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Reviews
SimCity (1989)
Classic Simulation
Without a doubt, one of the best simulation games ever made.
You begin the game with a set amount of funds and from there you build various buildings and structures. You set your tax level as best you can that will keep your people happy but at the same time produce an income for yourself to be able to expand. A good balance of commercial, residential and industrial buildings are required to keep people who live in your city happy and at the same time make others want to come and live in your city.
The game is easy to understand and controls are not too complex.
Natural disasters are a nice addition to the game and do not cause too much trouble to become annoying.
The game doesn't technically end, your goals include reaching the highest population as you can, with 500,000 people being a good goal to set yourself.
Each map (there are different kinds you can choose) takes a while to completely fill up and once this is achieved you then can try and perfect the locations of your buildings. It would have been great to be able to select a larger field to play on.
Sound and graphics are perfect for this type of game. The addition of graphs and various other diagrams are a great idea and are a pleasure to look at.
I played this game on both PC and SNES. I found the SNES version a bit better in terms of graphics and sound. Even without a mouse the game was easy to play. The game is a classic on both systems.
10/10
Total Annihilation (1997)
Lush Strategy Game
Total Annihilation was great for its time, beautiful graphics, especially the scenery. You have a good selection of air, ground and sea units, and various stationary turrets. The extra long ranged gun was one of my favorites of all the units.
You start the game by using your commander robot to construct buildings, which then enables you to build various units for deployment. The commander can also join into the fights and is quite strong.
The game was a 2 CD set and although the graphics were wonderful, it played a bit sluggish on a 133mhz when it was first released.
Total Annihilation in my opinion is in the same league as Warcraft 2 and KKND. Challenging and great looking game which will have you coming back for more.
8/10
Empire Earth (2001)
Challenging
Empire Earth has all the elements you need in a good strategy game.
Great graphics and sounds, good story lines and a challenge. Although the game seems too difficult at times as the computer opponent sends wave after wave of units which can often slow your progress down to much.
The added element of magic doesn't seem to work as well as it does in other games and the computer uses this to its advantage all too well, turning your empire to nothing more than rubble. Frustrating!
This high difficulty level will be welcome to those up for a good challenge.
You can choose what time period you wish to play in (Roman Empire Age, World War, Future, etc.)
All units are well designed, as is the scenery.
Gameplay is great (besides the magic elements), with many units to choose from including hero units which are becoming more popular in this style of game. (Units with more HP who automatically replenish their own life, and in this particular game, replenish the life of units nearby)
Overall a good game worth your time especially if you enjoy strategy games. Not as good as Age of Empires (an earlier game made by the same people who made this game) but still worth a look.
8/10
Tiger-Heli (1985)
Average Top-Down Shoot Em' Up
An average helicopter shoot em' up. Your aim is to destroy as many enemy units and buildings. Sound and music is a little above average (for its time), though since this is one of those 'never ending' kind of games the lastability is not great and is only good for a quick move left & right and shoot fix. The fact that you can interact with the scenery and when you are destroyed you begin again near the same area is a plus but in the end its just another average shooter.
5/10
Mach Rider (1985)
good mix of action & racing
For it's time, Mach Rider on the NES was quite an original and fun game. It was one of the very first console games which gave the player the ability to create there own 'levels' to play. (Wrecking Crew and Excitebike were other games that included this option)
The gameplay was fast and furious. Not only did you have to blast your way through enemy vehicles and barrels on the track, you also had to avoid oil slicks but you also needed to keep your bike at a good speed to avoid enemies ramming you from behind! Getting to the end of each course before the timer runs out is another added challenge and can sometimes be the most difficult part of the game.
Good reflexes came in handy for the tight corners where you had little time to see, let alone react to incoming threats. Judgment was also a must for the ice-covered tracks.
Although there is not a whole lot of lastability in this game, it is great for an occasional short-term gaming session.
Mach Rider's graphics and sound were average, even for the time it was made, however there was a real sense of speed at times, especially going around sharp corners.
The actual design mode where you can design your own course's wasn't the easiest to use, although it was nice of Nintendo to add this feature into their game.
Overall, a good game with many nice ideas, just not enough to make this title stand out from the rest.
7/10