound 24%
Pathetic tunes soon become annoying.

Hookability 49%
The C64 version is ridiculously easy.

Lastability 15%
Far too easy.

Overall 31%
A beat-'em-up which doesn't look too hot, sounds uninteresting and plays even worse.

Presentation 41%
Drab appearance - nothing special.

Graphics 34%
The larger Amiga graphics have very little in the way of interesting or realistic animation.

Sound 22%
Pathetic tunes soon become annoying.

Hookability 44%
The Amiga version is frustratingly hard.

Lastability 28%
Not compelling enough to warrant lasting interest.

Overall 45%
The Amiga mark is only higher due to the price tag.