--------------------------------------------------------- 3]FIVE GAMES REVIEWED 3]Interceptor, Zoom., Emerald Mine, Barbarian and Road Wars 3]By Tom Krotchko, Contributing Editor --------------------------------------------------------- Over the past few months I've forced myself to buy and play several games. I do this only to benefit others, not for my own fun and enjoyment. Before I mention any of the games, I have a tip for anyone interested in better sound for the Amiga 500/2000 (for games or music applications). The program "LED", which may be found on bulletin boards everywhere, does more than simply dim the "Power" LED of your Amiga. Its main purpose is to remove a low-pass filter on these Amiga models so that the sound is noticeably improved. Note that this will not work on the 1000, although a recent Amazing Computing had a hardware hack to accomplish the same thing. The difference is particularly apparent if your Amiga is connected to a stereo system. And now on with the painful task of playing games . . . 3]F/A-18 INTERCEPTOR: My Palms Grow Sweaty at the Thought Electronic Arts Price $50 Special Requirements: Joystick, 1 meg recommended (will work with 512K) 1 player I could start this review by telling you how much fun Interceptor is. Maybe the best way to start is to tell you that F/A-18 Interceptor is a variation of Sublogic's Jet. Perhaps I should start by telling you that this game is a perfect example of poor copy protection. Oh heck, this game is so fun, there's no question about where I should start. The short of it is that if you like airplane simulators, you will like F/A-18 Interceptor. Even if you don't care for this sort of game, you might change your mind after a few minutes "up in the air". As I mentioned before, Interceptor seems to be loosely based on the game Jet. You have your choice of flying a carrier-based F/A-18 fighter/bomber or a land based F-16 fighter. The action takes place around San Francisco, where you may try free flight or various scenarios ranging from protecting Air Force One against attacking MIG-29s to rescuing a downed pilot. What sets Interceptor apart from other games is that its the first game that really uses graphics and sound to such advantage on the Amiga. Since this was not a port from another computer, it does not suffer from the "conversion syndrome" which so often plagues other games for the Amiga. The sounds from this game, when used in conjunction with the LED program and played though a modest stereo, will make you feel like an extra on the set of the film "Top Gun". The graphic screens scroll smoothly with none of the jerkiness associated with other airplane simulators. Interceptor is difficult, but not so difficult as to be discouraging. You are allowed to fly without being bothered by enemy craft if you wish, or you can jump into battle right away. I leapt into battle without practicing some of the more basic maneuvers, and as a result, carrier landings are still difficult for me. Yet, part of the fun is to try some of the difficult missions to gauge how good you are becoming. Regarding Interceptor's similarities with Sublogic's Jet: While it is true the two games share the same concept, there is a significant difference in the details of game play. Interceptor's strong points are its emphasis on the experience of flying, while Jet attempts to strike a balance between fun flying and accuracy of scenery. Personally, I prefer Interceptor, but I find Jet easier to fly well. Also, Jet can use any of the scenery disks available for Sublogic's Flight Simulator, while Interceptor is not expandable. If there is a flaw in this game, it is the copy protection. It uses a code wheel method (you are given a code, and you must use a decoder wheel to give the counter-code). All by itself, this would be a decent copy protection method for a game, however, EA decided to be unreasonable and make you enter a counter-code many times throughout the course of play. This is a copy-protection method that begs to be defeated, and as a result, methods to break this protection appeared on the electronic bulletin boards several days after the game was released. The real shame is that EA was close, but unfortunately, no cigar. See this month's Tips column to learn the method. Electronic Arts recommends that you have one megabyte of RAM for this game. However, it also indicates it will run successfully on a 512K machine. The penalty is that some of the incidental music is not played, I haven't tried Interceptor on a 512K machine. A good measure of the success of a game is the amount of detail that may be criticized or admired. Interceptor is that sort of game. It involves strategy, skill and maybe a bit of luck besides. Even if you finish the scenarios, it is still a pleasure just to fly. Although expensive, this game is recommended. Something fun to try: If you want a bit of additional fun in Interceptor, you may take the highway outside of the airport and travel to San Mateo (drive, don't fly). There you will find EA's headquarters. You may lock on with your missiles and fire away (remember to say to Trip Hawkins "Go Ahead, make my day"). 