Badlands

Copyright : Tengen | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

Badlands is another of those Arcade games that did incredibly well in the actual arcades but not so well when converted to the home computer, once we delve into the CPC version you?ll see why. The "race" still appears to be a top sport in the violent future and one which you just can?t help but get involved in, this time you?ll be driving an armoured vehicle and there are no rules to abide by.
A winning formula? lets see...

Graphics

While there is no doubt that the original arcade was and still looks like a great game with some very nice features (for the time) and you would be forgiven for purchasing any of the home computer versions because we here at CPC Zone did exactly the same thing (twice). The Amstrad version doesn?t look anything like the arcade version and before you start saying "duuh it won?t because the technology is more advanced" we already know that but the conversion is piss poor. This is the type of overhead racer that would look great on something like an Atari XL or the 48k ZX Spectrum but is simply an insult to the Amstrad CPC, the graphics are very roughly converted, cars look like tiny blocks that change colour when you bump into one another and the playing area looks compressed and stretched - very bad indeed.

Sound

The introduction music isn?t great but it?s the best thing that Domark have done on this game, the actual sounds inside the gameplay are pretty nasty and only feature the occasional bleep when you skid, hit the wall or the oponents - not exactly active and it could have been done a hell of a lot better. Domark have done some great conversions in the past but it does appear that they just couldn?t be bothered with this one and obviously thought it would bomb anyway, well it did in the end but mostly because of these reasons.

Gameplay

Gameplay is the same as the arcade, simply race around the track and try to come in first place, you can do this by taking shortcuts or shooting your oponents up the arse with your rocket launcher. The problem with this poor conversion is that it looks ugly, sounds bad and has a nasty control system and collision detection routine to go with it.
If you were a fan of the original arcade game then we strongly suggest you play the arcade version in MAME or a similar arcade emulator because most of the computer conversions are littered with some sort of problems - not just one problem either, there?s a whole batch. The CPC version will have you wondering why you liked this game in the first place and may even make you think twice about your memories in the coin-op rooms of old but don?t let it fool you, it?s just a piss poor conversion on an extremely good machine.