Arcade Collection Review: Atari Anthology Part 2

In case you missed Part one of this review, which was posted back in May, I'm taking a look at the arcade games included on the Atari Anthology collection for PS2.

Liberator

Game: Liberator
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1982

Liberator is a moderately fun space shooter style arcade game which tasks players with destroying enemy bases located on planets at the centre of the screen. With their four ships in each corner, players must find and shoot at the bases, whilst also defending against enemy missiles and ships emanating from the bases themselves.

The gameplay is fairly fast paced and is fairly challenging from the start, as even with a shield option, to block incoming fire it's pretty easy to accidentally lose allied ships whilst concentrating on another part of the screen. Multitasking is the best option, despite what the advice between levels indicates (this tells you only to focus on hitting the bases) and a combination of shooting bases, missiles and ships whilst strategically using the shield often proves best for game progression.

Visually, the game's planets are the most enjoyable feature with many different colours and features playing host the game's enemy bases. At times the game screen can become a little hectic with many ships, missiles, shots and explosions happening at once, but the player's targeting reticle is usually easy enough to spot. As for sound effects, they're pretty standard for the time and don't really stand out as good or bad.

Overall Liberator is the sort of game that's worth a play for it's concept and place in arcade history, but won't make it into the very best arcade game lists due to the difficulty in progression after a while, and overall simplicity and repetition after a while. Another factor that contributes to the game's forgetability is the sheer amount of space shooters released in the era.

Rating: 70/100
Grade: C

Lunar Lander

Game: Lunar Lander
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1979

Another early game in Atari's lineup, Lunar Lander holds fun for players even in the modern day, as they're tasked with landing a ship on precarious mountain peaks with a limited amount of fuel, and control over the ship's thrusters to set its horizontal and vertical speed. On this collection, the ship's rotation is controlled by the left analog stick, and the thrusters are controlled with the right analog stick.

There are several landing zones to choose from in each level, with different difficulty multipliers. Players must choose which landing zone to go for and plan ahead if they want to make a successful landing without their ship exploding. Points are deducted for hard landings, and there's a maximum of 50 points available for a great landing, multiplied by the difficulty multiplier. There's also four different types of ship, each with different settings for rotation, gravity and thrust, for experienced players.

Graphically the game is simple, but easy to understand; the screen zooms in when players are close to landing to make things easier to see, but this is the only effect used in conjunction with the otherwise simple vector graphics. Soundwise there's only the sound of the thruster to keep players company which conveys the loneliness of space, but isn't ideal.

Overall Lunar Lander has a great concept and is still a lot of fun to play today, if only for a little while. This is one of Atari's classics and one of the best games of the time (granted there weren't too many games around). It's one of the earliest depictions of a physics engine of sorts, and probably inspired many later games in the "feel" of outer space, control wise.

Rating: 74/100
Grade: B

Major Havoc

Game: Major Havoc
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1983

Major Havoc is one of the most interesting Atari arcade games in that it borrows elements from many other Atari games in order to provide a minigame style experience. Firstly players are shown a space ship control screen with Breakout at the side, allowing them to play for a short while (or until they lose) before cutting to a Space Invaders/Galaga esque minigame where oncoming enemies must be shot at.

 Once all enemies are cleared, the game enters a Lunar Lander type segment where the ship must be guided to its docking bay, and lastly there's a maze style segment where players must place a bomb to blow up a reactor, without running out of oxygen as they explore. Once this has been completed, players escape the maze and the whole process begins again, with more difficulty.

Major Havoc is fairly unique in this aspect of mashing many different types of game together to form an adventure of sorts, and could even be considered a forerunner to some of the more varied gameplay types we see from video games in the modern day. Unfortunately it doesn't expand much on the gameplay types it offers; all of the segments bar the maze are fairly short, and have little impact on the overall game.

Graphically the game is fairly simple for the time, with mostly vector graphics and effects. The visual aspect of the game is perhaps the worst part, on par only with the sound effects and music as far more basic than the gameplay ideas on display. Nonetheless it's good for some fun and though the difficulty does increase at a rather quick pace after the first level, repeated plays will improve player's familiarity with the game and allow them to get even further.

