Technocop logo

REAL X-rated stuff - not an attempt to capitalise on Robocop by producing a cheap and nasty copy. For those among us who are guilty of such vindictive thoughts, it is time to eat our words. Techno Cop is a completely different concept.

The first sub game is a car racing shoot 'em up in the Roadblasters mould. Through the windscreen you see the front of your car and enemy vehicles. The objective is to reach the criminal's hideout in the allotted time. Unfortunately life isn't that easy because drivers in other cars adopt kamikaze driving.

Your car, equipped with an automatic five-speed gear box and standard blaster, can accelerate out of trouble leaving a trail of metallic debris from wasted enemy vehicles.
In fifth gear you can cruise at 223mph. The speed the programmers have achieved with the scrolling and animation is really impressive.

When you reach the criminal's hideout the action changes from a race game into an arcade shoot-'em-up. The car door opens and Techno Cop jumps out.
During a brief delay while the disc drive loads the new backdrops and game action, the dashboard is swapped for a gadget-packed wristband. It is important that you learn what every gadget does. Part of the strap contains a small screen showing a picture of the villain and his physical statistics.

To locate each adversary you must follow the radar. You can either destroy foes using a special purpose gun or catch them with a net. Succeed and you can return to your car where you will be asked to move on to stage two.

After each stage Techno Cop is promoted through the police ranks, and enhancements in speed and firepower are added to his car.

Presentation is of the highest quality. Gameplay touches top levels of excitement and exhilaration. Each sub game would stand up on its own right as an Amiga release. Combined, they represent outstanding value.



Technocop logo

Amiga
GREMLIN

Ugh! Splatter! Boom! You are the cop of the future. Step aside Robocop, let the real men through. Techy, as he is know to his friends, has to try and get promoted by completing all the missions sent to him whilst he is out driving his spanking red Ferrari around the quaint country roads. Also on the roads are loads of other cars who, Mad Max style, try to run you off the road.

Accept the mission and drive straight to the scene of the crime. The view changes to a side-on one. Your man runs around the nicely detailed buildings. Shoot at people with your fun to turn them into a quivering mess. Shoot them with your net to leave them wriggling on the floor in a white sticky mess.

Graphics are nice and gory, sound is alright and it plays well. A nice bit of fun.



Technocop logo

Gremlin, Amiga £19.99 disk

He's all human, just plain gristle, flesh an' blood like you and me, but he acts like a machine. He spends most of his time gunning down people with a machine rifle, turning them into puddles of slimy gunge right in the middle of the floor so you can't get them off with Flash. He's big, he's got lots of guns and scientists have discovered that he has absolutely NO BRAIN. Well, whaddya expect?

So what does this robo-cop... whoops (we never said that, no we didn't, nope, never, no sireee)... I mean, Technocop geezer do with his life then?

He goes after known criminals and brings 'em back dead or alive, that's what. Each mission has two parts. First off, you drive to a villain's hideout, picking off enemy vehicles with your side-mounted cannon and generally hogging (oink, oink) the road.

Made it? Right then, off you go along corridors, up and down lifts, looking for the very nasty bloke in question. Shoot or net everybody that gets in your way and when you find the baddy, GET HIM.
And then you do it all again. Woohoo!


Gordon Houghton It really is coming to something when you use the graphic capabilities of the Amiga to produce something as mindlessly sick as this. It's all good fun, is it? Well, it looks a bit too close to reality to seem like good fun to me - blowing someone into a pile of offal isn't my idea of enjoyment. OK, so you'll probably all go out and have a look at it because it's 'controversial' - well, by all means have a look at both versions, but for god-sake don't buy them, because there's a repetitive, dull and unoriginal game cowering underneath all that sensationalist gore.
Kati Hamza Well, the story's all about mindless violence and when you get right down to it, that's exactly what this is - mindless. I mean, even an evening with Jim Bowen would be a lot more fun than driving your car down a bit of road, blasting a few people in the head and then... you get the picture? Sounds riveting, dunnit? Oh yeah, and top marks for ingenuity to the clever individual who devised that long-winded multiload in-between every section on the 64. It's just slightly more boring hanging around for the Amiga to access disk. Ignore the gratuitous picture of the female on the packaging and don't buy this.
Zzap's Rockford: Dead or Alive, You're coming With Me! Weeeeee! Zzap's Nose