Commodore User


Moon Buggy

Categories: Review: Software
Publisher: Anirog
Machine: Commodore 64

 
Published in Commodore User #12

Moon Buggy

This is the second version of the genre I have seen to date. In Troopa Truck there is a progression of hazards; in this opus they arrive in a random fashion. You are never free from the UFO's aerial bombardment as you guide you buddy over the rugged lunar surface: tanks may trundle towards you at any time loosing off shells as they approach, and mine layers have evidently been active. Boulders need smashing or jumping over, as do the various craters.

It's very much a matter of holding on by the seat of your pants, reflying on reflex reactions - no time for cognition, no room for error. Get your priorities right, co-ordinate evasive leaping with loosing off salvos from the two guns.

The foreground scrolls faster than the background, aiding the impression of moving in a jagged mountainous terrain. Score enough points and the colour scheme changes from two shades of green to yellow and purple. The sound effects are entirely commensurate with the graphical representations, the most frequent noise initially being that of your buggy ditching. Neat and effective visual displays, as you'd expect from Anirog, but the game doesn't pander to your ego; success has to be earned. Bet there are plenty of cover versions to come.

All Anirog C64 games now feature "Turbo" quick load: can't be bad.