How many Space Invader clones exist? Read about one of many in this BOOM review.
It is delicate to try to do your own version of a game that has been packaged and created in so many versions. Adding to it that the final judgement will always be made in comparison to the original version.
BOOM is a simple conversion, and brings you the standard components. The attack, the movements and the duo-kamekazis. The game itself is a good play even though it is in the mid-tier of what what this game can bring in a sensation.
BOOM Level 1
The colours on the different ships are nice and your defending craft is nicely designed. The controls are ok and after a while you learn how to move to avoid being smashed. The combination attacks of the spacecraft at the time are the most dangerous ones.
The variation in the game is not giving the spice that could be possible with this type of game. In words, the speed increases together with the nr of ships attacking you. Thats what it is.
One set back, and you might think it is a picky thing. But isn’t so that a game of this dignity needs to have an excellent highscore table. Unfortunately BOOM! has not.
Lika all Space Invader games, it is an obligated try.
%
Playability Rating
In the Magazines
The cassette cover of this game shows a picture of an atomic bomb going of and just goes to show that looks can be deceiving. The game has nothing to do with an atomic or nuclear war but is a normal run-of-the-mill space invader game. With three ships at your disposal you have the task of knocking out a fleet of enemy space invaders. Difficult doesn’t apply. So long as you keep moving from side to side and constantly firing at the opposition you should stay alive and get through to the next level.
We’re not invader fanatics and without trying too hard we managed to clock up some pretty impressive scores. Once onto the second level you’re faced with an identical scenario but with many more invaders to fight off. After playing Boom! for a few minutes we discovered that if you pick off the invaders in rows at a time you stand more chance of staying alive and bumping up your score. It’s simply a question of technique and once that’s sussed it’s an easy game to play. The subsequent levels were all very much the same and after a while our interest waned. If you are a dedicated space invader fiend then this is going to appeal and will no doubt provide many hours of fun and you’ll relish the thought of zapping all those invaders and sending off your scores toour high score Page!
BOOM Level 2
But for those who aren’t keen on the shoot ’em and kill ’em type games this is going to have limited attraction. The graphics are good — the best we’ve seen for most types of this game — and there’s plenty of colour to stimulate the eyes. Sound too is good and very realistic but does tend to grate on the eardrums after any great length of time. There aren’t many games available for under a fiver that are worth buying let alone playing! However Aackosoft seems to have come up with a selection of low cost titles with good graphics and sound effects and at a price that many youngsters will be able to afford.
On the whole we enjoyed playing Boom! and reckon it’ll be very popular, a few more hours at this and we could become dedicated invader players. Again like Frogger this is a classic game that has kept many a gamester glued to his micro. At 1.99 it’s hardly going to break the bank and will no doubt provide endless hours of fun for invaders fans and could be well worth adding to your collection.
From MSX Computing Issue 04 in 1986
On the Covers
What do we say about the cover? Is a nuclear war we are facing or is it a meteor falling into the sea? This cover might have very little in depicting the actual game. But the fully black main colour on the cover and added illumination of an explosion gives as a really nice cover. The logotyp in it’s colour and font-type fits in perfectly.
And add the Eaglesoft logotype that is really neat.
