NY WARRIORS

 Virgin Mastertronic has come out with their first full-scale conversion of an
arcade shoot-'em-up game for the Amiga, and they've done a superlative job.
While you're certainly not going to find anything here you haven't run into a
zillion times before in arcade gameplay, NY WARRIORS has some of the smoothest,
sharpest, and prettiest graphics yet in this kind of vertically scrolling blast.

 You play from an overhead view in each level. The vertical scroll rate is not
constant, but controlled by your character's movement. So, although things are
fast and furious from the start, you're not forced into new screens any sooner
than you want to be.

 There is a certain amount of moving around horizontally in some areas as well,
since you can explore sideways down sidestreets, across parks, along either
sides of bridges, etc. Under the right circumstances, backward movement is also
possible, so that you're not locked out of screens you've already cleared if you
want to flee from an area that's proving too difficult to handle.

 Game control is based entirely on the joystick, as it should be in a powerful
shoot-'em-up romp like this. The control is smooth and precise: You can both aim
and move in all eight cardinal directions, and can either choose continual
pressure on the stick to keep moving in a particular direction, or can inch up
with slight movements and position yourself behind walls, trees, benches,
doorways, etc., in order to take cover. You are given unlimited basic
ammunition, but any improvements in the weaponry you find have a limited number
of rounds available, after which you default back to your startup ammo. There
are a wide variety of weapons available, which are picked up as you move over
them, and each has particular strengths and weaknesses, designed to be
functional in the types of battles upcoming in the screen or two ahead.

 The premise of the game is quite simple, and reminiscent of the movie "Escape
from New York." The World Trade Center has been taken hostage by terrorists, and
it is your task to fight your way to it before it blows up. There are different
kinds of end-of-level challenges to deal with at the conclusion of each
scenario, and once you've completed a level, you're given a screen which
describes your next mission and provides a flashing wire-frame outline map, to
help you plan your next moves.

 The design of each screen is fabulous; for example, at the opening in Central
Park, the trees blow in the wind quite realistically. Your opponents are
animated in great detail, and extensive use of shading helps make the world
you're playing in feel dimensional. Objects on the screen are tangible in terms
of gameplay, as well: You have to go around obstacles like benches, trees,
sandbags, lamp-posts, holes in the pavement, etc., and can't walk on water. Neon
signs flash and sizzle; the displays above establishments in Chinatown are in
Chinese; characters walk realistically out of darkened doorways or position
themselves strategically on top of buildings or behind barriers you can't shoot
through; and sound effects and music all contribute substantially to the vivid,
gritty atmosphere of the game.

 Imagination is evident in terms of the creation of your opponents, as well.
Ramboids, Rastas, and Killer Klowns (among others) all have different approaches
to the task of eliminating you, and each sprite is large and colorful. The
overall filling of the screen is balanced perfectly between sprite size and
playfield size; the sprites are big enough to be colored and drawn with loving
care, yet small enough to allow for a screen full of room to move, as well as
action to beware of.

 To begin with, you choose one of four levels of difficulty. At the easiest
difficulty level, it's possible to keep coming back to life (though not
indefinitely), and thus pushing through the hardest areas to the end. At the
higher difficulty levels, both survival and ammo are much more limited.

 The game comes on two copy-protected disks, which you only need to fiddle with
when first loading. NY WARRIORS is part of Virgin Mastertronic's "1 Megabyte"
series, which means it simply won't play in less than 1MB of RAM. The reasons
for this are quite apparent upon booting: The music soundtrack features some
really snazzy electric guitar work; the opening intro screens give you a quick
tour of a beautifully detailed neighborhood; and the explosions produced by
different kinds of gunfire have to be seen to believed. If nothing else, this
game is worth buying simply to enjoy some of the most fantastic explosions (both
visually and aurally) ever introduced into an arcade game; once things really
get going, certain portions of the game look more like a 4th of July fireworks
display than a war of all against all.

 I hope Virgin Mastertronic has other games like this in the chute. The care in
the design of the sonics, visuals, and game control all fully revive my interest
in this genre of gaming. It's a relief to find out that it's not arcade games
that have gone stale, but imagination in the design of arcade games. NY WARRIORS
really does bring home all the old excitement of the arcade.

 NY WARRIORS is published and distributed by Virgin Mastertronic.

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253