Arcade Ace - ACE Issue 1 (Oct 1987)

They used to be seedy dens of iniquity where granny-muggers wasted tons of 10p pieces on Space Invaders and Asteroids. Now the arcades are where you go to see what's going to be on your home micro in six months time. That's why each month in ACE we'll be carrying news of the latest arcade machines, plus playing tips on how to beat the games that are costing you a fortune.

R-TYPE
Irem 20p per game

R-Type follows firmly in the footsteps of such classics as Defender and Nemesis - high class action to the accompaniment of breathtaking graphics. R-Type wins no points for game originality, it's one of those of the horizontally-scrolling fly-your-spaceship-through-the-tunnel games. You'll have to keep your finger pumping the fire button beccmse there's wave upon wave of assorted aliens to zap; from bubble-like ground and ceiling gun emplacements to Transformerlike robots that fire salvo after salvo of deadly homing missiles. A guardian monster protects the end of each section, these stunning creatures all have their weak spots but it will take you a stack of coins to discover them.

Extra firepower is available to help you survive in the shape of letters which, when picked up, provide your ship with various aids, pick up the letter M and your ship gains its own horning missiles that lock onto any enemy entity, get the letter S and gain the protection of a shield.

The graphics really are stunning, so colourful and imaginative that they'll have you gasping in awe and appreciation - especially when you get to meet one of those enormous guardians. It's not all cosmetic either, the action comes very thick and very fast and you won't be able to take your eyes off the screen for a second. Dont be deterred by the puzzlingly dull and uninspired title screen, beyond it hides a game that deserves to be a classic, if not for originality then for sheer speed and addictiveness.

SUPER HANG-ON
Sega 20p per game

Motorcycle arcade games have never been the same since the appearance of the superb Hang-On from Sega. The original game boasted breathtaking graphics and gameplay, your on-screen motorbike handling impressively like the real thing.

Super Hang On, again from Sega, is a souped-up version of that earlier classic. You still control the slick bike and rider with a view as if you were actually on the saddle. The racetrack scrolls toward you and you steer the bike through the twisting course - avoiding other riders and road-side obstacles - by using handlebars on the front of the game cabinet. The monitor is housed in a hood shaped like a racing bike's faring while speakers on either side of the monitor blast stereo music and effects at you in stunning style as you play. The handlebars now shudder and vibrate as you gun the engine with the twist-grip accelerator. A choice of three gears (low, mid and top) selected from the handlebars lets you get the best performance from your bike in your race against the clock.

Super Hang-On is even more exciting and thrilling than the original. The improvements turn a great game into a brilliant one which is going to guzzle a lot of your 10p pieces.

DARIUS
Taito 20p per game

The most obvious point about this fast and furious shoot-em up is the massive 45" wide monitor the game's played on - that gives you a playing area three times bigger than the normal coin-op. Darius is a one or two-player game; in two-player mode the action is simultaneous.

You control a battleplane flying over a variety of landscapes, including space caves, Van Allen radiation belts and underwater bases. At first sight Darius bears a resemblance to that old arcade classic Scramble; using missiles and bombs you must weave your way left to right across the scrolling landscapes, avoiding the huge rock formations hanging from the ceiling or rising from the floor. 25 different types of airborne aliens attack in formation from front and rear; 25 more ground-based enemies add to your troubles.

Monster-like battleships guard each end of the section; destroy one of them and you then get a choice of which type of landscape you'd like to fight in. Destroying certain enemies reveals a power unit in the form of a small balloon. If you can collect it you gain additional powers, depending on the colour of the balloon; red ones increase the destructiveness of your air-to-air missiles; green ones increase the destructiveness of your air-to-ground bombs; blue ones give you the protection of a shield.

Darius has certainly got a gimmick, in the shape of that massive screen; but on it you can play a cracking game.