Rating: 65/100
Grade: C

Missile Command

Game: Missile Command
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1980

Missile Command is a fairly well known classic arcade game, even if it isn't in the most well known category of titles. Players are tasked with defending their cities, at the bottom of the screen from incoming bombs, with 3 missile launch points. Players choose where their missile will explode but must calculate the time it'll take to get in place and thus do the intended damage. Each missile has a small blast radius which will explode anything inside of it.

As the levels of the game progress, more bombs rain down from the sky and other spaceships and aircraft add to the number of incoming explosive devices. Extra cities (lives, essentially) can be earned for scoring points, and bonuses are awarded for having cities left at the end of each round, as well as any spare ammo.

Graphically the game is simple but does a great job of conveying its concept. If a player's missile pad gets hit, then it will be inactive for the remainder of the round, only to be restocked once the next round begins. This means that players must focus on protecting both their cities and missile launch pads. As for sound effects the game is a little lacking, but since it's from 1980 I suppose we can let it off.

Overall the gameplay and concept of judging the timing and placement of each missile adds a real fun factor to the game, and once players have a little experience in playing, it's fairly addictive. This definitely deserves a place in arcade history as it's something that is fresh and innovative, while pushing the technological limits of gameplay.

Rating: 74/100
Grade: B

Pong

Even in today's modern world, you'd probably struggle to find someone who wasn't aware of the arcade game, Pong. It's one of the earliest arcade video games and the first sports arcade game, and though very simple in its design, it inspired a myriad of Pong home consoles which flooded the market and caused the video game crash of 1977. 

The game itself plays incredibly simply; players move their paddles up or down to deflect the ball, and once the ball is missed by either player, a point is scored. Although there were many variations in game type on later versions and home consoles, the original Pong cabinet only offered the regular variation of play.

While I'm not a fan of rating video games on their impact on the industry or indeed their nostalgic value, Pong was an incredibly important part of gaming history, and impressive for the technical limitations of 1972. Although playing alone isn't too much fun, Pong with a friend can still be an enjoyable activity today, if only for its simplicity and ease of play. Overall it was a great arcade game and forerunner to many later machines.

Rating: 65/100
Grade: C

Red Baron

Game: Red Baron

Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari

Release Date: 1980

Red Baron simulates airbourne dogfights in World War I, with planes and landbased enemies to shoot at, all in a vector graphic style. The game plays similarly to an airborne version of Battlezone, except that the movement is much faster and smoother overall. There's only one way to attack; shooting the plane's gun at each type of enemy that appears, but for all its simplicity the game works well. 

Interestingly Red Baron features adaptable difficulty, which attempts to average out game length based on the last 32 plays. This means that players who are new to the game may well get more of a chance than with other machines of the era. Similarly, players who are very good at the game might find the difficulty ramped up from the start. There are pros and cons to using this sort of a system with an arcade machine, but it's interesting technology nonetheless.

Graphically the game isn't much to look at, but the sound effects are pretty good, and thanks to the overall smoothness of turning and firing, it feels as if Red Baron could easily be the workings inside a far more visually impressive game. Thanks to this, there's a certain Tron like feel of being inside the inner workings of a game to playing, despite the fact that this is literally all there is to it.

Rating: 70/100
Grade: C

Super Breakout

Game: Super Breakout
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1978

It's a little hard to review this particular arcade game from a PS2 collection, or anything without an analog rotary control. Pong wasn't too difficult to operate without analog control as the original machine had, but Super Breakout, at least on the Atari Anthology collection seems to have a vendetta against players. It served balls at the least convenient location to where I was, allowed the ball to pass through my paddle a few times and generally made it hell to even play. This said, I'll attempt to give my thoughts on the game as a whole anyway, even if it doesn't get an overall review score, since it may be unfair on the actual arcade game.

Breakout feels to me almost an expansion of the Pong concept, a single player version even. While it can be fun for a while, I've never played a version that's grabbed my attention or made even hitting the ball easy. I'm sure that given a rotary arcade controller, this would change, but Breakout seems like one of those games that hasn't aged particularly well at all. It's almost harder to get someone excited about the concept of slowly breaking a wall to pieces brick by brick than watching paint dry on one. Anyway there's plenty of Breakout games on the 2600 side of this collection so you can expect some proper reviews there.

