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This game comes with a shocking lack of plot to cover up nakedly unoriginal gameplay. Indeed, older gamesplayers should cover their eyes as Sonic Boom doesn't even bother with imaginative graphics to clothe the bare bones of yet another vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up. Why, you only need to squint and you can see Xevious!

Judging from the cover we have yet another brave American pilot engaged in a bid to save the world. The Enemy has seized military bases the world over, and our square-jawed hero must fight through

Both versions have attractive and well moving graphics but the gameplay is so tired I frequently found myself falling asleep.

Especially after the very similar Scramble Spirits, this is an excellent cure for insomnia. The Amiga game at least boasts a two-player option, but unfortunately it's only for alternate play!

The C64 game suffers particularly from high difficulty, no continue-plays and the inevitable multi-load hassle. Neither game is really bad, but neither do they have anything which is likely to keep you playing for long.

I can't understand why Activision have converted this ancient (1987) Sega coin-op. If you're going to release a vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up nowadays it really has to be something special.

This certainly doesn't apply to Sonic Boom whose basic "shoot everything that comes at you" action makes Xevious look sophisticated. To perfectly complement the tedious gameplay, the graphics and sound are dull on both machines, and the whole game resembles a dodgy SEUCK effort.

Presentation 60%
No continue-plays and no scenario, multi-load levels all on side two for ease of use.

Graphics 61%
Decent amount of detail on varied backdrops, sprites repetitive and overall lacking imagination.

Sound 52%
Mediocre in-game tune and poor spot FX.

Hookability 61%
Simplistic gameplay makes it easy to get into...

Lastability 52%
...but high difficulty level means there's a lot of multi-loading while lack of originality and imagination further diminish appeal.

Overall 52%
Another vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up... yawn.