Stun Runner

Copyright : Domark | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

This is one arcade that was located next to the Pit Fighter arcade in our local amusements and I was probably the only one in this area that found this game much more appealing than the life-like Pit-Fighter arcade that so many people had pumped coins into.

Stun Runner is one of Atari?s greatest arcade games from the recent years, you had to sit down on the actual bike that is in the game and turn left/right to control the arcade. It?s set in the future and you are out to be the best Stun Runner in the world and must compete against many of the greatest pilots out there, the game is fast and vicous as once you are on the course there is no telling if you will come back alive because you and your opponents are loaded with weapons and there are no rules about killing your friend.

It?s brutal, fast and addictive - how does the home computer cope with the conversions? lets find out..

Graphics

Stun Runner was without a doubt one the most requested arcades to be emulated by MAME so there is obviously a huge fan base out there. Obviously you can?t sit on a hydrolic powered bike in the comfort of your own bedroom but the conversions are surprisingly quite good.

The graphics in the Amstrad CPC conversion are in some cases funny (just watch the intro with the tiny guy climbing onto his bike) but in other cases very good indeed. Your play area is pretty small in an attempt to keep the frame rate up to scratch (and in most cases it does) and the levels have been ported across with little or no differences between them. The major bug that we did notice in the game was that once you get outside of the tunnels it can slow down a considerable amount but once you are back inside and the detail/on screen enemies become less it kicks back up again.

Sound

The soundtrack is very active indeed with a pumping conversion of the original theme that gives your speakers a work out and in-game sounds to die for. You can hear your opponent explode as you fire a rocket up his arse and there are plenty of "well done" sounds to make you feel good.

Gameplay

Gameplay is almost as good as the arcade but you can?t help but think you have been cheated a little when the game slows down and the fact that your playing areas is some what limited. The controls are very repsonsive considering the type of conversion the game recieved (hydrolics to keyboard don?t usually go so well) and I?m sure that if you loved the original you would have loved the conversion of the game.