Enforcer - FullMetal Megablaster Longplay (C64) [50 FPS]

Developed by Manfred Trenz and published by CP Verlag in 1992. Let's forget about the story and get down to brass tacks. Here is another horizontal shoot 'em up developed by Manfred Trenz for the C64 and it's great! It's quite a technical achievement for the C64 in my opinion with such smooth scrolling, big sprites with sound effects AND music playing simultaneously. Unlike Katakis, which borrowed heavily from R-Type, this borrows more from Turrican in it's art style and graphics, although in turn that game borrowed from popular culture, so you couldn't say it was hugely original. As usual, you blow aliens up using a variety of guns, missiles and power-ups that you can collect from the wreckage of your foes. Instead of a front-mounted module, you now get 2 mini-ships that orbit around your craft and these can deflect shots and absorb incoming damage. This arguably improves the game since Katakis was made too easy by the fact that the module could deflect shots AND destroy enemies that it came into contact with. Rather than die in a single hit from enemy weapons, your ship has an energy bar, so you can take a bit of damage before losing a life. One of the most important power-ups to acquire is the over-shield (light blue in colour) as this will absorb a certain number of hits. The music in this game, written by Markus Siebold, is great. It's a shame I didn't get to play more games with more music written by him. So, does the game have any negative points? The fact that the game is blazingly fast means it's quite a hard game, but other than that, this is an exemplary shmup. Enjoy! #retrogaming