Abadox: The Deadly Inner War (NES review)

Developer: Natsume
Publisher: Milton Bradley
Released: 1990

Abadox: The Deadly Inner War is a shoot-em-up that was only released on the NES in North America.

+ Stage design is excellent and the narrow corridors evoke feelings of claustrophobia that lead to intense battles.

+ Mixes in both horizontally and vertically scrolling levels, with the latter being a rare case of moving down the screen.

+ Nice array of weaponry available and the game does a good job of making you feel powerful when at max armoury.

+ Music is excellent with some energetic / memorable tunes, and the SFX feature some satisfying explosions.

- Like Gradius (1985, Arcade), losing a life means having your power-ups stripped away, which usually means Game Over.

- There's an enormous amount of slowdown, with boss battles being particularly affected due to too many bullet sprites.

- Art style is rather unimaginative, as it borrows heavily from both Contra (1988, NES) and Life Force (1987, NES).

Space Bandits (Texas Instruments TI-99/4A review)

Developer: Milton Bradley
Publisher: Milton Bradley
Released: 1983

Space Bandits is a maze game that optionally supports the Speech Synthesizer module.

+ Your bullets can wrap around the sides of tunnels which makes for some interesting strategic manoeuvres.

+ Music is excellent with some dissonant harmonies, as well as melodies that evoke a sinister tone.

+ The faux 3D perspective looks terrific and creates a real depth to each playfield that still impresses.

- However, the unusual perspective can make it difficult to know exactly where each turn starts, leading to cheap deaths.

- The minimal Speech Synthesizer voice clips feel like an afterthought rather than something to enhance gameplay.

- Seven input keys are required during play, which is convoluted and perhaps a bit too complicated for most users.

- Compared to its clear inspiration in Pac-Man (1980, Arcade) it lacks any personality, and isn't as immediately intuitive.

Zero Zap (Texas Instruments TI-99/4A review)

Developer: Milton Bradley
Publisher: Milton Bradley
Released: 1979

Zero Zap is a pinball style game that was among the launch titles for the TI-99 computer.

+ Three different field layouts are available to give the game some semblance of longevity and variety.

+ Can be marginally enjoyable in two-player mode where top score bragging rights are the order of the day.

+ Allows you to create your own playing fields and the best part is that you can save them to a cassette for future loading.

- Shifting point totals for the diamond targets is completely random, valuing luck over skill-based gameplay.

- Almost zero depth to the proceedings and what's here features very little input from the player.

- Has a lot in common with Tiger Electronics LCD handhelds where apathy quickly sets in due to poor gameplay.

- Moving the cursor to line up a shot is agonisingly slow and becomes a real drag the more you play.

Sea Duel (Microvision review)

Developer: Milton Bradley

Publisher: Milton Bradley

Released: 1980

 

Sea Duel is a turn-based strategy title that shares many similarities with the classic guessing game Battleship.

 

Battling the computer or competitively against a friend, the objective is to defeat your opponent by scoring six points. To do this, you control either a Submarine (represented by a one pixel dot) or a Destroyer (represented by a three pixel line) and use its unique method of attack; for example, the Destroyer fires a nine pixel blast surrounding the player, while the Sub launches one pixel projectiles from distance. While inputting your moves you must take into account your remaining ammo and fuel and then watch the action to see how your opponent reacts. The cat-and-mouse nature of the battles is highly enjoyable and the fact that each game only lasts for a couple of minutes makes it perfectly suited to the handheld format. For such a simple concept it actually has a surprising amount of replayability; that's partly due to the fantastically addictive gameplay, but also because the two vehicles play so differently to each other that the action never gets tedious. The multiplayer option is particularly entertaining as you secretly input commands and then brag about every hit you manage to dish out! Another nice feature is that before you accept all your inputted moves you can change your mind and clear everything; this avoids any potential frustration and leaves you feeling in complete control. Overall, almost every part of the game is well designed to create a cohesive whole where everything compliments each other. There's even some satisfying explosion SFX throughout (as well as a cool 'blast' effect where the screen turns black!) and the intro even includes a short jingle with a pixel based graphic of the American flag... all of which are incredibly advanced for a Microvision game! My only minor quibble is that I wish there was an option to have unlimited (or at least a heavily increased amount of) fuel so that you could play more defensively and strategically, rather than always attacking to avoid becoming an inoperable, lame duck.

 

Sea Duel is the standout gem in the Microvision library and there's tons of fun to be had whether you're playing alone or with a friend. It makes great use of the system's strengths and manages to draw you in with its pick-up-and-play nature, awesome gameplay and interesting combat system.

 

 

 

Random trivia: The game was released under many different names including Bataille Navalle (France), Duel (Netherlands) and See-Duell (Germany).

Cosmic Hunter (Microvision review)

Developer: Milton Bradley

Publisher: Milton Bradley

Released: 1981

 

Cosmic Hunter is a seek and capture game that was only released in North America.

