Armalyte - The Final Run

Okay, normally I judge a game on its own merits and try not to compare it to versions that appeared on other platforms. However, the ST version of Armalyte is really lazily made. You see, in between each stage a nice picture is displayed that shows what the planet the next level takes place on looks like. However, what the level actually looks like is completely different. They stuck a black backgroun with some scrolling stars on every damn stage, regardless of where it takes place. The intermission screen shows nice blue skies and some mountains? Well once the stage loads you seem to be in outer space again. Also disappointing is the colour use. The background only use maybe 4 to 6 colours. I guess the coders did this because its easier to scroll graphics if they use less bitplanes? I don't know, but I actually expect better from Arc Developments since they were one of the stronger supporters of Atari. The colours used don't even make sense. The intermission screen will show a strange world of blue crystals, and what you get in-game is a bunch of green and brown things that look more like tree-bark than crystals or ice. There are all kinds of other mis-uses of colour in this game that I won't even get into here.

What bothers me isn't that the Amiga version doesn't have any of these problems, it's that the people who made this version didn't even seem to care.

However, the game does have a full soundtrack (even in-game) which is nice and the gameplay is okay. The stages are big and they scroll up and down at your will as well as horizontally so make sure you aren't getting shot by off-screen enemies.

One more thing though, that all versions of this game suffer from, is that the "ending" will infuriate you.

Average horizontal scrolling shooter.
Quite enjoyable - at least the scrolling is not as jerky as R-Type.