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Review: Deimos RisingReviewed By: Bill Stiteler Review Date: March 21, 2002
Kirk and I recently had a four-hour teleconference, the purpose of which was to discuss, in depth, how terrible Survivor: The Interactive Game was. As we were scheduling the next discussion of how terrible Survivor: The Interactive Game was, Kirk told me I was to review Deimos Rising. "Oh," said I, "that's Xevious, right?" remembering the game from my quarter-popping youth. "Yeah," said he, "only it's harder."
So, yes, Deimos Rising is Xevious. Yes, it is harder. And man, is it a lot of fun. In DR, you are the pilot of a...well, is it a plane or a star craft? Anyway, it flies. Your mission is to destroy the hordes of airborne and ground units that come at you as you scroll up through each stage. This is the purpose of every scrolling flight shooter. I'd also like to add that it's also the plot of the only decent video game movie ever made. Your weapons? Pretty puny to begin with, though they can be upgraded later on. At the start, you have to deal with only linked lasers and a ground bomb attack. And while your lasers can down most flying targets with one shot, your bombs don't. Yes, your short-range, unguided bombs also require you to maneuver to hit a stationary target...for several shots. On the plus side, you do have shields, which can both protect you from enemy fire and destroy flying craft which come into contact with your ship. For as long as they last, anyway, which isn't long. So you see what I mean about it being difficult.
But when all is said and done, it's an update of those old arcade games (and of its predecessor, Mars Rising), and that's a good thing. You get a few whistles and bells, like a replay feature so you can watch your last game en toto. But...I mean, it's a shooter! What more can I tell you? You fly, you shoot. The game looks great, plays well, doesn't crash, and you don't have to run off to dump singles into the change machine. Deimos Rising is certainly worth the shareware fee--again, if you're into scrolling shooters. In a fair universe, people would be burning demo copies onto CDs and slipping them into boxes of Survivor. But then, in a fair universe, would Survivor: the Interactive Game even exist?
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Well, crap. I remember Xevious as one of my favorite arcade games, but I also remember it was pretty hard to begin with. Why, I'd watch 
The graphics are, of course, better than the 16 bit games of yore; immeasurably so. Even when the screen becomes crowded with enemies and you swerve from side to side, it never becomes mottled or indistinct. Landscape damage is interesting, too; bombs that don't connect with a target make craters on the surface.