![]() ![]() As a player battles for flares, he can use various power-ups to increase his share of the screen (thereby shrinking his opponent's side) or rotate his half of the screen to steal the other player's flares and items. Skilled players will be able to unlock a few extra options once they complete the regular game, including a Master Chain mode.Ī two-player mode allows for head-to-head competition on a vertical split-screen. You can also store your best rounds on a memory card and show your fireworks displays off to your friends. Upon successfully completing a level, you can watch a replay using various camera angles and add different lighting and weather effects. Collecting enough "star" power-ups releases a "Starmine" flare - a sort of bonus round, rapid-fire succession of flares. With a limited amount of energy, players stay alive by detonating as many flares as possible, and by grabbing various power-ups as they appear onscreen. The bigger the chain, the higher your score.Įach level has a predetermined length and a set course, scrolling through cities, outer space, and unknown territories. Using the analog stick to point from flare to flare, a player must link three or more similar flares and set them off in a chain of fireworks explosions. ![]() In a manner similar to Missile Command, the goal is to select and detonate matched groups of flares. Little touches like fog patches in the mountains give “Crimson Skies” a little more juice than the average air-combat game.This fireworks-based puzzle title is notable for being the only title available from Sony on the PlayStation 2's launch date. Less technical than a hard-core flight sim, “Crimson Skies” nonetheless gives wannabe sky jockeys the opportunity to soar over and through some great terrain and fight some nasty adversaries. Into this chaos fly a band of air pirates bent on plundering freight zeppelins that transport cargo. Texas, California and a few other states that matter seceded from the country and various states skirmish with each other. “Crimson Skies” is a combat flight sim with a fantastic twist: All of the combat takes place above the skies of a fractured United States during the 1930s. Even on a Pentium III 933, the game hiccups and stutters, which I attribute to Windows ME because the game flowed smoothly enough on my Pentium II 333 running Windows 98 Second Edition. Windows ME, which I think stands for Most Enraging, chokes on most of the games I play on it.Īlthough “Crimson Skies” combat flight sim works OK on the system, it hardly shines. It’s gratifying to know, at least, that not even Microsoft games run very well on the company’s new operating system. Some of the motion seems a little unrealistic, though, because the subs stop and turn much faster than they could in an aquatic environment. The submarines move swiftly through the water and offer plenty of maneuverability. It’s interesting most of the time, but I would have preferred a little more shooting and a little less playing aqua-farmer. Players pilot different submarines around a decently rendered seascape performing tasks as diverse as collecting radioactive rocks, herding fish and blasting bad guys out of the water. Sega Genesis came with Sonic and Super Nintendo had Mario. In the good old days of the late 1980s and early 1990s, folks who plopped down a few hundred bones for a video-game system usually got a game packed in with it. Now, had Sony done the honorable thing and packed “Fantavision” in with every PlayStation 2, maybe things would be different. ![]() You’re better off lighting $50 on fire than spending it on the cheesy pyrotechnics of “Fantavision.” Don’t let the shimmer of PlayStation 2 or the fact that “Fantavision” is the only launch title actually from Sony Computer Entertainment fool you. But we live in a world where the really good cable channels are scrambled, the beautiful women fall for jerks and even truly terrible games like “Fantavision” cost $50. If we lived in a just world-a world where every child is loved and Adam Sandler wins Oscars-games like “Fantavision” would be free. ![]()
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