Tempest

Game: Tempest
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1980

Tempest is another example of Atari's arcade brilliance; bright colours, a simple and scalable concept, both in terms of levels and difficulty, and the classic arcade feel of a vague space concept. Players can move around the outside of various different shapes, attacking enemies which are making their way up towards players. There are different types of enemies, which can cause players to lose a life in a few different ways, and learning how to avoid contact with many of them is the key to success in the game.

When the player is on a part of the level's shape, that whole section lights up, to better illustrate where the player's shots will affect. The onscreen action can get pretty crazy at times, with many enemies and shots on the screen at once, but this also adds a fast paced action feel to the game. The many different shapes featured in the game's levels make it instantly recognisible, and it's a great used of the vector style.

Tempest is definitely worth a go, if you're looking for classic arcade games to play; it's most similar to Black Widow in terms of Atari's output, but there's vast differences which mean that both have their individual merits. While this is most certainly a game of the era (there's not a lot you could do to improve it thesedays), it's a fun relic of the arcade days.

Rating: 74/100
Grade: B

Warlords

Game: Warlords
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1980

This final game on the arcade side of this Atari collection is Warlords, a sort of 4 player version of Pong, with each player defending themselves via a breakable wall, in each corner. The winner is the last one standing, as being hit by the ball spells defeat. There are some strategic elements at play in this game; players can choose to target a certain opponent or gap in enemy defenses, and with multiple human players it's obviously possible to team up against the AI.

Overall this is one of the best expansions of an Atari game that exists as often there's not much development from one version to the next. While games tend to be short, it's almost endlessly replayable, especially with friends and despite the fairly basic graphics and awful awful high score/game over music, I'd say it was one of the better Atari arcade games of the mid era.

Rating: 63/100
Grade: C

In the next part of this collection review, I'll be taking a look at some of the Atari 2600 games included on the disc!

Arcade Collection Review: Atari Anthology Part 1

As part of my arcade review series, I'm going to be looking at a collection of Atari Arcade games which comes with Atari Anthology for PS2. The collection also includes some Atari 2600 games which I might review depending on how well they've been ported and/or emulated. Anyway, on to the arcade games;

Asteroids

Game: Asteroids
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1979

Asteroids is perhaps one of the most classic arcade games ever released, alongside Space Invaders and a few others from this collection. The goal is to use your ship to shoot all of the asteroids and, which break into ever smaller pieces until there's none left onscreen. The ship can be moved around, and it continues to move whilst coming to a stop, even after the player has finished pressing in the desired direction. As such, the ship feels as if it is in space.

As the levels progress, the Asteroids move ever faster and more appear at thee beginning of each level than in the previous level. It can be somewhat hard to progress in later levels thanks to the speed of the game, and the difficulty of keeping track of all objects as the screen. There are also flying saucers which appear from time to time that can fire back at players, and the option to go into 'hyperspace' and appear in a random position onscreen, though more often than not this results in losing a life rather than anything helpful.

The vector graphics featured in the game are quite stylish despite being basic, and have helped Asteroids retain an air of timelessness. Soundwise, there's not a whole lot of accompaniment save for a few basic notes behind gameplay and shooting sounds. This is typical of very early arcade games and bearable, I suppose. Overall Asteroids is an enjoyable blast from the past, and it's not too hard to see why this was one of the coolest things to play in 1979.

Rating: 71/100
Grade: C

Asteroids Deluxe

Game: Asteroids Deluxe
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1980

Featuring more of the same gameplay as Asteroids, with some slight tweaks, the most major change between the original game and its deluxe version is the backdrop featuring imagery from outer space and the change from white vector graphics to light blue. The hyperspace option has been removed and replaced with a shield which is far more useful and can help to extend player turns by protecting them from unavoidable collisions.

In many ways the background and colour contrast make it more difficult to tell what's occurring onscreen, despite being nice to look at otherwise. On the whole though, the game is pretty much the same as Asteroids and as such is almost like a forerunner to the HD re-releases of the present day which only change slight details of previously released games. The original Asteroids has the edge though, with it's cult status and ease of play.