 

As a hunter your mission is to capture as many alien creatures as possible. To do this, you must fire your weapon when you're two spaces away from the enemy either vertically or horizontally. Care must be taken though as if you get too close the alien can move in and attack if they're one space away in any direction (including diagonals); take damage and you lose one of your five lives. The other blocks on the screen are barriers to hide behind and there's also four invisible traps that temporarily stun you if walked into. What initially impressed me is how relatively advanced the gameplay is; while most other Microvision titles are simple sports games or basic shooters this one has a more impressive scope. Many of its elements are well thought-out but the A.I. is incredibly smart and it's tough to outwit opponents unless they accidentally walk into a trap. The most challenging part of Cosmic Hunter isn't the actual gameplay though, it's getting used to the awkward control scheme; the directional buttons are very spaced out from each other and I frequently had to take my eye off the screen to see where my thumb should be placed so the game would register an input. This is a constant issue, especially when trying to make fast-paced movements, or trying to capitalise on a stunned opponent.  Similarly, the two Fire buttons are in odd positions, as they sit just above (and to the corners) of the directional inputs; again, this means you sometimes have to stop what you're doing just to shoot. In my opinion, it would have been much better if the developers used the button between the directions (i.e. the input used to start each game) as it would have greatly helped when wanting to make quick-second decisions. Unfortunately these control quirks completely ruin the game as you simply can't react the way you would with a more modern d-pad. If you're really a glutton for punishment there's also a Skill Level 2 setting with even faster enemies and eight hidden traps!

 

Cosmic Hunter is a brilliant idea with tons of potential, but the unorthodox controls tarnish any enjoyment that the game might have. It's a real shame as there's clearly a lot to like, but ultimately it's pretty unplayable and will leave you walking away in frustration before too long.

 

 

 

Random trivia: The only other Microvision game to be released in 1981 was Alien Raiders (a.k.a. Space Blitz).

Alien Raiders / Space Blitz (Microvision review)

Developer: Milton Bradley

Publisher: Milton Bradley

Released: 1981

 

Alien Raiders is a shoot-em-up that was released in Europe as either Space Blitz or just Blitz.

 

In many ways the gameplay shares similarities with Space Invaders (1978, Arcades) except it takes place on a horizontal plane rather than vertical. The objective is to use your cannon's beam to hit as many aliens as possible as they approach from right-to-left; if an invader manages to reach the left-hand column the game ends. You don't physically control the cannon as it automatically moves up and down; this means that you constantly have to strategise and decide which of the four enemies to take out next as they enter at different speeds. To shoot you press the Fire button and use the control knob to change the size of the beam; the beam must be at exactly the right length to hit the invader as firing too long or short will miss the intended target. Each time you use the beam a small quantity of fuel is used up but after every eighth alien is destroyed you gain a top-up. To start with it's difficult to be accurate due to the fact that there's no indicator to show how far your beam will travel in its current setting; twisting the control knob to change its length is mostly guesswork too and it's a fiddly and unintuitive setup. However, instead of tapping the fire button you can just hold it down which results in a constantly firing beam; this acts as a target indicator meaning it's easier to see the distance between your shot and the alien (so only minor tweaking of the control knob is then required). I found it to increase my enjoyment of the game as well as the length of my individual attempts as I was able to stay alive longer. It's addictive trying to play for a high score as you constantly need to multitask by analysing enemy positions and deciding which ones offer the highest threat, speed and location wise. There's also a Game 2 option (which increases the number of enemies on screen from four to a possible six) and a Skill Level 2 (increases game speed). The latter is extremely difficult as you need cat-like reflexes to stay alive for more than a few seconds!

 

Alien Raiders is an interesting take on Space Invaders and considering the display limitations of the handheld the developers did a good job replicating the Arcade experience. While the control scheme is a bit awkward those that take the time to master it will find a fun shooter that's ideal for high score competitions. 

 

 

 

Random trivia: The only other Microvision game to be released in 1981 was Cosmic Hunter.

Baseball (Microvision review)

Developer: Milton Bradley
Publisher: Milton Bradley
Released: 1980

Baseball is one of only two sports games on the Microvision (the other being Bowling) and it was released exclusively in North America.

It supports 1 or 2 players and the objective is to score the highest number of runs within nine innings. You never actually play defense, as offense is the only option with the computer controlling the pitchers. Once the ball is thrown you simply swing the bat by moving the controller knob from the far right side to the left; the faster you do this the further the ball will travel. The CPU throws pitches down two columns on the LCD screen; the first are towards the right side of home plate and they're the easiest to hit. The other is in on the batter's hands and these are tough to make contact with as big swings will generally result in a miss. I found that it's best to make smaller controller movements for these although they still never seem to travel far which is a bit annoying. If the ball is hit close to a defender (only shown on the overlay) the play will result in an out. However, if it lands far enough away from them the game will calculate how many bases you're allowed to take. I was impressed by how accurate the outs were in terms of lining up with the overlay markings as the calls were consistent. Infield hits are also possible but usually they result in being thrown out at first. Home Runs can be achieved if you move the knob quickly enough and strike the ball at the correct moment; managing this is immensely satisfying as the display shows all team members on base rounding for home. The second skill level introduces the possibility of double plays (i.e. two outs if a runner is on base) as well as tougher pitches which consist of Curve Balls and Fast Balls. It's almost impossible to see when a Curve is being thrown though as it drifts off the plate at the very last second! However, if you have a keen eye this is the preferred mode as it relies more on skill and the CPU actually throws some balls instead of just strikes.

Baseball is a fun, albeit shallow, experience that feels more like a batting practice / Home Run Derby game than a real baseball simulation. As long as you manage your expectations beforehand there's some enjoyment to be had here and given the primitive nature of the handheld the developers did a good job of bringing the sport to life.

Random trivia: The only other Microvision game released in 1980 was Sea Duel (also known throughout Europe as either Bataille Navalle, Duel or See-Duell).