Nemesis
(Konami, 1987)
Reviewed by Chris Lennard

A shoot-'em-up that shares certain similarities with Salamander, you must save your planet from the evil Bacterions by piloting your spaceship at high velocity, shooting everything in its path. Wiping out groups of enemy fighters enables you to enhance your destructive capabilities by collecting the power-up icons left, which allow you to choose the type of upgrade from a menu. A visually simple looking game as befits the nature of it; your ship moves along at break-neck speed, which makes this somewhat of a challenge as enemy craft and defences frequently put you in a do or die situation. A competent conversion of a classic arcade game.

See also: Salamander.

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Based on a story from the cult comic 2000AD, this game sees you playing the heroic warlock, Nemesis. Tired of your land suffering under the tyrannical rule of the evil Torquemada, you set out on a journey to the heart of his evil empire to overthrow him once and for all. Using your trusty sword Excessus or – if there is ammunition lying around – your gun, you must destroy a set number of Torquemada's Terminators on each screen, sometimes using their dead bodies as platforms, then find the exit (which can be anywhere) before you progress to the next level, of which there are 24 in total. Despite it being mercilessly difficult, I liked this game. The graphics are good (though slightly jerky), the spooky music is absolutely brilliant, and most importantly it's very addictive – I often find myself going back for one more go.

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8

In this game you are trapped in the Netherworld. Your only exit from this hellish place is by collecting crystals that open up the next zone. Your ship moves around a four-way scrolling area, where it encounters all kinds of devious creatures. A time limit is set for each zone, but thankfully, shooting the creatures reveals power-ups that will help you. The graphics move smoothly and are colourful, and the audio is good too.

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Based on the very well known book and film of the same name, this illustrated three-part text adventure sees you in the role of Atreyu, who must save the land of Fantasia from the Nothing that is destroying it. The screen layout is quite different from most other adventures; there's a graphical display in the top section of the screen showing a small picture and the objects you are carrying, with the text occupying the rest of the screen. It certainly looks very good, but the parser is very limited indeed, you can't examine any objects, and there is almost no character interaction! The scrolling and the speed at which the text is written to the screen is frustratingly slow as well, but despite all of these problems, it's actually not that bad, albeit not particularly challenging.

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New York Warriors
(Virgin, 1990)
Reviewed by John Beckett

It's the year 2014 and an evil cult is brainwashing the people of New York, turning them into psychotic criminals. Only a brave duo remain on the path of law and order – the Warriors! And as if life wasn't bad enough being the only good guys in town, some rogue has planted a nuclear bomb at the top of the World Trade Center, and it's your job to deactivate it (which, bizarrely, you do by shooting at it!). There isn't really much to recommend this game, not forgetting the terrible events of 11th September 2001 when the World Trade Center was destroyed; it's fun for a while but the difficulty level means you won't be getting far without cheating. Also, the slowing down that occurs is pretty bad, especially in two-player mode. On the plus side, the graphics are reasonable – blocky but detailed – but it's not enough to save this game.

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The New Zealand Story
(Ocean, 1990)
Reviewed by Chris Lennard

Some evil walrus (!) has stolen a whole bunch of kiwis – those flightless birds which are one of New Zealand's national emblems. However, they missed one, and now it's payback time as this kiwi grabs a bow and arrow and heads off for revenge, rescuing his kiwi buddies in the process. You control the lone survivor, jumping and waddling around the place, leaping from platform to platform as he journeys on a quest to rescue his fellow feathered folk. Each level is split into three stages; to complete a stage you need to find a caged kiwi and rescue it. At the end of the third stage, it's time to fight a giant boss before you can progress to the next level. It's a cute-looking game that's well worth playing.

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NEXOR
(Design Design, 1986)

In the war between Andromeda and Earth, a top secret weapon named NEXOR, after the planet it was developed on, is to be deployed by Earth's forces. However, the Andromedans have infiltrated the base and killed all of its workers – except you. You have three hours to find the ten pieces of the weapon and the blueprints, and send them to Earth using the matter transference beam – but you'll need to fix it first. This is an exploration game which is viewed in an isometric perspective. The complex has many floors and rooms, each containing hazards such as bombs, mines, and Andromedan robots. There's not a lot to make this game different from all the other isometric games that exist, although it's not that bad if you're a fan of the genre.

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Nigel Mansell was the best known British Formula 1 driver of the 1980s, and this game lets you drive his famous 'red 5' Williams car in the sixteen races of the 1987 season. The emphasis is on realism here, as a wealth of data is displayed on the bottom half of the screen. A turbo booster is available to increase your speed, but don't overuse it, otherwise you'll run out of fuel – and in 1987, refuelling wasn't allowed during a race! You will also need to be careful not to over-rev the engine, otherwise the gearbox will break down. The graphics are impressive and really convey a sense of speed as you blast around each track at over 200mph. It will require a lot of practice to become World Champion, but this is definitely one of the best Formula 1 games for the CPC.

See also: Nigel Mansell's World Championship.

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Nigel Mansell finally won the Formula 1 World Championship in 1992, and this game celebrates his achievement. As always, you can race or practice on any or all of the sixteen circuits of the 1992 season. A variety of options are given to enable you to set up your car correctly for each circuit – which tyres to use, the wing angle, and the gear ratios. You'll need to watch your tyre wear as you race, otherwise you'll retire. Going out on to the track feels strange at first because the animation is very jerky indeed, but you should become used to it after a while, as despite this problem, there is a real sense of speed. The overall presentation is incredibly polished, and the graphics are absolutely beautiful, even if everything is coloured blue. This was Gremlin's last release for the CPC and nearly wasn't released at all, but thanks to the support of Amstrad Action readers, it was – and it's pretty good!

See also: Nigel Mansell's Grand Prix.

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8

This is a Tron clone where you can play against either a friend or the computer. Like all games of its kind, the aim is to stay alive for as long as possible without crashing into the walls or the trails left behind by you and your opponent. Each player has four lives and losing a round means that you lose one of them. Eventually, someone will lose all their lives first, and the other player then wins. The graphics and sound effects are minimal in the extreme, and it'll keep you occupied for about five minutes – but no more than that; it's too easy to beat the computer.

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