Rating: 70/100
Grade: C

Space Duel

Game: Space Duel
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1982

Just 2 years after Asteroids Deluxe, Atari realised that gamers still couldn't get enough of the rotational shooting action that the series featured (presumably) and released Space Duel, which is essentially another version of Asteroids but with some changes for the better. The background from Asteroids Deluxe has been removed, but enemies are now much more brightly coloured and move in more interesting ways. The shield feature and bonus life after 10,000 points also remains, but there are now bonus levels inbetween each main level which challenge players further by featuring ships which home in on them.

While graphically more interesting than Asteroids and Deluxe combined, the audio is still very basic and features only shooting sounds. It takes my pick for most fun of the series of 3 games, as there's more to do and the bonus levels add extra challenge, but they're all pretty similar at the end of the day and the original Asteroids maintains its classic appeal over the later 2 games.

Rating: 71/100
Grade: C

Battlezone

Game: Battlezone
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1980

Battlezone is a simple yet interesting tank simulation arcade game where players were given a set of dual two-way joysticks which were both able to move forwards and backwards. These were used to control the treads on each side of the tank and allow forward, backwards and rotational movement and everything inbetween. This range of motion isn't used to its full potential in game, but is sometimes useful for aiming and evading enemy fire.

The aim of the game is to destroy as many enemy tanks as possible whilst avoiding obstacles and the fire of enemies. If the player's tank is hit then a life is lost, and the screen displays a broken glass style effect. An interesting feature of the game is that enemy fire can still hit players even after the enemy that fired it has been defeated, so players must always pay attention. Avoiding enemy fire is difficult at times, and I've never been able to survive particularly long without getting hit, but it can be fun to try.

The vector style graphics are reminiscent of science fiction virtual reality headsets or something of the like, and work well despite the lack of detail and clarity at times. With what was available at the time, this was probably a wise choice as blocky pixel tanks firing at one another (a la Combat) is a completely different experience. There's not a lot to say on the audio front, but that's unsurprising given the year of this game's release.

Overall while not a particularly detailed or deep game, Battlezone made good use of the technology of the era and manages to be playable and interesting even in the modern age. It's not something I'd replay over and over, or even have a desire to get good at but there's a certain something which raises it above the mediocre games of the time.

Rating: 65/100
Grade: C

Game: Black Widow
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1982

Black Widow is a surprisingly deep and enjoyable arcade game, considering its time of release; players take control of the titular spider and use twin stick shooter controls to shoot various onscreen bugs, all of which must be shot (or avoided in some cases) to beat a level. Once shot different types of bug will turn into different things; the most basic bugs will turn into a score bonus, but some also lay eggs if score bonuses aren't collected fast enough, leading to more difficult types of bug roaming the screen. Before hatching eggs can be pushed off the side of the web for points.

There are 10 different types of enemy in total, and assuming players are fairly competent it's easy to get to at least the 10th wave of bugs within the first few turns. Gameplay is fast paced and exciting and honestly feels like some of the best arcade action of the early 80s Atari games. Controls and movement are fluid and intuitive, with a rapidly climbing difficulty curve as in later parts of the game, different areas of the web are sectioned off and must be factored into player movements.

Graphically the game is colourful and interesting despite the lack of detail and restrictions of the early hardware. On the whole it's easy to see where enemies are and distinguish between their various types, even with many onscreen at any given time. Soundwise there's only the ring of player shots to accompany gameplay, but due to the frantic nature of play there's no time to notice any audio deficiencies.

Overall Black Widow is one of the best early arcade games thanks to the depth its multiple enemy types, progressing difficulty and ease of control allows it. It's pretty addictive and never feels as if it's dragging thanks to the fast pace of gameplay. While this may not be the most well remembered arcade game of the 80's, it certainly deserves to be included with the other often mentioned classics.

Rating: 82/100
Grade: B

Game: Centipede
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1980

Centipede is another early Atari game with a painfully simple concept that when combined with simple controls and intuitive progression is a lot of fun to play. Players control a turret, shooting from the bottom of the screen upwards at a centipede which is descending. On the first level, each segment of the centipede is connected until shot, but as levels progress more and more segments become independent until the entire centipede is single segments.

