Garry Kitchen's Super Battletank: War in the Gulf

"Battletank it is. Super it isn't."

Introduction
War games. Everybody has to admit they are very involving and intense. So one should not be surprised
that an underrated one is still worth a buy. And this is an underrated one, but that doesn't mean it is anywhere near what it should be! The control is horrifyingly messed up and I don't really like the graphics. The Gameplay should be good (remember this IS the sequel to Battle Tank for the NES) but the awful controls hurt what could have been a very special game. Read on to get all the facts straight.

Graphics 7/10
Whether you never have seen an SNES game or you are hugging one this minute the first thing you will think is AVERAGE. That is quite true. The tanks that rove around the desert do look 3D, but there is just something about them that I don't like. The helicopters that sometimes attack you look pretty detailed, though. The backgrounds are pretty good, but you better darn like it, because it is the only one you ever see in the game. Overall the graphics are pretty average for an Super NES game.

Story 5/10
For some reason your commander sends you to the middle of nowhere and you have to blow up stuff.

Sound 4/10
Ughh. The Sound is taken derectaly from the NES version, and that is more bad than good. The good is that the one tune featured through out the game is pretty catchy. However this was pretty basic even for the NES and they decided to bring the old music back. Onto the Super NES. I don't understand why they didn't make new songs, because this game doesn't show the true power of the Super NES. Compare this to a game that made the Super NES's power useful, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4 or Super Mario World and you will laugh. The Sound Effects are also brought back from the NES Battletank which are very primative to what the Super NES can do. Overall the Sound isn't enough to impress even new gamers.

Gameplay 4/10
Don't make me laugh. The Gameplay also remains unchanged from the NES version. Basically, you play as a tank and you roam across the desert looking for something to destroy. You have a choice of three weapons,
normal tank bullets, smoke grenaides, and a machine gun. Combats are very slow paced and controls get in the way more than they should. For example, sometimes when you press ''A'' you actually fire. Another one off the many flaws of this game is that you have to hold ''L'' or ''R'' to turn. This wouldn't have so bad if it would turn quickly, but no, it turns slowly. This means an enemy can shoot you several times from behind before you can turn around. But this wouldn't be that much of a problem if only the actual playing screen. Thats right, the programmers messed up again by making the plaing screen 1/4 of the screen. 3/4 of the screen is just a useless background ( oh wow! A lever! That will change the history of war games forever!) and isn't worth the sacrafice. So now you are trying to find out whats going on while battling awful controls! Overall the Gameplay stinks compared to the NES version, and that is something to laugh about.

Control 3/10
Horrible. At times it seems you battle the controls more than the tanks. First of all holding ''L'' or ''R'' to turn is a laughable mistake, and even worse it has to turn slowly. The crosshairs are reversed and that has taken me a while to get used to. It makes sense that when I press up, I expect to see it go up, not down. The buttons also seem to not want to respond.

Replay Value 5/10
After you beat it, this becomes one of those ''beat and then shelve forever'' games.

Challenge 6/10
Once you get used to the controls, this isn't to hard.

Buy or Rent?
Ignore. It is too bugged up and too much like the original. Instead buy Battletank for the NES. It doesn't have the bugs this game has and it is cheaper.

Overall 5/10

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 11/13/00, Updated 11/13/00