Licence to Kill


by Andrew Blazdell, John Kavanagh, Quixel, Raffaele Cecco, Tony West, Robin Behling
Domark Ltd
1989
Crash Issue 68, Sep 1989   page(s) 46,47

Domark
£9.99/£14.99

This is rather topical, seeing as I only managed to see the film last night! And a jolly enjoyable flick it was too, probably the best Bond yet, I think. And this has absolutely no connection with the fact that Talisa Soto (drooool!) is in it. Oh no, we don't fancy her at all!

The plot is simple (that's not new for a Bond film!): evil drugs baron Sanchez kidnaps Bond's mate Felix on his wedding night and does him in. Bond gets all stroppy about this, and goes after Sanchez, much to the annoyance of M, who revokes his Licence to Kill. What follows is predictable enough: two fast and furious hours of Bond gunning for Sanchez.

As usual with film tie-ins, a selection of the better scenes make a multi-stage arcade game. In this case, we've got three scenes subdivided into individual parts. In part one of the first scene you must blast Sanchez's jeep from your helicopter. Then it's out of the chopper, and foot slogging, dodging your way through the scenery shooting baddies as you go.

To top off load-one, Bond is lowered by rope from the helicopter, and has to get a tow rope onto the tall of Sanchez's plane.

Scene two happens at sea, with some vertically scrolling swim-'n'-shoot-'em-up action. Like the movie, the final stage is where the tanker trucks go hurtling along the mountain road in the escape from the drug factory, Bond doing his best to stop them.

It's all jolly good clean fun (say no to the evils of drugs, kids!). The graphics are good, and there's plenty of variation, though the game is a bit tough. It's good to see someone not making a complete mess of a fairy good licence for a charge! Licence to Continue, Domark.

MIKE [79%]


This block busting James Bond game should be renamed Licence To Make The Player Jolly Mad! It's well put together, and all the graphics and sound are what we have come to expect from Domark, but it's just too hard for the likes of me. I could just about manage to get through the first bit, but was then confronted with a tiny stick man to represent me and miles of gun blasting enemies to wade through! The later levels are really good, with James swimming after speed boats (wooo!), and a dare devil truck race. There's great playability to be had in Licence To Kill, but you're going to have to be a pretty hot gamesplayer to get at it (is Nicko admitting his fallings? - Ed.).
NICK [80%]

Presentation: 82%
Graphics: 80%
Sound: 80%
Playability: 80%
Addictivity: 75%
Overall: 80%

Summary: Good adaption of the film, playable when you're used to the difficulty level.

Transcript by Chris Bourne

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