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                     Digital Games Review Digest, Number 15

                           Tuesday, November 6th 1990

Today's Topics:

Genesis:                         Ghostbusters
                                    Whip Rush
                                      ESWAT

NES:                         Destiny of an Emperor

PC:                           Harpoon (2 reviews)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Milton W. Kuo)
Subject: Genesis: Ghostbusters

Game Type : Action

     In  Ghostbusters, you  assume  the  role  of  one of the three "real
Ghostbusters" and attempt to rid the city of a sudden plague of ghosts.
While ridding the city of the various ghosts, the Ghostbusters uncover a
stone tablet which reveals a more sinister reason behind all of this
paranormal activity which leads to the final confrontation in this game.

     When you start out the game, you get to choose which of the Ghost-
busters you wish to play.  Each has his own strengths and weakness (some
have better armor while others have  greater speed).  When a building has
been successfully cleared out, you receive money with which you can  buy
extra weapons, shields, food to restore health, etc.

     From beginning to end, this game has got some  really nice graphics.
The character you play has a head which is pretty good facsimile of one
of the Ghostbusters on a little body.  Kind of goofy looking, but fitting
for this kind of game.  Each of the ghosts you must capture are highly
detailed and each requires a different technique to defeat it.  After
defeating a ghost, you must capture the ectoplasmic essence into one of
the "ghost jars" (for lack of a better word).  After clearing each level,
a a graphic screen of a newspaper article describing your latest triumph
appears.

     The background music on Ghostbusters is great.   From the original
Ray Parker Jr. theme to some that the Sega development team wrote them-
selves, each song fits the mood of the game and doesn't get annoying if
you stay on a level too long.  Likewise, the sounds made by each of your
weapons is unique and monster noises are neat as well.

     Gameplay and play value also are excellent on Ghostbusters.  This
game combines the right amount of challenge to make this game fun and yet
keep it from being too easy.  Each of the boss ghosts at the end of each
job has a different attack method and each requires a different approach
to defeating it.  Control of the character is very clean - no sluggish-
ness whatsoever with movement.

     Excellent graphics, sound, and gameplay make this cartridge one of
the best new games currently available for the Genesis.

     Graphics  : 8
     Sound     : 8
     Gameplay  : 8
     "Funness" : 8

     Overall   : 8

  Ghostbusters, for the Sega Genesis, from Sega Enterprises

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Milton W. Kuo)
Subject: Genesis: Whip Rush

Game Type : Shooter

     Whip Rush is a side scrolling shooter in the vein of Thunder Force
III with a twist - some levels scroll in every direction.  Whip Rush
consists of seven levels each of which ends with a confrontation with a big
boss. The basic storyline of Whip Rush is that the Earth gets attacked
by aliens and you must singlehandedly fly a ship and complete all of the
levels to have the final confrontation with the alien leader.  Upon
defeating the final boss, the galaxy is saved and the game is over.

     One of the first things one will notice when playing Whip Rush are
the sharp, vivid graphics.  The graphics on Whip Rush are among the best
on any Genesis game - enemy ships are well detailed as are the bosses.
However, while Whip Rush's graphics are comparable, if not even better,
than Thunder Force III's, Whip Rush falls flat on other aspects of game
play which makes this game a very distant second place to Thunder Force
III (although it's really tough to be Thunder Force III).

     One sore point with me about this game is the lack of interesting
power up weapons.  In fact there are only four different weapons - laser,
missile, fireball, and option (helper).  By picking up additional power
ps, the laser, missile, and fireball weapons can be made more powerful -
up to a limit of three times.  The game allows you to have two options.
Whip Rush allows for an interesting use for the options in that in
addition to increasing the firepower of the ship, by pressing a control
pad button, the options can be made to yo-yo back and forth to destroy
enemies.  The other weapons, however, offer nothing new in terms of
outstanding graphics or features.

