G-Prime

.: By: Shaun Beane :: Device used: iPAQ H3650 :: June 21, 2001 :: Buy this game :.

If you liked Galaga, you’ll love G-Prime. With a total retro feel, G-Prime will capture your attention and, because of it’s simplicity, keep you coming back for more. You’ll have flashbacks to the good ole days when arcade games were only a quarter.

I’ll have to admit; at first I really wasn’t that impressed with G-Prime. With all the high end games hitting the market lately, it seems only the most explosive and graphically stunning games stand out. If you give G-Prime a fair chance, I think you will find that it’s a pretty fun game.

G-Prime is your basic “space invaders” style game – except that the enemy doesn’t just sit there and wait to get blown away. The ships do actually fly into and out of formation quite regularly making it fairly difficult to hit the little buggers with you limited fire power. It’s the limited fire power that I feel makes this game challenging. Unlike Turjah, you don’t get “kill everything” bombs and super rapid-fire guns. You get the basic laser gun and that’s pretty much it. You can pick up some other weapons along the way, but not all of them have an indefinite life. Some only last a few seconds and then you’re back to the wimpy gun. This makes G-Prime a lot more challenging than you would think. The comparison is kind of like 10 pin bowling versus candlepin. 10 pin is a lot of fun because it is easier to knock down all the pins with one shot. Candlepin is more challenging and takes much more skill (in my opinion). I think G-Prime is more challenging than other games and requires a little more patience.

From the opening screen you’ll have the normal options: Start, Info, Settings, High Scores and Exit. Info shows you all the different types of space ships and power ups. You’ll also be shown how to score extra lives; after 5,000, 10,000 and then every 10,000 thereafter.

The space ships vary in difficulty to kill and agility. Some of the ships are slow and kill with one shot, others take several shots and move very quickly. This is where the slow shooting of your space ship makes it difficult.

The powers ups that are available are: firepower, shields, extra life, energy and what looks to be a special weapon. The firepower is the one you want. Otherwise, killing the opponent can take a while.

Settings allows you to control sounds, music, inertia, stylus control (instead of game pad control), and difficulty. Having an iPAQ, stylus control is a must. I tried both difficulty levels and didn’t notice much difference. The difficult level was maybe slightly faster and with more shots by the enemy.

Playing the game is not hampered by the iPAQ button problem. I used the stylus for controlling my ship and the calendar button for firing the gun. The stylus control was a little sluggish at times, but overall worked pretty well. The first time I played I was able to get through the 10th level without much effort. After level 3 and level 7 your ship is sent into hyperspace where the enemy ships start flying out of black whole and then right off the screen. You only get one shot at these guys but you’ll get a bonus for the number you kill. It is also pretty easy to get extra lives – good things, because it is also pretty easy to get killed.

G-Prime is a pretty basic game. It is still pretty fun to play. The difficulty comes from more and more space ships with more fire power. Like I mentioned before, I think this is what makes G-Prime so challenging – lots of ships, and you only have a wimpy little gun.

Give G-Prime a test drive. It doubt it will be for everybody. If you like Turjah style games, with lots of cool power-ups and just about every type of alien ship you could think of, then G-Prime might not be for you. You won’t find high-tech equipment here.

Pros:

• Easy to play

• Great looking graphics

• Customizable controls

Cons:

• Not very exciting power-ups

• Slow fire power

.: Game category: Action & Arcade Games :: Reviews Index :: Buy this game :.