Received: from [16.1.0.1] by s.ms.uky.edu id aa23280; 7 Nov 90 4:35 GMT Received: by decwrl.dec.com; id AA03212; Tue, 6 Nov 90 19:24:35 -0800 Received: by limbo; Tue, 6 Nov 90 18:41:22 pst Message-Id: <9011070241.AA20774@limbo.intuitive.com> From: The Moderator Date: Tue, 6 Nov 90 18:41:17 PST Subject: Digital Games Review Digest, #15 Reply-To: Digital Games Review To: Digital Games Review Digest X-Mailer: fastmail [version 2.02] Digital Games Review Digest, Number 15 Tuesday, November 6th 1990 Today's Topics: Genesis: Ghostbusters Whip Rush ESWAT NES: Destiny of an Emperor PC: Harpoon (2 reviews) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: milton@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Milton W. Kuo) Subject: Genesis: Ghostbusters Game Type : Action In Ghostbusters, you assume the role of one of the three "real Ghostbusters" and attempt to rid the city of a sudden plague of ghosts. While ridding the city of the various ghosts, the Ghostbusters uncover a stone tablet which reveals a more sinister reason behind all of this paranormal activity which leads to the final confrontation in this game. When you start out the game, you get to choose which of the Ghost- busters you wish to play. Each has his own strengths and weakness (some have better armor while others have greater speed). When a building has been successfully cleared out, you receive money with which you can buy extra weapons, shields, food to restore health, etc. From beginning to end, this game has got some really nice graphics. The character you play has a head which is pretty good facsimile of one of the Ghostbusters on a little body. Kind of goofy looking, but fitting for this kind of game. Each of the ghosts you must capture are highly detailed and each requires a different technique to defeat it. After defeating a ghost, you must capture the ectoplasmic essence into one of the "ghost jars" (for lack of a better word). After clearing each level, a a graphic screen of a newspaper article describing your latest triumph appears. The background music on Ghostbusters is great. From the original Ray Parker Jr. theme to some that the Sega development team wrote them- selves, each song fits the mood of the game and doesn't get annoying if you stay on a level too long. Likewise, the sounds made by each of your weapons is unique and monster noises are neat as well. Gameplay and play value also are excellent on Ghostbusters. This game combines the right amount of challenge to make this game fun and yet keep it from being too easy. Each of the boss ghosts at the end of each job has a different attack method and each requires a different approach to defeating it. Control of the character is very clean - no sluggish- ness whatsoever with movement. Excellent graphics, sound, and gameplay make this cartridge one of the best new games currently available for the Genesis. Graphics : 8 Sound : 8 Gameplay : 8 "Funness" : 8 Overall : 8 Ghostbusters, for the Sega Genesis, from Sega Enterprises ------------------------------ From: milton@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Milton W. Kuo) Subject: Genesis: Whip Rush Game Type : Shooter Whip Rush is a side scrolling shooter in the vein of Thunder Force III with a twist - some levels scroll in every direction. Whip Rush consists of seven levels each of which ends with a confrontation with a big boss. The basic storyline of Whip Rush is that the Earth gets attacked by aliens and you must singlehandedly fly a ship and complete all of the levels to have the final confrontation with the alien leader. Upon defeating the final boss, the galaxy is saved and the game is over. One of the first things one will notice when playing Whip Rush are the sharp, vivid graphics. The graphics on Whip Rush are among the best on any Genesis game - enemy ships are well detailed as are the bosses. However, while Whip Rush's graphics are comparable, if not even better, than Thunder Force III's, Whip Rush falls flat on other aspects of game play which makes this game a very distant second place to Thunder Force III (although it's really tough to be Thunder Force III). One sore point with me about this game is the lack of interesting power up weapons. In fact there are only four different weapons - laser, missile, fireball, and option (helper). By picking up additional power ps, the laser, missile, and fireball weapons can be made more powerful - up to a limit of three times. The game allows you to have two options. Whip Rush allows for an interesting use for the options in that in addition to increasing the firepower of the ship, by pressing a control pad button, the options can be made to yo-yo back and forth to destroy enemies. The other weapons, however, offer nothing new