Percussor
by TMB Productions
An overhead shooter from the famous programming team!
| A secret agent has intruded an enemy base to steal secret informations, which explains how to create powerful weapons. He gets the files, but is followed by the enemies. He jumps on a plane and begins the journey home. A journey which won't be easy. | |
| This is a side-scrolling shooter with six missions. Each one is littered with multiple enemies, anti-aircraft guns, and buildings which can be destroyed. The main idea is to get through every level and defeat the boss at the end. There is never really any variety to the levels except for the graphics, but the different power-ups really help out. Periodically your shielding can be regenerated and you can become invincible for 15 seconds with different items that can be picked up through your missions. Also, you can upgrade your weapons systems, and you can change between the different weapons while playing. Sometimes when you are first starting, it seems like there are too many enemies that are just too strong to fight against, and you might be tempted to try to fly through without shooting anything. Of course, this game is supposed to be fast-paced, and so you should expect a good challenge in the manner of multiple enemies. Of course, as you get stronger and faster weapons, you find the enemies individually easier, but the levels are fiendishly designed to take advantage of their movements and so some strategy is needed. I am not sure if there is a bug with some bosses, but for the most part, the only time I had the anti-aircraft guns shooting at me was with the last boss. The guns didn't usually shoot with the other bosses for some reason. Other than that, the game seemed quite flawless and well done. |
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| TMB is known for their great graphics, and Percussor is no exception. It scrolls nicely, and the dynamic movement of the shadows are well done. Sometimes the enemy shadows seem to have seizures, but the many different frames of animation for the player's ship along with all of the different objects in the game create some beautiful scenery. The explosions add a nice touch, and the action never slows down with all of the moving objects on the screen. Overall, the graphics are very nice. | |
| I like how you can define your own controls in the setup program. It is a nice touch that allows you to personalize the game to your liking. For the most part, the controls are quite simple, but sometimes it seems too quick. You really have to get used to the way things work so suddenly. There was never any problems at all in this aspect though, and so I have to give it a good score here. | |
| Real music! While you have to setup the sound drivers, it isn't very hard at all. Still, sometimes the music is scratchy, since it is powered by BWSB. I like the upbeat temp to the game, since it really makes the fast-paced action come alive, although the sound effects weren't that great. Still, I liked listening to this game, and I am sure you would too. | |
| The difficulty here is in trying to stay alive. For the most part, it is not that hard to avoid enemies, and it is actually easier to get through the game trying to avoid them rather than trying to kill them. What causes real trouble are those anti-aircraft guns, since some can point in any of the eight directions and you can't destroy them. Couple that with the different types of enemy crafts coming at you, and it can really make it a bumpy ride. I managed to get through most of it without losing, but I would have liked it if there was more than one life available in the game, although it is more realistic this way. Still, it was really frustrating to get to the end boss only to be torn to shreds by the anti-aircraft guns and finding that I have to start over. | |
| It was kind of fun darting in and out of the line of fire while trying to lay down some gunfire of your own. There wasn't much more to it then moving and shooting, and the fast-paced action really held it in place. Perhaps it could have been more fun to see some kind of cut-scene in between levels, or maybe receiving some kind of a bonus for destroying all of the buildings in a level. | |
| This games is well done. No gameplay-crippling bugs and no real issues that affect the game, coupled with a great design make for an enjoyable experience. I suggest this game to anyone looking for a quick game to remind them about what it was like before 3D graphics were the norm. | |
| .zip file: 920KB download | |
| V Planet |