Slap Fight

STORY / GAMEPLAY
The story takes place in the year 2059 and you're flying towards planet Orac in which enemy life forms squadrons to attack in lethal waves. The screen soon is swarmed by several (land-based) alien forces. Upon destroying certain aliens, sometimes they yield a star. Pick up the star and this will highlight the icon at the bottom of the screen. Press Spacebar and it will award you with the indicated power-up such as enhanced speed (this is the very first upgrade to take, as it will give you the proper maneuverability to avoid enemy fire), extra wings for more payload, side-shots, etc. Slap Fight is a cool game but the action is rather slow for an arcade shoot 'em up!

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The graphics on the Atari ST conversion are great, colorful and include most of the original (arcade) version's details and the scrolling is pretty good too. The sound effects and music are greatly done but unfortunately they do not play simultaneously. The sound effects consist of solid laser-shots that match the game's atmosphere but doing little to enhance the overall experience. The in-game music is composed by David Whittaker but it's far from a thrilling musical experience, but it does the job well.