SUPER GAME GUIDE
Look, over there, through that swirling cloud of strange mist... No, it can't be, but it is! SU's guide to the game-greats of yester-year. Yes indeedy there have been some good 'uns on the market in the last few years so now's the time to start polishing up on your collection if you've missed out on any of these fabbo titles. Mark Patterson, who's been in the business since before he was born and who has written not just for SU but also for Amiga, ST, PC and Console mages gives us an extra critical run down of the best...
SWIV
Label: Kixx
Memory: 48K/128K
Price: £3.99 Tape
Reviewer: Mark Patterson
There is a choice between a jeep and a helicopter, the jeep being the more difficult of the two since there are obstacles on the ground to avoid which the helicopter just flies over. In two player mode, with one player on the ground and the other in the air the game is just amazing. It is fast and furious with classic shoot em up action. The graphics are clear and well defined and with very smooth vertical scrolling. To begin with you are armed with a single cannon and there are power ups along the way giving you extra lives and more firepower. Good graphics and great action, Swiv is probably one of the best two player shoot outs available for the Speccy.
Label: Storm
Memory: 48K/128K
Tape: £11.23, Disk: £NA
Reviewer: Steve Keen
When SWIV a into the office it's reputation had preceded it. As soon as you take the clear plastic tape out of the box you know you're in for something special. "A masterpiece" and "the most beautiful graphics in the Universe" were just two quotes on the back of the box, and YES it is the Spectrum version!
SWIV is a two player vertically scrolling shoot 'em up. You can choose to wage war from the air (in the guise of a helicopter) or from land (in a spritely jeep). The choice you make is vital as it gives you two distinctive styles of play. The helicopter is able to fly over ground and therefore is unhindered by surface objects whist the jeep must drive around trees (or jump over them!), avoiding walls and other structures. The price you pay for the chopper's flight advantage is that your field of fire is restricted to straight ahead. The jeep, however, can shoot in all directions.
Graphics are truly mouth watering with large detailed sprites and sound to match. I can't recommend this enough. If only a third of Spectrum software was up to this quality the Amiga would not have been invented! I kid you not. Sheer genius produced this for the Speccy. Do it justice and get out your wad!
GARTH SEZ:
It's joystick wrenching, all American heroes with their hearts and minds cookin' full tilt boogie in this all-action, no compromise blast 'em up!
Label: Kixx
Memory: 48K/128K
Price: £3.99 Tape
Reviewer: Steve Keen
Modern combat is a complicated affair. You must be able to compete on both land and in the air if you are to triumph. So it's just as well that SWIV allows you to dominate both with a pair of smooth operating fighting machines!
Basically you take the part of either an 'Apache' pilot or an armoured jeep commander and wade through fields of enemy fire destroying other helicopters, gun emplacements, tanks, airplanes and gigantic insect like installations. All the time trying to avoid gunfire, guided missiles and powerful lasers. Sounds like a lot? It is! Sounds like fun? It is.
Your heli or jeep starts off with a relatively simple single shot cannon but power ups are available which provide either extra life or extra fire-power and if you collect enough of these you can end up with a completely formidable fighting machine.
The jeep is much more difficult to be successful with because it has to constantly avoid obstacles and enemies on the ground while the helicopter simply flies over them. However the game is at its best in two player mode where you and a friend can control both fighting machines at the same time. The result is usually devastating.
SWIV is a fast paced shoot 'em up, very competently put together and with neat, easily definable graphics and very smooth vertical scrolling. If you want some real joystick wrenching fun you won't beat this game at the price, or at any price for that matter.
ALAN:
This game is definitely an all time classic shoot 'em up on the Spectrum. If you haven't already got it I would suggest you put on your boots, oil your bike, rev up your car, or whatever you usually do when you're about to break open your piggy bank and nip off to your local software emporium. Simply go and get it right now.
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