Dropzone Review
Dropzone is just one of those games which everyone seems to have played. I remember it from the old Atari Vs. Amiga times when I think it was first released under the name of....well, erm, Dropzone I guess, well there's a surprise. As seems to be the case with many games these days, the Gameboy Colour is just the new host for another re-release. Luckily for GBC owners, games such as the old favorites, Speedball (maybe!), Dropzone, Gauntlet (maybe too, if we're lucky!), etc etc etc, just add the icing on the cake for old computer game romantics such as myself. Gone are the days where you have to wheel out and dust off you old console systems just to play the games you love, now all you need is a good few developers/porters and your trusty GBC.
Just incase you haven't ever heard of dropzone, it is based around a little space bloke with a jetpack on his back, flying around a landscape shooting aliens and rescuing people, essentially that is the idea. You fly about using your jetpack to defy the gravity of the planet your on, whilst shooting wave after wave of aliens and rescuing people by picking them up and placing then in dropzones, (ah! Hence the name!). Although you do need to do this to complete the levels it's not just for bonus points, simple huh?
This game probably does have differences from the original, I'm not going to write about them though 'cos my mind isn't as good as it used to be; basically it looks the same and plays the same.
The graphics are good; in fact they are some of the best I have seen. The Gameboy Colour seems to really come out smelling of roses when arcade style games are ported onto it. It's a shame really that the games written specifically for the GC are so shoddy in comparison. I guess they don't make them like they used to.....
The sounds are not bad, just the usual shooting and blowing up sounds you get with all games like this. The out-of-game tunes are ok, but nothing special either.
The playability at first took a little getting used to, I haven't played dropzone in a while and I was a little rusty. The control of the spaceman is the main problem as he seems to zip around at quite a rate, but as will all things practice makes perfect, and I was soon nipping around the various landscapes shooting me some alien butt. The Gravity be a bit of a pain too, but as before that become all part of the game. Having a few bombs to wipe out aliens on the screen is kind of helpful when your in trouble, but don't waste them too soon into the game, because you'll need them later, as with most games, it gets harder. Apart from getting to choose whether you play with a white or black background there is little else in the way of game options, so nothing to play with there.
As for lastability, well it's survived for about sixteen years, how much more lastable do you want???
It's just one of those games where the game doesn't realy change from level to level, but you still seem hooked to it until the last. Well if games like Tetris can do it, I don't see why Dropzone can't.
I definitely have to say that I like this game (although I liked it before). It is fair to say that the game idea isn't new by any standards, but it is just one of those games which you forget just how good they actually are. If you're an ex-Amiga/Atari gamer, you will probably want this just to remember the good old times but then again it probably would be more to your liking just to drag out your old Atari/Amiga than pay £20+ for essentially the exact same game it all over again But if you don't already have a copy of this timeless classic, then I would get a copy if I were you, it's much better then most new games I have seen for a long while.