1st January 1984
Whirlybird Run
Pleasant if unremarkable version of that Scramble clone, Supercobra, in which you pilot a mega-helicopter across and through mountainous terrain infested by kamikaze forces. Naturally the idea is to wreak as much havoc as is humanly possible. No, this is not a game of intellectual subtlety.
You begin your run with four ships. Each time one is lost, the game restarts automatically at the point you left it. Apart from all the ground-to-air missiles, there's the enemy's fuel depots to look out for. You have to take these out in order to maintain your own supplies, although how this magical replenishment is achieved I can't say. Flying saucers and rocketballs come as standard but the program lacks an enemy fortress as a climax. For me this rather dilutes its appeal, reducing the action to rather aimless carnage.
The graphics are crisp, if a little simplistic, but the sound is very good the the 'Whup-whup-whup' of the chopper's rotor-blades being nicely reproduced. Be advised that potential pilots will need a joystick to get airborne.
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