Classic Axiens

Copyright : Bubble Bus Software | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

Okay, who doesn?t remember this arcade classic? all those with your hands up are obviously the younger retrogamers on the scene, everyone else well done for remembering such a classic title. The idea is much the same as Gorf or even Space Invaders in which you blast the hell out of oncoming enemy ships before they blast the hell out of you!

Graphics

Axiens has to be up there in arcade heaven with the likes of Gorf and Space Invaders and must have been over the moon when Classic Axiens was released on the CPC range of home computers. The graphics in this game look superb! with some excellent looking enemy ships, ranging attack paths (instead of the usual left and right path), beautiful explosions when you get hit by the enemy, nice level designs that actually do change and get harder as the game moves along (unlike some other clones). There has to be no doubt at all that this is one of the best looking arcade conversions/remakes ever to hit the Amstrad CPC.

Sound

Sound is on top retro form with some great gun shot noises, explosions, attack sounds as ships dive towards you blasting as they go, well done noises and much more. You can?t expect a lot from a game that tries so well to imitate the original arcade unit on your CPC, considering the age of the original game this is spot-on with nothing more or less than you would expect.

Gameplay

Gameplay is brilliant, if you have ever played the sub-bames from Tecmo in PlayStation titles such as Ridge Racer and even Tekken then you have definitely played this game in some form or another. The CPC version looks exactly like the sub-games in the PlayStation titles as they themselves were closely based on the original arcade cabinets.

The idea is as simple as shoot-em-ups can get, move left and right to avoid being shot and try and kill all of the alien crafts above you before you yourself end up scattered all over space for recycling by NASA. Even with this in mind you have to be fully aware that arcade cabinets from that era were extremely basic compared to the cabinets you?ll find in say Warner Bros Cinemas but the gameplay was something else, you would keep pumping coins into the machine to stay alive and even when you died you?ld shove another quids worth of coins in the slot for another go.

Axiens is up there with addictive titles like Pacman, Space Invaders, Gorf, Galaxians and all of the other early greats. If you want to play the game on your home computer (prior to the release of MAME) then this is the best way to do it.