A pair of Dinamic boobs!
Producer: Dinamic
Out of Pocket: £8.95 cass, £12.95 disk
Author: Carlos Abril, music by Javier Cubedo
On the strange, alien world Phantis, Adios, hero of the original game, has been imprisoned by the evil Gremla's heirs. As Major Locke you have assumed the risky task of rescuing him.
But this is no simple 'blow the wall down with dynamite' job. No, first you must venture through ten levels of some of the most demanding gameplay we've seen in a long time. As in Game Over (Issue 44, 55%) which is included in the package free, the game consists of two sections, each loaded separately. The second of these can only be played by inputting the correct access code obtained from completing the first.
Your mission beings with you approaching the planet Phantis in a spaceship. Unfortunately the enemy are aware of your presence and send hordes of kamikaze ships to destroy you. Should you manage to get past them, then it's onto the planet's volcanic surface where there's yet more enemy ships, as well as lethal rockfalls. Your destination is the underground cavern which leads to the swamps. Once Locke has landed there, he can mount a creature much like those at the start of The Empire Strikes Back (ie, two-legged llama-type things?!). With luck, it should carry him through the swamp.
The second section of the game involves exploring an underground forest and a lake infested with both dinosaurs AND piranhas. Get past that to the prison, and you still have kill the devils guarding it to complete the mission.
Colour is used liberally, and carelessly, on all levels resulting in a great deal of clash. Similarly disappointing is the sound, with a squeaky title tune and pathetic effects throughout the whole game. Actual gameplay is shallow and though you get a great quantity of levels for your money, the quality is mostly substandard.
PHIL [56%]
THE ESSENTIALS
Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: colour clash city
Sound: squeaky title tune with unchanging effects throughout the game
Options: definable keys. Play Part One or Two (with access code)
You would have thought that the programmers at Dinamic might have got the message after the Game Over review in Issue 44. The main complaint was colour clash, and guess what the sequel suffers from? Any small improvement that there is in the sequel is mainly due to the backgrounds being less detailed. Unlike Phil I quite liked the tunes (our resident disc jockey speaks - Ed), however, and sound effects are average for a shoot-'em-up/arcade game. With so much content here, in effect four games if you include the two parts of the original as well, I think it's really good value. In addition the sequel is, in my opinion, a great improvement over the original making this a very attractive package and well worth getting.
NICK [80%]
Wow, Game Over and Game Over II in the same package, that would be great value for money if the games were any good. But sadly Game Over II is little better than the original. Admittedly the slightly blobby sprites are reasonable, but the hideous white splodge of colour clash which follows our hero around is terrible. The game itself is little more than a basic shoot-'em-up, and sadly to my mind not really worth the asking price. I'm sorry but it's a case of nice packaging, shame about the game.
MARK [43%]
Dinamic
£8.95 cass/£12.95 disk
Reviewer: Phil South
Ho ho ho. I remember when Game Over I came out, it was named Game Oo-er on account of it's nawty cover picture and poster ad. Hee hee hee. Well, Game Over II is it's slobberful and eyeboggingly sequel and boy does it look good!
Originally to be entitled Phantis, Oo-er II is a splenditious shoot 'em up in the great Dinamic tradition, featuring 10 levels of sharp shooting action, with two different loads, and many, many, different ways to splat and get splatted. You begin in Phase One by scrollinq across a starfield, being pounced on by enemy ships and heading towards the surface of the planet. When you get there it's into Phase Two, where you skim the surface of the planet and avoid the gobs of volcanic splodge which belch out of the ground and threaten to fry your ship to a bag of just-cooked crisps
Next its underground for the Scramble/R-Type section of the game. You whip through a cavern inhabited by gribbly aliens and mechanical monsters, where you have the added problem of a roof which dips down to scratch the paint on the top of your ship and ruffle your haircut. There's a lot of big slimy caterpillars which wind through the tunnels, and you have to kill the head before you can pick off the bits of it's body. Then it's on to Phase Four, where you land on the planet itself, jump onto one of things to pulp with your photonic blade.
After completing Phase Four, you're presented with a code number which takes you into load number two, and a whole new set of hazards. The six levels on the new load take you down a level at a time into the bowels of the planet, first on the surface, then the alien base, the underground forest (huh?) the inner lake, over the magma level in a little helicopter, and finally to the prison level where you must solve the final puzzle to finish the game.
Sequels don't usually turn me on much, it has to be said, but this is a nice fast and furious blastorama, extremely slickly programmed, which deserves a look if you like your games on the violent side.
