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STARFIRE
/ FIRE ONE
CBS/Exidy,
£8.95 cass, £11.95 disk, joystick only
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O Tired, uninteresting
battles in space and at sea |
These
two games have been resurrected from the far distant
mists of time and thrown together in a less than cheap
package. Both originated in the very early days of the
video arcade and will bring back nostalgic memories
to many ageing zappers. Unfortunately they may not bring
back the excitement.
The
stars streak towards you as an enemy ship
flickers across your view.
Starfire
is a 3D shoot-em-up Star Wars style, where evil
Exidy fighters try to protect their freighters from
your murderous fire.
The
display is of the forward view from your cockpit and
you are also given a radar scan of the surrounding space,
your laser temperature, and fuel status. On screen from
time to time will appear your tracking computer, which
locks onto the enemy targets for a while if you can
centre them.
The
only other hazards are asteroids which can crash into
you. The ships themselves come in three different colours:
blue rookies, green senior pilots, and red enemy commanders.
These are worth 10, 20 and 40 points respectively, with
any freighter worth 50 points.
On
each level you have to score enough points to gain a
fuel bonus to allow you to carry on until the final
sixteenth level. This is the main pressure, since shooting
ships isn't too hard and a last minute panic to get
the points is often called for.
Fire
One takes you out of space and under the water,
where your submarine has to protect its fleet from enemy
sub and ships. You do this in a series of battles that
take place within a time limit and are decided by who
can sink the opposite sub or the entire fleet.
You
are equipped with nine torpedo tubes and unlimited torpedoes.
These can destroy both enemy and friendly ships so you
have to aim carefully.
The
screen shows a sonar scan of the whole playing area,
and a periscope's view of the local area when surfaced.
Indicators also show your torpedoes ready to fire, time
left, damage to both subs, direction and speed, and
your tracking computer.
There
are eight types of ship and, unless you score a direct
hit in their dead centre, they will take several hits
to destroy. Each hit and sinking will score points,
with the sub being by far the most valuable.
BW
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