Army Moves

Moby ID: 9618
ZX Spectrum Specs

Description official descriptions

Army Moves is a one-player arcade game divided into two parts. In part one, the player controls a jeep and must cross a bridge, avoiding enemy jeeps and helicopters. A second section involves an helicopter and the goal is to cross enemy airspace without being shot at by airplanes or any other ground fire. The player must then land on the pad near the end.

In part two, our hero starts out in the jungle and must reach the enemy base without being blown to bits. Then he needs to locate the general's offices and steal the secret documents detailing a new neutron bomb.

In all versions of the game part two is loaded separately and a password obtained after completing part one is needed to access it.

Groups +

Screenshots

Credits (ZX Spectrum version)

5 People

Programming by (Programa por)
Loading screen (Pantalla)
Graphics (Graficós)
Music (Música)
Cover (Portada)

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 62% (based on 13 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.3 out of 5 (based on 45 ratings with 2 reviews)

Let's get out of this hellhole!

The Good
It is nice that you get to control more than one vehicle in the game, and that you get to fire multiple missiles at your enemies. I also like the way you get to go over several terrain appropriate to a war setting. And that high score table looks amazing.

The Bad
The aim of Army Moves is to fight and shoot your way through seven levels, to get some documents inside a locked safe. You must get these documents because they could help swing the balance of power in the war. This sort of plot really doesn't interest me at all.

Both the music and graphics are unimpressive. The music is basically an inferior version of the Colonel Bogie theme. According to the game's tile screen, there are sound effects in the game, yet there is no way to turn them on, so you are stuck with it throughout the game. It would have been nice if the sound could play at the same time as the music. Fred Gray composed the music for the Commodore 64 version, and his version sounds a lot better.

Army Moves is also a very difficult game. More often than not, you'll make one mistake that could cost you a life and you go all the way back to the start of the level. If you think that the first level is difficult, wait until you reach level five, where you have to deal with toucans and guerillas hurling grenades at you. Let me tell you about how difficult this level is. One shot at the birds is enough to kill them, right? Wrong. It only makes them go up in the air. The guerillas throw grenades at you like you wouldn't believe. You wait until their explosion is cleared, but as soon as it is cleared, they are quick to throw another one; the game does not even give you the chance to jump.

The Bottom Line
There are some 8-bit titles out there that got translated poorly to 16-bit machines, and Army Moves is one of them. The music is quite bad, and the graphics could have been improved. The difficulty is enough to throw your Amiga across the room. So the bottom line: avoid this one at all costs and instead focus on the better, original 16-bit titles.

Amiga · by Katakis | カタキス (43092) · 2011

One Dimensional Side Scrolling Shooter

The Good
You don't have to do much thinking just shoot things.

The Bad
It is utterly repetitive just avoiding patterns of enemy forces, jumping at the right time firing at the right time etc.

The Bottom Line
Mindless side scrolling shooter.

Amiga · by Neepie Lantern (524) · 2004

Trivia

Releases

Spanish company Dinamic Software originally created the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, PC and MSX versions. When the game got distributed in the UK by Imagine, Imagine themselves developed versions for the C64, the Atari ST and the Amiga to maximize the profits.

Those systems were not popular in Spain at the time, which explains why Dinamic didn't bother to port the game for them. Eventually, though, most Spanish companies, Dinamic included, ended up programing for them.

Structure

Like many Spanish games of the same period, the game is divided into two independent parts, with the second password protected. This would become a trademark of Dinamic, but other companies like Opera and Topo also adopted it. In tape versions, each part would fit into a side of the tape and could be loaded separately.

Zach Townsend

The code of part 2 of the C64 version contains a lengthy string of ramblings from programmer Zach Townsend. He makes a (surely forlorn) plea to find a girlfriend, lists his favourite music of the time (including Michael Jackson and Simple Minds), complains that Delta and Nemesis are rubbish, and mockingly compares the singing voice of Sam Fox to the C64 loading noise.

Information also contributed by Neville.

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Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 9618
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Katakis | カタキス.

DOS, Atari ST added by Kohler 86. MSX, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum added by Martin Smith.

Additional contributors: Martin Smith, Neville, Patrick Bregger.

Game added July 19, 2003. Last modified February 13, 2024.