in terms of outstanding graphics or features. Sound on Whip Rush is fairly good. The background music on some of the levels is really good while on others is mediocre. Sounds other than the background music are not annoying but nothing to write home about either. Whip Rush is the first shooter I've played so far where there exists a level where scrolling occurs in every direction. While this makes the game more challenging, it can also make the game frustrating if you die somewhere and lose your weapons. The gameplay on Whip Rush is okay - everything moves smoothly and it is very easy to control your ship. However, after playing Thunder Force III, I just didn't find this game to be very fun. For those looking for a good shooting game, it would be better to wait for Thunder Force III if you're on a limited budget. If you have the money, this cartridge may be worth getting just to see the graphics - they're among the best I've seen on any Genesis game. Graphics : 8 Sound : 7 Gameplay : 7 "Funness" : 5 (get Thunder Force III instead) Overall : 7 Whip Rush for the Sega Genesis, from Innovation/Sega ------------------------------ From: milton@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Milton W. Kuo) Subject: Genesis: ESWAT Game Type : Action ESWAT is a game where you play the part of a policeman of the future. The goal of the game is to stop crime in the cities - there is yet another goal but it is a surprise of the game. Surprisingly, from the literature I have read (magazine previews), this game does not have six levels like what many publications claimed (can't remember which ones, if any at all). In fact, the MegaDrive manual, which I may have misread, mentions only six levels when in fact, there are eight. The extra levels exist to reveal the secret plot of the storyline. The first two levels of the game are training missions where the policeman you control does not were the battle armor. These missions are remarkable in the sense that they are incredibly tedious. However, starting with level three where you get to wear the special battle suit, gameplay and graphics get much better. All eight levels end with a confrontation with one of the games "big bosses." The bosses are nothing spectacular until the fourth level. Those who do not play this game very much may be disappointed by the game at first sight. This is because the games best graphics and most exciting game play doesn't occur until the fourth level's boss. From this point on, the game gets fairly intense. The levels become more complex and the bosses are bigger better defined graphically. Sound on this game is for the most part average for a Genesis game. Some notable exceptions are the digitized voices at the end of each level stating completion of a mission - nice touch. However, the soundtrack to ESWAT is limited - the songs are short and there aren't very many different songs and needless to say, the songs get repetitive. Other sounds in the game are very well done - especially the sounds your guns make. Gameplay is what saves this game in the end though. While the game play on the first two levels is boring beyond belief (too easy), this is quickly remedied with the latter six levels. The remaining six levels are really challenging and as the game progresses, the game requires you to master all forms of movement - walking and stopping precisely, flying, and jumping. Further, each of the bosses has a unique trick and overcoming these bosses are what make this game fun in the end. Although different from the arcade version (which I never played so I can't make a comparison), this game is pretty fun once you get past the first three levels. Graphics : 6 Sound : 6 Gameplay : 7 "Funness" : 7 Overall : 7 ESWAT for the Sega Genesis, from Sega Enterprises ------------------------------ From: David Hawk Subject: NES: Destiny of an Emperor An RPG with the story from Chinese History about 18 centuries ago. I bought this game with the expectation that it will be a simulation game. However, it turned out to be an RPG, which happens to be my favourite type of game. I was hooked onto the game for the next two days, trying to figure out the twists and plots of the game. It would be a great advantage to players if they knew Chinese history because the game consists of stories and facts from a famous Chinese history book. 