Lethal Xcess

STORY / GAMEPLAY
Lethal Xcess is a vertical scrolling shooter game. All the classic shoot 'em up features are included, much like its predecessor (Wings of Death) and the two player mode adds a little more depth to the whole gameplay. You begin your flying voyage with laser cannons shooting triangular (!) projectiles, which can be powered up or exchanged for other weapons as long as you shoot down enemy spaceships! There are seven upgrades in total, all introduced by a digitized voice (i.e. "Drone", "Wiper" etc). The game is not an easy ride and much like its predecessor, the incoming enemies are tough and fast. In fact, most of the time the gameplay area is swarmed by enemy laser shots, making you zig-zagging all the time! Throughout the game's five stages, the number of the enemy sprites gradually increases (!) while towards the end of each level there is always something...BIG waiting for you...! A good strategy is to try and pick one weapon and stick with it, since the more powerful it gets, the more effective it can be, especially on the end-level boss. Much like Wings of Death, Lethal Xcess is a very good effort in the field of shoot 'em up gaming of the past.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The Amiga version is identical to the ST/STE in terms of colors and superior in terms of sprite animation. Although Copper technique (supported by the Amiga hardware) is included in order to offer more colors, still the number of colors used looks pretty much like the ST/STE versions (up to 30 colors on screen). I would expect at least the game to run in EHB (Extra Half-Bright mode) and perform minimum 64 colors on screen, but apparently the game looks like a direct port from the ST series; still the graphics look great though. The game runs at 50 FPS which was normal for an Amiga game, without the need of any special technique (as on the ST and STE versions). The sprites move fast, without a glitch, even when up to 95 sprites (!) occupy the screen! Impressive! Soundwise, the Amiga version is superior to the ST/STE in sampling quality. The game continues to impress much like its predecessor (Wings Of Death), offering a variety of nice tunes written by the famous Jochen Hippel, along with plenty of sampled, stereo sound effects.