ULTIMATE GUIDE

FOLLOWING ITS HIT ARCADE PORT OF TECMO’S SILKWORM, THE SALES CURVE SHIFTED ITS UNOFFICIAL ACRONYM-BASED FOLLOW-UP SERIES FROM HOME COMPUTERS TO CONSOLES IN 1992. JUMP INTO THAT JEEP OR HELI AS RETRO GAMER GOES SUPER SWIV

WORDS BY GRAEME MASON

ENEMY PLANE

ENEMY TANK

CAMOUFLAGED CANNON

SMALL ENEMY TANK

ENEMY FLAME THROWER

ENEMY CHOPPER

As Retro Gamer detailed in issue 219’s Ultimate Guide, shoot-’emup Silkworm was a surprise hit in arcades and on home computers. Converted by the recently formed The Sales Curve (via its in-house development team, Random Access), its success persuaded its boss, Jane Cavanagh, to extend the brand, producing the Silkworm-inspired SWIV on 8and 16-bit computers. A year later, the next chapter in this dual-player, multivehicle series appeared exclusively on the 16-bit consoles now solidly dominating the videogame market.

In Super SWIV’s highly original plot (sarcasm mode off), a secret underground race is plotting to take over the world. Several hi-tech military vehicles are missing – including a prototype jet fighter, a battle tank and an underwater mobile missile platform – and are being used for its nefarious plans. This highly advanced race has taken our technology, studied its components and inner workings, and adapted it into an army of computerised drones, each programmed to ruthlessly eliminate any human opposition.

Aware of the underground warmongers but unable to track them due to their cloaking technology, humans finally get a break when a malfunction exposes them for a short period. The location: a small volcanic island in the mid-Atlantic. Underneath here lies a massive army of robots and drones, almost ready to destroy everything on the surface. There’s no time to assemble a significant force; a small, fast but powerful strike team is what humankind needs. We know where they are, we just need two heroes to step up and neutralise each enemy base beneath the uninhabited island. Only a legion of lethal robotic guardians stands in their way.

Super SWIV takes place over six distinct vertically scrolling levels. First up is the desert, where enemy attack helicopters and tanks, missile launchers and more bombard the players as they pick their way through a shanty town and dusty plains. Next is a jungle scenario, the lush undergrowth providing useful cover for the enemy tanks and mines, followed by a dried-up riverbed that gives way to a gushing river. Negotiate these, and it’s on to the enemy’s air base, suspended 30,000 feet in the air, then the molten lava of a recently erupted volcano and, finally, the enemy’s main complex.