"A good first war-sim for the NES"

Conflict is a War-Simulation game (Not unlike Nobunaga's Ambition) made by a lesser-known company called Vic Tokai. The plot is basically..well, Nobunaga's Ambition minus Nobunaga, thereby stripping it to "Defeat the Enemy before they defeat you". Exciting? No. But whatever, onto the game:

Graphics: 3/10- The game takes place on a grid of hexagons, not unlike paper war-sims. The graphics are actually pretty bland. Blue for water, green cloud-type things for forests, etc. etc. etc. At least the units themselves look pretty nice, and the close-up battle shots are decent.

Sound: 3/10- The music is rather upbeat, not at all suited to a war-simulation. The sounds are just average. Zing-zing-zing for bullets and so on.

Control: 6/10- If there were a mouse made for the NES, this game would utilize it. As it stands, it's kind of hard to figure out exactly what to do right away. You do get used to it though, and because it's not a fast-paced game, the controls are decent enough once you get used to them.

Challenge: 10/10- Once again (And for all the wrong reasons) This game is TOUGH! Basically, you'll notice that the computer always seems to have a huge advantage in Manufacturer's Points, which enables it to build huge tanks that can go about kicking butt. You can't do this. So unless you're really good, count on getting your butt kicked al over the place. At least you can select 15 of the 16 levels right off the bat.

Story: N/A/10- To be honest, I'm not sure if there's a story (I got the game off my cousin for free and it didn't come with an instruction booklet), but I don't think so. As stated earlier, it's just "Defeat the enemy (Capture their flag-tank) before they defeat you." So I can't really give it a score.

Replay Value: 4/10- Because you can select a lot of the levels right from the start, and because the game is so freakin' HARD, you probably won't want to play it a whole lot.

Overall: 7/10- In spite of its numerous flaws, I gave the game a 7 out of 10 because it's really one of the only decent games Vic Tokai put out, and because there aren't many games like it for the NES. I guess How much you'll like it depends on how much you like war-sims, and on how high your tolerance for frustration is. If you have a high tolerance for this, and you like war-sims, pick it up, otherwise you're better off staying away.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99