We are still waiting on a suitable Amiga AGA emulator with robust recording features before tackling such games.
Iron Helix
Iron Helix, PC original by Drew Pictures and converted to SegaCD by Brian A. Rice, Inc. Published by Spectrum Holobyte in 1993.
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Player's Review
"IRON HELIX - A DEADLY GAME OF CAT AND MOUSE
Prepare yourself for the most stunning 3-D strategy adventure ever created. Iron Helix is a science-fiction thriller that immerses you in a suspenseful VR world filled with danger and intrigue. Control a robot probe whose mission is to stop a renegade starship carrying a doomsday weapon...before it reaches its destination. Pilot the probe through the maze-like corridors of the ship-searching for ways to stop it- all the while trying to elude the ship's deadly Defender.
CINEMATIC STYLE - Iron Helix looks and feels more like a movie than a game. It throws you into a strange universe that seems to breathe, throbbing with an eerie pulse and a hypnotic energy that compels you ever deeper into the story. Intense strategy elements create an unparalleled level of depth and hours of play. Explosive 3-D graphics. 3 heart-pumping levels of skill Explore 25 rooms on 6 floors."
This is one of those games I want to like but the mechanics of it can lead to frustration and when finally getting through it, the payoff is a bit of a let down. Ignoring for a moment how massively cut down the gfx and video are compared to the pc original the game does play ok if a little slowly as its plays videos of movement in small chunks. Your job is to move around the ship scanning for the dna of high ranking officers which will allow more access to areas on the ship. dna can be anywhere in the corridors and rooms. Just to add to that mundane task there is unusable dna everywhere. Following that you need to search for video messages that can be on any of the data ports on doors and in rooms. At least there are always in the same place should have to start over so always note anything you find.
Whilst all this is going on, there is a rogue defender running about the ship that will insta kill you should you run into it. Destroying it requires finding the correct video message with the instructions for shutting it down or destroying it. The next job is to destroy the ship and win! There are three difficulty levels and I show all three. There isn't to much difference between them other than the speed at which the defender moves around. I found level 2 the most difficult as the high ranking dna were locked behind specific doors and i needed to find the right lower rank officer to open the rooms. Level 3 has an extra room and level 1 has more dna and videos to find which should get you through quicker.
In the long play I go through each level and take a quick route through the level after finding where things are before hand. There could be some more video messages in the levels which I didn't find. The whole time you are working against a time limit in the form of an ever diminishing power level and it can get tight not allowing for a lot of exploration per life so it does take multiple plays to really learn where everything is. You can also deplete your power level by jamming the defender although the effect only lasts a few seconds. I went in expecting a Sega style 'full' ending after completing Advanced difficulty but .. no, the same as beginner level which was disappointing and unrewarding. I add the Game Over , Fail video at the end of the game. I did lose some lives during the level 3 run to show getting caught.
00:00:00 Intro
00:03:00 Level 1
00:32:26 Level 2
01:07:10 Level 3
01:35:38 Bad Ending
Prepare yourself for the most stunning 3-D strategy adventure ever created. Iron Helix is a science-fiction thriller that immerses you in a suspenseful VR world filled with danger and intrigue. Control a robot probe whose mission is to stop a renegade starship carrying a doomsday weapon...before it reaches its destination. Pilot the probe through the maze-like corridors of the ship-searching for ways to stop it- all the while trying to elude the ship's deadly Defender.
CINEMATIC STYLE - Iron Helix looks and feels more like a movie than a game. It throws you into a strange universe that seems to breathe, throbbing with an eerie pulse and a hypnotic energy that compels you ever deeper into the story. Intense strategy elements create an unparalleled level of depth and hours of play. Explosive 3-D graphics. 3 heart-pumping levels of skill Explore 25 rooms on 6 floors."
This is one of those games I want to like but the mechanics of it can lead to frustration and when finally getting through it, the payoff is a bit of a let down. Ignoring for a moment how massively cut down the gfx and video are compared to the pc original the game does play ok if a little slowly as its plays videos of movement in small chunks. Your job is to move around the ship scanning for the dna of high ranking officers which will allow more access to areas on the ship. dna can be anywhere in the corridors and rooms. Just to add to that mundane task there is unusable dna everywhere. Following that you need to search for video messages that can be on any of the data ports on doors and in rooms. At least there are always in the same place should have to start over so always note anything you find.
Whilst all this is going on, there is a rogue defender running about the ship that will insta kill you should you run into it. Destroying it requires finding the correct video message with the instructions for shutting it down or destroying it. The next job is to destroy the ship and win! There are three difficulty levels and I show all three. There isn't to much difference between them other than the speed at which the defender moves around. I found level 2 the most difficult as the high ranking dna were locked behind specific doors and i needed to find the right lower rank officer to open the rooms. Level 3 has an extra room and level 1 has more dna and videos to find which should get you through quicker.
In the long play I go through each level and take a quick route through the level after finding where things are before hand. There could be some more video messages in the levels which I didn't find. The whole time you are working against a time limit in the form of an ever diminishing power level and it can get tight not allowing for a lot of exploration per life so it does take multiple plays to really learn where everything is. You can also deplete your power level by jamming the defender although the effect only lasts a few seconds. I went in expecting a Sega style 'full' ending after completing Advanced difficulty but .. no, the same as beginner level which was disappointing and unrewarding. I add the Game Over , Fail video at the end of the game. I did lose some lives during the level 3 run to show getting caught.
00:00:00 Intro
00:03:00 Level 1
00:32:26 Level 2
01:07:10 Level 3
01:35:38 Bad Ending
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