Commodore User
1st April 1989
After Burner (Activision)
Long awaited it may be but let's hope no-one's holding their breath because there's no R-Type style miracle here. After Burner is a dog.
The various sequences, and backgrounds are there, but what gameplay that existed in the coin-op has been forgotten. The graphics themselves are patchy speccly affairs and only the sound redeems the package.
Jez San must be rueing the day he took this job on, because for once, we were right - it's unconvertible.
I Ludicrus
The idea is sound enough. The graphics are really nice and the animation is smooth, so what's the problem? The problem is, dears, that there is no playability.
You are a gladiator, and the most well built one at that. To earn your freedom, you have to go five rounds with three different opponents. If he manages to fell his adversary five times, he moves onto the next opponent. If they manage to fell him five times, he has to take on a lion. If he defeats the lion five times, he gets another crack at his previous assailant. Should the lion get him, it's game over.
As with lots of beat-'em-ups, you have a choice of sixteen moves. The only different between this and say, Exploding Fist, is that in this all the moves take an age to do and you are always hit first. That, plus the fact that the collision detection, isn't quite spot on, which means you have to hit slightly behind your enemy before a hit is registered. Bye gameplay.
The smooth animation and odd snatches of humour can't make up for what is essentially a dull and unplayable experience.
Balance Of Power 1990
When it first appeared, Balance Of Power proved to be the most comprehensive, absorbing strategy game ever to appear. And now comes the most comprehensive version yet.
For a start you can call up some really weird figures, like the amount of TVs per head in Bogatowa, or the amount of political assassinations in Australia. All this extra information has been included along with more political features, and a four man and woman advisory team.
If you've ever wanted to make the Super Power decisions, like invading Pakistan to help Afghanistan, organising a trade embargo with Britain (if you're American), and answer all those little 'if' questions that have always bugged you, then this is for you.
Balance Of Power 1990 is everything you want from a strategy game, except for the fact you can't nuke the hell out of anyone. But then who wants to do that? [Me! - Ed]
Grand Monster Slam
This is a fine game of a particularly ludicrous conception. The Grand Monster Slam is a game like no nother. You have a number of small, furry round tribble-like creatures and the idea is to kick them down to the other end of the pitch, where your opponent stands. He, or she, of course is trying to do the same thing, whilst also indulging in a spot of bodyline by kicking them at you to knock you over. This slows you down.
It might look simple, but it isn't easy. As soon as you've knocked a couple down, your opponent is punting them back. If you're hapless enough to land a ball or two into the crowd, a penalty is awarded against you. The penalty feature is what saves the game from being the most basic and repetitive of outings. A duck appears from a suspended rope and confers with you (if the penalty is in your favour) as to which direction the shot should go. You then pick the bird up and loft him to the other end of the ground by putting a boot up his DA, where, if he's successful, he does a little dance.
Little touches like this save Monster Slam from the banal. A fun game, with fine music and graphics, but not one whose appeal you should expect to last.
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