OH no! Gylend the evil dimension conquering mega beat from planet Dull has captured some of my friends. Guess I'll just have to go and rescue them won't I?
Huh, what do you know - that sly fox Gylend has hidden them back in the depths of time. Oh well, where's the guidebook for Rome. Yup, first stop Primitive Age, and a tussle with Roman legionaries. Ere mate, mind where you're sticking your Pilum!
And some people say computers are elitist and for the intelligentsia. My mother could come up with a better plot than this. So what does it all mean for you, the guy on the other end of the joystick?
Well, what it means is that there are a number of different vertically scrolling levels set in different time periods, offering a variety of foes to waste. At various points during these levels something big and horrible, pops up and has to be dispatched.
Whether you can perform the job of temporal postman, depends on two factors. Factor One: A reasonable measure of joystick waggling ability. Factor Two: Have you got the big boy versions of the rocket and lasers that appear along the way? If not you ain't got a snowflake in hell's chance.
Ah yes, there's also the energy replenishment icons which are decidedly essential as well. But the rub is this: If you have the top super wobbly version of either laser or rockets then you can blast everything going and pick up all the energy and stuff you like.
If you don't acquire big boy equipment quickly enough, you won't last long because you only get one life. Ah well, that's the disadvantage of having a coin-op board manufacturer converting to home computers.
Sadly, Electrocoin has yet to realise that what goes in the fast coinage turnover arcades does not necessarily go in the home market.
The graphics are all right, there are a lot of people rushing towards you that need killing, the music is total rubbish and the scrolling is quite smooth.
What's wrong is that the individual levels go on and on, and even repeat themselves. Commando on the Commodore 64 has more colourful graphics, miles better music, and much better gameplay. And that game came out years ago. Time Soldier is really not good enough at all, and is simply a homage to mediocrity.