Silkworm

It seems this month belongs to the shoot'em-ups. Three of the four games this reviewer examined for this issue fit into that category. Silkworm, however, has a feature that sets it off from the others: the ability to play the game from the air, using a helicopter, or from the ground, using a jeep. Whichever vehicle you choose, Silkworm is a standard horizontally scrolling blastathon in which everything on the screen is a potential target.

The story goes that an artificial brain called MHC2 has preempted its programming and is now using our own weapons against us. A two-member team, code-named "Silkworm", has been selected to deal with the situation, using an attack helicopter and the Silkworm interceptor jeep. MHC2, overcome with delusions of its own superiority, has proclaimed that all mankind must worship it as god. The Silkworm team has other ideas.

This is a one- or two-player game. In the one-player mode, you may choose to man either the attack helicopter or the interceptor jeep. In the two-player mode, one player gets the jeep, the other the helicopter, after which they battle cooperatively to rid the world of MHC2.

Before you meet up with MHC2, you'll take on enemies such as tricannons, land mines, lasershines, sharkbites, stealheads, streakers and seekers. In addition, at the end of each of the seven waves, you must defeat a "main target". The main targets - Destructor, Helideath, Turtleshell, Scorpion, Clamshell, Bumblebee and Battle Cruiser - are much more difficult to defeat than the regular enemies. Worse, upon failure, you must repeat the current wave from the beginning.

As you battle, bonus items will appear on the screen. The twin sphere will double your fire power, and the turbo card will let you move faster. Other bonus items include the bonus pod, the eagle emblem and the condor emblem, which will award you 10,000, 100,000 and 500,000 points, respectively.

Whenever you destroy a land mine, a shield will be released into the air. If you can capture the shield, you will become invincible for a short period of time. If you prefer, you can blast the shield, rather than grabbing it, causing it to change into a powerful weapon that will annihilate everything on the screen.

Although Silkworm provides no method to save your game, you are allowed two continues; that is, after you've lost all your lives, you may continue at your current level up to two times. Your score, however, is restarted at zero whenever you take advantage of the continue option.

The game play is smooth. The graphics and sound are okay, although nothing spectacular. The action is reasonably hot, but I've seen hotter. Like most shoot-'em-ups. Silkworm's longevity will probably be shorter than more complex games.

Silkworm's greatest attractions are its two-player cooperative mode and the option of playing the game with either the helicopter or the jeep. Game play varies considerably depending on the vehicle you choose.

If you're a fan of this Kind of nonstop blastathon, you'll probably get your money's worth from Silkworm. On the other hand, if your tastes run to games like Zelda II and Dragon Warrior, you won't find this one stimulating.

American Sammy snapped up the rights to this two-player simultaneous Tecmo arcade shooter. The home version expands upon the arcade original by including some text screens and new methods of attack. Players can still choose between a helicopter gunship that maneuvers in the air or a mobile jeep that has a rotating cannon that can fire at ground level or at flying obstacles. Two-player cooperative play enhances the action even more, and pow-er-up weapons increase the intensity with each round completed!

This Tecmo arcade smash introduces an interesting twist on the normal side-shooter theme. Not only do you have the option of two-player simultaneous combat, but you can choose between the command of an airborne helicopter loaded with rockets, or a land-based jeep outfitted with a machine gun.

Add multiple levels of play and detailed Bosses and Silkworm becomes a hot contender in the shooter wars.

What action! Players grab hold of the controls to perform aerial acrobatics with massive jet-powered helicopter gunships. Helicopters penetrate enemy territory to destroy enemy headquarters, using machine gun weaponry and launching heat-seeking missiles. Soldiers counter attack in jeeps with heavily armored MHC2 tanks, armed with machine gun firepower and land-to-air rockets. Heavy-duty warfare between the "good guys" and the "bad guys"!