Previous Next

This isn't "the best pure arcade game I've even seen", as the cassette inlay claims. In fact, it isn't anywhere near it. But if you're looking for a very simple, old-fashioned shoot-'em-up of the sort that was popular about three years ago then this is probably right up your street.

Oblivion reminds me of a Jeff Minter intergalactic Llamas type shoot-'em-up. You control what looks like an emu who walks from left to right across screenfuls of ghosts and spaceships and aliens who are all approaching from the opposite direction and are ready to blast the tail feathers off you if you're not equally quick on the trigger. As I mentioned, it's all very "Minter-esque", with a moving background of stars to give an outer space effect, and your emu bounces around quite nicely as he spits fire across the screen. It would be nice if you could fire and walk from left to right - you can slow down your walking, which results in you sliding backwards to the left hand side of the screen, but you don't actually change direction, so you're a bit limited in manoeuvreability.

It's the sort of game that doesnt require amazing graphics to be effective - it's simply a question of whether or not you enjoy this type of simple target shooting. The game only supports a fixed set of keyboard controls or a Kempston joystick so you should bear that in mind if you're going to buy it.