     Sound on Whip Rush is fairly good.  The background music on some of
the levels is really good while on others is mediocre.  Sounds other than
the background music are not annoying but nothing to write home about
either.  Whip Rush is the first shooter I've played so far where there
exists a level where scrolling occurs in every direction.  While this
makes the game more challenging, it can also make the game frustrating
if you die somewhere and lose your weapons.

     The gameplay on Whip Rush is okay - everything moves smoothly and it
is very easy to control your ship.  However, after playing Thunder Force
III, I just didn't find this game to be very fun.  For those looking for
a good shooting game, it would be better to wait for Thunder Force III if
you're on a limited budget.  If you have the money, this cartridge may be
worth getting just to see the graphics - they're among the best I've seen
on any Genesis game.

     Graphics  : 8
     Sound     : 7
     Gameplay  : 7
     "Funness" : 5     (get Thunder Force III instead)

     Overall   : 7

  Whip Rush for the Sega Genesis, from Innovation/Sega

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Milton W. Kuo)
Subject: Genesis: ESWAT

Game Type : Action

     ESWAT is a game where you play the part of a policeman of the future.
The goal of the game is to stop crime in the cities - there is yet another
goal but it is a surprise of the game.  Surprisingly, from the literature
I have read (magazine previews), this game does not have six levels like
what many publications claimed (can't remember which ones, if any at all).
In fact, the MegaDrive manual, which I may have misread, mentions only six
levels when in fact, there are eight.  The extra levels exist to reveal
the secret plot of the storyline.

     The first two levels of the game are training missions where the
policeman you control does not were the battle armor.  These missions are
remarkable in the sense that they are incredibly tedious.  However, starting
with level three where you get to wear the special battle suit, gameplay
and graphics get much better.  All eight levels end with a confrontation
with one of the games "big bosses."  The bosses are nothing spectacular
until the fourth level.

     Those who do not play this game very much may be disappointed by the
game at first sight.  This is because the games best graphics and most
exciting game play doesn't occur until the fourth level's boss.  From
this point on, the game gets fairly intense.  The levels become more
complex and the bosses are bigger better defined graphically.

     Sound on this game is for the most part average for a Genesis game.
Some notable exceptions are the digitized voices at the end of each level
stating completion of a mission - nice touch.  However, the soundtrack to
ESWAT is limited - the songs are short and there aren't very many
different songs and needless to say, the songs get repetitive.  Other
sounds in the game are very well done - especially the sounds your guns
make.

     Gameplay is what saves this game in the end though.  While the game
play on the first two levels is boring beyond belief (too easy), this is
quickly remedied with the latter six levels.  The remaining six levels are
really challenging and as the game progresses, the game requires you to
master all forms of movement - walking and stopping precisely, flying, and
jumping.  Further, each of the bosses has a unique trick and overcoming
these bosses are what make this game fun in the end.

     Although different from the arcade version (which I never played so I
can't make a comparison), this  game is  pretty fun  once you get past the
first three levels.

     Graphics  : 6
     Sound     : 6
     Gameplay  : 7
     "Funness" : 7

     Overall   : 7

  ESWAT for the Sega Genesis, from Sega Enterprises

------------------------------

From: David Hawk <[e-mail]>
Subject: NES: Destiny of an Emperor

An RPG with the story from Chinese History about 18 centuries ago.
I bought this game with the expectation that it will be a simulation
game. However, it turned out to be an RPG, which happens to be my
favourite type of game. I was hooked onto the game for the next two
days, trying to figure out the twists and plots of the game. It
would be a great advantage to players if they knew Chinese history
because the game consists of stories and facts from a famous Chinese
history book.

'Destiny of an Emperor' is a story of 3 warriors from Han Dynasty
fighting the Yellow Scarves, the notorious rebels group. At first,
it seems like an ordinary job for ordinary warriors, but later
when Tao Qian, the Emperor at that time, fell sick, Tao Qian
appointed Liu Bei, one of the 3 warriors, to be his successor. Liu
Bei left the party and his son, Liu Feng, replaced him. They fought
Zhang Jao, the leader of the Yellow Scarves and the founder of the
Taiping Sect. As it turned out, there were plots of overthrowing
the Emperor. The rest of the story is still long and you will have
to play the game to find out.

