NIGHT GUNNER is a game program that was written originally for the British Spectrum, but has been translated to run on a stock T/S 2068. It is on the Digital Integration label (the company that produces the popular Fighter Pilot simulation program), and is sold here by Knighted Computers, 707 Highland St., Fulton, NY 13069, for $19.95 plus $3.00 s & h (total order). The basic theme of this game is a WWII air battle.
As long time readers of TIME DESIGNS know, I very much enjoy playing and reviewing games for T/S computers. Night Gunner is an arcade style game in the truest sense of the word. If you were to go down to the nearest arcade video solon, there would be a least half a dozen games that have similar themes and strategies as this one.
You are on a flying mission at night, and as gunner and bomber, you must defend your plane against enemy attack and also destroy ground targets. The two standard screen displays throughout the different missions are straight ahead with moveable gun sights, and flying overhead dropping bombs at high altitudes.
It is fairly easy to score high in this game, especially with joystick in hand. This is probably Night Gunner’s biggest plus…joystick control. Playing the gamut of Spectrum software without a joystick, makes a person really appreciate a program with this feature. The response here is quite smooth.
The game also continues for quite a while, even if you aren’t shooting like an ace, giving the player ample time to improve skill and points. Two players can also play at once.
While Night Gunner’s graphics are adequate, they certainly don’t cover anything new. Not like some other English games that this reviewer has seen. But I have a hunch that the author simply wrote this program to be a full-fledge “shoot-er up” arcade game. Nothing more and nothing less. It executes this one goal extremely well.