Pixelate:Issue 2/Operation Spacehog

From Allegro Wiki

Operation Spacehog - Reviewed by Nick Davies

Mount a full-scaled attack against the dreaded octopus aliens with this high-quality space shooter from Free Lunch Design.

Game by : Free Lunch Design(Johan Peitz) - 2000 
Genre : Action/Shoot'em up 
Players : 1 - 2 
Save Function : None 
Website : http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/~d98peitz/spacehog/ 
Scores (MG) 8.58

Game Design

A classic side-scrolling space shooter where you have to kill all the aliens to save Planet Earth from imminent destruction by hordes of evil octopus alien scum! This game is reminiscent of 50's B-movies. The innovative upgrade system gives you the chance to tweak your craft for optimum performance. However, the lack of an auto-fire option might make your thumbs disintegrate. (MG)9

Challenge

Six levels of difficulty means there's something for everyone, although the two easiest levels only feature three levels which may be frustrating to unskilled gamers. As the difficulty rises, the enemy's shields get stronger and their aim gets better. Somewhat loose controls mean you could find yourself accidentally flying into enemy spacecraft. (MG)9

Ease of use

The default keyboard controls are a little tricky but that is easily fixed through the options menu. There is also support for gamepad and mouse controls. The gamepad seems to be the most natural. The mouse is the best for rapid-fire but otherwise not a good choice because of the strange movement glitches associated with it. At first the upgrade system can be distracting from battle. (MG)8

Graphics

Following in the long-standing tradition of all other Johan Pietz games, Operation Spacehog is in a somewhat lacking low resolution and color depth. The cool cinema scenes and GUI are well done, but the colour palette could have been put to better use. Overall, though, it has a nice finished look. (MG)8

Sound

The sound effects and music are nicely done. The music is pretty good for MIDI. Everything fits in to the theme. The sound effects are few in number but that's to be expected from this type of game. (MG)8

Satisfaction

This one's definitely a keeper! Easily one of the best Allegro games ever made. (MG)9.5

Comments

(MG)Apparently, a low-resolution monitor once saved Johan's life and now he feels indebted to it. Gimme hi-res!!!