C&VG


Mr. Heli
By Irem
PC Engine (JP Version)

 
Published in Computer & Video Games #99

Mr. Heli

Mr. Heli is a fat, orange helicopter with short, chubby legs. He gets his kicks in life by flying around his world, liberating each country he enters and collecting loads of crystals on the way. So imagine his delight when, courtesy of Irem, he's given the opportunity to do just that in a fab conversion of the coin-op machine.

The multi-directional scrolling levels which make up the six countries in Mr. Heli's world are inhabited by manic machines, controlled by a big metal contraption at the end of each stage, and all of them are gunning for our happy helicopter's blood (or should that be petrol?) in the hope that they can defeat him before he reaches their masters. Should they fail, the big lads themselves are all heavily armed and waiting to deal a fatal blow to the chubby chopper.

Although Mr. Heli begins with only a weedy single-shot gun, one missile tube and a few bombs, more powerful weapons can be bought at vending machines situated throughout the levels, using money gained by picking up the crystals which are hidden inside the disposable scenery.

Mr. Heli

If you enjoyed playing Mr. Heli in the arcades, then hesitate not in purchasing this accurate PC Engine conversion of the game. Mr. Heli and all his adversaries are nothing short of pixel perfect, compared with their arcade counterparts, and all of them are animated superbly. Music and sound effects are all tip-top too. Playing the game demands high levels of concentration, joypad-deftness and first class arcade skills, as the baddies keep you on your toes from beginning to end, and some of those end of level guardians are a real pig to defeat!

The PC Engine comes up trumps yet again with a corker of a conversion in Mr. Heli. It's a difficult game, but one which you'll find almost impossible to leave alone until you get to the very end - a task which will take a long time, believe me.

PC Engine

Absorbing shoot and collect-'em-up action as you guide the cute Mr. Heli through a brilliantly converted version of his coin-op exploits.

Snap it up if this is the sort of game which appeals to you.

Paul Rand

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