A.P.B./All-Points Bulletin (ARC, 1987)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-7 Control-8? Challenge-9/8* Story-6
Level Design-6.5/7.5* Frustration-9/8* Fun-6/7* Originality-7.5
Overall Score-7
*Very easy/2 of 8
+
Comical tone (satirical, whimsical)
Innovative gameplay (top down traffic police sim, arrest traffic violators, chase and tackle bosses, eat donuts (bonus time), need to meet a quota before time runs out and not collide with other traffic)
Vehicle upgrades (speed shop)
Skid marks when taking off
Decent little cutscenes based on your performance
Pretty good art direction (cutscenes)
Looping levels with some alternate paths
Good camera and sense of speed
Training level
Difficulty options (8 levels)
Can use the siren to make other cars move out of the way, pretty good NPC AI, semi-hidden point items, can speed up cutscenes and mission briefings, decent voice samples overall, randomized traffic (adds replay value but can make some levels hard to practice),
+/-
Level timer
Limited fuel
Limited continues (can be changed to 199 though)
No level maps
Tutorial messages stop the gameplay (could've shown a "message received" pop up and let you view it manually by pressing a button)
Need to buy breaks (rare on normal)
Can get demerits removed by finding money bags (these are rare and off road though)
-
Trial & error (crossing trains, other cars can drive through some blockades (lvls 2 and 4 for example, in 4 you can run into cars at the beginning because of this) - makes it look like you can too, ambush attack by the first boss - hard to spot the dynamite the first time you play, interrogation isn't explained beforehand)
Some annoying sfx and voices
So-so use of the YM2151 chip overall
Too easy to die (car blows up from most collisions - can buy armor but it's rare on normal, game over after 8 demerits (colliding with non-criminals, running over pedestrians))
Interrogation is done by button mashing to fill up a meter and you have to replay the level if you fail
Fairly easy to miss the item you want to buy in shops (since you want to be passing through them quickly)
Can't go in reverse? (played in mame, pedal and car wheel game)
Forced to replay boss levels if you don't meet the quota but not if you don't catch/kill the boss (=more forced collecting; would've been more fun if you could just take the demerits and progress)
Weird hit detection when touching against some objects (would've been better if the car would turn while gliding away from the object instead of wiggling back and forth)
Level Design-6.5/7.5* Frustration-9/8* Fun-6/7* Originality-7.5
Overall Score-7
*Very easy/2 of 8
+
Comical tone (satirical, whimsical)
Innovative gameplay (top down traffic police sim, arrest traffic violators, chase and tackle bosses, eat donuts (bonus time), need to meet a quota before time runs out and not collide with other traffic)
Vehicle upgrades (speed shop)
Skid marks when taking off
Decent little cutscenes based on your performance
Pretty good art direction (cutscenes)
Looping levels with some alternate paths
Good camera and sense of speed
Training level
Difficulty options (8 levels)
Can use the siren to make other cars move out of the way, pretty good NPC AI, semi-hidden point items, can speed up cutscenes and mission briefings, decent voice samples overall, randomized traffic (adds replay value but can make some levels hard to practice),
+/-
Level timer
Limited fuel
Limited continues (can be changed to 199 though)
No level maps
Tutorial messages stop the gameplay (could've shown a "message received" pop up and let you view it manually by pressing a button)
Need to buy breaks (rare on normal)
Can get demerits removed by finding money bags (these are rare and off road though)
-
Trial & error (crossing trains, other cars can drive through some blockades (lvls 2 and 4 for example, in 4 you can run into cars at the beginning because of this) - makes it look like you can too, ambush attack by the first boss - hard to spot the dynamite the first time you play, interrogation isn't explained beforehand)
Some annoying sfx and voices
So-so use of the YM2151 chip overall
Too easy to die (car blows up from most collisions - can buy armor but it's rare on normal, game over after 8 demerits (colliding with non-criminals, running over pedestrians))
Interrogation is done by button mashing to fill up a meter and you have to replay the level if you fail
Fairly easy to miss the item you want to buy in shops (since you want to be passing through them quickly)
Can't go in reverse? (played in mame, pedal and car wheel game)
Forced to replay boss levels if you don't meet the quota but not if you don't catch/kill the boss (=more forced collecting; would've been more fun if you could just take the demerits and progress)
Weird hit detection when touching against some objects (would've been better if the car would turn while gliding away from the object instead of wiggling back and forth)