Gaming Memories - Part 1

It was on a family holiday that videogames first got their hooks into me. Sure, they were around before that, and I was vaguely aware of them, even 'dabbling' on occasion, such as when I played the table-top classic, Astro Wars, for practically the whole weekend I stayed over at my cousin's house, for example, or when I played Frostbite on a school friend's Atari VCS after school now and then. At that point though, they were never anything more than a passing distraction.

The aforementioned trip was my first vacation and would see us visit the land of my forebears. Namely, the Torbay area of Devon, and we would stay in a rented cottage. I was around 11 or 12 at the time and was very excited about my first trip away, it sounded fantastic, even if it would be occurring in the school summer holidays, thereby failing to ensure that I'd miss any schooltime! For those who don't know, Torbay is a beautiful area of the Devonshire coast known as "the English Riviera". It enjoys a mild climate and is home to a sizable marina, some top beaches, three lovely resort towns - Torquay, Paignton, and Brixham, which collectively feature many sights and attractions of magnificent splendour. I, however, ultimately saw very little of all this after I first wandered past an amusement arcade.

Up until this point I'd had little interest in arcades. Sure, I'd seen most of the big-name machines like Centipede, Asteroids and the like dotted around here and there and I had a bash on occasion like when my dad would give me a few 10p coins to use on the Space Invaders machine at my youth club, but videogames were still a niche subculture at this time - some games had intrigued me but none had ever truly captured my imagination. Until, that is, I happened upon one of the several arcades in Torquay and something caught my eye. I saw a machine, big, bright red, gleaming like a..... Ferrari! Now cars were an interest of mine at that time. This magnificent-looking machine grabbed me by the ears and pulled me in.

I arrived beside the dauntingly large machine. I felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness. Amazing images greeted my young eyes. It was fast and colourful. The sounds came booming out of the speakers. There was actual music... The arcade games I'd seen before were pretty impressive, but I'd never seen anything like this - it was amazing! After moaning at my parents for what seemed like an eternity, they yielded and bestowed upon me a shiny fifty pence coin. I finally lowered myself into the large seat armed with the coin and immediately felt more important. I deployed it and selected the music - Magical Sound Shower of course - and began the game. The excitement as I floored the accelerator and zoomed away from the start line was immense.

I soon reached the first corner of the exquisite Coconut Beach Boulevard, started to turn the wheel and - oh my God! - the whole seat moved! I managed to get as far as the uphill chicane before succumbing to the ever-precarious tree-lined roadside. Upon hitting them for the first time, the whole machine shook around! To say that this was unexpected would be to put it mildly - this was quite incredible! Unfortunately this revelatory experience didn't last much longer as my time expired, but it was to become an important experience for me. Suffice to say, and the rest of this holiday was predominantly spent in the various arcades of Torquay, and most of that time, sat in an OutRun machine's seat.

It's hard to explain how much Outrun means to me. It was the first videogame I ever really played properly - the beginning of what was to become a passionate, not to mention expensive hobby, which has been vigorously pursued ever since. It's a real possibility that had this encounter not taken place, I may not even be a casual gamer now, let alone the hardcore gaming nerd that I became and remain. The holiday had to end though, and upon returning to Hampshire, the source of my obsession was nowhere to be found. This situation was soon rectified, however. After a hard fought campaign, my parents finally bought me a Sega Master System, on which I had discovered I could play Outrun. I had to pay them back of course, so three years of paper rounds ensued, all proceeds going to this cause. It didn't matter though - I had Outrun!

Overrated! #2

Marble Madness (1991)
By: Atari / Electronic Arts Genre: Platform / Puzzle Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis
Also Available For: Arcade, Master System, NES, GameBoy, GameBoy Advance, PC, Amiga, Atari ST, C64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Apple IIGS

Originally released in the world's arcades in 1984, Marble Madness was another cracker from the then red-hot Atari. At least, that's what you'd be forgiven for thinking, given the game's popularity. In truth, it was a competent enough arcade game for its time, but somewhat less suitable as 16-bit console release seven years later. Marble Madness, you see, is a very simple game - you control a marble which you have to guide to the end of the level or 'goal' within a strict time limit. Achieve this and you'll get to tackle the next level. Each level is viewed from a 3D isometric perspective and is set on a series of raised platform sections. The surface of these levels is far from even though - it leans at all manner of angles, and ramps, chutes, bridges, and other such things also adorn the landscape and must be traversed in order to succeed.

