Previous Next

River Raid is a good arcade game with plenty of action and variety. It's not particularly original, but nonetheless well presented.

On screen is a top view of your plane which travels up a scrolling river. You can accelerate or decelerate and move to left or right. The banking move is a nice touch as the wings dip. Joystick or cursor keys are equally responsive and a few minutes handling soon gives a lot of confidence to cope with the hazards.

There are ships, balloons, helicopters and land-based tanks to stop you. Your objective is to destroy each bridge and go deeper into enemy territory.

When you've loaded the program the options screen allows you to pick your level of difficulty so you need not start at the beginning each time. You can play solo or with another player.

I particularly appreciated the good packaging - sensibly sized, tough vinyl case - with a picture of the screen layout. It saves buying the unexpected.

The only problem is the price. A good game but surely the pricing ought to compare with other versions of the game, even though MSX is pretty new?

M.P.