Onscreen there are mushrooms which reverse the direction of the centipede; if a segment is shot then it will turn into one of these mushrooms. Players are allowed to move within a small player area at the bottom of the screen, and in this way are able to avoid any descending segments of the centipede that reach the last row, by moving upwards a number of rows and waiting for the segment to begin ascending again. Players lose a life if they collide with any segment of the centipede, or an oscreen enemy such as the spider, flea or scorpion.

With colourful, if a little basic graphics and only the sound of player shots to accompany gameplay, it's easy to tell from an audiovisual standpoint that this game is from the early 80s, however the lack of detailed graphics and audio accompaniment detract very little from the overall effect, fun and classic feel of the game. After 35 years, it's still as fun and challenging to play as ever.

Rating: 82/100
Grade: B

Game: Millipede

Console: Arcade

Developer: Atari

Release Date: 1982

As the sequel to Centipede, Millipede suffers the classic Atari arcade sequel issue of being far too similar to its predecessor. While there are some changes to the powerups and enemies included, the core gameplay is exactly the same with only a highlighted player zone to visually differentiate it from the last game. The concept is still fun, but with the feeling that nothing has changed, it's hard to find motivation to continue playing.

Millipede is just as good as Centipede to play, but I'd have to recommend choosing one or the other, over both. Original Centipede arcade cabinets can be converted into Millipede ones with a little work, and that's testament to how similar the two games really are.

Rating: 73/100
Grade: C

Crystal Castles

Game: Crystal Castles
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1983

With trimetric graphics and a playstyle similar to Pac-man, Crystal Castles is a strange little arcade game. Players control Bentley Bear, on a mission to collect all of the gems in each of the game's 37 levels. Unlike Pac-man however, enemies can collect gems too, and the more they get, the less points players score. The game was also one of the first games to have warp zones, and a legitimate end-point rather than repeating levels or a kill screen.

Progressing through the levels isn't particularly easy as any contact with enemies loses one of your three lives, and many enemies move quickly and in patterns that are hard to avoid whilst collecting all of the gems. Many levels have interesting features such as tunnels and stairs which can be used as shortcuts. Bentley Bear also has the ability to jump, which can stun enemies but is a little difficult to time at first.

Graphically the game isn't much to look at, maintaining a simple style even with the trimetric 3D effect. Enemies come in all shapes and sizes, including trees, skeletons and other things I'm not even sure of. Soundwise the gameplay is accompanies by bloops and beeps as gems are collected by both players and enemies. There's a short musical clip depending on which bonus is won, but this seems to be all. On the whole the game is mildly interesting, if somewhat pedestrian in concept and gameplay. The secret passages and ability to jump add some differentiation from most other arcade games, but it's not enough to reach the level of fun offered by Pac-man and other 'collecting' style arcade games.

Rating: 51/100
Grade; D

Game: Gravitar
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1982

The final game I'll be looking at today is Gravitar, an interesting combination of gameplay styles from Asteroids and Lunar Lander amongst other inspirations. Players start on a overworld screen, with a ship which is much the same as the one in Asteroids. In the overworld there are several planets which can be visited; doing so changes the screen to a side-on perspective of the planet and there are quite a few objectives and goals between all of the planets featured.

Gravity plays a large part in the game, dragging players towards destruction in the overworld and towards planet's surfaces in the side-on sections. Exploration is key and visiting every planet in a solar system allows players to move onto the next. The controls are similar to all versions of Asteroids and its derivatives, and the game is generally easy to pick up for beginners.

Graphically the game is simple and takes some imagination to represent the outer reaches of space. Even the planet surfaces are represented by coloured lines, and despite being an early game it feels as if it could have been at least sightly more detailed. There's very little in the way of music, and the sound effects are as basic as the graphics, leaving the whole experience feeling somewhat low tech.

Overall Gravitar is a great concept for an early space exploration type game, which combines some of the best elements of other popular Atari games. While the gravity mechanic can take a little bit of getting used to, and mastering the game takes some time, it's one of the more in-depth arcade games of the time.

Rating: 64/100
Grade: C

Game Review: Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure

Game: Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Double Helix Games
Release Date: 14th February 2006

From the title, it's somewhat difficult to ascertain what Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure is all about. It's just as likely to be about pulling yourself out of bed in the morning or erectile dysfunction as graffiti tagging. Having said this, the subtitle and visual clues available to players with the game case and packaging should make it clear that the game is intended to be an urban tale of rebellion, creativity and fighting against corruption. Upon popping the game disk in, players are treated to one of my favourite introductory cutscenes in gaming, which introduces the game's themes, mood and aesthetic in a short and easy to digest format without giving too much away.