'Destiny of an Emperor' is a story of 3 warriors from Han Dynasty fighting the Yellow Scarves, the notorious rebels group. At first, it seems like an ordinary job for ordinary warriors, but later when Tao Qian, the Emperor at that time, fell sick, Tao Qian appointed Liu Bei, one of the 3 warriors, to be his successor. Liu Bei left the party and his son, Liu Feng, replaced him. They fought Zhang Jao, the leader of the Yellow Scarves and the founder of the Taiping Sect. As it turned out, there were plots of overthrowing the Emperor. The rest of the story is still long and you will have to play the game to find out. The main characters :- Liu Bei - a descendant of the old Han Dynasty Guan Yu - a warrior, very good with sword Zhang Fei - a warrior with a skill matchin that of Lu Bu Zhang Jao - the leader of the Yellow Scarves and the founder of the Taiping Sect Dong Zhuo - Luo Yang's ruler who defected Lu Bu - the greatest warrior in the history of China, destined to be a traitor because of his great strength. Yuan Shao & Yuan Shu - the two brothers who pronounced themselves Emperor Zhao Yun - a warrior famous for single-handedly breaking the defense of the Cao Army Zu Ge Liang - the greatest strategist in China Si Ma Yi - a warlord famous for his Thunder spell Graphics 8 Playability 10 Story 10 Sound 8 Overall 9 Destiny of an Emperor, for the Nintendo Entertainment System from Capcom Games. ------------------------------ From: dgil@pa.reuter.com (Dave Gillett) Subject: PC: Harpoon Harpoon v1.1, Battleset 2: North Atlantic Convoy (not copy protected) Hardware Configuration Intel 302: 80386 at 25 MHz, w/ 4 MB RAM ATI VGA Wonder in 16-bit mode, w/mouse NEC MultiSync 3D 2xST-251 hard drives MS-DOS 4.01, QEMM 5.1, Mace Gold (disk cache software) Required: 550-580 KB program memory 1.6 MB disk space (600 KB minimum for basic game on CGA) Playfield The main screen display is divided into five areas, with a menu bar across the top. The bottom half of the display is divided into a zoomable unit display map and an information box. The top half is mostly occupied by a zoomable group display map (coarser detail than the unit display, but also has a cursor keypad (for use with the mouse; these functions are also available from the keyboard) and a small battleset map showing the current areas of the group and unit maps. These areas are tiled, and of fixed size. The group map is thus much wider than it is high. The group and unit maps can be moved around on the battleset map using the keypad or mouse. The group map can also be easily moved by clicking on the battleset map, but this does not work with the unit map, which more desoerately needs this feature. Each map shows land, water, all friendly groups/units, and detected enemy groups/units. In addition, the maps may show range circles for sensors and weapons (colour coded, but selectable so that users need not be overwhelmed) and a latitude/longitude grid. The maps are generally well done, with one exception. Many of the scenarios in Battleset 2 include at base in eastern Canada, at St. John. Yet none of them include the far more important naval port at Halifax, or the far more important (and more strategically and usefully placed!) airfield at St. John's. It's possible that the game intends to represent the latter; plenty of Canadians confuse St. John (in New Brunswick) with St. John's (in Newfoundland) and it wouldn't surprise me if the battleset is simply in error. Unfortunately, this changes the character of many scenarios significantly, since many aircraft without the endurance to fly between Iceland and St. John can easily make the trip via St. John's. Units and Groups Units consist of single ships or submarines, or groups of identical (not only type, but mission loadout and fuel) aircraft. Groups consist of bases and collections of units of various kinds. The game database includes most modern and near-future American, Soviet, British and Norwegian naval equipment. Battleset 2 adds American carriers and carrier-based aircraft, and both French and Spanish units. Not all units, however, are fully supported yet: for instance, although the A-6 and F-14 aircraft added in Battleset 2 can be loaded as tankers, there is no way for them to refuel other aircraft. Groups can include units of various kinds. Groups which include a carrier are designated carrier groups; groups that include any surface units are designated surface groups. Air and submarine units may be attached to these groups, or may form their own separate air, submarine, and helicopter groups. A formation editor gives the player control of the arrangement of units within groups. (Many game details are reminiscent of SPI's 'Task Force' board wargame -- the formation editor most of all.) Units may be allocated to a main body, or to sectors of an anti-air ring, anti-submarine ring, and picket ring. The radii of the various rings are user-adjustible. The result is that a group, represented as a point location on the group map, may in fact spread out over a considerable area. Patrolling aircraft may also be placed on the formation display. This is a good idea for ship-based aircraft, so