PsL Monthly 1994 June/PSL Monthly Shareware CD-ROM (June 1994) (Public Software Library).bin/reviews/ga_3a

Text File | 1994-02-23 | 54KB | 1,356 lines

GA-3a:  Large Arcade Games


Air Traffic Control Simulation
   Leung, Francis Yan Keung
   $20
   #20030/2480
gives you the job of air traffic controller. Features include support for CGA
320 x 200 x 4 colors mode, 6 levels, command to take up heading, command line
parameter to specify graphics mode and card, variable wind effects, a "Hall of
Fame" with the top 10 scores, and 4 types of emergency situations. It allows
you to change speed in demo state, and break out of (to abort) an approach.


Corncob 3-D 3.42
   Stokes, Kevin ASP
   $18
   #20030/4324
is an air combat game that puts you in the cockpit of a piston engined aircraft.
It features scrolling 3-D graphics similar to Flight Simulator. In addition to
the normal flying and shooting scenarios, you may have to land the plane to
plant bombs in enemy territory; land on an airstrip suspended at 20,000 feet, or
fly through a narrow corridor to shoot at a generator orb.

If you fly past the mission you did yesterday, you will see the burning
wreckage. It has realistic flight model based on physics of aerodynamic flight.
The plane can sideslip, high speed stall, or fall backwards. Due to the
realistic landing model, landing a heavily damaged plane can be exciting.
Mastering the flight controls may take a little time. Requires 12Mhz or faster,
VGA color monitor, and 520K memory. A hard disk and joystick are recommended.


Miramar
   Cochran, Marc
   $10
   #20030/1936
is a fully operational Jet Combat Simulator. It does not have scenery (unless
you end up at the bottom of the ocean). Instead, it is oriented towards
instrument flying and dogfighting. There is no doc file. Be sure to have
NumLock and CapsLock on before you start. Don't touch the keyboard until the
first screen full of text comes up, then enter I for Instructions. Even then,
all it tells you is what keys to use. The farthest we were able to get the
plane off the aircraft carrier was the bottom of the ocean. So we put in a
call to one of CompuServe's IBMNET Sysops, Connie Kageyama, who also tests a
lot of shareware. His reply:

"The simulator has very sensitive controls. If you're giving it too much climb
at take-off, you are probably either stalling into the ocean or doing a complete
loop into the ocean. It took me a while to figure out, but here's how to take
off. 1) Crank up the power almost to the redline. 2) Hit L. 3) As you reach the
end of the carrier, hit the climb button ONCE and watch your climb indicator.
Bring up your landing gear. As soon as the horizon tilts a bit, hit the dive
button ONCE. Once you've gotten some airspeed, you can climb at a higher rate."

"Very sensitive controls" is right. Once we got airborne, we quickly discovered
that when turning, you can only TAP the keyboard. Pressing the cursor keys
stores up keystrokes, putting you into a spin that is difficult to get out of.
You tend to hold down the key the other way, causing you to "overcorrect" into a
spin the opposite direction. This program is not going to put Falcon-AT out of
business, but for the price, it is a good piece of work.


Ant Run 1.1 [ANTRUN]
   William Soleau
   $14
   #12764  [01/94 CD]
is an arcade strategy game. The objective is to keep the ant running
through the ant hill tunnels as long as possible before it reaches a dead
end. Requires EGA/VGA and a mouse.


Ark
   DeMers, Scott
   $0
   #4661
is a version of Arkanoid with an interesting twist - the files that define
the different playing screens can be edited with a text editor, allowing
you to easily create customized playing fields. You could make a whole set
of screens for special promotions or events, for example, limited only by
your imagination.


Armada
   Hyperware
   $10
   #27606/3919 [2 disks]
is an animated game fashioned after Battle Ship. You are provided with five
assorted ships, plus an additional Cruiser/Command ship. Electronic counter-
measure jamming is available to spoil the enemy's air attacks, as well as to
jam his detection equipment.

