Jetstrike

At first glance Jetstrike doesn't appear all that special. The inlay consists of simple instructions, the plane graphics are tiny and the control system is initially rather fiddly. You begin the game expecting a simplistic little blaster which will run out of lastability within a few hours. However, the more you play, the more you find, and in the en putting the joypad down becomes darn near impossible.

Hard to control at first, but perseverance will reap rewards. Nice graphics and it is great fun to play. Buy it!

If you're patient, and don't mind putting in a bit of time to get the most out of a game, I recommend you to try Jetstrike. If yuo're lazy, and can't be bothered to give a good game a chance, join the other plonkers in a sadly long line...

Other than the control system, I've got no grumbles with Jetstrike because it never tries to be anything other than a fun and simple game, and that's exactly what it is.

The move to CD has been good for Jetstrike, and once you get past the odd control system (clockwise and anti-clockwise rotation - for flip's sake), you'll have a great time. It's quirky, it's wacky, and I like it a lots.

Jetstrikessä on grafiikoiden sijasta keskitytty olennaiseen, puhtaaseen pelattavuuteen ja pelaamisen iloon. Tällaista on kaipailtu jo pidemmän aikaa vaihtoehdoksi mammuttipeleille.

The graphics are hailed as 24-bit but they look like an accelerated 8-bit display. The control system is awkward to get to grips with, although once mastered it becomes natural and intuitive and the complete experience drips with whole fibre nowt taken out gameplay.

Once you have mastered the tricky control and got used to the weird viewpoint, Jetstrike actually proves quite rewarding. There is a lot of variety in the missions, from bombing runs, to complicated dogfights, carrier landings and personnel drops. The huge number of different aircraft also makes this game more fun to play – the helicopters are easier to fly, but are pretty useless in dogfights against SPUDD jet fighters, for example. The graphics are nothing stunning, there is very little peripheral action on-screen, and the plane sprites are small and very sparsely detailed. It reminds me of the kiddie combat sequences in Ancient Art of War in the Skies rather than F-19, but it is great fun nevertheless. The sound effects are especially convincing with some tasty aircraft samples and ear-splitting explosions.

Cute sound, quite a bit of variety in terms of planes and weapons. And - if you can figure out how to fly the planes - you can impress your mates with all kinds of stunts. If not, you are on a one-way trip to disk access city. And the ticket is expensive, too. Enjoy leisurely breaks between frenzied bouts of bizarre 8-bitty action? Then this (expensive) curiosity is for you.

Jetstrike from Rasputin, sadly, is a game that belongs in a museum.

Jetstrike is a funny old game. The control system is quirky in the extreme. For instance, when you are flying right to left you climb by pulling down, but travelling left to right the controls are reversed. So, in the middle of a dogfight you can find yourself heading for the ground at an enormous rate simply by rotating too far. Very confusing. As for the graphics, well, they belong firmly in a PD game - not in a £25-plus product. Criticism aside for a second, Jetstrike is actually quite fun to play. If you grab a mate and try the Aerolympics option (i.e. you take turns to fly through a devious course of balloon gates, etc.) you will find yourself soon dragged into the action. The problem is it just isn't worth £25.99. Had it been released at a budget price then I would heartily recommend you buy it and the score would reflect this. As it is, though, don't bother.

Die vielen Optionen trösten leider nicht über den peinlichen Spielverlauf hinweg. Ballerspaß will bei einer überkomplizierten Steuerung logischerweise auch nicht aufkommen. Jetstrike ist eine große Enttäuschung.

Immerhin ist die horizontal scrollende Grafik deutlich schöner und der Sound sogar richtig toll geworden, denn von besseren FX über Sprachausgabe bis hin zur CD-Musik fehlt nichts, was man von seinem CD-ROM erwartet. Als Audio-CD wäre Jetstrike mit seinen (mitunter auch gut gesungenen) Tracks im Stil von ZZ Top oder Top Gun also durchaus brauchbar, wenn auch ein bißchen teuer. Als Spiel kann man die Scheibe hingegen immer noch vergessen.

Genial! Vom ersten Augenblick fragt man sich, wie die Programmierer es geschafft haben, die Grafik so konsequent auf das Shareware-Niveau der 80er Jahre zu trimmen. Die farbarmen Standbilder beeindrucken durch die einzeln zählbaren Pixel und das Scrolling zeigt perfekt die Bemühungen, den Programmieraufwand gering zu halten.

Grafiken liknar mest ett dåligt skämt från mitten av åttiotalet, och ljudet fungerar inte alls. Själva spelet är dessutom mördande trist och nästan omöjligt att styra.

Während die Grafik noch halbwegs akzeptabel aussieht und der Sound sogar ziemlich gut klingt, ist die Steuerung der Flugzeuge eine hundertprozentige Katastrophe: Man braucht mindestens sechs Hände, um via Joystick, Feuerknopf und diverse Tasten auf dem Keyboard gleichzeitig zu ballern, seine Kiste in der Luft zu halten und den eigentlichen Auftrag zu erfüllen. Den Programmierern ist damit das Kunststück gelungen, ein Spiel abzuliefern, mit dem absolut niemand etwas Vernünftiges anfangen kann!