Power Factor

STORY / GAMEPLAY
In a virtual reality chamber of a leisure moon arcade, you play the role of a hero named Redd Ace and try to duplicate his historic victory over the Sinledo Techmods (!) invasion. You run, jump and shoot your way through 11 side scrolling levels of the enemy base, looking for six parts to assemble a bomb and destroy everything around. You start with three lives wearing a (limited fueled) jet pack and holding laser gun, but you can find more along your way. There are many items around to collect and enhance your weapon, get extra lives and add fuel to your jets. There is an inventory at the very bottom of the screen depicting what you carry at any time. You can select whatever is available in your inventory, such as missiles. There is a number of computer terminals that provide maps, item locations, additional clues and information. The alien enemies vary from flying (and shooting) robots, to flame thrower installations, which are hard to avoid. Power Factor is surely a decent Lynx title and a very playable experience with great action and visuals! All you need at first is to master its controls that seem to be a bit awkward. For example, by pressing left or right you move Redd towards the corresponding direction while tapping left or right you select weapons. This makes weapon selection a bit tricky in tight situations.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The visuals are nice and highly detailed. Most of the details (especially the sprites) are cartoon-ish looking with loads of colors. The game's scrolling and animation is fast and smooth, but the faster it gets the more difficult it is to play, at least on this screen limited size! As for the sound, Power Factor has a variety of in-game sound effects like explosions, gunfire and others. There is also a neat rock-style theme, but only after the game ends!