Banshee


Title		Banshee
Publisher       Core design
Game Type	Shoot-em-up
Players		1 or 2
Compatibility	AGA
HD Installable  Yes
Submission	Chris Vella cvella@specdata.com Profiled Reviewer

Review
   The first really good AGA specific shoot'em up. This is a great example
of how a shoot'em up should be done. Everything about this game is
wonderful.

   You control a plane and must shoot all enemy people and vehicles. You
are attacked by airbourne and ground based enemies. You start off with a
basic gun but can power up or change weapons by collecting icons that are
left by fallen enemies. You also have a limited number of a special
maneuvers that causes your plane to do a flying loop, helping you avoid
enemies. Some enemies need to be shot more than once to be killed and
shooting an enemy vehicle can kill a bunch of soldiers at the same time.
Halfway through and at the end of levels you will face a tough guardian
that will have to be shot numerous times to be killed. Enemies are very
numerous and some are more dangerous than others.

   The gameplay is excellent with many nice touches. For instance, when
you shoot an enemy truck, any soldiers who had the misfortune of being on
that truck will scream in agony because their heads will catch on fire.
They will then run around screaming until they burn to death. I know this
sounds pretty sick but it is actually funny to see it happen. On the snow
levels you are attacked by enemies on skidoos and when you shoot them they
fall off leaving a big red blood stain in the snow. The game is definetly
very violent but in a cartoony sort of way, but it still may offend some
people. Another nice touch is that some of the enemies will be hiding in
buildings or behind barrels and all of a sudden jump out and start
shooting at you. It makes you really want to blow the crap out of them
which you will really enjoy doing.

   The graphics and sounds are excellent. They are the best that I have
seen on an Amiga shooting game. They are very detailed and everything
moves very smoothly. Joystick response and collision detection are both
excellent. The size of the levels is also just about perfect. Each level
scrolls continuously until you face the guardians and then the next levels
will load. Each level has different enemies that will match the world that
you are in. For instance, The water world has boats and submarines
attacking you, The winter world has enemies attacking you while on skidoos
or on skiis. This gives the game added fun because it adds variety to the
game. As an added bonus you can have 2 players playing at the same time on
the screen competing against or working with one another.

   In conclusion, this game is an absolute MUST for shoot'em fans. It has
excellent graphics and sounds and also has the playability to match. This
is a rare case of where the great graphics actually make this game better
than if it had only basic graphics. You get very absorbed in the game. You
get pissed off at the enemies when they shoot you and will try to inflict
as much pain to them as possible. You will laugh the first couple of times
when you see the soldiers screaming with their heads on fire. (I'm sure
I'm not the only sick person that enjoyed this). The game is very
professionally programmed and I don't see any faults in the game. Do
yourself a big favor and get this game. I guarantee everybody around you
will want to play this. A big thank you to the programmers for doing a
shoot'em up properly.





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