Commodore User


Andromeda Mission

Categories: Review: Software
Author: Mark Mainwood
Publisher: Demonware
Machine: Amiga 500

 
Published in Commodore User #69

Andromeda Mission

Somewhere in the far reaches of the galaxy, an epic battle is taking place. A single one-man spaceship fights its way through endless attack waves. You take control of that spaceship as you struggle to complete the Andromeda Mission.

Your mission starts on a planet that looks as though it's been freshly mown with a Qualcast. Needless to say the inhabitants don't want you messing up their gardening, so they resort to that age-old tradition of trying to blow you into a million tiny pieces. If you manage to destroy enough aliens and successfully wipe out the mothership then you blast off into space. Once again, destroy anything that moves until you find the next planet to wreak genocide upon. As you fly through the sixteen various stages you can shoot pods for extra firepower.

At first glance, Andromeda Mission looks very much like Buck Rogers but it plays much better. The planet levels are set over a superbly smooth Ballblazer-type landscape. It's no good having perspective in the landscape if the graphics on it don't give the same impression. Thankfully the aliens grow nice and smooth as they approach the front of the screen. Attention has been paid to detail as well, for example your ship tips as you veer left or right to avoid the alien fire.

Andromeda Mission

The space sequences are basically the same thing with a star-field instead of the landscape.

Sound is also quite good and perfectly adequate for the game although a few more spot effects wouldn't have gone amiss.

The levels are gauged so that it takes a bit of practice - but not so much as to make it become boring - before you reach the end. It's difficult to find a shoot-'em-up that is both playable and slightly different but Demonware seems to have come up with one. It's great fun to hurtle across the planet's surface blowing away aliens.

My only worry about Andromeda Mission is how long it will hold your interest as gameplay does get a little repetitive.

Overall Andromeda Mission is a great game with a strong "just one more go" factor. If you like nothing more than mindless violence then this could be the game for you.

Mark Mainwood

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