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### The Alien Team [C64]

#### http://gtw64.retro-net.de/

#### http://noname.c64.org/csdb/release/?id=74344

#### Reviewed By T.M.R

Beware, The Alien Team are coming! In fact they've been hiding amongst us for over twenty years, originally escaping (although not to the Los Angeles underground) in 1988 as part of a three game compilation that was sold with a target which was connected to a Commodore 64; players shot at it with little plastic balls from the supplied toy guns in order to interact with the on-screen action. Two of the games, Competition Shoot-Out and Voyager 19 were simple "shoot the target, get an on-screen reaction" affairs but the third, The Alien Team, was apparently written after the development team started getting bored of just reading the target and bumping the score so, instead of using the extra hardware during the main game instead it only requires the target to be shot during level selection and the boss battles.

But since selecting a level without the hardware was impossible previously (and because nobody had a copy of the thing until it was unearthed by Frank Gasking over at Games That Weren't 64) nobody could actually play the game... until C64 cracking legends Triad pulled it apart and installed a trainer option that re-routes the sensors of the target over to the C64's number keys - this modification would render the other two titles in the Gamma Strike pack fairly pointless (although Voyager 19 has since been converted) but The Alien Team doesn't suffer from it's absence and the joystick-driven part that remains is a horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up as well so I believe I'm contractually obliged to consider that a good reason in itself!

After selecting an opponent with the target or keys, you clamber into your little spaceship and hare across the parallax scrolling planet surface; waves of attackers try to get in your way and you must negotiate a lasting peace with them... not really, you get to use your chunky laser cannons to blow them into space dust. The ship itself moves at a workable speed and has a detailed animation sequence as it tilts and although the weapon possibly doesn't fire as often as it could there is at least enough firepower to get the job done as long as it's used well. The movement of the attack waves can initially appear to be somewhat erratic as well so players will get royally twonked for at least a couple of lives (the game rather generously gives nine when it starts) until they've had a chance to learn the finite number of patterns.

When a certain quota of nasties has been dispatched, it's time for a boss battle. The member of The Alien Team selected at the start of the level stands in the middle of the screen, when he draws his gun the target must be shot (or a number key pressed) before he gets a shot off. The player and baddie are either incredibly resilient or their guns are loaded with rubber bullets since both can take nine shots before keeling over and without the target shooting element this sequence is rather drawn out (three hits a piece or the fire button taking the place of the target would have probably helped things along). Once defeated, another member of the team can be selected and it's time to rinse and repeat over the same scrolling landscape with the same attack waves but a different sprite animation until all three Alien Team members have been given a good seeing to.

Okay, this thing really isn't Armalyte... in fact it's not even of the standard that some of the higher class budget houses like Rack It or Players Premier insisted on around the time it was released. The in-game graphics are just about okay and there's lots of animation on the sprites, but the backgrounds are identical between levels and pretty minimal with it whilst the animation of the bosses consists of them wobbling comically for a few moments before drawing. The sound effects are similarly uncomplicated, with both the "hum" on the presentation screens and the ship's firing sound prompting a dive for the volume control fairly rapidly.

Despite the limited appeal of what is essentially the same level repeated three times, as long as players approach The Alien Team without any expectations its fair to say that it handles as well as any mid 1980s budget blaster and probably wouldn't have looked out of place in the early Mastertronic boxes since it's got more going for it than, say, Bionic Granny. It isn't going to keep people playing for days and a seasoned shoot 'em up pilot won't get more than an hour out of it before looping the entire game (and since the counter doesn't seem to work correctly, there's no point in playing for scores either) but what little on offer can still be enjoyed for what it is, simple blasting action.