Following the plot of the game, players begin by "getting their name up" in the form of tags around the city, encountering and fighting with rival gangs who'd rather you didn't write your name over theirs, and avoiding/fighting with the police and CCK, a task force started to eliminate graffiti artists from the city. As the game progresses there becomes less focus on writing your name around the city, and more on uncovering a conspiracy headed by the current mayor, getting a message out by displaying large pieces around the city and ensuring news coverage of your exploits. The game's pace and plot escalation combine to give an experience that is both immersive and thorough, while not staying beyond it's welcome.

There are three distinct sections to gameplay, though nearly every level will require all three to be used at some point for completion. The first and most important part of gameplay is graffiti tagging; each level will have a certain number of spots that require a tag to complete the level. Tags are painted by holding either the Square or Triangle button (which paint at different speeds) whilst moving the left analog stick around the area needing to be tagged. If players paint for too long on any area a drip will form, giving them less overall respect for the piece. There are other methods of tagging used as the game continues including wheatpaste, stencils and roll-ups, but the overall method of using them is essentially the same.

The second part of gameplay is platforming to be able to access the graffiti tag spots; many of the most difficult spots are high up, requiring climbing, jumping and other acrobatics to reach. Players must work out how and when to make their move across the level in order to reach all of the necessary tag spots. Jumping and climbing controls are fairly intuitive although they can be somewhat fiddly at times, if there are several options for player movement in one spot.

The final part of gameplay, which can often be avoided by stealthy movement and clever planning but is necessary in more than a few levels, is fighting. Generally, fights consist of attempting to string together strong move combos involving punching with the Square button, and kicking with the Triangle button. Weapons can be picked up and used if available, and grabs deal a fair amount of damage, though they're hard to pull off. Fighting is often the most frustrating part of gameplay as it's easy to get outnumbered, and taking on more than 3 enemies at once is often fatal, resetting players to the last checkpoint. 

Each area in the game has 2 or 3 missions inside of it, which complete a small part of the plot and often introduce new types of tagging or artwork. While the game isn't particularly long, missions past the halfway point become fairly difficult to pass on the first few attempts with difficult platforming sections or large numbers of overpowered CCK enemies armed to the hilt with guns and tasers. The game's overall difficulty is just past the point of being enjoyably challenging, for me as there were a few levels which were made far too hard by the controls or slightly glitched AI programming. If you're willing to exploit a few game issues in your favour though, the game is at least completable with a few dozen mission restarts.

Around each of the game's levels there are various collectibles available such as iPod songs (though this only makes them playable on the main menu), photos of the work of famous graffiti artists and most importantly health bar and special bar upgrades which increase the player's ability to take damage and perform combos whilst fighting. While I wasn't personally too concerned with finding all of the hidden bonuses in the game, it's a nice touch for completionists. The only issue to watch out for is the fact that resetting back to a checkpoint after losing all of your health will reset all collectibles up to that point also, so the hardest levels may well take far longer. 

On the whole, the gameplay is fairly enjoyable but I felt that the driving force behind my completion of levels was wanting to advance the plot. Even with the vast selection of tags and artwork types, tagging can become tiresome by the latter stages of the game, and fighting even more so. The variety of locations in the game was the only factor, aside from the plot that kept me engaged throughout the experience.

Graphically the game is fairly impressive overall, despite the odd issue. The selection of artwork included in the game is a positive, though players are only able to choose 4 designs per missions to tag, rather than their entire repertoire. The game's graphics complement the variety of locations featured and help towards the climax as more and more exciting places are visited. Musically the game is excellent featuring a blend of licensed and original tracks which fit the mood and contribute to the atmosphere and experience.

Overall Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure is an enjoyable game which features a well paced and written plot, that combines with the variety of gameplay types to form a challenging experience for players. Though at times it can get frustrating, attempting to pass certain missions (as my younger self knows), the reward of advancing the plot should drive players forwards. While the ending of the game isn't spectacular, the overall feel and style leave enough of a lasting impression for that not to matter.

