Synapse
32K Cass./Disk
1/2 Players
(Not XL compatible)
Scrolling games are very popular
on the Atari which is not surprising when you consider the powerful
facilities of the Atari which enable games to run both fast and
smooth. Needless to say, the scrolling in SHADOW WORLD is well up
to standard. It is eight-directional but unlike almost any other
game of its kind, it features split screen scrolling over different
directions at the same time, but more of that later.
The idea of the game is to protect
the planet Jantor, a Terran Tricasmium Colony. Tricasmium is the
wonder find of the future. It powers starships and planetary defence
systems but most importantly it makes replicators possible. These
can duplicate anything from an atom to a starcruiser. With properties
like that you can bet that there are going to be a whole bunch of
nasty bug-eyed aliens who want to get their hands on it. These aliens
come in the form of Rigillians who drop 'seed ships' into the atmosphere
which in turn drop skimmer craft which scour the planet's surface
for Tricasmium nuggets. If they find one, they bring it back to
a seed ship whereupon the seed ship replicates itself and heads
for the planets surface. If it reaches the surface it mutates into
a coloniser which can only be destroyed by dropping a Tricasmium
nugget on it. You must stop all this happening by shooting the seed
ships while in the air.
Unfortunately the seed ships are
constantly producing large numbers of guardian drones which will
stop at nothing to kill you. Also making life difficult is the fact
that if five ships reach the surface the planet will blow up.
The 1 player game involves you
piloting a hornet interceptor against the Rigillians in a pretty
standard version of Defender but with eight-directional scrolling,
twenty times more aliens and a highly detailed landscape. A very
good shootout but it tends to get impossible after the seventh wave.
The 2 player game is however totally
amazing. Imagine Defender with both players playing at the same
time. The top half of the screen shows players one's view and the
bottom half shows the view of player two. Player one controls the
hornet interceptor with the other player controlling a helicopter.
Both screens scroll independently of each other in response to each
players joystick control. The effect is incredible! The two players
can work together or shoot it out with each other. Either way it's
great fun.
SHADOW WORLD is another winner
from Synapse and one of the best two player arcade style games for
the Atari.
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