61 lines
3.2 KiB
Plaintext
61 lines
3.2 KiB
Plaintext
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IF IT MOVES, SHOOT IT!
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What's the name of the game? IF IT MOVES, SHOOT IT! What's the basic concept of
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the game? IF IT MOVES, SHOOT IT! And what do you do in this game? IF IT MOVES,
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SHOOT IT! Okay, got it?
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IF IT MOVES, SHOOT IT! is based on a very simple (if timeworn) concept. But
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Emerald Software's realization of this classic computer game theme is stunning.
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(This review is based on the IBM-PC version of the game.)
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Your ship is positioned over an alien landscape, and very quickly you're
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attacked from all four sides by aliens who are firing at you even as they move
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toward you. Initially, your ship is armed only with a laser that fires
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"forward." It's possible to pick up more advanced weapons along the way...if you
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ever get that far. Those advanced weapons may well elude you for some time,
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because, simply put, IF IT MOVES, SHOOT IT! is one tough mother of a game. This
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is an action game that will be challenging for experienced arcade players, and
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perhaps a bit daunting for those who are less than wizards at this sort of
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thing.
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The IBM version is supplied on four 5-1/4" diskettes, which are not
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copy-protected. Graphics support is provided for CGA, EGA, VGA, and Tandy
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16-color mode. The game will automatically determine your computer's highest
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graphic capability on boot-up, although you can force it into a particular mode.
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While most modes require 512K of free RAM, I found that the game "died" at the
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title screen in VGA mode with 530K free. Everything ran smoothly after rebooting
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under a different configuration (with 590K free).
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VGA graphics are indeed of arcade quality here. The smoothly scrolling
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landscape is unlike any I've seen in a computer game, reminding me of a more
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colorful version of H. R. Giger's designs for the movie "Alien," with a texture
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that seems more like an oil painting on canvas than pixels on a computer
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monitor. The alien landscape is a swirling mass of dust storms, craters,
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mountains, and what appear to be the bones of previous victims!
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The alien ships themselves seem almost unlimited in their variety. The weakest
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of them require two direct hits to destroy, while the strongest may need as many
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as 100. This is no mere walk in the woods.
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You can play IF IT MOVES, SHOOT IT! with a joystick or keyboard. Options are
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provided to calibrate your joystick, remap keyboard settings, and control the
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speed of your ship. High scores can be saved, and -- in an important touch for a
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game of this intensity -- if you've lost all your lives after reaching the
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second level, the game can be restarted at the current level. (You can only do
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this three times per game, though.)
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IF IT MOVES, SHOOT IT! takes a classic -- perhaps overworked -- theme, and
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elevates it to a new level. This game will be challenging for the best players,
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although perhaps a bit too difficult for novices. I'm somewhere in the middle,
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and a few sessions with it left my heart pounding and my hands sweaty and
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shaking. Yet, as I finish this review, I've just got to go back one more time
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(or 30 more times!) and try to get just a bit farther.
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IF IT MOVES, SHOOT IT! is published by Emerald Software, Ltd. and distributed
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by Broderbund.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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