Helichopper

Copyright : Firebird | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

They gave you a Helichopper and told you to rescue the Clones - but they didn?t tell you about the Creatures from the Swamp. A twenty three screened arcade games awaits.

Released at the same time as Thrust, Helichopper didn?t reach quite the same critical heights as it?s stable mates and was duly panned by all and sundry. Were the jury over harsh following the excellence of that other Firebird game or was it as bad as they said?

Graphics

Well what do you know, my faithful old Amstrad appears to have turned into a Spectrum when I wasn?t looking! Not only does Helichopper look like a direct port of a Spectrum game, it looks like a direct port of a game that you would have expected to see in 1982.

The graphics are very simple in terms of design and colour with nothing coming close to pushing the limits of the machine: the usual primary mess of reds, yellows and greens with some light blues and purples thrown in to the mix. As a budget game they are excusable and to be honest while they don?t make the game any better, they haven?t done it any real harm either.

The swamp creatures are fairly varied in appearance and movement it has to be admitted although why a flying rubber duck the size of a house should be chasing you in your Helicopter is a mystery that appears to be left unsolved. This variety helps make each level look different despite being fundamentally the same.

Sound

Again, while the sound is nothing to write home to Mama about, the effects aren?t actually that bad when compared to other budget games of the era. While a tune would have been a nice addition, the sound effects do their job adequately and the sound of the Helichopper?s rotors whirring is actually quite good.

Gameplay

It doesn?t just look like an early Speccy game, it plays like one too and this in itself is no bad thing. Undeniably simplistic, Helichopper still provides some fun in the short term.

The task of picking up your clones and taking them to the other side of the screen is easy enough in theory but in practice, the swap creatures do have a nasty habit of making things difficult for you. Furiously addictive in the short term, it?s enough to make you forget that you?re really only playing a one screen game were the surrounding baddies are all that are changing.

The first few levels are quite easy but you soon reach a point were you begin to struggle to beat the difficult timing sections. There?s nothing here to make your head scratch and it?s an unashamed arcade game in it?s purest form.

It?s never going to win any awards for originality or be on anyone?s list of favourite games but I found Helichopper to be quite good fun for a short period of playing - I couldn?t spend hours on it and it can be frustrating at times but most games are if they?re worth bothering with!

One word of advice to first time players, to pick up the clones sit your Chopper on the ground to the left of the flashing boxes near your clone this will ?deactivate the electric fence? and allow your clone to run to the safety of the chopper - sadly the programmer didn?t think to mention this in the instructions and it took me a couple of minutes to work out what I was supposed to do (and even then it was sheer luck!)

I think the criticism levelled at Helichopper, particularly by Amstrad Action who absolutely savaged it is both unfair and at a little over the top. It won?t be to everyone?s taste and there is no hidden depth or anything but as a quick fix for an arcade habit, you could do a lot worse than try Helichopper.