3]EMERALD MINE: Grandson of "DigDug" Kingsoft GmbH Gruner Weg 29 D-5100 Aachen, West Germany Tel. 0241/152051 Price: $20 Special Requirements: Joystick 1 or 2 players Over the years, tunneling games of one sort or another have shown up in arcades and on personal computers. Games like DigDug and Boulderdash have appeared often enough and for so many computers, it was only a matter of time before there was a similar game for the Amiga. Emerald Mine, from Kingsoft, is perhaps the best of this variety of game to appear. The theme of the game is to tunnel underground to find emeralds and diamonds in the shortest amount of time possible. The many hazards include deadly creatures, bombs, and falling rocks. There are 99 levels of play with the top 25 scores for each level permanently saved to the disk. You are not permitted to advanced to the next level until you have successfully completed the current level. Emerald Mine, though similar to the other games mentioned, has its own special flavor, making it one of the most addictive games that I've played. Game play is fast with very responsive reaction to the joystick and digitized sound to enhance the fast action. There are a variety of nice touches in Emerald Mine, including a separate status stored on the disk for up to 25 players. One embarrassing statistic kept is the number of games played. I like to think that Emerald Mine is so much fun because it's so simple. Other people who have played love the fast action. The only thing for sure is at $20, this game will be a "best buy" in your collection. 3]ZOOM! You Win Some, You Lose Some Discovery Software International, Inc. 163 Conduit Street Annapolis, MD. 21401 (301) 268-9877 1-800-342-6442 Price: $30 Special Requirements: Joystick 1 or 2 players Discovery software, responsible for the programs Marauder and Arkanoid, has released another arcade action game, ZOOM!. It's is similar in many ways to PacMan, since you must travel around a maze of sorts, but it is unique in many ways, including graphics that could only be done on an Amiga. Game play consists of moving ZOOMER! (who looks like a detailed version of PacMan) along a two-dimensional grid trying to completely surround every box with a "Snail Trail" that ZOOMER! leaves. As you might guess, nasty creatures follow your trail. Certain creatures erase the trail, forcing you to retrace your steps, while others zip along the grid, hoping to collide with you. The deadliest of these creatures is the Jaggernaut, apparently modeled after the lips of the famous British rock star (no, I didn't make that up). Along the way, certain items magically appear along the grid which assist you in various ways. As one grid is completed, you are transported to the next level. Graphics in all cases are outstanding, although there is a slight sluggishness in joystick operation. Although the basic plot is reminiscent of many arcade games, ZOOM! combines a lot of familiar elements in a fresh way. I suppose that's a long-winded way of saying that it doesn't break any new ground, but it sure is a lot of fun. There are several flies in the ointment, however. The first flaw in an otherwise fun game is ZOOM! won't keep track of the levels you've finished. No matter how many levels you solve, you can start no higher than the 10th level when playing a new game. This is not a trivial matter since level 10 is a very difficult level to master. I've barely gotten to the 12th level. I didn't feel so bad when I found out that the game's programmers only got this far. Come on, you guys! These games are supposed to give you a sporting chance! The second flaw relates to the copy protection. The game is copy-protected in such a way that the company's disk copier, Marauder II, will not copy it. Instead, you are asked to send DSI another $9. That's fairly expensive, considering the price of the game. Someone ought to tell the boys over at DSI about glass houses and stones. These flaws aside, ZOOM! is a delight to play within the frustrating limitation pointed out. If you enjoy arcade action, you'll enjoy ZOOM! 3] BARBARIAN: All Blonde and No Brains Psygnosis, Ltd. 1st Floor, Port of Liverpool Building Liverpool, England L3 1BY Tel: [051] 236 7757 Price: $40 Special Requirements: