Life Force (Konami 1988)

Life Force is another fine example of the space shooter genre brought to you courtesy of Konami. This game is very close to the classic Gradius and follows exactly the same concept. You fly around blasting the crap out of everything in sight while collecting tokens. Every token you collect represent an upgrade. Pick up one and you have the option of increasing your speed, two gives you missiles, three a new gun etc. Of course, once you use the tokens you'll need to get the required number again before you can upgrade again. So if you push all you're tokens into upgrading your speed you might not have a strong enough weapon when you reach the boss. This brings a bit of brainwork to the genre.

The graphics in Life Force are outstanding. Bullets fly all over the place, yet still remain clearly visible. This is because Konami hasn't gone overboard with the backgrounds, but instead concentrated on making everything as clear as possible. Swarms of enemy ships swarm at you from all directions and you have seconds in which to react, or die. Even the levels themselves provide hazards, often shaping and reforming, causing you to fly all over the place dodging and weaving through obstacles. The viewpoints is that of a side scrolling shooter on the first stage which then switches to a top down shooter on the second. This pattern continues throughout the game. At the end of each level you face off against a boss baddie and some of these are very cool (not to mention disgusting). What about a floating brain where you have to shoot the eyeball to kill it or a huge skull that shoots its eyes out at you?

The music is also very good and adds to the overall hectic atmosphere of the game. The sound effects are minimal, but do the job. The gameplay is hardcore shooting all the way. Take your finger off the fire button for one second and you die. You're going to need all the luck, skill and reflexes you have to get through this one. This might put some people off, but the hardcore shooter fans will relish the challenge. The feeling of satisfaction you get from finishing this game is huge and the challenge factor is high. If you think you're good enough give it a try, if not use the cheat code printed in the manual and try anyway!

[9]

Jackal (Konami 1988)

Vietnam has long been over but new satellite data show that hordes of Americans are still held prisoner on enemy soil. Not wanting to risk an all out invasion again (look what happened last time) the plan is to rather send in a small commando team. The job is handed to the Green Berets and their infamous "Jeep Squad". You of course are one of the best and it's now up to you to lead the raid and bring back the P.O.W.s.

You and your Jeep "Trigger" is parachuted down along the border of Cambodia and from there its top down shooting action all the way through the games six levels. Your only goal is to bust out P.O.Ws and take them to pick-up points. Along the way you'll encounter all kind of hostiles like tanks, cannons, bunkers, helicopters and even the navy. Enemy troops also harass you but these guys can simple be run over. Your Jeep is capable of shooting bullets but only in the up direction and grenades or missiles, in the direction your Jeep is facing. Buildings have to be blown open, the hostages rescued and then taken to safety. The levels are quite cool and scroll in all directions although the playing area isn't all that huge.

 

The enemies are bad enough but there are also some environmental hazards like land-mines to keep you on your toes. It only takes one hit to blow up your vehicle and although you have extra lives and continues, you have to restart the level if you continue. At the end of each level is a boss and although the game is pretty easy overall some of these bosses are quite tough. It's quite frustrating to come all the way to these guys and then die horribly, only to restart at the start of the stage. That's why it's wise to hang on to all your lives until the end of the level and not rock up on the boss with only one life.

The graphics are pretty average and the colours are pretty muted. Besides some nice sprites and explosions there's nothing really new here that you haven't seen in a top down shooter yet. The levels are quite varied though and the layouts are unique. Background details are nice and everything moves at a good speed. Bosses are more impressive and have some varied and unique machines.

The music in the game is sadly quiet average and none of the tunes are really anything to shout about. Sound effects fare even worse and besides the grenades (which sound like a rusty gate opening) and a few tiny explosions there isn't really much else. Controls are responsive and your Jeep is quite maneuverable. The handling is pretty good and the shooting method is easy to master. Blasting through doors and avoiding mines soon become second nature and running down enemy soldiers always stay fun.

Jackal is a nice game that does nothing really wrong but at the same time doesn't really offer anything new or exciting either. Fans of the genre are sure to like it but it's sadly a bit on the easy side (except towards the end) and a few more levels would have been nice. Newcomers can use it to hone their skills and the two-player mode is also a nice blast. Good but not great.

[7]