007 - Licence to Kill

STORY / GAMEPLAY
The powerful drug dealer Sanchez has murdered your best friend's bride and now you're out to take him down. Show no mercy as you battle him on land, at sea and in the air. You will take control of helicopters, planes and tankers and perform death-defying stunts in midair. The game features six levels, a movie-like story line and action, colorful graphics and great animation (especially on the 16bit versions). The difficulty is set tough enough to make this relatively short game last a good while. After completing the game, the difficulty increases to prolong the game's last-ability.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The level design is great and the game is played from a top-down perspective. Several details like buildings, city blocks, are nicely drawn and remind me of Taito's Flying Shark arcade shooter! I also liked the digitized loading screen from the original box art of the movie. Compared to the other 8bit versions, the CPC seems to have been ported from the ZX, so the action is quite slow and the gameplay area is quite small but with nice and bright colors (which may get frustrating sometimes as enemy bullets and other obstacles are not easily visible!) The sound is rather poor on the CPC (and in all 8 bit versions). It features an intro music score from the original movie and only a few "dull" sound effects while playing.