None. 1 player I have to admit I'm a bit puzzled by this game. Either I'm missing the point or Psygnosis has a new definition of fun with which I'm not familiar. apologies to Douglas Adams). Barbarian is a game which is a hybrid of arcade action and the adventure genre. You play the part of Hegor, a software version of Conan the Barbarian. Wielding a sword, you must battle all sorts of bizarre creatures and deadly traps to destroy the evil menace. Your journey takes you underground until you meet Necron; a guy with a really nasty disposition. You must kill Necron, turning him into a crystal, throw it into a lava pit, and climb back to the surface. Although the concept is fun, the graphics are good, and the sounds are first rate (if a little bizarre), the game misses in several key areas. The first failing is the lack of a "save game" feature. Make no mistake, Barbarian is a difficult game. After hours of play, the only way I finally managed to complete it was by using a "cheat code" (I'll tell you later and you can decide if you want to know about the code). The very least the programmers could have done is to give you a way to save your progress so far. Another failing is the difficulty in controlling Hegor. In order to include a lot of movements for our blonde barbarian, the designers decided that all actions would take place by selecting various icons from the bottom of the screen with the mouse. It might be a good idea, except there are more actions than fit on a single screen, so it is necessary to press the second mouse button to get the other possible movements. Last, the response to any of the selected icons is maddeningly slow. In the heat of battle, a response to a selected icon may take a full second. Worst of all, if you click an icon several times, Barbarian will remember all of them and possibly do a lot of things you didn't intend. Having fun shouldn't be this hard. Skip this one. Oh yes, the cheat code is 04-08-59. Type this in after you "PRESS ANY KEY TO BEGIN". Type it in exactly as shown, including the dashes. The screen should change colors slightly. This will make you pretty much invincible, although you can still die). If you don't won't to cheat as blatantly, you can avoid death from other creatures by choosing the "pick up object" icon. For some reason, the creatures can't hurt you while you're bending over. 3]ROADWARS: That's the Whole Game? Acadia Software Distributed by Electronic Arts Price: $30 Special Requirements: None, joystick optional 1 or 2 players Here's a bit of fun for those of you who always wished you were a giant basketball hurtling down a roadway suspended in outer space with all sorts of traps ready to turn you into cosmic dust. The object of Roadwars (not to be confused with Roadwars 2000, a completely different game) is to take your brown sphere and pretty much wipe out anything that moves or even irks you. You are a giant sphere rolling at great speed down various highways with names like "Electric Avenue, Satellite Street, Double Cross Road" and other assorted high-tech names. You have a supply of shields, and a gun which will destroy anything except the other player in the game. The action is fast-paced, the digitized sounds are very good, and the mouse/joystick response is excellent, although the controls are a bit difficult to learn. As a particular level is mastered, you are transported to the next level where the game continues at a much faster pace. The twist that gives this game an added bit of fun is that you actually play against the other player (whether human or computer controlled) so half your strategy is to stay alive, the other half is to destroy the other player. As you can't destroy him with your gun, you must literally run him off the road. I can already see this game breaking up a few friendships over who pushed whom first. If I have one complaint with this game. The action after a while is, well, boring. I think most people will love this game for a few plays and then grow tired, which makes it overpriced in my book. Its too bad EA didn't take a page from Kingsoft's book and made the game less expensive. As it is, you'll probably want to skip it. 3]THAT'S IT Well, that's this month's selection of games. My personal favorite games are: Shanghai from Activision, Marble Madness from Electronic Arts, and Mean 18 Golf from Accolade). All of these games seem to have that special something that makes me want to keep playing. Of this month's selections only F/A-18 and Emerald Mine have a real chance of making my list, but I'll have to play them for a while to see if they have long-term staying power. This is purely for research purposes, you understand. 4]END OF TEXT