Many obstacles and hazards also hinder your progress. Chief among these are the Steelies - evil black marbles which will try to bump you off the side of the level at every opportunity they get. You can bump them back and even off the side of level, but it all costs you time. Other enemies include Marble Munchers, Hoovers, Acid Slime, Terrordactyls, Hammers and Pistons, all of which cost you precious seconds. If your marble falls off the side of a level, takes too high a drop, or falls victim to one of the traps, you'll lose it. You have an infinite number of marbles but losing marbles costs time, so it's best not to make a habit of it! Very helpful in certain situations is the turbo button. This will cause your marble to travel faster and is often the difference between a crushed marble and a victorious marble, but you'll also run the risk of whizzing straight off the edge!

And that's about it! As I said, it's a simple game. The problem here is that this conversion is pretty much identical to the arcade version. "But that's a good thing!" I hear you cry. Usually, yes, but no effort has been made here to improve on the arcade game - something that was more than possible in light of the MegaDrive's 16-bit mega-power. Initially, Marble Madness is good fun, though somewhat frustrating, but you'll probably just be getting into it only to find - it's over! That's right - Marble Madness has a mere six levels. This was just about passable for an arcade game, but a home console game? I don't know about you but I demand more for my £40! What there is of the game plays nicely enough though, and the graphics, whilst hardly pushing the MegaDrive to its limits (you would have a tough time telling this version apart from the Master System version!), are decent enough. As is the case with many isometrically viewed games, the landscape is covered in a grid-like pattern and looks neat and tidy and organised and everything. Each level is fairly colourful but there's nothing much else of note.

Possibly the most horririfying thing about this game is the 'music'. Examples featured herein range from poor right down to ghastly I'm afraid. Some of it can barely be considered music! The only reprieve is on level two which features a fairly reasonable tune, although it is looped and frequently repeated. Sound effects aren't much better either. I don't usually like to criticise someone's hard work too much unless it's obvious that they've put in no effort, but this one will have you reaching for the volume button pretty quickly. At least there is both music AND effects though I suppose! Regarding the gameplay - as I mentioned earlier, what there is of it is decent enough - ball movement is satisfactory and the levels, though frustrating on occasion, are pretty well designed for the most part but, as mentioned, there's only six levels in this game. Six! It's not as if they're long ones either - I've completed this game in less than ten minutes, and it can be done in less than five! To think that some Playstation-licking casual gamers complain when a game can be completed in a 'mere' ten hours! The existence of a simultaneous two-player mode here livens up proceedings a little, and can be fun for a short while, particularly if the two players decide to try and take each other out, but that's really the only reason to play this more than once.

So there you have it. A legend, right or wrong, which was an enjoyable five-minute diversion in the arcades, but as a MegaDrive game it just isn't enough. If there was, say, 30 or 40-odd levels on offer here, this would be a pretty good game, maybe even a great one, but a six-level game that can be seen in its entirety in five minutes is unacceptable. A good idea, but there's just not enough to Marble Madness, unfortunately.

RKS Score: 4/10

Game Music #2

Instant Remedy

As some of you may know, I'm a big fan of videogame music, particularly of the retro variety. It was around... hmm, I guess 10 years ago now, that I started my collection, initially by recording MegaDrive tunes using the splendid Gens emulator, but I didn't discover the remix community until a bit later. It was while searching for the original OutRun music that I first encountered Instant Remedy, and it opened the door to an unimaginable number of songs.

Instant Remedy is Martin Noriander (formerly Martin Andersson), a Swedish guy born in 1976, and a Commodore 64 fanatic who has spent a good deal of his time and effort remixing some of his favourte SID tunes. Now, one of my biggest embarrassments as a gamer is that I've never played, or indeed even used a Commodore 64 - I was always a Speccy fanboy until I moved onto consoles - so I've never even heard any of these famous SID creations everyone keeps raving about, but that didn't stop my elation at hearing Magical Sound Shower, one of my all-time favourite game tunes, in an exciting new way! And so began my collection of remixed game tunes. Instant Remedy was the first and I soon discovered just how many more talented enthusiasts were up to the same sort of thing!

