Review: Star X (GBA)

Star X is a minor revolution for Nintendo's hand-held wonder, it is the first title to feature 3 dimensional polygon graphics and the final result is pretty damn impressive. In fact this is so similar to Nintendo's seminal classic Starwing I'm surprised their lawyers haven't put an injunction out against Bam! Entertainment to stop the game being released, then again maybe they've sat down and played it.

Anybody who has watched the average Sci-Fi flick would instantly be suspicious when a new race of aliens (The Kerask), asks for ambassadors to be sent to their planet to thrash out a negotiations deal. It just so happens that the hero of Star X is not as canny as everybody else and finds himself in deep trouble when the former peace loving aliens reveal their actual intentions of placing the intrepid pilot's home planet into slavery. Having been discovered you have to escape the alien planet and make your one to your own before all hope is lost.

Once you have made your way through the perfunctory title screens you will gasp in wonder at Graphic State's 3 dimensional game engine. The various enemy ships are well detailed and instantly recognisable whenever they are on screen. Similarly bosses are also imaginatively designed, sometimes to big to be held within the tiny constraints of the GBA's screen. The ship you pilot is incredibly similar to the craft found in Starwing and you cant help feeling a case of déjà vu as you career through the densely populated skies, in fact the whole game looks like an improved graphical version of the Snes original and even some of the alien craft give more than a cursory nod to their older peers.

This is a great debut effort for the machine and bodes well for future releases. Sound on the other hand is nowhere near as impressive as the (at times) gob-smacking visuals, the music that plays throughout can be best described as a dirge and the accompanying sonic effects do little to add to the atmosphere. Explosions do have their moments and being a shooter you hear plenty of them although the weapon upgrades sound suitably weedy and don't much what's displayed onscreen. As with any good Shoot-em-up your craft has a variety of manoeuvres and weapon upgrades with which to take on the enemy; a simple press of the shoulder buttons will result in your craft rolling in the relevant direction, a further press will result in your craft spinning quickly in an attempt to dodge incoming fire.

Smart bombs are also in your repertoire; along with the ability to boost forwards and brake sharply whenever the screen gets cluttered, in fact apart from a missing loop it has exactly the same controls as Starwing. The two games may look very similar; however as far as game play goes Star X sits right at the bottom of the evolutionary ladder. Whereas the Nintendo ship flies gracefully through the air, fully responding to every delicate press of the D-pad; Bam's effort handles with all the grace of an overloaded Tesco trolley. The aiming system is ridiculously erratic and takes an age to lock onto the various targets, sometimes being so slow that by the time your shot has been fired the target has long gone. Many graphical hazards from falling pillars to outcrops of rock need to be negotiated (especially if you want to pick up the power-ups judiciously placed throughout the levels), although being able to bypass these by sticking to the extreme sides of the screen seems to completely miss the point.

Boasting an impressive 22 levels there is certainly enough to keep you going should you persevere with it and although there is no battery back up a pass-word system is used to save your progress throughout your travels. It soon becomes apparent that this game is never going to be regarded in the same circles as it's illustrious predecessor, this is a real shame because if the game play had been giving the same loving attention as it's visuals it could have been a real classic.

Rating: 4 / 10

Words by Darran Jones