ROM Computer Magazine Archive ROM MAGAZINE ISSUE 2 — OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 1983 / PAGE 14

Game Reviews

Buried Bucks
Reviewed by Ed Snyders
ANALOG SOFTWARE
P.O. BOX 23
Worchester,MA 01603

    If you like sensitive controls and fantasic explosions this game is for you.
    You fly a helicopter, equipped with seventy-five rapid-fire bombs into an area where "the bucks" are buried underground. Your mission is to uncover the "bucks", pick them up, and bring them back to your home base. Don't let me deceive you, this game is harder than it looks. Buried Bucks is a game of speed and strategy. This is because as soon as you start blasting away at the ground a World War II bomber starts dropping dirt to replace the ground you have blown away.
    The first two levels can be finished by speed and guts but from the third level on up you need a plan of action. Luckily the chopper is very responsive and quick, but still if the flack from your own explosion doesn't get you the bomber may. One other thing to watch out for in the ground, is the water. If at all possible keep clear of it. More often then not my tunnels and holes seem to be filled when I'm firing around water.
    When you reach the fifth level you are given a new nemesis. Missile lauchers that when land shoot fire balls at you. That along with all the dirt, flack and water make 'Buried Bucks' quite an experience. However the missile launchers can't land on uneven ground, so a quick spray of bombs back and forth across the screen should keep the majority of launchers from landing.
    Remember you have to re-load in this game, the bullets don't last forever. This is usually when your holes start to get filled up. Your points which are represented by a dollar sign also decrease the longer you take to complete a level. This game is worth the money I paid for it and will keep me busy for hours to come.

Buried Bucks
Challenge-9
Graphics-8
Sound-8.5
Documentation-8
Overall Rating-8.3

Buried Bucks screen

Meteor Storm
Reviewed by Peter Ellison
Royal Software
2160 W. 11th Ave.
Eugene,OR 97402
$29.95 Disk or Cassete;16K

    You know this game is going to be great when the title screen appears and begins playing the theme from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in four-part harmony. You can either listen to the whole song or press the start button to load in the game(Disk version).
    A gigantic storm from space is approaching the planet Dracon at high speed. High above the planet's surface, a rescue ship waits helplessly, unable to penetrate the intense storm of meteor debris. You and your tiny fighter are the last hope for the people of Dracon. You must start from the docking bay of the rescue ship, manuever your way down to the city below, avoid meteors and their debris, and touch down safely on one of the three landing bridges. After picking up the survivor, you must clear a path back up to the rescue ship and carefully dock(Be careful that you don't hit the rescue ship!). A transport shuttle will then pick up your survivor and take them to safety. Your mission is completed when you have saved all of the people in the city.
    Each city of Dracon has 10 survivors meaning to complete one level you must guide your tiny fighter down ten times. There is a shield over the city that is lowered every time your rescue ship nears the city. If you wait to long in getting out of the city with the survivor, you leave yourself vulnerable to a meteor hitting your city. If this happens 1000 points is deducted from your score.

Meteor Storm screen

    Each piece of debris is a different color, making the game very pleasant to watch. The most notable thing about this game is the sound. Alot of games for the Atari have lousy sound because they have been translated from the Apple. This is not the case of this game. When leaving the rescue ship a rythmatic note begins to play. Then when landing in the city a little man makes a squeling noise as he waves his arms back and forth. The theme music from the movie "Superman" begins to play with the rythmatic note in the background.
    When reaching the rescue ship with the survivor a nice little tune finishes the song off. The man is carried away and waves good-bye as he leaves.
    There is a special feature called inviso that when the joystick is pulled back the ship dissapears making the debris pass through it. When leaving the city one can have the inviso on and continue to shoot lasers up and to both sides. The length of time the inviso can be held on increases after each survivor is rescued.
    Meteor Storm is an excellent game but very difficult to master. It is said that if level ten is reached there is a special suprise(I can only reach level three). If you want a game that is very difficult, buy this.

METEOR STORM
Playability:8
Challenge:10
Graphics:8.2
Sound:9.5
Documentation:7
Overall Rating:8.l

The Battle of Shiloh
Stategic Simulations Inc.
465 Fairchild Drive, Suite 108,
Mountain View,CA 94043

    "The Battle of Shiloh" by strategic simulations is a game that attempts to recreate this American civil war battle. The stronger Confederate's force objective is to destroy the union's army under General Grant before the north can reinforce and counter attack. Knowing that they have the advantage of surprise in the early stages of the game the confederate player must force his way through the Union defenders and take the Pittsburg landing, a dock on the Tennessee Rivert to prevent the Union reinforcements from crossing.
    This game provides a refreshing change from the typical themes of most wargames. Unlike many wargames, the Battle of Shiloh has an exciting and clear theme. The confederate player must take the Pittsburg landing and the Union player must prevent it. The army which is able to successfully obtain its goal greatly increases its changes of winning.
    By allowing numerous attack strategies, this game provides a realistic approach to simulating this battle. The attacking side has four strategies to choose from ranging from all out attact to a more defensive recon. The defensive also has many strategies to choose from: ranging from an aggressive counter-attact to a more defensive mode of retreat. This program was created with both the daring and conservative player in mind.
    One of the best aspects of this game is its flexiblity. One can be the union or the confederate playing against the computer or another player. The computer can even play against itself. In addition, there are multiple skill levels. Not only do the multiple skill setting make a provision for the varying abilities of players, but also increases the number of scenerios that can be created. An imbalance in military power can be created to produce different types of battle conditions.

    This game unfortunately is a little slow. The whole process of moving the units seems to take to long. What causes this is units move individually and take to much time to make decisions. The problem is not as bad as I am making it sound. After all the computer is still much faster than any human player I have seen. And maybe the human player needs the time to think anyway.
    The graphics in this game are not excellent, but good. The background depicts the countryside around and including the Tennessee River. This background is both properly colored and reasonablely detailed, showing hills, creeks, woods and fields, In addition, this battlefield scrolls horizontally. It is not a big battlefield, at least when compared with Eastern Front. However, this does not affect the game in a negative way. Being presented in the typical way, the units are presented as a square with an "x" in the center.
    In conclusion. The Battle of Shiloh is a good war game. Its only real weakness would be the slowness of the computer's moving. It has good flexiblity and is quite entertaining.

The Battle of Shiloh