This game is going to sell like hot cakes, for the free poster inside if nothing else, but I don't think it's quite as original as it could have been. But hey, if you want a bit of excercise for your trigger finger rather than the thing that keeps your ears apart and a rather nawty free poster... THEN GO FOR IT!
REPLAY
Whiffy, spiffy, tiffy and thoroughly nifty. Prey gentle molluscs, take your seats for the great YS roundup...
Summit
£3.99 cassette
Reviewer: Jon Pillar
In this game you're asked to play Major Locke of the Sidereal Infantry, pilot a Pelotrone Fighter through the defences of Phantis and rescue Arkos from the clutches of Gremla. And now, courtesy of the YS subtitling service, a translation, Game Over 2 - zap everything you meet in this horizontally-scrolling shoot-'em-up.
After that, it's heartwarming to report that the game itself is rather spiffy, outstripping the original in every department. It has blazingly colourful graphics which get increasingly imaginative the further you progress. On Level One you're attacked by somewhat drab space fighters, but before long you'll be facing space serpents, raging volcanoes and oversized toads.
The gameplay is nicely balanced so that you're never unfairly swamped by baddies. And when you get blasted, you don't get sent back to the beginning of the level. Hurrah! To cut a long review short, throw away the inlay, load the game up and zap, zap, zap away. Spanish gold.
Label: Dinamic
Author: In-house
Price: £8.95
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Jim Douglas
Who remembers Game Over? Everyone. Why? Booby artwork. Thoroughly forgettable game. Not quite the same story with the sequel. Nearly, but not quite.
Your old drinking partner, Arkos the scientist, has been banged up in the intergalactic nick by the forces still loyal to Gremla (the shocking tart adorning the front of the box) It's up to you to free him.
There are a couple of stages in GOII. You kick off in a fighter spaceship on an apparently impossible flight towards the centre of the aliens' prison complex. You can't move too quickly, so you'll have to get an angle on the aliens' attack waves if you're to stand even the slightest chance of getting through.
Graphically things are pretty low-level. There has been absolutely no attempt to minimalise attribute clash and - with the exception of the explosions, which are great - it's a teensy bit basic. Still, there's no shortage of action. You can blast away quite successfully with your laser and enter into some reasonable skirmishy-dogfights with the bad guys.
The screen scrolls from right to left with the standard fare; asteroids, stars etc. After a period of time you'll find yourself in Zone 1 where there's a floor to crash into and life becomes unspeakably difficult. Huge red balls shoot up from craters in the rocky surface and do their utmost to collide with you. Owing to the plain obstinacy of your ship on the movement front, you need to predict when one of these guys is about to appear, rather than merely reacting when one pops up.
As well as the red balls, blue bubbles fall from the top of the screen and hamper your progress. There are a number of aliens, too, which fly up from behind you and smash you to bits.
If you're picking up the feeling that GOII is bloody impossible, well, you wouldn't be far wrong. It's all a bit erratic. The action is all there, but your spaceship is too big and you keep crashing into things. The aliens rarely pose much of a threat, except in unfair caught-up-the-backside sort of ways. It took me ages and ages to get through the open-air bit and 2 seconds to clear the following underground chamber section.
Zone 3 of the first part is the weakest point of the whole game. You climb down from your spaceship and climb aboard an absurd space-ostrich. Here you've got to walk along a riverbank combating galactic toads and suchlike with an extremely hopeless boomerang item.
At the end of this stage, you are endowed with the mystical secret code number of Dinamic which lets you load and play Part 2, which is a whole lot more interesting. Map and explore, pick up items and gradually work your way towards the scientist (the one you're rescuing - remember?)
Game Over II is by no stretch of the imagination a great game, but there is lots and lots of it, and there's quite a bit of variety too. Coupled with the fact that you get the first game Game Over, imbecile on the B side of the disc, it's worth a look, but don't expect lasting appeal.
Label: Alternative
Memory: 48K
Price: £3.99 Tape
Reviewer: Big Al Dykes
Well, well I've always dreamed of owning a zippy spacecraft with awesome weaponry and a good line in forward, backward, upwards and downwards movement, so slap me with a soggy Marmite sandwich if this game doesn't fit the bill.
A classic arcade format space shoot 'em up, Game Over II involves a rescue mission in deep space with ten levels of frantic action taking place above, on and below ground. The variety of gameplay is impressive for a budget game. The main Character, known as Commander Locke gets to ride a strange beast (no, not the Garthmobile) and fly around using a spacecraft and jetpack without fear for his own safety or for parking tickets.