that they move with the surface group, but less useful for land-based aircraft since they do not show up on the group map. (Air patrols may also be launched as separate groups.) Air units have an enduarnce which depends on their loadout and determines their range. This is probably the source of most of the game's flaws. There's an option to show a radius around air groups to show how far they can go before reaching "bingo" fuel (10% more than needed to return to base), but this is not calculated correctly. (If it were, it would not be a circle centred on the aircraft, and it would change immediately according to the throttle setting.) Once an air group has past this point, there is no way to find out its fuel status. (Neither is there a way to check its gun ammunition supply.) There are other problems with air unit endurance. The game doesn't seem to include the range of standoff weapons in determining whether an air unit can reach to attack a selected target. An air unit which reaches "bingo" fuel while in the process of landing can create phantom units of 0 aircraft -- which may in turn make real air units no longer accesible. Finally, if you group landbased air units in with a surface group (say, a couple of P-3s escorting a convoy), the endurance circle disappears because surface groups aren't supposed to need one, and you need to separate the air unit into its own group to find out its status. Combat Most combat in Harpoon proceeds as follows: Group A is instructed to attack group B. If group B is not yet in range of group A's weapons, an interception course is computed, and continuously updated as B alters course or speed. (As with one of the fuel bugs cited above, it's not clear that weapon range is included in course computations, so the results are sometimes sub-optimal.) When A is within range, the main screen display is replaced by one which allows allocation of weapons from individual launch units in A to individual target units in B. The program will already have done an allocation, but there are several reasons why the player may wish to change it. First, his plan may call for a different target priority than the program's default. Second, the program may not take into account factors like other missile waves already en route to the same target group. And third, while the program will usually allocate enough missiles to destroy the target, it rarely makes enough allowance for attrition and defensive fire. There's also a problem with the interception course approach. Suppose you have two groups of interceptors vectored against an incoming airstrike. The first group comes within range and launches missiles, and the intruders turn away to try to dodge the missiles. Often, the second wave of interceptors will be unable to find an interception course for this evasive maneuvre, and only quick player action will prevent them from aborting the intercept -- when in fact the enemy group will revert to its original course in a few seconds. Documentation The small, glossy manual describes what every key and menu choice does, and includes a small glossary. A few accompanying documents try to convey some of the underlying principles of modern naval warfare, but a few of the best tactical suggestions are hidden in the textual descriptions in the database. A few key game concepts, like patrols and interceptions, don't seem to be covered at all. Scenarios Each battleset (Battleset 1 is included with the game) consists of about a dozen scenarios, of gradually increasing size and challenge. Each scenario can be played from either side. Advantages in position or forces are balanced by individual victory conditions. There is no provision for two- or multi- player play; the computer always plays the opposing side. Virtually every scenario can be won from either side by taking a more agressive approach than the canned opponent. (Destruction of bases is a particularly effective way to negate enemy air power, and is rarely anticipated.) But that won't usually be true on your first two or three tries, and many scenarios can take several days to play. (Scenarios include a few random elements in initial positioning or force selections, too, so few scenarios have a trivial winning strategy.) Additional options allow the simulation to include weather, system breakdowns, and the possibility of nuclear weapons. There's an even an option to randomly start each unit with a partial load of ammunition, instead of assuming that everything is fully loaded. You won't want to start with these to deal with, but extra realism can breathe life into a scenario that you think has gotten stale. Graphics 9 (not visually stunning, but does all it needs to) Realism 8 (a few bugs and flaws) Documentation 3 (pretty skimpy, even for a game) Speed 3 (slooow on a 25 MHz 386; your mileage may vary) User Interface 6 (overlapping/resizable windows would be nice) Playability 8 (many months of play; many to go) Overall 8 (I wish I had written it) Harpoon, for the IBM PC, from Three-Sixty Pacific, Inc. ------------------------------ From: deichman@cod.nosc.mil (Shane D. Deichman) Subject: PC: Harpoon Harpoon, from Three-Sixty Pacific, Inc., is a contemporary naval wargame for the IBM. Harpoon requires an IBM PC, PC/XT, PC/AT or compatible system, and will also run on the Tandy 1000 series. Also, DOS 2.0 or later is necessary, as is 640k RAM with 550k free. Harpoon will NOT run from 360k floppy drives, and a hard disk and mouse are highly recommended. The IBM version of Harpoon is perhaps one of the best (if not THE best) Naval Warfare simulators around. It is very up to date on the various systems and platforms utilized by the navies of the world. Fans of Tom Clancy may recall that his initial inspiration for "The Hunt for Red October" came from the board game version of Harpoon by Larry Bond. The biggest complaint I've heard of the board game is the time involved in setting up an engagement. The computer version resolves that dilemma. More than just a "game," it is also a very in-depth data base on the capabilities of various ships, subs, and aircraft seen in a modern combat theatre. Play can either be a small engagement between individual surface craft or a broad campaign pitting carrier battle groups against one another. You can play either NATO or the USSR (all engagements are between forces of the two superpowers; if you want a political statement of "glasnost" this isn't the place to find it). You actually perform the functions of the battle group commander, issuing orders for course, speed, what radar/sonar to activate, what systems to fire, etc. The realism of ephemeral contacts (especially in ASW -- anti- submarine warfare) and tracking is readily apparent. You also see the grim effectiveness of some of today's most advanced weapons (including tactical nuclear devices; you do have the option of restricting nuclear releases in the game). Various other aspects (such as sea state and visibility) are taken into consideration, making a very real exercise in naval confrontations. Harpoon is an excellent product, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in modern naval warfare. Or, if you're just a trivia buff, I give the same recommendation -- the money you pay for the game is about half what you'd pay -just to get the database alone (_Jane's Fighting Ships of the World_ is around $125 these days). Harpoon also provides a wide range of visual aids to complement the extensive database. While it will run on a CGA monitor, it is truly a spectacle on an EGA system. The graphics provided include a map of the theatre of battle (default is the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap area, with coverage of the North Sea to the Barents Sea given; a separate scenario is available for North Atlantic engagements), a smaller area of operations view which focuses on the battle group, plus various information screens. Also, when engaging other platforms, a close-up graphic of the ships involved is given, with accompanying launch sounds and a moving missile. Graphics: 8 Sound: 7 Documentation: 9 Fun-level: 7 Overall: 8 So, if you're looking for a very in-depth naval wargame, Harpoon is for you. However, if you want arcade-like action, I would suggest you try something else -- Harpoon is a thinking persons' game, and requires a certain degree of patience and forethought. ------------------------------------- To join this group or have your reviews appear in the next issue, please send electronic mail to Dave Taylor at the following address; digital-games@digital-games.Intuitive.Com We welcome reviews of games for any computer system, including the IBM PC, Apple Macintosh, Atari, Nintendo Entertainment System, Atari Lynx, Sega Genesis, Nintendo GameBoy, NEC TurboGrafix, Amiga and so on. Back issues are archived as digests, as well as broken into individual reviews. To receive them via electronic mail, send a note to the address "info@limbo.intuitive.com" (or decwrl!limbo!info) with the body containing the lines "help" and "listall Digital.Games". The views expressed in Digital Games Review Digest are those of the individual authors only, and do not represent the views or opinions of Intuitive Systems or any of our affiliates worldwide. The copyright of each article is that of the original author, and the copyright of the digest itself, as well as the name "Digital Games Review Digest" are noted here. ********************* End of Digital Games Review Digest *********************