GRAPHICS SOUND CONTROL FRUSTRATION FUN FACTOR OVERALL

NES 1 Player Simulation This game is a space flight sim (simulation for all you l4m3r5 out there) by Acclaim (also known for such games as Double Dragon 2). Apparently there is this species called the Kojans, and a couple of centuries ago they went to Earth and captured some Earthlings. They took the Earthlings back to their planet and used them as slaves (BWAHAHAH!!!). Later they let the Earthlings live among them. Later on, the Earthlings created a group, and decided to send somebody to go back to Earth. They choose you and so on and so forth. So what you have to do is travel through these "star systems" (eight to be exact) and find Earth. In each level there are two stages, a sim stage, and then a shooter stage. Graphics: In the sim stages the graphics are pretty good, for a sim that is. You can easily tell what everything is, which seems to be a problem in a lot of sims on the NES. For the shooter stages the graphics are decent but could have been better. All in all, the graphics fall into the same category as the rest of the game: average. Sound: Let me just sum this up for you right here and now, the music in this game sucks, BAD. In the sim levels, it's the same annoying tune, and it plays over and over… In the shooter levels, the music is all right, but when it plays over it gets annoying. I think the developers knew the music in this game was bad, because they give you an option to turn it off anytime during the game. The sound effects aren't very good either, but they aren't very noticeable while playing the game. Gameplay: As I've already mentioned, the game is played in two parts (in each "star system") a sim stage and a shooter stage. Both aren't really anything new, and come off as repetitive to say the least. In the sim levels you can land on planets that are spread around to replenish your supplies. Like in most sim games, you're nothing without radar. When you first start to play Destination, you'll probably find it confusing and die quickly. But actually most of your stats are meaningless and you probably won't start dying until the shooter stages. To complete the sim part you must destroy all the enemies and then find, and go into, the underground base, or shooter stage. In the shooter stages it has a horizontal view and enemies come at you from all directions. Luckily, your ship can shoot behind also. You can gain power-ups that will help a ton when you start getting towards the later shooter levels. At the end of each shooter level you fight a really easy boss; that usually can be beaten in a flash. You do this for eight levels, with nothing really changing except the challenge. One of the great parts about Destination is the control. The developers did something right, and gave you complete control of everything your ship does. It may seem hard with all the button combinations, but you can learn them fast (If you watch all of the intro it tells you all the controls). Once you do learn them all, it adds a lot to the game, even making it more fun to play. Replay: This game is extremely difficult. Once you learn the controls for the sim levels, they aren't very hard, but it's the shooter levels that will get you. The first few shooter levels aren't too difficult, but near the end they become close to impossible. Of course, this leads to much frustration. If you ever do beat the game (It took me years to), you probably won't find yourself playing it again! ......BOTTOM LINE: Considering the fact that there aren't that many sims on the NES (or on any system for that matter), Destination would be a good buy if you're a fan of sims. But even if you are a fan of sims, I recommend picking up some of the better ones on the NES, such as Top Gun or Battletank, before you get this one. -lynx561