The main characters :-
   Liu Bei   - a descendant of the old Han Dynasty
   Guan Yu   - a warrior, very good with sword
   Zhang Fei - a warrior with a skill matchin that of Lu Bu
   Zhang Jao - the leader of the Yellow Scarves and the founder of
              the Taiping Sect
   Dong Zhuo - Luo Yang's ruler who defected
   Lu Bu     - the greatest warrior in the history of China, destined
              to be a traitor because of his great strength.
   Yuan Shao &
   Yuan Shu  - the two brothers who pronounced themselves Emperor
   Zhao Yun  - a warrior famous for single-handedly breaking the
              defense of the Cao Army
   Zu Ge Liang - the greatest strategist in China
   Si Ma Yi  - a warlord famous for his Thunder spell

       Graphics     8
       Playability  10
       Story        10
       Sound        8
       Overall      9

 Destiny of an Emperor, for the Nintendo Entertainment System
       from Capcom Games.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Dave Gillett)
Subject: PC: Harpoon

Harpoon v1.1, Battleset 2:  North Atlantic Convoy (not copy protected)

Hardware Configuration
     Intel 302: 80386 at 25 MHz, w/ 4 MB RAM
                ATI VGA Wonder in 16-bit mode, w/mouse
                NEC MultiSync 3D
                2xST-251 hard drives
                MS-DOS 4.01, QEMM 5.1, Mace Gold (disk cache software)

     Required:  550-580 KB program memory
                1.6 MB disk space (600 KB minimum for basic game on CGA)

Playfield

     The main screen display is divided into five areas, with a menu bar
across the top.  The bottom half of the display is divided into a
zoomable unit display map and an information box.  The top half is
mostly occupied by a zoomable group display map (coarser detail than the
unit display, but also has a cursor keypad (for use with the mouse;
these functions are also available from the keyboard) and a small
battleset map showing the current areas of the group and unit maps.

     These areas are tiled, and of fixed size.  The group map is thus
much wider than it is high.  The group and unit maps can be moved around
on the battleset map using the keypad or mouse.  The group map can also
be easily moved by clicking on the battleset map, but this does not work
with the unit map, which more desoerately needs this feature.

     Each map shows land, water, all friendly groups/units, and detected
enemy groups/units.  In addition, the maps may show range circles for
sensors and weapons (colour coded, but selectable so that users need not
be overwhelmed) and a latitude/longitude grid.

     The maps are generally well done, with one exception.  Many of the
scenarios in Battleset 2 include at base in eastern Canada, at St.
John.  Yet none of them include the far more important naval port at
Halifax, or the far more important (and more strategically and usefully
placed!)  airfield at St.  John's.  It's possible that the game intends
to represent the latter; plenty of Canadians confuse St.  John (in New
Brunswick) with St.  John's (in Newfoundland) and it wouldn't surprise
me if the battleset is simply in error.  Unfortunately, this changes the
character of many scenarios significantly, since many aircraft without
the endurance to fly between Iceland and St.  John can easily make the
trip via St.  John's.


Units and Groups

     Units consist of single ships or submarines, or groups of identical
(not only type, but mission loadout and fuel) aircraft.  Groups consist
of bases and collections of units of various kinds.

     The game database includes most modern and near-future American,
Soviet, British and Norwegian naval equipment.  Battleset 2 adds
American carriers and carrier-based aircraft, and both French and
Spanish units.  Not all units, however, are fully supported yet:  for
instance, although the A-6 and F-14 aircraft added in Battleset 2 can be
loaded as tankers, there is no way for them to refuel other aircraft.

