Radar Mission

"This takes battleship to a whole new periscope depth."

Battleship has always been a popular board game. The sheer strategy of attacking your opponents on a coordinate-based grid was always enjoyable. Most games have failed though at replicating popular board games. Often, the actual in-game design would be boring to the player. Radar Mission takes Battleship to an entire new level, by adding some innovative elements, and even an additional submarine mode. Basically, the entire game revolves around you as a commander of a naval fleet. You must defeat the enemy at all costs in defense of your country. For the most part, Radar Mission doesn't have a truly inspiring story, but the gameplay is what sets it apart from some boring game board replica.

Graphics [7/10]
For an earlier game made in the 90s, Radar Mission has clear precise graphics that almost gives it the feel of an ''Advanced Wars'' look-a-like. To start off, there are plenty of sprites and unique animations during gameplay. The interface is what sets it apart though. Nearly every detail from damaged ships, to your enemy's fleet is displayed. Whenever a ship gets sunk, you'll notice it slowly lurk to the bottom of the sea. Unlike your traditional Battleship game where you'll just see your marked shots, Radar Mission includes special combat scenes to accompany your targets. Every time you attack a coordinate, you'll see an animation of your battleship launching a missile at the opposing ship. If the missile hits, you'll notice the enemy's ship flash like an explosion. These sorts of animations help the gaming experience feel more than a ''typical'' Battleship game. Victory scenes will show your sailors dancing on the deck of your ship. Radar Mission helps create an enjoyable atmosphere over more than a simple battleship game.

Sound/Music [9/10]
While some strategy titles tend to have some decent in-game music, Radar Mission has some of the best varied music you'll ever hear during your battles. Every type of music you could think of is included as your background themes during gameplay. Your typical battle theme song is complete with resounding tunes to give a sense of patriotism. The gamer gets almost molded with the in-game music as if he is the sole force between his home country being invaded by enemies. The gamer really gets set into a ''whole new situation'' where instincts, and smart target shots will determine the fate of his homeland. Whenever your opponent is close to being destroyed, or you're only left with one ship, the music will actually change to a more exciting tune. Not only that, but the songs sound very clear, and simply aren't garbled mixes of sound bits. As for sound effects, they're fairly good. Launching your rockets into opposing ships will heave a mass chaotic explosion. Sinking an opponent's force will cause a rumbling sound. Every near hit shot will make an alarming beep sound. Even your sonar that scrolls across the screen will make an appealing ringing effect. Radar Mission is one of the first strategy games for the Game Boy to include a great soundtrack that just about any player could take satisfaction for.

Gameplay [8/10]
Let me start off by saying that Radar Mission is more of a naval based fighting game, rather than a simple Battleship clone. It should also be mentioned that there are two distinctly different game modes, so understanding the difference is a key factor in getting full enjoyment out of the game. To start off, the first game mode is your practical Battleship board game. Basically, you select the grid size, your type of player, and various options for the map. Many of these options consist of aircraft, bonus shots, and near-hit warnings. Rather than in normal Battleship where you pick off coordinates one by one, near-hit will make a beeping sound if there is a ship nearby to the grid target you picked. This helps players know if they're close to an enemy, which can become a strategic factor later in games. The aircraft is basically a jet fighter which is launched (from your carrier) after 15 turns have passed. The aircraft mainly acts as a last time wonder allowing most players to live (since it counts as a respective ship itself). Anyhow, the goal of Game A is to destroy your opponent's fleet before he destroys yours. Before a game starts, you are able to select where you want all of your ships placed.

Gameplay consists of players taking turns by picking a coordinate on the grid map. Players can hit, near-hit, or sink their opponent's ship. Once an entire fleet is destroyed, that player moves onto the next round. Game B is much more inspiring to action-paced gamers. Much like a submarine simulator, game B tosses you into the first person view of a submarine. The idea is to destroy your opponent's fleet before he destroys yours. However, this is easier said than done because you actually have to track down and torpedo his opposing ships before your own ships are taken out. You and a player each have submarines on respective sides of the map. By scrolling left or right, you must time and shoot your torpedoes so that they destroy all of the ships in the water. Of course, you also have your own fleet to worry about. Thus, game B becomes more of a rush to the gamer since he/she is forced to destroy as many ships before it's too late. Fortunately, you're provided with numerous upgrades such as powered sonar, increased rotary power, and twin torpedoes.

Quite frankly, both of these gameplay modes are well balanced. Controls are very responsive, allowing you to turn swiftly, and fire with excellent reaction speeds. The normal battleship mode can become a bore to some gamers. Constantly watching the CPU take pot shots at your fleet isn't always that inspiring. Some maps can take well over 30 turns, which seems like a hassle. The submarine mode, while more exciting than traditional battleship, suffers from a few chasing flaws. Often, you'll find yourself chasing several opponent ships only to find out that most of your fleet has been picked off. Still, both gameplay modes enhance this game into a better experience.

Fun [6/10]
With so many board game to video game ports, many often lack that fun experience we can relate to as a kid. Radar Mission is certainly a fun game in all respects. It has varying modes of play, and each of the systems are balanced quite well. For the most part though, this is not an exciting action game that many of us search for. You're not going to be blasting away at thousands of fleets with a howitzer. Radar Mission requires some strategic thinking, and a mind set on tactical firing. Using the extra options such as aircraft and near-hits can be both life savers, or wasted options. If you don't utilize everything provided to you, then Radar Mission will not provide a superb gaming experience.

Replayability [8/10]
There is plenty of replay value contained in this tiny little cartridge. First off, with two ''enhanced'' Battleship gameplay modes, Radar Mission is more than a simple board game port. While both modes contain the same objectives, they're both entirely different which fits well for mixed-genre gamers. Plus, each of the game modes can be played with 2 players. This provides for plenty of head-to-head fun between a fellow friend. Radar Mission is complete with random chance and difficulty. Most of the game comes down to how lucky you are with your shots. Hiding your ships in a well-guarded place can make the difference between a dominating win, or a disgraceful loss. I've found myself coming back to this game in numerous cases for the pure and simple fact that you're playing smart AI in a game of Battleship. Not only that, but attacking other ships with torpedoes in mode B is always a fun change of pace.

Difficulty [6/10]
Most of the in-game difficulty rises from pure random chance of how well the CPU picks coordinates. At the beginning of the first level, your fleet is composed of five complete ships. However, as you advance on, you're eventually diminished down to one measly carrier. The decreasing of your own fleet helps to build a tougher challenge on the actual player. The CPU will become more aggressive and spread out on its shots. To even make it harder, you cannot lose a level. If you lose once, then you have to start over, which really boosts the difficulty factor. Some extra goodies like the aircraft and bonus shots help balance out these challenging gameplay issues. The average player should find Radar Mission to be an above average challenging game, but not to an overwhelming extent.

Final Factor [8/10]
Even with some repetitive elements, Radar Mission is still a fun and challenging game. It was probably one of the first sea based fighting games where guts and glories didn't mean everything. With a decently fun battleship mode, and extremely innovative submarine mode, Radar Mission includes many things that games often lack. This is truly a great game to add to anyone's collection. If you do see it anywhere, consider buying it. It's certainly one of the most underrated strategy games out there, and wouldn't hurt if you added it to a collection. Besides that, it's fairly rare, so its value could always turn out in the long run.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/06/03