Leger vs. SWIV (Amiga)

No, it is not the fourth Silkworm game.

You could rather go with a spiritual successor to Tecmo's Silkworm, put together by Random Access (1991) who also did the Amiga port of that very game (1989), that comes with at least three different suggestions on what the acronym of a title means.

Secret Weapons Installation Verification, for example.

While similar in many ways, although now sporting a vertical instead of horizontal fashion, it never fails to do its own thing while keeping true to its roots.

Still there is the classic gameplay with a helicopter, not having to bother about obstructions on the ground and very much an easy mode of sorts, where you may and should pick up exposed bubbles for a period invunlnerability while shooting everything that comes in your way.

The assembling goose like airborne vehicle makes a return, also acting as the only source of upgrades with its Twin Bee influenced, with projectiles juggleable, icons which switches function each time shot.

Faster shooting. Wider spread. More projectiles on screen. And this star thing, which appears if the icon is being juggled for an extended period of time.

You could claim that SWIV is rather generic, opting for a military attitude at times trading secrets with a Sci-Fi one explaining everything from crop circles to giant space ships in settings sometimes so similar to the sources of inspiration that it becomes obvious that we are talking tributes rather than pure plagiarism.

Like Xevious, which SWIV suddenly turns into from out of nowhere, not much more is going on than shooting stuff and doing it in style.

But beneath the generic surface, no matter how pretty it may be (and pretty it is, in a Psyiko kind of way although never getting as close nailing the aesthetics as, say, Banshee), something unique when it comes to Amiga shmups is at work: A ranking system.

At first it may not be all that obvious (and since I have not gotten this confirmed I might be wrong, but I am trying to get this sorted out at this very moment), but after losing a life, or helicopter or tank that is, in a hectic situation things suddenly may seem to calm down.

Combined with another kind of ranking system, based on up to five stars actived by picking up a certain amount of upgrade icons, where more stars means starting with more fire power after dying the flow of the game just feel ridicilously natural.

Gone is everything Gradius syndrome related, no checkpoint system is at work and what can be seen as different stages are never more than different environments effortlessly introduced during the one and only long vertically scrolling level the game consists of.

Such is the design, where no loading screens are to be seen and all the data streams from the floppy (or the medium for your choice of play) in real time with no pauses in the forward moment other than when bosses, often in the shape of static defense systems, halts the progress.

Now, SWIV is pretty much another game completely when played controlling the tank instead of the helicopter.

Suddenly the environments are threatening, buildings and other objects obstructing the way forward, and the way of controling the vehicle differ.

Although being able to shoot in "all" directions there is a directional lock at work while keeping the button pressed making it easier to move in one direction while shooting in another. Also the tank can jump, and airborne vehicles offers less physical threat.

Still, playing as the tank could very well be considered a hard mode of sorts.

Most efficient would be to go co-op, however, to reach the best of both worlds in an combined effort to complete the game.

SWIV is a rather long experience in shmup context, about 45 minutes long it is not all that suited for a quick play, and since it consists of one long stage it may be that one can grow tired of the earlier parts of the game over a period of playing and trying again and again to reach further.

Thankfully the gameplay is intense, the room for strategic decisions quite big and the ranking system keeps things dynamic. Also, there is a percentage counter shown when Game Over have become a fact showing how far through the game one has reached which triggers the urge to reach further.

What SWIV lacks is music to get the adrenaline pumping faster. Not to say the sfx are lacking in any way, but looking at (or rather listening to) the later console offering, a follow up to SWIV (Super SWIV on the SNES and Mega SWIV on the Mega Drive), it is easy to hear how it benefits the overall experience.

Oh, and one more thing.

The game seem to run in 25 frames per second. Although not a problem when it comes to the core gameplay, the scrolling is slow and the action is both intense and with an apparent feel of heavy, it just makes the overall presentation a tiny bit less impressive than one could wish for.

However, a classic, impressive at that, SWIV is without a doubt. A technical marvel with great gameplay and an overall sense of effortlessness in the production just like the game that inspired it.

No that the shmup genre is thriving on the Amiga, but SWIV alongside a few other examples makes it well worth looking into.