The PROWLER Reviews:Missile Command 3D


Game Title: Missile Command 3D
Publisher:  Atari Corporation
Developer:  Virtuality Entertainment, Ltd.
Format:	    Cartridge
System:     Atari Jaguar 64, Pro-Controller Compatible

Review By:  Larry Tipton

Missile Command 3D is yet another blast from the past, brought back to life 
for play on the Jaguar 64.  Fans of the original will not be disappointed.  Not
only do you get the original arcade classic, but you get two brand new 
versions, each with there own unique play characteristics.

Original Missile Command offers all the excitement of the original arcade hit
and then some.  You can play this version on a "Virtual Lynx", "Virtual 
Arcade Cabinet", or plain screen.  One weird but cool feature in Original MC
is that you can manipulate the game screen.  You can zoom in or out.  You 
can also tilt the screen forward, back, left and right.  Zoom out far enough 
and you can see the entire arcade cabinet or Lynx!

Missile Command 3D, formally known as Missile Command Plus, offers a 3D look to 
missiles, turbo missiles, fireball missiles and super missiles. You 
also get smartbombs and cascades.  Smartbombs will blow up all enemies 
currently on the screen.  Cascades will blow up a group of enemies. Enemies 
include missiles, bombers, asteroids, kamikazes and robots. Scoring is similar 
to that of the arcade original.

Virtual Missile Command (VMC) is a completely different kind of game, but 
at the same time feels like and old friend.  The gameplay elements are similar.
Unlike the other two versions of this game,  with VMC you can only fire
missiles from the station you occupy.  You can jump from station to station
quite easily though.  Everything rotates in real-time.  It can get a little
dizzying at first.  Again with this version, you can look up, down, left and
right.  However, this time there is NO radar to help you see.  Also, you don't
have to lead you shots. You get laser cannons ala Star Wars this time around.
As you destroy enemies you receive powerups that will upgrade your laser
cannons, cities as well as smartbombs and missiles that you can launch and
explode on command!  The Undersea stage really feels like you are under 
water, complete with bubbles and the waters surface in view up above.

VMC is composed of 3 Stages (according to the manual) , each having 3 
sublevels with end bosses.  Thus far, I have not made it passed the 2nd Stage.  
Thankfully, the difficulty is quite high. The Undersea Colony and 
Cloud City stages look quite nice.  Enemies include missiles, enemy crafts, 
mini and main bosses.

There are six different types of enemy missiles: Normal, MIRVs (These move 
in a straight line but can split into several missiles), SWIRVs (These guys can 
move out of harms way), Bombs (These fall straight down), Rovers (only 
fired by bosses) and a secret unknown type.

Powerups include laser ammo, smart bomb, repair gun, missile ammo, repair 
city, and  laser upgrade.

VMC has 3 difficulty settings Easy, Normal and Hard.  You cannot advance 
to the later stages if you play the game on easy mode.

Overall, I really like this game.  The are a few things that could have been
done to make the game even better.  The enemy missiles look more like 
spikes to me.  They should have been texture mapped.  As it is they are 
simple 5 sided elongated pyramid looking things.   The enemy missiles in the 
3D and Virtual versions don't leave long exhaust trails like they do in the 
original version.  If fact, there is no trail at all in the Underwater stage.The 
top scores screen has a high scores for Missile Command Plus!?  I guess 
there was a name change for the Missile Command 3D version at the last 
minute.  The control is pretty good, but rough on the thumb.  The game 
would be even better using a joystick, mouse or TRACKBALL!

The mini and end bosses look superb, especially the Eel, Dragon and UFO 
(Its HUGE....Say is this the ship from Cosmic Ark?)

OK, Game Rating on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest obtainable score:

Game Graphics	8   (MC Classic=7, MC 3D=8, Virtual MC=9) 
Control		8
Sound F/X	8
Music		7
Fun Factor	9
Replay Value    10
 
Overall Score	8.5  
===================================================

PROWLER The Atari Console Disk Magazine February 27, 1996

Copyright (c) 1996 All Rights Reserved Issue No. 01