A&B Computing


Star Wars
By Domark
BBC/Electron

 
Published in A&B Computing 5.03

This was quite a hard choice this month - your correspondent was torn for days between the delights of this accurate arcade conversion (admittedly of a rather ancient arcade classic first seen some four years ago) and the enjoyable Superior release Bonecruncher.

In the end a class conversion won, rather than an imaginative re-working of Repton but it was a close thing.

The difference, I suppose, between companies like Superior or Tynesoft who are committed to a large volume of Beeb releases and those, like Domark, who see Beeb owners as a worthy part of an overall strategy whose main strength is the quality of each Beeb release.

Star Wars

Enough waffle - what about the game? Based, it says here, on some minor science fiction movie or another and coded by Vektor Grafix, it is very close indeed to the Atari coin-op; except slower, of course.

Fans of vector graphics and minimal colouring will have a field day but, rather like Elite, those elements are not essential - what matters is the gameplay and that is full of adrenalin pumping excitement (Reviewer's Cliche No: 23 - collect the set).

Assuming you've seen either the film or the coin-op, the game is easy to explain. Three different levels of attack (yes, I know it's not much but don't worry about it) offer you the chance to sharpen various arcade reflexes. Firstly, you must survive waves of TIE fighters which attack your lonely little X-Wing as you try to fight through to the Death Star. Once there, you close in on the ground-based space towers and a steady barrage of enemy fire before reaching your final objective - the trench.

Star Wars

Oh no, not the trench! Not to worry - you only need split second control and timing to avoid the barriers and missile emplacements before destroying the Death Star with one perfectly placed shot.

This was never a particularly detailed arcade classic but classic it undoubtedly was. Forget the film (unless you're about eight foot tall and very, very hairy) and enjoy the combination of manoeuvering and shooting skills required. Good arcade conversions not written by Peter Johnson are rare beasts on the Beeb - this is one of them. Capture it before it is too late.

And may the Force be with you. Or something; you may need it for the projected 1988 releases of The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi.

Dave Reeder

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