Atomic Robo-Kid

STORY / GAMEPLAY
You control Atomic Robo-Kid (a robot) as he enters the fortress and prepares to battle with the countless machines that will float around and try to kill him in multiple ways. At first the Robo-Kid can only walk on the ground and jump if necessary, but in the process you will find several power-up gems, that will give you the ability to take off and fly and shoot your enemies on air. There are four different weapons, each helping your quest in a different way. These weapons have an unlimited supply of ammo and vary from five-way blasters to massively destructive energy beams. Collecting gems is not the only way to get extra weapons, as you can also find a little dragon who will sell you new weapons, but at quite high prices. Other gems will increase your speed, supply a shield for a few seconds etc. The enemies are tough, attacking you from both directions and shooting with bombs and the like, that will drain Robo-Kid's shields. You may easily get overwhelmed by them since they can surround you. The game is split into 28 different levels of intense action. The difficulty level increases depending on the level, since some levels are very hard and others are pretty easy. Atomic Robo-Kid offers furious action and there is a good supply of levels all set at just about the difficulty needed to stop you from beating the game. It's not a fast shooter, but it is playable and addictive.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The Sharp X68000 conversion is stunning in terms of graphics and sound and identical to the original. The visuals are pretty much similar to the R-Type with a semi-organic atmosphere. The sprite detection is flawless and the backdrops are good and very detailed and are almost identical to the coin-op, with no frame-rate drops, in contrast to the Amiga and ST home-computer ports that suffer at times, when things get crowded. The actual playing area is larger on the X68000 and, as expected, this is the only arcade-perfect Atomic Robo-Kid home conversion. The game's sound is exactly the same as the coin-op and adds to the overall looks of the game. It offers a smashing piece of music to listen to, as well as some wicked and great sound effects during the game, all directly taken from the original.