Lethal Weapon (screenshot by Old School Game Blog)
Review of Lethal Weapon for the Amiga 500
Introduction
The game we’re going to look at today is called Lethal Weapon and it was first released back in 1992. It was developed and published by Ocean, one of the largest software houses in the first half of the 1990′s. As the title of the game suggests, it is based upon the popular Lethal Weapon movies that starred actors like Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. These films are basically about two L.A cops named Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh. Their personalities are very, very different, but they still make a good team. Together they give criminals a hard time. In the first movie for example, they helped shut down a large drug-smuggling operation. Needless to say, the movies are filled with action and I therefore expect the game to be the same.
A picture from Lethal Weapon showing Riggs to the left and Murtaugh to the right (photo taken from http://www.moviesonline.ca/AdvHTML_Upload/lethal_weapon_1.jpg)
Requirements
Lethal Weapon will work on most Amiga setups, but you’ll need to have at least 1MB of RAM installed. I ran the game on an Amiga 1200 without any issues at all, so it is safe to say that it is AGA-friendly. It comes on one floppy disk, so there’s no need for a hard drive. You boot the game straight from floppy and it only takes a couple of minutes to get started.
Getting Started
You can select the mission you want to play in the Police Department (screenshot by Old School Game Blog)
It all begins in an office building that (probably) belongs to the L.A Police Department. You are in control of Martin Riggs and you have the option to select either mission 1, 2 or 3. Mission 4 is locked. You can also enter the computer room to check mission status reports and enter level codes. If you don’t feel like playing as Martin Riggs, you can head over to the locker room, and you’ll be able to play as Roger Murtaugh instead.
The details of mission one (screenshot by Old School Game Blog)
When you’ve decided which mission to play, let’s say number one, you’ll be taken to a quick briefing performed by the head-honcho of the Police Department. There you’ll get an idea of what’s at stake and an option to either accept or decline the mission. As you can see from the screenshot above, your first objective is to crack down on some international criminals that are involved in smuggling profits abroad. In mission two you must save your city from terrorists and in mission three your objective is to rescue a man held hostage in an old factory.
Playing the Game
Lethal Weapon is a typical action-orientated platform game. The screen scrolls in the direction you move and you make your way through the game by running and jumping on and off platforms.
The controls are straight forward and easy to get to grips with. Push the joystick upwards to jump, down to crouch, and either left or right to walk in a specific direction. You can shoot (or kick if you’re close enough) enemies by pressing the fire-button. It’s worth mentioning that there are a lot of doors you can enter throughout the game. These rooms often contains nice bonuses for you to collect. You can enter these areas by pushing up on the joystick when you are in front of the door.
Watch out for the bad guy above.. he's looking for trouble! (screenshot by Old School Game Blog)
You’ll encounter all kinds of dangerous enemies in the game. They are wielding weapons like flame throwers, rocket launchers, pistols and even dynamite sticks. Don’t be afraid though, as you’ll be able to take them out with your trusty gun, but please remember that they have a tendency to appear out of nowhere when you walk into new areas. Having a good memory will help you here, as you can then prepare yourself for what’s ahead.
There are plenty of bonuses to be found in each mission. If you’re lucky, you might stumble upon a cache of ammunition, extra lives or perhaps some well-earned points. Keep your eyes peeled!
The difficulty of the game is moderate and it should be possible to complete with some practice. It’s worth mentioning that the collision-detection in Lethal Weapon is top-notch, which is extremely important in these kinds of games. There’s a lot of action in Lethal Weapon and you’ll encounter a lot of bad guys, some more difficult to beat than others.
Nicely drawn graphics! (screenshot by Old School Game Blog)
Even though it comes on only one floppy disk, the game is jam-packed with graphics and music. There are separate tunes for the different missions, along with intro music and a cool song playing at the mission selection screen. I really enjoyed the tunes and must say they fit the game perfectly. The in-game character animations, objects and backgrounds are detailed and nicely drawn for a platform game of this kind. Definitely a job well done by Ocean.
Conclusion
Lethal Weapon is a good action-orientated platform game for the Amiga. It sports excellent music, as well as nicely drawn graphics. It is challenging, but not too difficult to master. The game-engine seems sturdy with decent collision-detection, easy to learn controls and smooth scrolling and animation. The storyline is divided into different missions and this works well. There is a code-system, so that you don’t have to start all over again every time you play.
All in all, I recommend Lethal Weapon to all of you who enjoys these kind of platform games. I had a lot of fun playing it and I hope you will too.
Download
You can download the game from Planet Emulation by clicking here (you’ll be transferred to their site).