Rating: 87/100
Grade: B

Fighters Month: Pit Fighter

Game: Pit Fighter
Console: Sega Mega Drive
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1991

With early use of digitized graphics and the inventive inclusion of various weapons and fighting techniques, you'd think that Pit Fighter might stand the test of time as a pioneer of the fighting games genre. Unfortunately the graphics aren't even comparable to that of Mortal Kombat, which doesn't look all that good itself, and the three fighting techniques included in the game are almost indistinguishable from one another.

Players are given the role of a Pit Fighter, facing off one-on-one against opponents whilst surrounded by spectators. Every three rounds there's a grudge match where fighters attempt to be the first to knock the other down three times, which makes a change from the regular matches but doesn't seem to contribute much to the overall experience.

Fighting is tedious at best; hit detection is poor and often hitting your opponent seems to be a matter of random chance. Button mashing seems to be the best strategy as some fighters have special moves, though there's no indication of what should be done to access them. As for the different styles of each fighter, I couldn't tell much of a difference between each of their punches and kicks. I'm aware that this is a pretty early game in the fighting genre, but it's completely unenjoyable on many levels.

As players advance through the game, they'll face 8 different opponents in total (provided that they haven't lost their 3 lives to the high level of difficulty) and earn money for beating each round of the game. Once the game over screen is reached, the amount of money earned acts as the player's score, and the game begins again from the intro screen.

Graphically the game is presented in very low quality, thanks to its pioneering digitized approach and often it's hard to tell quite what's happening on screen, especially when the fighters make their way into the crowd. Musically the game's soundtrack seems to vary between fitting the action and seeming completely unrelated; sometimes it's quite funky and others it's almost relaxed.

Overall I didn't enjoy Pit Fighter as a game at all. I can appreciate that it used some new techniques for the time it was released, and the inclusion of weapons and various fighting moves must have seemed quite exciting for players new to the game, but with so many advances in fighting games since then, nowadays the game seems like somewhat of a broken relic.

Rating: 40/100
Grade: E

Simple Series Quality Test: Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 vs Rollercoaster World

Game: Rollercoaster Tycoon 3
Console: PC
Developer: Frontier Developments
Release Date: 26th October 2004

As one of my enduring favourites in the 'tycoon' series of games, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 has many fun features and enjoyable aspects, whereas games which attempt to imitate its success without even putting in half as much effort do not. In this double header review I'll first take a look at RCT3 and what makes it fun, and then assess whether or not Rollercoaster World, published by Midas Interactive quite lives up to the same standard.

In Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, players attempt to either build a successful theme park within a specific scenario with cash, theme and time limitations, or  play in sandbox mode where money is no object, and players can go about building anything they like. There are many preset buildings and park features that can be selected and placed, such as gift stands, thrill rides, scenery, preset rollercoasters and even smaller items such as bins, plants and themed items. In addition to this, rollercoasters and park transit rides can be custom designed by players, to pretty much any specification they'd like.

The game screen may seem a little cluttered with options on first glance, but there's a lot of options which need to be accessible when designing parks. At the top of the screen, information is displayed about the time of day, general mood of guests, the current financial situation and speed of the game. The options at the side allow players to check the park's finances, staff, rides and other stats, as well as build new coasters, rides, attractions or park features. Each of these menus has various submenus for themeing and different kinds of options.

The bubble in the bottom left appears when players are placing paths or building a new rollercoaster, and allows various options to be changed. Guests will generally only walk in areas where paths are laid, allowing players to direct them through the park in a sense. In the bottom right bubble, options for the selected ride are available such as opening or closing it, pricing information, the colour of its cars and track, stats and break down information. There's a lot of detail featured in the game, but it serves to allow players to make better decisions in scenario modes.

The scenarios featured in the game are interesting, and worth a try if that's your sort of thing. Personally I prefer to play in sandbox mode and create whatever I can think up, both in terms of parks and rollercoasters. Players are given a huge area to build their park in, and although there are height limits, they're pretty extreme and you're not likely to hit them unless you're trying to. There's several types of coasters to choose from, and almost anything is possible with the creation tool.