To cut a long story short, (well relatively so) you must reach a prison planet against all the odds, flying over it's volcanic danger zones before landing and then capture and use an 'Adrec' (a strange cross between a kangaroo, a horse and a sad Australian TV presenter) to get you through the swamp. (Can you tell what it is yet kids?). Other levels include an underground forest, a subterranean lake and finally, the fiendishly well-guarded prison itself which all make Game Over II quite a difficult blast that demands lightning-quick reactions, lots of practice and a strip of Elastoplast for those finger blisters.
Unfortunately I couldn't get a Sinclair joystick to work with it but keyboard control is good. There are 24 different enemies to contend with, some are easy enough, almost suicidal, but others are dangerous beyond belief, especially the ones that creep (or fly at lightning speed) at you from behind.
With large clear graphics and plenty of colour, Game Over II contains more than enough speed and good fightin' action to keep most combat-crazy space veterans blister-fingered and well plastered right to the end.
GARTH:
The old ones are definitely the best and I still carry the blister marks left from Game Over. The sequel uses a similar recipe of blistering pace and lip-biting action.
Daring-do from Dynamic.
it is not over yet. There are still baddies for the intrepid hero encountered in Game Over to deal with, and so he sets off on another mission, this time to free the imprisoned hero of the rebellion.
A spot of horizontal Galaxians warms you up, then it's time to Scramble over a volcanic landscape before descending into a cave system and doing battle with squirly serpents, enemy fighters and bolts of pure energy. Survive that, and it's time to mount a strange steed and gallop across swampland on the quest for the access code that allows you to sample the second load. A strange space-hopper sequence leads into a spot of arcade adventuring underground before you gain the controls of a helicopter, fly over another volcanic zone to duff up the guards in the prison that holds Arxos, the man you're trying to save.
Lots of different things to do, but nothing spectacular - a pick 'n' mix of gamestyles in a short and sweet selection.
Reviewer: Graeme Kidd
RELEASE BOX
Atari ST, £19.95dk, Out Now
Amiga, No firm plans for this version
IBM PC, £19.95dk, IMMINENT
C64/128, £8.95cs, £12.95dk, Imminent
Spectrum, £8.95cs, £12.95dk, Out Now
Amstrad, £8.95cs, £12.95dk, Imminent
Predicted Interest Curve
1 min: 60/100
1 hour: 65/100
1 day: 58/100
1 week: 40/100
1 month: 15/100
1 year: 7/100
Spectrum 48/128 Cassette: £8.95, Diskette: £14.95
Amstrad CPC Cassette: £8.95, Diskette: £14.95
PC Diskette: £24.95
LOCKE ON TARGET
Dinamic are probably best known for for Game Over. There was nothing innovative about the game but its promotions featured an illustration of a scantily-clad female, areas of whose flesh were hurriedly covered up after protest over the no-holds-barred original. The sequel's advertising is less controversial, but will still, no doubt, raise eyebrows over its raunchiness.
In times past, Lieutenant Arkos fought for the honour of Gremla, the vindictive Ruler of the Galaxy. However, her power-crazed evil became too much, and he turned to the life of a hero. Travelling over and through the worlds vital to Gremla's mighty empire, he fought using laser gun and grenade, slaying all monsters who crossed him. The galaxy was free, and all celebrated long and joyously.
The partying came to a depressing halt when it was discovered that Arkos had disappeared without trace. Gremla's heirs had incarcerated him in the depths of the jail-planet, Phantis. The already legendary Arkos could not be left to rot and face a tortured miserable death, so a new super warrior was selected to free him. That's you, buddy.
PHANTIS SEA OF ALIENS
The game begins as you speed through space, approaching Phantis within your sleek spacecraft, firing at waves of alien Senoliz ships with your nose-mounted laser. Soon a fiery volcanic sector is reached, where reconnaissance bombers and ground-to-air missiles are joined by natural forces.
Emerging on the other side to the shallow, slimy waters of a swamp, you capture and saddle up a reptilian biped you use as a steed. A swirling photonic blade is yours with which to despatch the swamp inhabitants, who use pterodactyl and giant toads as transport.
In the second load of the game, you begin on foot - although a jetpack allows you to be airborne for a short time. In these stages, you have a limited amount of energy, shown by a heart in the status panel. A life is lost when the heart shrinks to its minimum size.
Game Over II is a mixture of shoot-'em-up styles, none of which stand up in their own right, but together, with the original form a reasonable package. Much more could have been done with the fighter spaceship stages - laser-only weaponry would have been considered restrictive a few years ago, let alone today, when add-on weapons are all the rage. This is typical of the basic gameplay on offer. whose saving grace is the variety of transports used.
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