Super Conflict: The Mideast

"Advance wars wouldn't exist without this one."

Without this game, the craze that is Advance Wars would probably not exist.

Super Conflict is a difficult, yet entertaining game filled with (at the time) state of the art user interface, gameplay, and style. Taking full advantage of it's release during the end of the Cold War, the game styles itself after a World War 3 encounter somewhere in the middle east.

The game starts off with rudimentary units. Mainly tanks and infantry. Early on you'll find out the special little quirks that the computer AI (if one could call it that) does that actually HELPS win you the mission. You'll also learn what units can actually do damage to what units on which terrain. Confused? Well... a t-80 tank in a Mountain, forest, or city can only be damaged effectively from ground units by the M1A1. where as the Flag Tank on mountain, forest, or city can be hit by the other flagtanks, the M60A3/T-62 and the M1A1/T-80. Soon, however, you'll find yourself in control of Air units (such as attack choppers and fighter) and naval units (Cruisers, Battles ships and the sort). While the main purpose of each mission is to kill the red flagtank, the other units can make it easier for you by completely and totally devastating the enemy from sea and air.

One common mistake is the thought that a bigger gun = more damage (the M551 Sheridan Tank used by the Blues have a 152mm cannon, the biggest.)

WRONG!!!

remember, bigger isn't always better.... the game doesn't do enough to clarify that, and leaves any info gathering completely to the player.

A tutorial, while sometimes annoying, can be useful and prevent bad decisions in the game. However, 90% of gaming is figuring out how to play the game, so this isn't as important as this one....

Why are all the units matched up to kill each other one for one? Each opposing unit should have a different stat.... for the sake of realism, increase the power of the red units but drop their defense... that's the way the real T-55, t-62, and t-80 are... And why are all the anti-air, anti-tank weaponry limited in range.... one thing advance wars does that SC doesn't is adding range to weapons with range... It's a simple thing to program in.

With over 50 gut wrenching levels of pure pain and unadulterated fun, this game is sure to spark yet another 8-bit/16-bit revolution.

Large amounts of minor problems rate this game at a lower score than I'd like to give (which is strange considering the 8 I'm giving this game. ;) )

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/28/03