     Groups can include units of various kinds.  Groups which include a
carrier are designated carrier groups; groups that include any surface
units are designated surface groups.  Air and submarine units may be
attached to these groups, or may form their own separate air, submarine,
and helicopter groups.

     A formation editor gives the player control of the arrangement of
units within groups.  (Many game details are reminiscent of SPI's 'Task
Force' board wargame -- the formation editor most of all.)  Units may be
allocated to a main body, or to sectors of an anti-air ring,
anti-submarine ring, and picket ring.  The radii of the various rings
are user-adjustible.  The result is that a group, represented as a point
location on the group map, may in fact spread out over a considerable
area.

     Patrolling aircraft may also be placed on the formation display.
This is a good idea for ship-based aircraft, so that they move with the
surface group, but less useful for land-based aircraft since they do not
show up on the group map.  (Air patrols may also be launched as separate
groups.)

     Air units have an enduarnce which depends on their loadout and
determines their range.  This is probably the source of most of the
game's flaws.  There's an option to show a radius around air groups to
show how far they can go before reaching "bingo" fuel (10% more than
needed to return to base), but this is not calculated correctly.  (If it
were, it would not be a circle centred on the aircraft, and it would
change immediately according to the throttle setting.)  Once an air
group has past this point, there is no way to find out its fuel status.
(Neither is there a way to check its gun ammunition supply.)

     There are other problems with air unit endurance.  The game doesn't
seem to include the range of standoff weapons in determining whether an
air unit can reach to attack a selected target.  An air unit which
reaches "bingo" fuel while in the process of landing can create phantom
units of 0 aircraft -- which may in turn make real air units no longer
accesible.  Finally, if you group landbased air units in with a surface
group (say, a couple of P-3s escorting a convoy), the endurance circle
disappears because surface groups aren't supposed to need one, and you
need to separate the air unit into its own group to find out its status.

Combat

     Most combat in Harpoon proceeds as follows:  Group A is instructed
to attack group B.  If group B is not yet in range of group A's weapons,
an interception course is computed, and continuously updated as B alters
course or speed.  (As with one of the fuel bugs cited above, it's not
clear that weapon range is included in course computations, so the
results are sometimes sub-optimal.)  When A is within range, the main
screen display is replaced by one which allows allocation of weapons
from individual launch units in A to individual target units in B.

     The program will already have done an allocation, but there are
several reasons why the player may wish to change it.  First, his plan
may call for a different target priority than the program's default.
Second, the program may not take into account factors like other missile
waves already en route to the same target group.  And third, while the
program will usually allocate enough missiles to destroy the target, it
rarely makes enough allowance for attrition and defensive fire.

     There's also a problem with the interception course approach.
Suppose you have two groups of interceptors vectored against an incoming
airstrike.  The first group comes within range and launches missiles,
and the intruders turn away to try to dodge the missiles.  Often, the
second wave of interceptors will be unable to find an interception
course for this evasive maneuvre, and only quick player action will
prevent them from aborting the intercept -- when in fact the enemy group
will revert to its original course in a few seconds.

Documentation

     The small, glossy manual describes what every key and menu choice
does, and includes a small glossary.  A few accompanying documents try
to convey some of the underlying principles of modern naval warfare, but
a few of the best tactical suggestions are hidden in the textual
descriptions in the database.  A few key game concepts, like patrols and
interceptions, don't seem to be covered at all.

Scenarios

     Each battleset (Battleset 1 is included with the game) consists of
about a dozen scenarios, of gradually increasing size and challenge.
Each scenario can be played from either side.  Advantages in position or
forces are balanced by individual victory conditions.  There is no
provision for two- or multi- player play; the computer always plays the
opposing side.

     Virtually every scenario can be won from either side by taking a
more agressive approach than the canned opponent.  (Destruction of bases
is a particularly effective way to negate enemy air power, and is rarely
anticipated.)  But that won't usually be true on your first two or three
tries, and many scenarios can take several days to play.  (Scenarios
include a few random elements in initial positioning or force
selections, too, so few scenarios have a trivial winning strategy.)