I'm now proud/embarrassed to admit that I have somewhere in the region of 120Gb of game music, and much of it is awesome remixes (or 'arrangements') of all manner of classic game soundtracks. A vast majority of them, including Instant Remedy, are done in a dance/trance style, as you might expect, and I hope to cover some of the other awesome musicians here at some point, but for now, wrap you ears around the one that started it all for me.... Instant Remedy OutRun!

	Instant Remedy - Outrun Instant OC ReMix .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

And if you like this track even nearly as much as I did, it might be worth you investing in some of Martin's other Instant Remedy tracks, available here. Apparently, Martin also has a CD available featuring the same tracks (listed below with original composers in brackets), so grab a copy of that if you get the chance too!

1. Last Ninja - The Palace (by Antony Lees) 1987
2. Flimbo's Quest (by Reyn Ouwehand) 1990
3. Comic Bakery (Extended Version) (by Martin Galway) 1986
4. International Karate (by Rob Hubbard) 1986
5. Game On (Issue 09 to 89) (by Markus Schneider) 1989
6. Ghosts 'n Goblins (Trance Version) (by Mark Cooksey) 1986
7. IK+ (by Rob Hubbard) 1987
8. Last Ninja - The Wastelands (Club Version) (by Ben Daglish) 1987
9. Trolls (by Adam Gilmore) 1993
10. Warriors (Club Version) (by Thomas Mogensen) 1989
11. Commando (V2) (by Rob Hubbard) 1985
12. West Bank (V2) (by Fred Gray) 1986
13. Last Ninja - Wastelands (Extended Version) (by Ben Daglish) 1987
14. Comic Bakery (by Martin Galway) 1986
15. Commando (by Rob Hubbard) 1985

Thunder Force Series - Part 3

Thunder Force 2 (1990)
By: Techno Soft   Genre: Shooting   Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis  First Day Score: 363,130
Also Available For: Sharp X68000

My recently undertaken investigations into the origins of the Thunder Force series have yielded some interesting results, but this is where it all started for me - 1989, a friend's house, an imported MegaDrive, and a handful of games. One of the first ones we played? That's right - the underrated Thunder Force 2. Mere mention of the words 'Thunder Force' is enough to bring pleasant memories flooding back for a great many gamers who were growing up around the time of the 16-bit console boom, but for many, these memories concern the visual tour-de-force that was Thunder Force 3 or even the oft-heralded Thunder Force 4.  The second game was not so well known. Released alongside the Megadrive in the U.K, Thunder Force 2, while one of the best launch games money could buy, was still something of a missed gem for many. Most gamers opted for the admittedly superb arcade conversions such as Golden Axe or Ghouls 'N' Ghosts while poor old Thunder Force 2 sat on shop shelves virtually ignored! It's a shame more people didn't decide to try it out, too, as it's a challenging but not unreasonably tough game, and ... what's that? Even a bit of originality? Surely not?

The first level and things are already looking hectic!

Only a few gamers know that the original Thunder Force was an overhead-viewed shooter; far more know that from the third game onwards, the series was strictly a side-viewed affair. Thunder Force 2 is where the transition took place. The evil ORN Empire from the first game are back, and with a new, all-powerful battleship, the Plealos. There are eight main levels to battle through here before you get a chance to destroy it, and they are viewed from overhead AND side perspectives - the game alternates between them every other level, the odd-numbered levels being the overhead-viewed ones. On these levels, your job is to find and destroy four enemy bases hidden away in various locations around the multi-directional scrolling landscape whilst of course being pursued and incessantly shot at, by evil aliens. Of course, it's not quite as easy as it sounds to destroy these bases.

Level 2, the first side-viewed one...

Like the first game, each overhead level is defended by many ground-based gun emplacements and these are significantly more numerous at the site of each base. Time is of the essence on these levels too, and a bonus is awarded at the end of the level depending on how long it takes you to find and destroy the bases. If you take too long, a large alien ship will attack! Okay, they're not exactly super-bosses but they can be a pain the arse! The other aliens patrolling each of these stages are not of particular importance - they are only there to make things more difficult for you and destroying them earns you points only. They are many and varied, however, and include some ultra-annoying devices that surround your ship and block all incoming AND outgoing fire, some that split apart when they're near you increasing their chances of hitting you, some that can seemingly appear and disappear at will, and one particularly irritating type of alien ship that produces streams of red blobs that home in on your ship, destroying it if they touch it.

