Atom Ant

Copyright : Hi-Tec Software | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

Up and Atom - very funny that comment used to be but now it?s almost as funny as an episode of Dragonball Z on Cartoon Network, our cartoon hero is in a spot of bother involving large bombs being dropped outside high-rise buildings, your job is to collect and dispose of these bombs before they detinate. Sounds very familiar to us this one....

Graphics

If you ask any retrogamer if movie/cartoon licensed games ever worked they would all reply, 9 times out of 10 no they don?t. This is sadly the case with Atom Ant by Hi-Tec Software, the graphics in the game look okay at first glance but you soon notice that the game simply repeats itself with level after level, floor after floor of the game looking pretty much the same as the last only in a different colour. Some attempt has been made on added a few "bad guys" to the game though, this is mostly noticable once you get past the first 2 or 3 levels when just about every enemy on the game has changed to something else, they do the same things though and only move in set patterns - easily avoidable they are too. The game is also very slow indeed, okay you?re a flying ant with a helmet on your head but it should have been better than this and considering the game it blatantly rips off is much faster than this it hasn?t done itself any favours in our books.

Sound

Sound is of course on top form as Hi-Tec usually manage to push the boat out with Hanna Barbara releases, there is a nice computerised version of the backing music at the front of the game and enough sounds in the game itself than you can shake your tiny speaker at! no seriously it?s pretty good given how poor the game itself actually is.

Gameplay

Gameplay suffers immensely in this title, for a start the levels are the same over and over again, collect the bombs, fly to the top of the building and dispose of them one by one in that strange glass orb, collect another and do the same until they?ve all been destroyed. Then the game is slower than anything we?ve seen on the Amstrad from such a well respected software house, it also tries to rip off the arcade classic Bomb Jack in just about every way possible, the main difference being that the playing area is scrollable and therefore a little harder than Bomb Jack.
Fans of the cartoon were no doubt disappointed by this title but they probably played it anyway, sure the game is totally playable but it soon becomes boring and after 3 or 4 levels you?ll wish you bought something else instead.