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Index B |
There's plenty to keep you busy, and several different voices to warn of approaching planes, targets, flak, etc. How many people are in this plane anyway? Shooting down enemy aircraft is fun. They scale in nicely from the distance, and it's quite satisfying to see them go down in flames.
The bomb bay provides a cool view of the ground below; revealing land, water, factories, and aircraft carriers. A handy "target preview" button lets you know exactly what to look for. You can return to your base in England for repairs at any time, but it's hard to tell if you've sustained much damage until you hear "Mayday! Mayday!". There are 6 skill levels in this innovative, well-designed game. © Copyright 2000 The Video Game Critic.
After recently revisiting Space Battle I was a little worried about this. Did I waste my money? How could they improve upon a game that was already so good? Heck - the ships already look like Cylons to begin with! My worries quickly subsided when I turned on Battlestar Galactica Space Battle for the first time. The graphics have been given a noticeable overhaul. Your base looks like the Galactica mothership and there's more color and information on the screen. There's even some orchestrated music.
The new controller overlays look slick and it's easy to direct your squadrons around the screen. But it's the first-person battle sequences that benefit the most. The controls are a lot faster and more responsive! Enemy shots come at you quickly and linger on the screen, ratcheting up the difficulty. I love how the border reflects the color of the squadron you're currently using.
The voice effects are terrific and really help immerse you in the action. The voices even sound different. "Nice shot!" is clearly a human cheering you on, while "the base is under attack" is announced by a robot. The action is intense, and when you're down to your last ship it's white-knuckle time! Battlestar Galactica elevates Space Battle to a level I didn't think before possible. It will be hard to go back. © Copyright 2020 The Video Game Critic.
As alien saucers zig-zag in from the distance they deploy slow-moving missiles before retreating back into the horizon. You have two weapons. Your normal shots have limited range but I like how you can hold in the button to fire continuously. You also have a limited number of long-range missiles and the only obvious use for them is against the mothership that warbles across the top of the screen after each round a la Space Invaders (Atari 2600, 1980). She's really not very hard to hit.
Advanced stages also incorporate asteroids and invincible alien ships you need to dodge. As the hazards increase the controls begin to feel more slippery but it's always satisfying to "thread the needle". Beamrider is sharp-looking and easy to play, but you'll forget about it the minute you shut it off. © Copyright 2019 The Video Game Critic.
It sounds familiar but Beauty and the Beast has its own distinctive look and feel. It's one of the fastest Intellivision games I've played and you can knock out levels quickly if you keep moving. Your character only slows down to jump, but that's rarely even necessary. Hearts tossed by Mabel grant you temporary invincibility, allowing you to plow through obstacles for bonus points. Each time you reach Mabel a separate screen shows how far you've climbed and how many lives remain.
Racking up seven lives may have you thinking, "Man, I'm going to be playing this thing forever". Fear not, because by the third building you'll be pissing away lives left and right. Whenever you reach the very top you're treated to a cool animation of the villain falling to his death (a la King Kong). Then you start over. Beauty and the Beast could use a difficulty select, but its quality graphics and exciting gameplay make this a showcase title for the system. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.
Each fighter makes an entrance amidst a cheering crowd, and it looks cool how they climb into the ring. A full-screen, bikini-clad chick displays the round numbers, and she winks when someone whistles in the crowd. Once the action begins, you're treated to some truly entertaining (and often hilarious) animations. The basic "grapple" moves include suplexes, head-butts, pile-drivers, and body slams. The screen often shakes to emphasize the impact of each blow.
There are moves to execute while running, standing, on-the-matt, and even off-the-ropes! Running moves include devastating clotheslines and drop-kicks. Some of the more imaginative moves include the "face masher", "iron claw", and a "rainbow punch" which sends your opponent flying out of the ring! Be sure to read the instructions, because certain moves are only available in certain situations. Fighters with big ego attributes tend to showboat, giving their opponents a chance to recover.
Body Slam is a technical tour-de-force, but as with most wrestling games, the fighting becomes tiresome after a few matches. It's too easy to get tossed out of the ring, and the matches last too long. Fighters can continue to execute moves even after their health has been reduced to zero, which is bogus. There's no final rating or score - you either win or lose. The tag team option is nice, but I wish you could team up with a friend against the CPU. Even with its flaws, Body Slam is a showcase title that really pushes the system to the max. © Copyright 2009 The Video Game Critic.
Each circuit board is a maze of wires containing a few colored components, and your vocal assistant "Frank" advises you how to modify the board step-by-step. You'll need to use cutters, pliers, a soldering iron, and sometimes a fire extinguisher to get the job done. Although the gameplay is fairly methodical, it takes skill to rewire the boards quickly. As the clock ticks down, you may be forced to guess some of the digits, adding to the suspense. Some may find Bomb Squad somewhat tedious, but it's not a bad game. © Copyright 2000 The Video Game Critic.
