Genesis

The Chaos Engine

Soldiers of Fortune wraps furious fighting in an interesting, unusual storyline. If you like to look down on the action, this thumb-burner produces. It's a fun fight to the finish.

Put simply, Soldiers of Fortune rocks. When one is reduced to combing a game with a fine-tooth comb for any flaws, you simply have to stop and look at what you have; Wonderful gameplay, tremendous depth in both characters and levels, all topped off with great presentation. It is a blast to play with another friend, and it is still lots of fun with a computer. The game is not that hard to get hold of and it shouldn't cost you much.

Un capolavoro, un grande gioco Amiga che è diventato anche un grande gioco Megadrive: da avere ad ogni costo!

The arcade graphics are cartoonish but well defined, and the techno soundtrack is fantastic. The object is to shoot your way through multi-tiered labyrinths stocked with monsters, items, and electric "nodes" you need to activate. The monsters include beetles, golems, and lizard men, most of which shoot very slow projectiles. A cautious approach is recommended however, because monsters can appear in front of you from out of nowhere, which indicates poor design in my opinion. Another problem is that when you die in the two-player game, you can't rejoin the action immediately and have to wait a little while. Between stages you can power-up your soldier and purchase items. Although designed for two players, Soldiers of Fortune provides a CPU partner if you need him, and the one-player experience is arguably more fun. I was a little apprehensive about Soldiers of Fortune, but once I started playing, I couldn't pull myself away.

This game has several good features for fans of the run-and-shoot genre. Fans of overhead-view action games (like Gauntlet and Technoclash) will definitely feel at home with huge levels and several weapons.