Beach Head

Copyright : US Gold | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

An evil dictator has taken control of the fortress on Kuhn-Lin, it?s your mission to storm the island and reclaim it - but you?ll have to capture the enemy forces first. In this action packed strategy/shoot-em-up game from US Gold it?s all guns blazing as you attempt to take control of the fortress and bring the enemy down to it?s knees, US Gold certainly thought it kicked butt - how about you?

Graphics

Beach Head was yet another of those hip, happening and must have titles during my school days, just about everybody had a copy of this game on some format or another. I was one of a select group (about 4 of us) that actually owned an Amstrad CPC but sadly I never got around to actually purchasing a copy of the game, pitty I don?t have a Delorean or something. Anyway, the graphics in Beach Head consist of a mix and match setup, at first we see what looks like a strategic side of the game in which you control the movement of your troops and attempt to attack the enemy lines. On doing so you?ll notice a border is in place behind you and your only option is to blow the crap out of the enemy (screen grab 2) with your missile cannons, both areas of the game are very well presented with a nice amount of detail on offer but a distinct lack of colours, then again the game is set during the night time so we don?t expect much from it anyway. Not a bad looking title anyway but as we all know, it?s not looks that count when you look at retro-games.

Sound

Sound is pretty poor, considering the story to the game and the promise of action and guns blazing you don?t get good value for your money. There isn?t any introduction music (at least not in the version we reviewed) and as for in-game sound effects, well unless you count the occasional bleep as an explosion or eruption of gun fire then you won?t be overly impressed. It seems there is always something bad to write about US Gold titles at some point or another and that the development team badly needed to get that finger out of there ass.

Gameplay

Gameplay is varied, although when it comes down to it the only thing you need to do is blow the crap out of the enemy on the second half of the game and watch your health and ammo. While those looking for strategic elements might be left a little annoyed after all the hype surrounding this game, the people that enjoy blasting holes in aircraft carriers and ships will love this game and should certainly give it a shot.
There is nothing here that really spoils the game and it?s not going to be a bad thing if you give ti a shot, I must admit though after all the hype this game recieved back in the early 1990s the game didn?t really live up to expectations today, perhaps the replay value has fallen since then OR that I wouldn?t have enjoyed the game much even back then, either way Beach Head remains a "try it and see" title.