Air-Sea Battle

The Good
The firing of torpedoes is quite easy, but challenging if you find a good second player. Winning relies more on reflexes and timing than on tactics, except maybe for the games that oppose the bomber and the boat in combat. However simple the game appears, the gameplay is addictive and the cartridge offers many ground-air, sea-air, air-sea games and even has a shooting gallery.

The Bad
Please, be sure to have a second player at hand. The one-player variations are boring. You play against an opponent who shoots missiles at regular intervals in the hope of hitting a target once in a while, so there goes the challenge... The story, well darn! it has no story. You just play for the simple pleasure of shooting. The aiming of the anti-aircraft guns is quite limited unless you decide to use the controlled missiles variation. Still, another limitation is the fact that you have to wait for your missile to explode on target or to disappear from screen before you can shoot another one. In the other hand, a gun that shoots non-stop would be no match for such big targets, and destroy all the fun along with them, wouldn't it? The game offers almost no artistic appeal. It has no music, the sound effects are basic and the graphics are sufficient enough to suggest what kind of target you're dealing with.

The Bottom Line
Nonetheless, the game, a classic since its publication at the end of the 70's, has given hours of laughing and shouting to more than a generation. I suppose the idea of shooting planes faster than you neighbor has some appeal after all!