You know, this is one of those classic arcade games that just exudes charm.
It was released for the Commodore Amiga in 1988 by Psygnosis and was developed by good old DMA design (who went on to create Blood Money).
For me it is one of the good 'early' horizontal scrolling shmups for the Amiga that was playable, good to look at with great sound effects and a pumping soundtrack. Read on if you fancy a spot of danger, danger, danger...
The planet Draconia must be destroyed! Infiltrate this artificially created planet and blow it and every alien slimeball there away. So there is the games 'plot' - shoot first, don't even bother asking questions.
Let's be honest here, this game took 'inspiration' from the famous arcade games such as R-Type, Nemesis and Salamander - but it proved that coin-op gaming could be reproduced in your own home.
With six levels to play through the game offered a decent challenge. The graphics were nicely drawn and scrolled by smoothly enough. In true classic arcade gaming tradition you were able to power up your craft by destroying waves of nasties which would leave a token for you to collect.
You could shoot the token to change the powerup type from Guns to Lazers to Outriders and more. A nice voice over informed you of what you had just collected. I can still hear 'Outrider' in my head all these years later...
So, the weapons powerups was pure R-Type, and in more arcade game necessities there was always an end of level boss to deal with. Each boss was tough to kill and always had a weak spot for you to aim for.
Whilst there are better soundtracks to Amiga games there is something just bloody good about this one. The tune is almost jolly, but keeps the action going and really suits the game perfectly.
The spot FX are decent enough too with nice shooting sounds and explosions, but the voice overs and the end of level 'Danger, Danger....' really were superb back in the day. Eerie and 'menacing'.
What more can I say? It's six levels of pure blasting mayhem from the golden era of scrolling shooters. I loved it then and still like it now.
If you are a good arcade gamer then this one will be relatively easy for you to complete, but it is playable, easy on the eyes and ears. It also paved the way for the likes of Team 17's Project X and is a true classic game from the late eighties.
We recommend getting hold of the real Amiga hardware - but if not then download an Amiga emulator and download Menace. Alternatively you could try and play it online.
Please see our other Amiga retro game reviews - all links are listed in alphabetical order. Cheers guys
GENRE: Arcade game
RELEASE DATE: 1988
RELEASED BY: Psygnosis (On their Pysclapse label)
DEVELOPER(S): Dave Jones, Tony Smith, Dave Whittaker
PRICE: £24.95 - UK
Classic Arcade Gaming:
Classic Games, Arcade Games and Amiga Games
2 comments:
I played this a little while ago for my Amiga Shmups feature. I've always heard good things about it but I was a little disappointed to be honest. Nice write-up though :)
I have really good memories of this one, dreaming that one day I'd reach the 'Tropics of Mace'. The game seems so much easier now than when I was 5!
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