The business simulation aspects of Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 are also enjoyable; better parks attract more guests, and advertising campaign or getting awards also contribute to the number of people passing through. Players are able to click on any guest they wish to see their thoughts about the park and rides they've been on. The hiring and firing of staff for the park is another aspect of gameplay (especially in scenario mode); entertainers or park officials who are in a bad mood may have a negative influence on guest moods also.

One of the best and most charming aspects of Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 is the ability to ride the rollercoasters you've created in a first person view. There's some fun to be had in attempting to copy a real world coaster and then seeing how well it matches up. The build mode is well balanced; it's not so freeform that building a functional rollercoaster is difficult, but it's not so rigid that every creation seems to be similar either.

Another great feature of the game is the ability to plan events such as fireworks displays, at a certain time of the day in any part of your park. Coupled with the themed rides, objects and scenery, this makes for a good way to personalise your park. Each time I've played the game, I've been able to explore different ideas, layouts and ride possibilities, which is hugely important to replayability.

Graphically the game looks very nice, with a mix between cartoon styles up close and a more realistic look when zoomed out. The menus are clearly laid out and although sometimes it can take a bit of digging to find the required options, this is only due to the large amount of variables. The day/night cycle is a nice touch, especially for players wanting to emulate "Fright Nights" with a horror theme. Musically the game features an upbeat accompaniment to park building and overseeing events while allowing players to experience the atmosphere when zoomed in. These combine to provide a general feeling of excitement.

Overall Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 has all the content, options and design tools to give players a huge amount of control over how their theme park turns out. Whether playing to the limitations of scenario mode in an attempt to run a successful park or just building the park of your dreams, the game has all of the tools needed to shape a unique and personal experience. There's not much more you could ask for from a theme park building simulation game.

Rating: 78/100
Grade: B

Game: Rollercoaster World
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Bimboosoft
Release Date: 21st May 2004

And so to Rollercoaster World; surely even a simplified version of RCT3 would be the best game I've played in the Simple Series so far. Well, just like Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 there are 2 main modes; Challenge Mode and Management Mode. They're somewhat different to Scenario and Sandbox mode, however. Challenge Mode has players designing different types of rollercoasters to meet certain speed, thrill and safety ratings, in a sort of grid based view, while Management mode is a little more like RCT3, though not a lot.

There are 5 challenges in total in Challenge Mode, each with its own type of rollercoaster to construct. Players must stay within certain height and turn angle restrictions while building in a strange quadruple view; showing the coaster from above, beside, onboard and another view which I couldn't quite get my head around. Once the track reaches the station players may test their creation, and if the car gets back to the station they're then scored against the target ratings to see if the level has been passed.

Needless to say, this mode is pretty shallow with only 5 challenges, as well as being restrictive in terms of what can be built, and not a lot of fun. After quite a few tries, I wasn't able to get past the second challenge and so decided to give "Management Mode" a go. After a fairly long and boring tutorial (there's one for Challenge mode, but it's shorter), players are allowed to place attractions and custom rollercoasters in a style vaguely resembling RCT3, but there's no real depth to anything as the burger stands, restrooms, arcades and other attractions cannot be interacted with by guests.

Even guests themselves can't be viewed from the overhead mode and require players to change to "Free Walk" view to be seen. It's not worth the effort though as in this mode, despite being able to walk around the park as you please, everything is a low resolution 2D picture. Attractions, scenery, facilities and guests alike are blurred, immobile and generally unimpressive. There's some element of being able to earn money for guests entering your park in Management Mode, but it's really not worth it when you can't see, hear or get feedback from them.

The only thing the game does seem to have going for it is the ability to ride the rollercoasters you've created, just like in RCT3. It's just a shame that the camera is far shakier and the action far less exciting. Graphically, nearly everything else is a low resolution 2D image and even the few things that aren't could have been rendered on the original Playstation. The music featured in the game is annoying and repetitive.

Overall Rollercoaster World can hardly even be called a Rollercoaster Tycoon clone, due to the gap in quality. Neither Challenge Mode nor Management Mode has any hint of excitement, and the "Quickride" Modes where players can see the sort of coasters they can make almost seems to be taunting me with the type of creations it claims are possible. Yet again a Simple Series game fails miserably at something which should have been easy to emulate.

Rating: 30/100
Grade: E