Taking on one of the bases on Level 3...

The even-numbered levels are all of the more traditional horizontally scrolling type. The objective on these levels is simply to make it through them in one piece and destroy the boss at the end. Also present are mid-level bosses, many hazards such as moving scenery, motion-activated lasers and missiles, and a similarly large number of evil alien ships and gun emplacements. Bonus points are awarded at the end of these levels based on the number of enemy ships destroyed so more attention should be payed toward them than in the overhead levels (unless you don't care about getting a hi-score). Whereas the overhead stages all appear to be set over different planetary sufaces, the side-viewed stages are apparently not. The first two (levels 2 & 4) seem to be set inside a space station of some kind, but the third is more... natural, seemingly featuring vegetation in addition to all the death-dealing weapons and alien ships. The last, like the preceding overhead stage, seems to be set amid ancient ruins. Or possibly not so ancient - the game's story does speak of the ORN Empire raining destruction upon a Galaxy Federation planet! If you manage to survive the eighth level, there is one more treat in store for you - a ninth level of sorts, in which Plealos resides. It's another overhead level (the same as the first except the landscape appears to have been consumed by fire and lava!) and is inhabited only by the enormous end of game boss and its defence craft.

A barrage of missiles greets you on Level 4...

In order to 'liberate' each of these levels, you'll of course need some formidable weaponry. Luckily, some is available. Before it's powered-up, your ship, called the Exceliza, the second-generation of Fire Leo crafts, can fire either a forward and backward shot simultaneously or it can employ a twin forward shot, which is obviously more powerful but leaves you open to attack from behind. These two default weapons are available on both the overhead and side-viewed levels but most power-ups can only be found on one or the other. Something that your ship can only do on the overhead-viewed levels, however, is drop bombs. These aren't smart bombs though, but small, relatively weak little bombs that fire automatically when you fire the main weapon and are essential for destroying any ground targets, specifically, the bases.

Cutting through rocks in the rock-hard Level 5...

Each type of level offers up to six weapon power-ups and, unusually for this type of game, each one that you pick up is added to your collection rather than replacing your existing weapon. You can switch between them at will, too, but beware - if you lose a ship, you'll lose EVERY power-up collected up to that point! The weapons available for the overhead levels are: Laser (poor range but very powerful), Wide Shot (poor power but good range), Five-Way (fires five shots forward in a wide pattern), Destroy (three-way bombs but weak main gun), Clash (lots of blue rings twirl around the screen - my weapon of choice), and Hunter (very weak but homes in on targets). The extra weapons for the horizontal levels are: Laser (poor range but pretty powerful), Mega-Flash (like the standard rear-shot but with better range), Wave Shot (good range and medium power, and can shoot through scenery), Side Blasters (shoots directly above and below your ship), Nova (a powerful directional shot - my weapon of choice), and Hunter again (same as the other one). Other power-ups include 'Drones' which circle your ship protecting it from incoming fire while unleashing a limited amount of their own, and a temporary shield whose name I can't understand (there's some suspect speech in this game!). Both of these power-ups can be found on the overhead and horizontally viewed levels. To collect these power-ups you must destroy certain types of alien craft and collect the icons they leave behind.

A different kind of missile barrage on Level 6...

As you might've guessed from looking at some of these screenshots, this is a pretty taxing game! I can reach level eight fairly consistently but I've only progressed beyond that once without accidentally cheating (I pulled the cartridge out without turning off the machine, then reinserted it, which somehow gave me infinite lives!) and that remains the only time I've finished it! It's not unfairly tough though, with the possible exception of the fifth level, and should provide a nice, steady challenge. Graphically, it's aged a little as you might expect from one of the first ever 16-bit console games, but it still looks nice enough and has a nice variety between all the levels - there's no way you could confuse any of them with another!  There's also a good variety of nicely drawn and animated sprites. The music in the game is a bit of a mixed bag - some tunes are great and very memorable, but some others are pretty forgetable. Sound effects are plentiful, varied, and of a very high standard, and include some of the most booming, bassy effects I've ever heard! Luckily, one thing that definitely hasn't aged is the gameplay!

Slicing though Level 7 with the laser...