Lots of options keep things interesting: mines, day/night battles, IR scopes,
fighter support, sound effects, and much more. If you have a SoundBlaster or
compatible card, you will hear fantastic digitized voices and battle sounds.
Requires EGA/VGA, hard disk, mouse, and 512K.


Back To The Forest 1.0 [BACKFOR]
   Philippe Mercier
   $34
   #20358/[01/94 CD]
is an arcade/adventure game about a squirrel named Skunny. With the help of
his girlfriend Rosie, Skunny must rescue his friends from the evil
toads.

Features include 256 color graphics, parallax scrolling, masked foreground
objects, fast scrolling, two characters to choose from, SoundBlaster and
AdLib support, automatic smart save, joystick/Gravis pad support, and more.
Requires 640K, a hard disk and VGA.


Desert Raid 1.0 [DESRAID]
   Philippe Mercier
   $24
   #20360 [01/94 CD]
is a shoot-em-up arcade game with Skunny the squirrel. Skunny takes to
the skies with his bi-plane to destroy the manic SadMan Insane. Features
include 256 color graphics, funny animations, smooth horizontal
scrolling, smart enemies, machine guns, smart bombs, AdLib and
SoundBlaster support, automatic smart save, joystick/Gravis pad support,
and a built in PCX screen grabber. Requires 640K, a hard disk and VG


Save Our Pizzas 1.1 [SAVEPIZA]
   Philippe Mercier
   $34
   #20368 [01/94 CD]
gives Skunny the squirrel the job of getting back the recipe of the Pizza
that has been stolen by the evil Chef of Cadiz. Skunny travels back in time
to ancient Rome to retrieve the recipe.

Features include 256 color graphics, parallex scrolling, masked foreground
objects, SoundBlaster and AdLib support, interactive springs and catapults,
timer bombs, bribes for getting through doors, secret sections full of
goodies, automatic smart save, joystick/Gravis pad support, and a built in
PCX screen grabber. Requires 640K, a hard disk and VGA.


Billy The Kid 1.0 [BILLY10]
   Alive Software
   $22
   #20359 [01/94 CD]
is a 3-D western action arcade game. You must escape from prison and
survive the New Mexico desert, buffaloes, bombs, gunmen, rattlesnakes and
other surprises. Features include joystick and SoundBlaster support, 3D
overlapping objects, and VGA horizontal, vertical, and diagonal scrolling
action. Requires VGA, 286-16+ and 530K of memory. Available on 3.5"
1.44mb MegaDisk and CD only.


Bio Menace 1.0 [BMENACE]
   Apogee Software
   $35
   #20377 [February 1994 CD]
is an action adventure game set in Metro City where Dr. Mangle's genetic
insect experiments have taken over.  This looks like a job for CIA
operative, Snake Logan. Help our hero destroy hideous creatures, like the
purple slugs, swamp monsters, and boxing dinosaurs. Enter office buildings
and apartments where these monsters have done there dirty work, leaving
death and slim in their wake.

You must search for survivors while destroying the monsters with your
M60 pulse rifle and the grenades you collect along the way. Collect keys
and power crystals to keep your strength up. This game includes sharp,
exciting graphics, plenty of sound effects, and loads of variety to keep
the action going. Requires 256-color VGA and a 386 with 1 meg of disk
space. It supports joysticks, gamepads and Sound Blaster compatible
sound cards. Available on 3.5"  1.44mb MegaDisk and CD only.


Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold 1.0 [BSTONE]
   Apogee Software
   $45
   #20407 [February 1994 CD]
is an action packed arcade/adventure game. Dr. Pyrus Goldfire has found
a way to replicate pure gold, which he's using to fund his maniacal plan
to take over the earth with bizarre creatures. Goldfire has built a
secure, futuristic, high rise where his genetic mutations are being
hatched. It's up to our hero, special operations commander Blake Stone,
to penetrate his security and stop him at all costs.

Dr. Goldfire is on the 9th floor of the building, waiting for the final
showdown with Stone. Find the pass key at each floor that will allow you
to advance to each new level. Along the way, there wil