     Additional options allow the simulation to include weather, system
breakdowns, and the possibility of nuclear weapons.  There's an even an
option to randomly start each unit with a partial load of ammunition,
instead of assuming that everything is fully loaded.  You won't want to
start with these to deal with, but extra realism can breathe life into
a scenario that you think has gotten stale.

     Graphics           9   (not visually stunning, but does all it needs to)
     Realism            8   (a few bugs and flaws)
     Documentation      3   (pretty skimpy, even for a game)
     Speed              3   (slooow on a 25 MHz 386; your mileage may vary)
     User Interface     6   (overlapping/resizable windows would be nice)
     Playability        8   (many months of play; many to go)

     Overall            8   (I wish I had written it)

  Harpoon, for the IBM PC, from Three-Sixty Pacific, Inc.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Shane D. Deichman)
Subject: PC: Harpoon

Harpoon, from Three-Sixty Pacific, Inc., is a contemporary naval
wargame for the IBM.  Harpoon requires an IBM PC, PC/XT, PC/AT or
compatible system, and will also run on the Tandy 1000 series.
Also, DOS 2.0 or later is necessary, as is 640k RAM with 550k free.
Harpoon will NOT run from 360k floppy drives, and a hard disk and
mouse are highly recommended.

The IBM version of Harpoon is perhaps one of the best (if not THE best)
Naval Warfare simulators around.  It is very up to date on the various
systems and platforms utilized by the navies of the world.  Fans of Tom
Clancy may recall that his initial inspiration for "The Hunt for Red
October" came from the board game version of Harpoon by Larry Bond. The
biggest complaint I've heard of the board game is the time involved in
setting up an engagement.  The computer version resolves that dilemma.

More than just a "game," it is also a very in-depth data base on the
capabilities of various ships, subs, and aircraft seen in a modern
combat theatre.

Play can either be a small engagement between individual surface craft
or a broad campaign pitting carrier battle groups against one another.
You can play either NATO or the USSR (all engagements are between forces
of the two superpowers; if you want a political statement of "glasnost"
this isn't the place to find it).

You actually perform the functions of the battle group commander, issuing
orders for course, speed, what radar/sonar to activate, what systems to
fire, etc.  The realism of ephemeral contacts (especially in ASW -- anti-
submarine warfare) and tracking is readily apparent.  You also see the
grim effectiveness of some of today's most advanced weapons (including
tactical nuclear devices; you do have the option of restricting nuclear
releases in the game).

Various other aspects (such as sea state and visibility) are taken into
consideration, making a very real exercise in naval confrontations.

Harpoon is an excellent product, and I would highly recommend it to anyone
interested in modern naval warfare.  Or, if you're just a trivia buff,
I give the same recommendation -- the money you pay for the game is about
half what you'd pay -just to get the database alone (_Jane's Fighting
Ships of the World_ is around $125 these days).

Harpoon also provides a wide range of visual aids to complement the
extensive database.  While it will run on a CGA monitor, it is truly
a spectacle on an EGA system.  The graphics provided include a map of
the theatre of battle (default is the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap area,
with coverage of the North Sea to the Barents Sea given; a separate
scenario is available for North Atlantic engagements), a smaller area
of operations view which focuses on the battle group, plus various
information screens.  Also, when engaging other platforms, a close-up
graphic of the ships involved is given, with accompanying launch sounds
and a moving missile.

       Graphics:          8
       Sound:             7
       Documentation:     9
       Fun-level:         7

       Overall:           8

So, if you're looking for a very in-depth naval wargame, Harpoon
is for you.  However, if you want arcade-like action, I would suggest
you try something else -- Harpoon is a thinking persons' game, and
requires a certain degree of patience and forethought.


-------------------------------------

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End of Digital Games Review Digest
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