I don't know about all of you but I really like it when a game developer tries something different within a well-trodden genre. It doesn't always work out, sure, but the effort is always appreciated. I think it was this that initially drew me to Thunder Force 2. If either type of level didn't work well, it wouldn't have held my attention for long, so the fact that I still greatly enjoy this game means it must've done something right! And to be honest, as great as this game's sequels are, I've missed the overhead levels. Give Thunder Force 2 a try, you might be pleasantly surprised!

RKS Score: 7/10

Red Parsley - Thunder Force Series:
Part 1      Part 2     Part 3     Part 4     Part 5     Part 6     Part 7     Part 8     Part 9     Part 10

F-Zero Series - Part 1

F-Zero (1990)
By: Nintendo EAD Genre: Racing Players: 1 Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo SNES  First Day Score: 27,200
Also Available For: Nothing
Download For: Wii Virtual Console

I've always been of the opinion that it's gameplay that counts, not graphics, hence my love of older games (increasingly in preference to new ones, in fact). This is my view and I stand by it. However, if there always seemed to be one genre that belied that stance, it's that of the racing/driving games. Gameplay was and is still very important in these games of course, but due to their very nature, older machines rarely saw them due to their technical limitations. When they did, with the exception of a small number of classics, they were often cack. Either too much effort was put into making them look pretty and the design and gameplay ended up being tacked-on afterthoughts, or they simply couldn't make them look remotely convincing to start with. Then along came the SNES.

Spots of slow-down ease you into Big Blue...

Mode 7 is what they called it - a new graphics-rendering trick never seen before, pioneered by the wizards at Nintendo and unleashed in the SNES. It's hard to explain but awesome to behold. It essentially allows a 2D texture-mapped playfield or background layer to be scaled, rotated, and manipulated in all manner of ways. One of the biggest advantages of this is that the 2D playfield can be flipped into what appears to be a 3D perspective and rotated 360 degrees around whatever sprites appear on the screen at the time, creating the illusion of looking into the distance. This technique is perfect for racing games - instead of the vehicle negotiating the course, the course is rotated left and right around the vehicle, and it was first seen in..... you’ve guessed it!

Energy top-up on Death Wind I...

F-Zero (short for Formula Zero), is in essence what Formula-1 may possibly be like in the future (assuming we haven't blown ourselves up before then). The Grand Prix mode is a racing series consisting of fifteen courses spread evenly over three leagues - Knight, Queen and King - and any league can be selected from the start, although they get progressively harder as you might expect. Each race has four jet-car things, or 'machines' as they're referred to in the game - yours, and three main computer-controlled opponents, and each varies in its specification and handling. Simply choose one of them, then choose a league, and away you go! The races are also populated by a large number of identical-looking drone cars, presumably only to hinder your progress, and some of them are flashing, indicating that they're one hit away from exploding, so they're basically racing mines! As mentioned, each league consists of five courses and progression to the next race is determined by your finishing position - each of the five laps in a race has a higher ranking requirement you must fulfill to avoid disqualification. Beware however - if at any point you fall below 20th place, you're automatically disqualified.

A feature-laden section of track on White Lands I...

Each course is varied and contains some original features. Jumps are quite common, but some of them occur shortly before a gap in the track - miss them and you'll plummet down to your death! Boost pads, slow-down zones, land mines, pull-down magnets, track-side magnets and slip zones are some of the other features, and all but the first are there to cause you problems! The courses themselves also deserve special mention - they are fiendishly designed and contain some of the sharpest corners you'll ever negotiate, including frequent 90 and even 180-degree turns, as well as long sweeping curves, hairpins, chicanes, narrow straights - everything you can think of really. The sides of all courses are secured by anti-gravitational guide beams, which don't do anything except stop you from falling off the edge of the course. Hitting them makes you lose precious energy however, especially if you crash at high speed - you can end up bouncing around like a pinball from one side to the other if you're not careful. Thankfully, your craft's finite supply of energy can be replenished in the pits. Another handy, often vital feature is the Super Jet. You get one of these at the end of each lap and it provides a temporary, though substantial increase to your speed, so only use it on straights!

A tricky section on Silence...

Obviously the Grand Prix mode forms the bulk of what F-Zero has to offer but it's not the full extent. Also available is a Practise mode, which allows you to do just that on seven courses from the various leagues against a chosen opponent, or no opponent at all (making it a time-trial mode, essentially). One problem with many racing games in my experience is the difficulty curve. Happily, it's nigh-on perfectly pitched here. Sure, this can be a pretty frustrating game on occasion, but it's also one that rewards perseverance. Plus, there's three difficulty settings too (and a fourth if you finish the others), so there's really no excuse! Each course (nearly all of them, at least) has its own tune and they are for the most part fantastic - many of them are still celebrated and remixed today, especially the old favourite, Big Blue!

