Subject: MINI-REVIEW: Mangled Fenders - Armored Combat Edition
From: [email-masked] (Robert Sedler)
Date: 13 Nov 1995 03:42:43 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

MANGLED FENDERS - ARMORED COMBAT EDITION
               Peter W. Storonskij / Incinerplex Games
                 200 A street Lincoln NE, 68502. USA

              Mini-Review written by Robert (Torgo) Sedler
	               [email-masked]

	If you were to walk up to some unsuspecting slob and tell them that
you just got Mangled Fenders, they might feel sorry for you and offer their
sympathies. If you were to walk up to a fellow AMIGA user who is into games
in a big way and say this, the reaction might be something altogether
different. Mangled Fenders, Peter Storonskij's demolition derby game, made a
big dent (get it?!) in the AMIGA PD scene a while back, and the author now
continues to showcase his programming talents in the latest version:  Mangled
Fenders - Armored Combat Edition.

	Mangled Fenders - Armored Combat Edition, freeware, copyright 1995 by
Peter W. Storonskij, is an AMIGA demolition Derby game with a twist.  The
game uses a 64 color palette and can be played on either PAL or NTSC
systems. It is hard drive installable and works well on my unaccelerated
A500. The basic premise of the game, like most demolition derbies, is very
simple; you must use your car as a battering ram to beat, pound and pummel a
bunch of other cars in a confined area, inflicting the most damage on them
while protecting the important bits of your own vehicle, namely the engine.
Unlike most County Fair crunch-fests however, these cars are equipped with
missile cannons and armor shielding. The game can be played by anywhere from
2-6 combinations of players, whether they be human players via joysticks and
keyboard controls, or any number of computer controlled cars. Once selecting
your 4 wheeled implement of destruction and mayhem, and how many losers, er,
I mean other players to go up against, you then proceed directly to the
power-up screen. Here you use your limited currency to purchase things for
your vehicle ranging from overall repairs, to ammunition, to faster engines.
Once your money is spent, players then take to their cars and ready
themselves for battle.

	The game now randomly loads up 1 of 6 different terrains: parking
lot, soccer field, golf course, dirt track, intersection and even... the
moon. By the end of the round these lovingly crafted and beautifully
rendered screens will be torn to shreds with tire marks. Game play is
simple, two to six cars careen around the lot bashing and shooting each
other into auto oblivion. Random power-ups will appear on the game screens
from time to time, with things ranging from a full repair to a cash award
for future purchasing rounds, to complete and total indestructibility. The
round ends when only one car is left running, with the winner getting the
biggest cash award, all the way down to the unlucky chump who gets knocked
out first, and consequently the cash equivalent of squat. After 10 rounds of
mayhem and destruction, the game ends.

	The game is fun to play and easy to get the hang of, yet there are a
few shortcomings. First off is the ending. The game, after 10 rounds, merely
exits you back to the game set-up screen. It would have been nice to have
some kind of payoff, even a simple screen announcing player number whatever
as Grand Champ Poobah of the Universe. Another shortcoming is the destroyed
cars. The condition of the cars goes from perfect to smoking to in flames
which is nice, but upon total destruction, the cars explode and are taken
from the ring. I would have liked to see the mutilated cars remain on the
screen, getting in the surviving cars way and becoming obstacles to steer
clear of or be damaged. These also would have been nice to use as shields
from oncoming cars. You know, let the other guys take the beating while you
drive away unharmed, laughing all the way to the next round.

	These few nit-picky things aside, Mangled Fenders - Armored Combat
Edition is a fun little time waster. If you've ever wanted to arm your
vehicle with cannons and take out frustrations on other drivers, then this
is the game for you. Just remember, that guy bearing down on you in the
rear-view mirror has got the same idea, eager to send you exploding in
frustration to that great big scrap yard in the sky.

- Robert (Torgo) Sedler
  [email-masked]

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