Personal Computer News


Wavy Navy

Author: Bob Chappell
Publisher: Sirius
Machine: Atari 400/800

 
Published in Personal Computer News #040

Ocean Of Motion

Messing about on the river may be a pleasant way to spend an afternoon but controlling a PT boat on the storm-tossed high seas while being dived at any bombed from an enemy-filled sky is a different kettle of fish.

Objectives

As well as being thrown about by 30ft waves, your PT boat is also under attack from squadrons of enemy bombers and Kamikaze fighters. Backing these up are helicopters with blazing machine guns, followed by Exocet missiles. The sky is not the only source of danger - the ocean has been seeded with mines.

In Play

A tiny boat floats vulnerably on the crest of a wave and a stormy sea. In the sky, a large squadron of planes gathers, above which hovers a fleet of helicopters. The planes peel off and it's soon clear they are flown by Kamikaze pilots.

Wavy Navy

The boat moves left and right. As it does so, it slithers sickeningly down one side of a wave and then up the other, adding to the difficulty of potting the enemy with your on-board rocket launcher.

Planes missing you crash into the sea, but if one hits you, the result is startling - your boat is blown clean out of the water before sinking, with a gurgling sound, to the sea bed. Lose all your boats and the band strikes up with "Good Evening, Friends"!

The helicopters fly down to hover nearby, letting rip with their machine guns which fire diagonally. Wipe out a fleet of planes and choppers and the band plays a suitable shanty to signify your promotion from galley slave to boatswain.

The challenge increases with each round. Later screens include floating mines, planes which enjoy blanket bombing, and Exocet missiles which scream toward you from either side. The ocean gets decidedly rougher too. There are ten rounds, each of which can be played at any of four levels of intensity. If you're good enough, you might end up as an Admiral or Defence Chief.

Verdict

Wavy Navy is a completely new slant on the Invader/Galaxians theme. The game is graphically and aurally superb (the exploding planes, the missiles and PT boat are particularly outstanding) and it is enormous fun to play. Buy it, but buy some sea-sickness pills as well - you might need them.

Bob Chappell

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