SILPHEED 

 My word processor tells me that I've never used the expression
"rip-roaring" to describe anything. But SILPHEED deserves the
compliment: "Very lively and noisy; boisterous" (WEBSTER'S NEW WORLD
DICTIONARY). It's an infuriating, intense arcade shoot-'em-up, quite
similar to many of the better infuriating, intense arcade
shoot-'em-ups. There are some unique qualities, but basically, it's
a game you've played many times before. You probably already know
whether or not you'll like it: If you don't enjoy fast and furious
arcade action, SILPHEED will not appeal to you. If you're a fan of
the genre, you'll find it one of the most addictive and exhilarating
of its kind. (This review is based on the IBM-PC version.) 

 Typically called a "slide and shoot," SILPHEED's premise is
elementary: You have a single spaceship, the Super Air Fighter SA-08
Silpheed prototype (that's right, a prototype). Your mission: Attack
and destroy the Gloire, an incredibly powerful battleship employed
by the brutal renegade Xacalite. To get to the Gloire, you'll have
to blast through 20 levels of lesser enemies. There are roughly
sixteen varieties of enemies, and they number in the thousands. 
Clearly, this is not a task you will complete the first time
through...or the hundredth time through. 

 Your Silpheed dogfighter has one basic weapon: a forward beam. 
Fortunately, you can -- and must -- improve your weaponry. This is
accomplished by earning points. Every 50,000 points grants you a new
weapon when you reach the end of the current level. You may also
select which of your weapons to use for each subsequent level. As
the Silpheed has facilities for both right and left weapons, you
need 100,000 points if you want the new weapon to be available o
both sides. Aiding your progress are asteroid-like items called
"Golan." The Golan are scattered throughout many of the levels, and
when destroyed, they release either bonus points, or any of nine
extra attributes: increased weapon strength, speed booster, 
auto-fire, protective barriers of several types, repairs, and so
on. 

 Unlike nearly all other games of this type, SILPHEED gives you one
ship. No multiple lives here, nor can you earn extras. This makes
the game far tougher. In SILPHEED, scoring is everything. Success is
totally dependent on your ability to earn those 50,000-point
upgrades, and that means destroying _every_ enemy on the screen, if
possible. Merely dodging your way through the level will not get you
anywhere. Advanced weapons are an absolute necessity, and mere
survival nets you no points and no weapons. There is, however, a
small bonus for the amount of shielding you have left at the end of
a level. 

 The graphics are excellent -- an amalgam of styles that range from
the strange geometric shapes of the enemies, to sweeping
"spacescapes." These spacescapes are most prevalent in the animated
sequences that reward the player after completing 5, 10, and 15
levels. The sequences are very short, but superbly colored and
detailed. 

 As the screen scrolls downward, your ship can move up, down, and
side-to-side, always facing upward. The stars and enemies don't
simply move downward; they also appear to move outward toward you, 
from an imaginary vanishing point somewhere above the top of your
monitor. To reinforce the illusion, the enemy ships -- stark, 
angular affairs that exhibit true shifts in 3-D perspective as they
sweep the sky -- start out minuscule at the top of the screen and
increase smoothly as they approach the bottom. Likewise, your ship
gets smaller as it approaches the top of the screen. These fillips
are extraordinarily effective. 

 Each level features a new twist. Some levels are played while
cruising through space, some appear to be in orbit over a planetary
landscape, and some take place within large superships, with tunnels
and corridors that must be memorized if you're to emerge at the
other end. 

 Incidentally, I cannot fail to mention the opening sequence. As the
haunting music comes up, we travel through space and into the
superstructure that houses the Silpheed prototype. In an incredibly
effective vector-graphic style, we watch the prototype emerge from
the dock and careen through space. The enemies are then displayed as
rotating wire-frames, with specifications rolling down the side of
the screen. It's all most impressive and exciting -- the greatest
little introduction I've ever seen on a home computer. 

 I played the MS-DOS version of SILPHEED, and that version comes
equipped wit sound drivers for a variety of configurations. Included
are drivers for the internal IBM speaker, the AdLib sound card, the
IBM Music Feature card, and the Roland MT-32 Sound Module. With the
Roland, the soundtrack -- nine rock-'n'-roll music themes -- is
spectacular: a driving, pulsing beat that will definitely increase
your heart rate (as if the game alone does not perform that function
admirably). The standard IBM speaker sound is poor. That's no
surprise. But the occasional elongated notes in the soundtrack are
nearly unbearable through the PC's single-voice speaker, and the
rock soundtrack is wholly unrecognizable in that configuration. 

 The SILPHEED package includes both 5-1/4" and 3-1/2" disk formats, 
and requires 512K. While the game can be played on IBM, Tandy, and
compatibles, it is not playable on an IBM-PCjr. The graphics require
any variety of color card (no monochrome): CGA, EGA, MCGA, Tandy, 
and VGA. The VGA driver merely emulates the EGA graphics. A hard
disk is recommended. There is no on-disk copy protection; however, 
you will need to be able to recognize an enemy on-screen and type in
its name -- no mere task with names like "Buluouwa" and "Atolatal." 
An extensive installation routine ensures that only the necessary
graphic and sound drivers will be loaded onto your play disks or
hard drive's subdirectory. 

 A joystick is "optional," but let's be real: This is one arcade
game that cannot be played effectively on the keyboard; I tried. The
joystick improved my game immensely. I would not hesitate to say
that winning this game using the keyboard is utterly impossible. But
no true gamer should be without a joystick anyway, so if you need an
excuse to buy a joystick and a game card, you've found one. 

 Processing speed is somewhat of a consideration in this game. The
graphics are obviously intense, and there are many moving objects
on-screen at once. At 4.77 MHz, this game may run too slowly for
your tastes. Those with 8 MHz or greater will not be seriously
affected. 

 SILPHEED has all the elements of a great arcade game. It goes even
further with its state-of-the-art musical accompaniment and its wide
variety of enemies, landscapes, and strategies. If you were to own
only one traditional arcade game, SILPHEED would be the one to
choose. 

 SILPHEED is published and distributed by Sierra On-Line, Inc. 

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253