Navigating a mine-field on Mute City III..

This game was a genuine jaw-dropper when it was first unveiled. Truly, nothing like it had ever been seen before - it was a revolutionary game! However, like most games that represent a leap in technical achievements, F-Zero has aged somewhat in the intervening time, and it's now possible to look past what it achieved to see some of the things it didn't. The biggest gripe has always been the absence of a two-player mode - as entertaining as it is, F-Zero is strictly a solo experience. Another problem is that Mode 7, for all its unique trickery, is unable to provide anything other than a completely flat racing surface, meaning, of course, no hills or banked turns or anything of that nature (something which the sequel rectified and then some!). Legitimate gripes or just nitpicking? Probably a bit of both is the cop-out but honest answer! Looking back, as good as it is, there's no denying F-Zero could've been even better, but it certainly hasn't decayed into a mouldy stain on Nintendo's record either. This is an exciting, frenetic, fun, adranaline-rush of a racing game, and remains, in my view, one of the first must-have racing titles for any console.

RKS Score: 9/10

Overhead Racers #2

Badlands (1989)
By: Atari Genre: Overhead Racing Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 32,140
Also Available For: PC, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum

After helping to put the overhead racing genre on the map with Super Sprint, there was unsurprisingly soon a glut of similar games. Never ones to rest on their laurels, it wasn't long before Atari offered their own 'update' in Badlands. This is one of those games that I'd been hearing about for years but hadn't actually played until now for this review! Finally playing it yielded few surprises, however - aside from a few additions to the basic formula, an 'update' is about all it is - Super Sprint in different clothes! Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, of course; Super Spint is hardly a stinker itself. So how does Badlands differ from its forebear? Read on...

The most immediately obvious difference is the game's setting. Rather than the professional, organised world of Formula One, this series of races is contested in and around the ruins of a post-apocalyptic war! The game plays much the same as Super Sprint did, but the scenery is comprised of wrecked roads and terrains, and surrounded by various ruins. There are again eight courses and they are in much the same style as Super Sprint, getting progressively more complex until they start repeating. Racing over them are just three vehicles per race this time and, as can be seen from the title screen, they're not as delicate as F1 cars! They are armoured cars of some sort and each comes equipped with a roof-mounted cannon with which you take pot-shots opposing cars! This only slows them down and generally knock them around a bit but it's still pretty amusing!

It's also possible to buy upgrades for your car between races using the golden wrenches once again, and you can even buy gold wrenches this time with any spare credits (i.e. money). Perhaps most notable among these are missiles. Arming your car with these babies causes a bit more inconvenience than the little roof-mounted cannon! They are heat-seeking to a degree - if there's a car roughly in front of you, you're guaranteed to take it out, but they won't chase your chosen victim round and round the course. Nonetheless, they're perfect for getting someone out of the way, or indeed for exacting revenge on a trigger-happy friend! Other upgrades include shields, speed, turbo, and tires. Luckily, the wrenches are plentiful enough and you should quickly boost your car's meagre specs!

In addition to the missiles, the courses feature some hazards of their own, though mostly less extreme! They include the mildly inconvenient water and oil spills and broken/damaged surfaces (including a jump or two), and the more dangerous mines and retractable spikes. Some courses, particularly later ones, also feature the 'gates', first seen in Super Sprint, which allow short cuts, but only when they are open. Timing the use of these well can often make the difference between first and last place! There are some further differences between the two games, aesthetically, of course, but as far as gameplay is concerned, the difference is negligible. Even the courses aren't entirely unique here - the design of one or two is recycled from Super Sprint! The control of the cars is more or less the same too, although the turning circle of the cars seems to be tighter here, which obviously makes navigating the courses easier at high speed.

