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Graphics (n.) The use of animation and visual effects to stimulate the senses	vvvvv (Excellent)	The game's high point. First of all, the sprites are well done and rendered very thoroughly,  to the point that screenshots of Percussor have a sort of commercial-quality aura about them. Part of that is to the credit of graphics artist TM, who really did his homework in drawing every enemy frame. The backgrounds are also well-prepared. The jungles in the game look lush, and the buildings and explosions are at least up to par with the QB standard. But that's really just part of the credit. The other half of TMB consists of programmer AM, who did everything in his power to combine the Enhanced Creations XMS routines with QB. The results are subtle, but very impressive. The game handles shadowing, scrolling backgrounds, and multiple enemies and bullets while maintaining a very healthy framerate. The most obvious illustration of this is in the game's end bosses, which usually fire a stream of bullets, without causing an inch of slowdown. You won't see anything nearly as graphic-intense as a commercial arcade game though, as your own weapons aren't too powerful. But, considering what TMB has accomplished here, Percussor is simply a great looking game.
Sound/Music (n.) The smooth blend of atmospheric sounds and original harmonies	vvvv (Very Good)	Awesome, original music and muffled sound effects make up the good and the bad of Percussor's audio repoitre. Although the game plays like Apogee's PC classic Raptor, the music sounds more like it came from Sega Genesis classics like Sonic the Hedgehog and Streets of Rage. It all blends very well and the music really adds to the game, amplifying the action that's taking place. What you won't get in Percussor is the bombastic explosion and weapon sounds that you do get from other QB shooters like Shell Shock or Dynamic Beta. Percussor strays from that, giving you excellent hard rock style music to pull you into the dogfight. So, if you prefer music over sound, Percussor's four original tracks will make you happy. But, if you're into sound effects more than music, Percussor might not suit your fancy in this department. The music is significantly louder than the sound effects in the game, making it difficult to hear the explosions or the rapid-fire sounds from your jet's turrets.
Gameplay (n.)The precision of control and involvement of character within its universe	vvv (Good)	Good. Percussor is your typical, run-of-the-mill shooter with all the polishing necessary to make the gameplay solid. The game has six levels, with at least one boss at each level to try to deter you from finishing the game. In each level, you'll have to dodge ground-to-air fire while shooting down enemy aircraft. You can blow up most of the objects and buildings on the ground too for additional points, but some of the more dangerous ground enemies are invulnerable to your ammo. You have to do some evasive manuvuers to survive. One highlight of Percussor is the use of power-ups. There are five weapons scattered through the game's levels. Once you pick a weapon up, you can switch to that weapon and use it continuously without fear of losing ammo. There's also the Invincibility shield, which allows to you take as much damage for free as you want for a limited number of seconds. The one down-side to Percussor is the types of weapons used. There isn't much variation other than speed and power for each weapon, and every weapon you collect goes straight and in no other direction. This makes the Triple shot weapon the only real useful weapon in the game, since it's clearly the most efficient and powerful for the speed you receive. So that aspect sort of taints the whole weapon selection system. But other than that, TMB did a good job with the gameplay.
Story (n.) The creativity and presentation of the game's critical plot	vvv (Good)	The story itself is simple enough; it's a give-and-take relationship. You have to take some plans from the enemy and give everything you've got to escape before your jet gets blown away. But what truly makes this story charming is the fact that the game comes with the typical TMB intro and ending sequences. The story is articulated nicely through graphic demos with text included, so the game quickly pulls you in. Best of all, if you're sick of seeing the Intro you can press any button to skip to the game menu. It's a subtle touch, but it helps the replay value of Percussor a lot.
Replay Value (n.) The timelessness of the gamer's delight, such that the experience can be repeated again and again	vvvv (Very Good)	Shooting action like this nowadays is hard to come by. Ever since Starfox came out for the SNES, videogame developers have been hesitant to release a top-down, weapon shooter like Percussor. Raptor was probably the last big hurrah for this type of shooter, except for a couple of Dreamcast games. Appropriately, TMB is quoted as saying that Raptor is their inspiration for Percussor. Usually, it's fair to compare Percussor to other games like it in QB, the closest being Jeremy Hammond's Shell Shock. But Percussor captures Raptor and the PC-type game so successfully that the comparison is more appropriate there. That being said, Percussor is just one small step behind Apogee's Raptor game. The graphics are certainly up to par, the sound is as intense, but the game's ship doesn't have the raw firepower that a Deathray has in the Apogee game. Maybe there wasn't enough memory to make the good weapons in Percussor great. Still, Percussor is a very replayable game. Percussor manages to capture most of the fine aspects of Raptor while still developing a sense of individuality. A big part of that is the fact that the weapons are original, and the enemy flying patterns are somewhat unique. The top-notch graphics don't hurt the replay value either. This game is just great to look at and is always easy on the eyes.
Challenge (v.) To strike the mental nerve in such a way as to stimulate human thought and reflexes	vvv (Good)	If you're seasoned at arcade-shooter type games, then the bulk of the challenge won't come from the levels themselves. Although enemies swarm from every conceivable direction, there really isn't an incentive (other than trying to top your own high score) to face the enemies head on. More frequently, it's a lot easier to just dodge the enemies by hiding in the far-left and far-right middle sections of the screen. If you can at least maintain control of the front, you won't have to worry so much about enemy fire coming from the back. Plus, once you get the Triple shot in the later levels of the game, fragging most of the enemies will be easy. Your true challenge comes in the form of the level bosses at the end of each level. The first few bosses are really just jokes from TMB to fool you into thinking that every boss will have an easy pattern that can be mastered. By the time you reach Level 6, you'll discover that this isn't the case. I wish you good luck especially in the final, final boss of the game, which took me the majority of the time in beating this game. Even with the best firepower this game has to offer, you will need every skill and reflex you've mustered from years of play to beat the boss. And don't even think about trying a kamikaze mission on the end-boss to solve the game. It just won't work.
Fun Factor (n.) The overall entertainment value as maintained throughout the adventure	vvv (Good)	Good. TMB usually promises high-quality games unlike ever before with every game they've released. After trying some of their projects and seeing some bugs here and there, I've learned to turn the other cheek. But Percussor is the sort of retribution a group like TMB needs. This shooter is free of bugs and it fact capitalizes with it's high-calibur graphics, music, and play value. And because there are many enemies and bosses to shoot at, the fun factor can pick up in a self-pacing, addictive kind of way. In short, don't let TMB fool you with the impression that their QB platformer Around the World is the best game they've ever made. I've played that game before, and while it's a good effort it didn't quite pass the hurdle into greatness. In difference, Percussor adds to the QB gaming library with a game that matches the level set by some of the great 2-D arcade games. Shooter fans will find Percussor to be an instant, hardcore classic. Percussor Reviewed by Vance Velez
Players	1 player	Genre: Arcade/Shooting Game
Rating		To solve: 2 hours Final Rating: 25/35

To download this game, click here.
 

Installation Tips wIf you're unzipping this program in DOS, use the -d option. wTo play Percussor, run "SETUP.EXE" to change the game's sound settings, then run "PER.EXE".

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