Battle Bugs

[thordog]

This game kind of took me by surprise the first time I played it. After all, it's a real-time tactical strategy game released in 1994 with a fun, cartoony feel to it. It's pretty involved as far as the interface and the depth of gameplay go, but it is approachable and never takes itself too seriously. <BR><BR>The game features good graphics for 1994 - which I believe is due to the fact that it's in a higher resolution than 320x200 (yet still runs in DOS). I'm not quite sure, but it could be in 640x480. Either way, the graphics are smooth, sharp, and colorful.<BR><BR>The sound and music are also excellent. The bugs' voices are appropriately high-pitched, and the briefing voiceovers are very well-done. The music, however, is really awful. The music selection ranges from catchy, jazzy numbers to more stupid war themes. Truly an overuse of conventional MIDI.<BR><BR>Finally, the game is so funny! Most of the humor lies in the product satires seen throughout the game. Since the game is in a very domestic setting, there are many opportunities for humor involving household products and brand names. True, some are just lame puns (Sony becomes Phony, and Cheerios become Uh-Ohs), but others are quite clever (my personal favorite is No Entiendeo, which is a play on Nintendo).<BR><BR>If you ever see this on Ebay or in some bargain bin somewhere, do yourself a favor and pick it up. <BR><BR>The game is a bit too challenging in some spots. I never actually beat all the missions. There are 30 some-odd missions available, and I could only complete about 15 of them. <BR><BR>The Bottom Line:<BR>It's addictive, funny, and most importantly it's fun. Battle Bugs belongs in any strategy fan's collection. <BR><BR><BR>