What used to be "chocks away" has turned into lots of technical wibble about neon waves as Simon takes to the skies in nostalgic glory.

Do you remember Bomber? Yes, you do - it was one of the very earliest computer games in which you were in a gradually dropping plane, flying over a horizontally scrolling wraparound city about six or seven screens wide. If you had a ZX81 or the C64's grandfather the Vic-20, you'll have played it at some point in your life. The original itself only had one control, bombs away, as that was all you had to do - just level an entire city, creating a nice safe flat part to land on - simple, really. The original also ran in black and white (as it was on the really early machines), with absolutely no sound (we didn't have that back then, either).

This is a preview of a forthcoming release from Logyk Software called City Bomber. That's right - the game itself is based quite closely on the old style Bomber game (which has been on every machine since the ELENIAC), with a few additions:

1. You can move left and right as well, allowing you not only to fall back and give you longer to aim up for a building (the difficult bit of the gameplay is timing your bomb-dropping so they hit the buildings exactly), or fly forward if you're in a bit of a hurry.
2. You'll have to avoid the city's defence system, which consists of a series of odd rocket-type things intent on destroying you, making the game less one-sided, and adding a few more of the now-standard shoot-'em-up gameplay features to the original.
3. If you bomb a hot air balloon, you can gain height, buying you valuable extra time (as you've got longer before you start smacking into anything you haven't fully bombed).
4. It's a two-player game with both players on the same screen at once. This has always been a good thing as far as shoot-'em-ups are concerned, as being able to play the game with another person has always been a little more social than sitting around on your own blowing things up. It's also the cause of loads of arguments. Of course, this is only a preview of the final version, and so Logyk will undoubtedly add a few more bits and pieces, but is, we ask ourselves, this enough?

The first thing that might cross your mind is that it's not exactly very clever rip off an older concept wholesale - where's the originality? The answer is simple, and twofold.

1. The original was fun but dated, so if it's possible to bring it up to date a little, well that's perfectly justified.
2. Why haven't you complained before now? Just about every single game you'll ever play is based on an older one - virtually nothing new has appeared for quite a few years.

And I have to say I agree - the original game was a wonderful concept, and so there's absolutely nothing to be ashamed about in recognising this fact and actually using it. After all, it's not really a direct copy, as with the few heavy tweaks they've already made to the concept the gameplay is radically changed.

All in all, I'm looking forward to reviewing this one when it's finished - it's a nice tribute to an old classic with still enough to keep it new, original and even more fun. Granted, it's not going to be anything even remotely startlingly new, but maybe that's not such a crime after all. City Bomber is in danger of being dull, but if the programmer thinks a bit, they might just add enough to keep it interesting for longer than Home And Away.

I suppose a little bit of standard looking forward to the review is in order as well. So let's do that now Cyril.

Graphically, this game takes its cues from much newer games - everything's clear and well animated, with a variety of different buildings to blow up and some people running around that are a bit more difficult to hit (they really are small). The difference in airborne obstacles is a little less pronounced, as the game makes heavy use of colour - in black and white they'd all look completely identical.

Sonically, it's looking good. In-game effects are used sparingly, and don't mar the gameplay to the degree they could have. Hopefully there'll be a nice tune at some point, but they shouldn't put it in the main game (I really shouldn't give hints like this, you know).

As far as gameplay and initial looks are concerned, this has classic oldie values; namely, there's a simple task, simple controls and simple gameplay. In short, it's just fun.