Previous Next

Aargh! Bozon is coming. He's bad, he's mean, he's mad - and he's planning to take over the world. Help! Eek! Oh, no!

Luckily, the Earth has two iron-pumping heroes who are so hard they'd jet-pack to the centre of Bozon's domain and destroy it any day of the week.

Firing at the energy pods the enemy leaves behind turns them into different types of weapon (mega-bazook launcher, tail-gun, three-way shot, etc).

Oh yeah - a few bonus icons (extra points, shield, improved firepower) are dotted around the environment as well. Cool, huh?

What really annoys me about the Side Arms coin-op *and* the conversion is that every time you just want to move backwards you actually end up turning around - with a bullet in your back. Great!

It's even worse in the Amiga conversion because the actual playing area is so cluttered there isn't even enough room for a two-player option. What on earth is the point of converting a major two-player coin-op into a one-player home game?

Ravin' mad. Side Arms isn't an appalling shoot-'em-up in itself - on the whole it plays like your average space blast.

If that's what you want from a conversion, fine. It just wasn't enough for me.

OK, so it's a disappointment that this hasn't got a two-player option, but as a one-player game it's not that bad.

Probe haven't exactly exploited the Amiga's potential to the full - the sound is pretty basic, the graphics aren't all that interesting and it would have been nice to have full-screen scrolling - but for some reason the gameplay is actually quite addictive.

As long as you're not too bothered by tough gameplay and don't mind about the conversion being absolutely faithful to the coin-op (which it's not), you could have an enjoyable few hours on your hands.

Bit expensive just for a few hours though.

Presentation 52%
Mouse or joystick control but no two player option - a major feature of the coin-op.

Graphics 58%
Wide variety of pretty nasty-looking aliens but the backdrops leave a lot to be desired.

Sound 50%
Unexciting music with the odd bleepy sound effect.

Hookability 75%
The coin-op was pretty good so you've got to have a go at the conversion.

Lastability 52%
Difficulty and lack of resemblance to the arcade machine might put people off.

Overall 53%
A disappointingly average conversion.