Swoop

"Another Arcade Classic hit the Mac Ambrosia Style"

"Swoop."

What an odd name for a game. It really tells little to nothing about the game, doesn't it? I mean, when you hear "Swoop," whaddya think? Basketball? Maybe insects? I dunno.... its a name in the true Ambrosia tradition. If you can tell me what Chiral, Avara, or Apeiron mean to the common person with the common vocabulary, I can guarantee you they might mislead them on what to expect from a game.

No, Swoop is not a basketball game or an insect game. Well, maybe it's kind of an insect game. You see, it's just yet another remake of a classic game, brought to your mac by the one and only Ambrosia Software. This time, Ambrosia is remaking the arcade classic Galaga. Do they succeed in improving on the tried and true formula? Let's find out.

When you start Swoop, you'll notice the usual Ambrosia protocol. Clean fades present you with the company logo, a title, and then finally, the title and option screen. We won't mess with the options, so let's get into the game.

It's classic arcade fun, my friend. That means you don't win, you just keep playing to see how high a score you can get. You get points by blasting little bug like creatures out of the sky with your nifty little pod-like space ship. Every one you take down is worth X points.

Sound simple? In concept, it is. But as is Ambrosia's style, there's plenty of little tricks in the bag.

For instance, if you let one of the motherships keep a couple support units before it comes down, in true Galaga style, and then shoot it down after it takes off, you'll get more points for whatever extra support it had. And of course, in Ambrosia style, you can pick up new weapons, including shields, double shots, laser, rapid fire.. and what's so nifty about these weapons is that you use them when YOU want to.. they don't automatically activate.. and you can even store extras in your inventory. And you'll need them... this game gets hard.. fast. A lot faster then its arcade counterpart.

As far as seeing "new stuff," You won't be seeing a lot of it. Just like the arcade original, there's only so many enemies to kill. Once you've seen them and killed them once, you'll never see a new one anymore. And there aren't any new surprise powerups to be found later on. But the game upps the challenge appropriately.. just like the arcade original. In fact, it shouldn't matter much that you don't see a lot in the later stages of the game, since you'll have a helluva time just getting in that far.

The sound is Ambrosia to the core -- boings, zips, and ding-dongs, just like Maelstrom before it. There's a little music at the beginning, but it's not really enough -- besides that, there is absolutely no soundtrack. Who needs it, though? This is classic gaming!

The game does have its drawbacks, though. First of all, it really is too hard. You can't get much further then level eight or nine after a little practice. With some more practice, you can go beyond that, but the game usually kills you off before too long.

Also, the control feels a little loose. The ship suffers from inertia a bit, and you can find yourself accidently sliding into enemy fire at the worst times. Also, there's the shape of the ship itself.. it looks like a Rocket from one of the Marvin episodes of Loony Tunes. The original Galaga Cruiser is much cooler.

Well, if you have a mac and have a scratching to play some arcade classics, pick up Swoop. It's a shareware download, and its not very big. But remember, if you play it addictively, register. It's just the nice thing to do. :)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99