Action Fighter

Copyright : Core Design | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

Back in the day when James Bond was the biggest thing since sliced bread software developers simply couldn?t resist the idea of bringing that style of adventure over to the home computer, the problem was that most developers (with the exception of Domark) couldn?t afford the move license to bring the actual smooth James Bond character over to your Amstrad.

So one day in the offices at Core they thought, mmm well we can?t bring James Bond to the home computer market but we can bring a game style similar to the action sequences in your typical Bond movie and give the hero a slightly altered name. That is when Action Fighter was born for the Amstrad CPC and as you?ll see when you play the game and read our review it?s a close call between your average James Bond movie and this computer game.

Graphics

Those of you that have played any of the James Bond series of computer games will instantly recognise the first few levels of Action Fighter as the game follows much the same style as Domarks classics. Taking on the familiar and massively popular top-down aproach to car chase and action sequences Core have done a great job on this title, there are plenty of bright colours to look at, various obstacles and pedestrians to avoid, helicopters fly over, police escorts offer to help you and much more. The levels are massive and should keep you entertained for a fairly long length of time, everything is well drawn and presented despite the small playing area (the only let down graphics wise).

Sound

Another game without music hits your CPC, is it just me or did that little speaker hardly ever get the chance to churn out anything other than in-game sound effects. Speaking of sound effects Action Fighter does feature a fairly varied but hardly active soundtrack throughout the various levels in the game which is a little bit of a let down as it could have done wonders to keep the game as entertaining as possible.

Gameplay

Action Fighter is far from being a bad game and actually rates higher than some of the James Bond games it tries to copy in terms of graphics and overall playability but there are problems that bring the game down slightly, though the graphics are detailed and coloured nicely it can often look overly sized and pixelated, the sound can be heard but isn?t as active as most gamers would like it to be and the playing area is restricted to a box in the center of the screen.

There is nothing really that will prevent you from enjoying this game (providing you like this style of gameplay) and if you?re a fan of the James Bond series it might be well and truly worth checking out.