As the ball rolls down the lane, you get a close-up of the pins, which bounce around realistically when hit! The animation of the pins falling is slow (like slow motion) but it's great fun to watch, and the realistic pin movement makes it possible to nail some tough combinations. The game's attention to detail is remarkable; you can even select your ball weight and the slickness of the lane. In addition to regular bowling, there's also a challenging "pick-up-the-spare" game thrown in. This is by far the best classic bowling game I've come across. © Copyright 2000 The Video Game Critic.
Boxing is just as uncomfortable to play as any other Intellivision game. You have a wide range of punching options, but your fighter lags behind your commands, making it hard to employ strategy or initiate combos. The disc moves your boxer around, but is extremely slow and unresponsive. I have to admit that some of the animations are pretty neat.
It's satisfying to see a well-thrown punch knock a fighter's head back, and I also like how the winner raises his hands over his head in victory. But the matches tend to drag on for far too long, turning each contest into an extended ordeal. There are six distinctive boxers to choose from (distinguished by colors) and the crowd noise effects are superb. Unfortunately, the game is two-player only, and finding two people with enough patience to master Boxing may be too much to ask. © Copyright 2007 The Video Game Critic.
There are plenty of hazards to keep an eye out for, including broken bridges you need to jump over. An audible beep and a flashing exclamation point warns you when you're approaching a gap, and you'll want to keep your finger on the trigger because the end of the road comes fast! You'll also want to guard against jumping too early, leading to a condition my friend Scott coined as "premature jumpulation".
Bump N Jump's bright graphics include a wide variety of vehicles and roadside scenery that actually changes with the seasons! The audio is sensational, with pleasant background music and satisfying "bang!" sound effects. I also like how Bump N Jump encourages you to be reckless to rack up the big points; it makes the action all the more addicting. If there's a flaw, it may be those cheap "oil slicks" which cause you to explode on contact. Nevertheless, if you're collecting games for the Intellivision, this one should be near the top of your list. © Copyright 2007 The Video Game Critic.
Burgertime has a lot more strategy than your garden-variety platform game. If you drop a food item while an enemy is walking over it, he'll "ride it down" for major bonus points. Likewise you can squash multiple enemies walking below. Pepper is used to immobilize an enemy, but use them sparingly because they are super-rare and often your only means of escape if surrounded. A good general strategy is to stay high on the screen, as it gives you more opportunities to trigger satisfying chain reactions - intentionally or not.
Navigating the platforms is a piece of cake, but the side buttons used to spray pepper could be more responsive. Another issue is how enemies can respawn in the middle of the screen, resulting in cheap deaths. One oddball feature is how the game keeps track of how many times you've turned the score over. Considering you need to reach one million points to do that once, it seems a bit gratuitous. But maybe the fact that the developers were willing to go the extra mile is part of why Burgertime is so satisfying. © Copyright 2014 The Video Game Critic.
On the surface Buzz Bombers looks like an attempt to crack the arcade market. While the Intellivision had an impressive library of sophisticated sports, RPG, and strategy games, it lagged in the pick-up-and-play department. This game was clearly modeled after Centipede (Atari 2600, 1982). Instead of centipedes you're shooting bees, and instead of them leaving mushrooms in their wake, it's honeycombs.
The shooting action is wholly unsatisfying. You move a can of bug spray slowly across the bottom of the screen. It can't be aimed with much precision, so hitting the fast-moving white killer bees is largely a matter of luck. At least the yellow bees often stop and flutter in place long enough for you to shoot them. You can hold in the button for continuous fire, but that causes the musical loop to constantly restart, which is headache-inducing.
Buzz Bombers tries to add its own twist by rewarding you for not shooting things. Apparently you get more points for leaving the honeycombs on the screen, allowing the hummingbird to take them instead. So now you're spending all your energy avoiding stuff, all the while getting hemmed in as bees that reach the bottom plant "flowers" around you.
Adding insult to injury, that stupid hummingbird doesn't seem the least bit interested in the honeycombs you've left laying around. No, this bird is more interested in getting in your way and blocking your shots. It makes a high-pitched squeal when you hit it, and after too many shots turns it green. No bueno!
After every few rounds there's a nifty animation like a bear getting chased by bees. But it's little reward for gameplay I can't reconcile in my brain. Maybe if it explicitly tallied up the bonuses at the end of each round, I might be able to appreciate what it was trying to do. But in my experience, Buzz Bombers is not so much about killing the bees as it is killing the fun. © Copyright 2024 The Video Game Critic.
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Screen shots courtesy of Video Game Museum