Screenshot of Gunboat

Gunboat

(Accolade, 1990)

Reviewed by Robert Small

This is a really impressive game on the PC – but this is the CPC version and it can be filed in the drawer marked “too ambitious and needed more care”. It’s one of those games that wishes to simulate being part of a crew aboard a military vessel – in this case, the aforementioned gunboat. You can pilot the boat (which isn’t that fun) or you can shoot things (but please be careful not to cause collateral damage). There are various campaigns to take part in as you progress and practise options. The very small display is by design as the game wants you to feel the claustrophobic atmosphere of being on board such a small boat, but it makes play awkward. The bobbing effect is good and so too are the graphics representing your guns and pilot’s helm, but not the outside world. Whether you’re piloting or shooting, the game can feel a little awkward, which is a shame because there is a good game in here somewhere.

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Screenshot of Gunboat

Gunboat

(Piranha, 1987)

Penetrate the enemy waterways in your gunboat and find and destroy four naval bases. The waterways are very heavily fortified and you will be subject to a barrage of hostile fire from warships, helicopters and gun turrets, and you must also watch out for mines. Your gunboat is equipped with a cannon, missiles, torpedoes and depth charges, and you’ll need to know which weapon to use against particular enemies. You won’t get many chances to use them, though, because your gunboat is bombarbed by so much enemy firepower that you’ll be lucky to survive for more than a couple of minutes! The gunboat is also very difficult to control properly, and with so many enemies attacking you simultaneously, slowing down to position yourself to fire at an enemy is almost inevitably lethal. It’s a terrible and immensely frustrating game to play.

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Screenshot of Gunfighter

Gunfighter

(Atlantis, 1990)

Reviewed by Pug

You’re the Sheriff, and your town has fallen under attack from outlaws who have gained the deeds to several buildings. You must take out these criminals in the only way they respect – gun fights. There’s reward money, too, which can be gambled with or used to gain an extra life. Be careful with your gun, though, as you only have six bullets – your office has fresh supplies. I found this a simple yet acceptable game with simple graphics and sound. It can get a little repetitive, though, and there isn’t a horse in sight!

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Screenshot of Gunfright

Gunfright

(Ultimate Play the Game, 1986)

Sheriff Quickdraw has come into town to clear it of the gunslingers that are roaming about – and earn a lot of money as well. Each one has to be found first, though, and this Wild West town is rather big. You must avoid bumping into any of the townfolk, although some of them may be able to point in the direction of the criminal and help you in locating him. When you have found him, you must shoot at him to grab his attention, before taking part in a showdown, in true Wild West fashion. Make sure your gun is fully loaded, though! This is a very good game with lots of excitement and some great sound effects, although it would be better if you had more than three lives.

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Screenshot of Gunship

Gunship

(MicroProse, 1988)

Reviewed by Robert Small

Gunship sees you taking command of an Apache AH-64 helicopter. At the start of the game there are many options to choose from, including the ability to save/load, train, select a mission, and the ability to alter various difficulty settings for flying, landing and weather, which is a really good feature to make the game more accessible. You are given intelligence and a briefing and then you start your selected mission. The 3D graphics are OK with some good topography, and I like the wireframe pictures of enemy tanks that appear on your cockpit display. There is no music, but the helicopter, gun and explosion sounds are good. This is an accessible flight simulation for those new to the genre.

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Screenshot of Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke

(Topo Soft/US Gold, 1987)

Angel Face and four of his henchmen have entered a Wild West town, and as the sheriff of the town, you’ve got to track them down and shoot them. This is a vertically scrolling shoot-’em-up in which you simply shoot all the cowboys and Mexicans which come towards you. However, the odds are stacked against you; you can’t turn around or move backwards, so if there are any enemies behind you, it’s usually difficult to avoid them and their bullets. You can also collect stars which give you extra lives or points – or a bomb! This Spanish game (which is known as Desperado over there) has colourful graphics and great music and presentation – the loading screen and the end credits when you complete the game are brilliant – but the gameplay isn’t as good.

See also: Desperado 2.

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Screenshot of Gunstar

Gunstar

(Firebird, 1987)

Another below average space shoot-’em-up. In this one, there are five stages, seeing you controlling one of three Gunstar pilots and blasting aliens large and small, and flying through asteroid fields. It’s all in a day’s work when you’re a Gunstar. On the fifth and final stage, you must dock with your mothership, and if you succeed in doing that, you go back to the first stage to do it all over again! The game itself is pretty difficult; if you lose a life, you must restart on the first stage. While the graphics are nicely done, both the scrolling and animation are a bit slow, and alien bullets are often too easy to miss in all the chaos. There’s nothing original at all and there are much better games like it.

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Screenshot of Gutter

Gutter

(Ere Informatique, 1985)

Control a ball running along a gutter, and move it left and right to hit the kings, queens and jesters, while avoiding the axemen and monks. You’ll lose one of your three lives if you touch an axeman, while touching a monk sends you all the way back to the start of the gutter, which is not funny when you’ve progressed so far. There’s a guide on the right of the screen which shows you how far along the gutter you are. The concept is really simple, but despite the colourful graphics and jolly tune, the game soon becomes very repetitive.

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Screenshot of Guzzler

Guzzler

(Players, 1986)

Greedy Guzzler, the rodent with a large appetite, has to eat all the fruit in a maze while avoiding the Frobblies. Where the game differs from Pac-Man is that you need to get keys to reach the fruit. When you’ve eaten the fruit, though, Guzzler will become rather fat and will be unable to reach other sections of the maze. The only way to make him slim again is to touch Deflator Dennis who zooms around the outside of the maze – but don’t touch him if you’re thin! You can also use bombs to temporarily stun the Frobblies. The game is fun at first, but you quickly realise that it’s just another average sort of game with unspectacular graphics, sound and music. It’s still worth the occasional go, mind you.

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Screenshot of Gyroscope

Gyroscope

(Melbourne House, 1986)

Guide your gyroscope through an obstacle course of hills and narrow platforms, without falling off the edges or colliding with any of the aliens. The gyroscope is quite tricky to control, and the design of some of the seven levels means that getting anywhere can sometimes be a matter of luck. The graphics are all right and do their job, although the tune that plays throughout the game is annoying. Frustration may well set in quickly for most players, though – and why do you have to wait so long for the menu screen to fade away before the game starts?

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