As mentioned in its review, Super Sprint was a pretty basic game, even for its time. Badlands, released three years after it, must therefore be considered even more so for its own time. Whilst it's true that it improves on its predecessor, graphically - each screen contains more objects and detail here, and there's a bigger variety in the appearance of the courses - the improvement is marginal considering how much graphics had improved in the intervening time, generally, and the fact that this game's colour pallette almost exlusively consists of various greys and browns means that, despite the technical improvement, Super Sprint is actually nicer to look at in my opinion! Sound is also improved - there's tunes here while you race as well as the mostly identical sound effects, but they're largely forgettable, unfortunately. Overall, like Super Sprint, this is a fun racing game, particularly in multi-player, but the dreary-looking visuals, loss of a player, and lack of any real innovation in the genre mean that you're probably better off sticking to the 3-player thrills of this game's unofficial prequel.

RKS Score: 6/10

Film Review #4

Iron Man 2 (2010)
Director: Jon Favreau Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L Jackson

Certificate: 12 Running Time: 124 Minutes

I don't think too many people would argue that the first Iron Man was a surprise hit. It had all the right ingredients to be one, but was still a gamble - rookie director, risky casting, unproven draw power of character - but happily it payed off; Iron Man proved to be one of the most enjoyable comic-book adpations to date, thanks in no small part to Jon Favreau's sublime direction and the irresistable charisma of Robert Downey Jr. Thankfully, they both return in this well-timed sequel. But herein lies the problem... The first film ended up such a hit, Iron Man 2, unlike its predecessor, had a lot to live up to.
The weight of expectation has killed many a film,
but did it kill this one?

Picking up six months after the first film, Tony is fresh from his revelatory press conference and is soon being hounded by the Government to hand his Iron Man suit technology over to them for mass production. However, between outsmarting them in court, humilating his newly prevalent competitors (including Rockwell on top form as Justin Hammer), and of course, continuing the good fight against bad guys, Tony is also starting to suffer - use of the arc-reactor keeping him alive is also slowly poisoning him. As a result he is becoming despondent and acting more and more recklessly, including handing Pepper the job of CEO of Stark Industries (filling her former position with Natalie, played by Johansson), while he entertains revellers at his newly ressurected Expo, larking about at the Monaco Grand Prix, and getting drunk in the Iron Man suit at what he believes to be his last birthday party.

While all this is going on, a former close colleague of Tony's father, Anton Vanko, is spending his final few days in poverty in Russia, leaving his son, Ivan (Rourke), to seek revenge against wrongs apparently committed by Stark Snr. Turning up in the middle of a race at the aforementioned race circuit, it's soon apparent that Ivan has a few tricks of his own, resulting in possibly the movie's grandest set-piece. Despite barely scraping through this first encounter, Tony's reckless behaviour continues, to the increasing concern of Pepper (Paltrow) and Rhodey (Cheadle), culminating in a house-destroying rumble with the latter whilst wearing the silver Mark II suit. Before long, however, Nick Fury arrives, expanding on his cameo from the first film, to give Tony a good hard kick in the behind! Newly invigorated and with a fresh sense of purpose, Tony sets out to stop a similarly determined, not to mention Justin Hammer-assisted, Vanko once and for all.

For a film driven by a tale of revenge, Iron Man 2 had the potential to be much darker than its predecessor, much like Empire Strikes Back was to Star Wars, but it's surprisingly bereft of negative emotions, instead presenting most scenes in a light-hearted, sometimes comedic way. Fair enough, the first film did this too, but the effect is more noticable here due in no small part to Rourke's imposing performance as scruffy, tattooed Vanko (an amalgamation of two villians from the comics), a.k.a. the aptly-named Whiplash. Downey Jr is once again on top form as Stark, especially when he's out of the armour, verbally sparring with all and sundry, and Cheadle takes over from Terrence Howard as Rhodey. Whilst both are great actors, I personally always find it annoying when different actors play the same character (except for older and younger versions or something). Nonetheless, Rhodey remains as likeble as ever, although also somewhat more conflicted than in the last film too.

Iron Man 2 is pretty much more of the same. It gives our hero more to do, introduces a few new characters like the slimy Justin Hammer and the mysterious Natalie, expands some existing characters (Favreau's own Happy Hogan, for example, gets a lot more screen time, as does Sam Jackson's Nick Fury), and even adds a dollop or romance. Overall, it could've been a very different kind of movie than it is, in different hands, but would that've made it better or worse? It's hard to say, but as it stands, despite a slightly disappointing final battle, it's a good film and a good sequel, and I'm not sure you can really ask for much more.

RKS Score: 7/10