Cybernoid 2

STORY / GAMEPLAY
The game is similar to its predecessor (Cybernoid) but with improved graphics and some minor differences in gameplay. The Fighting Machine is again a flip-screen shoot 'em up where you control the deadly Cybernoid craft and your mission is to rescue the cargo stolen by a wave of pirate ships. the key factor here is to use correctly all weapon systems provided. These include side-aiming guns, bouncing bombs, seeker smart bombs, bombs that move around the screen to find a target, and time-sensitive bombs that explode a few seconds after you drop them. Shooting pirate ships releases cargo and you must collect at least 1500 points, but on many screens it is more prudent to escape immediately, as some screens hide more hazards than others and not all aliens react in the same way. I have to mention that Cybernoid II is a really tough game and almost impossible to advance from one level to the next! Simply insane! I personally never completed this.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The C64 has nice graphics featuring good colors, great backgrounds AND foregrounds and smooth sprite animation (gameplay is in flip-screen). Strangely, the color palette looks better compared to the CPC version. Soundwise the game is excellent and features a wonderful main music theme (also playing during gameplay) composed by Jeroen Tel, while the ZX (128k) and CPC have a completely different (but great as well) theme, composed by Dave Rogers. Note that the Commodore version has no in-game sound effects at all (!)