1988's, Sky Shark stands as a classic in the mold of the “Space Invader” shooter genre of games. The fighter plane you control moves “northward” on the screen as you are assaulted by waves and waves of enemy planes, tanks and ships, as you traverse stage after stage of both land and water based formations. Unlike Space Invaders, however, your plane is capable of moving anywhere onscreen, so maneuvering is limited only by speed. Each stage also typically has some manner of a boss, which are, for the most part, just some ridiculously oversized plane, tank, or boat, with standard “video game boss” weak points.
1988's, Sky Shark stands as a classic in the mold of the “Space Invader” shooter genre of games. The fighter plane you control moves “northward” on the screen as you are assaulted by waves and waves of enemy planes, tanks and ships, as you traverse stage after stage of both land and water based formations. Unlike Space Invaders, however, your plane is capable of moving anywhere onscreen, so maneuvering is limited only by speed. Each stage also typically has some manner of a boss, which are, for the most part, just some ridiculously oversized plane, tank, or boat, with standard “video game boss” weak points.
The gameplay is solid. There are no moments when you feel the game cheated you out of victory. You might
hate it for destroying your plane, but you have to admit that you probably lost a chance at salvation somewhere earlier. You have both guns and bombs. Your bullets begin as a standard shot, but can be upgraded to a wider, eventually more powerful shot. Upgrades, as well as extra lives, are earned by defeating certain enemies, most commonly from flyby formations of planes, around 10 in number, that will only yield the item, if all are defeated (luckily, they do not use any weapons to attack). And your bombs, while non-upgradeable, are quite essential. More than dealing mere damage to the enemy, they also clear the screen of any projectiles coming your way. They are in relatively scarce supply, however, so they quickly become precious commodities. If you use them when you do not need to, you will regret it when you find yourself in a screen filled with ground and air forces, all firing waves of projectiles at you. They move slowly enough to be dodged.
Sky Shark is a great challenge of a game that never feels cheap, even it can overwhelm you. The length is not terribly long, though its challenge might keep you retrying for a while. Also, it has the extra-old-school flavor of lasting indefinitely, as the game loops after the final stage, providing the opportunity of a high score search for those who might enjoy such an effort. However, clearing the five stages should be enough to recommend for most gamers, providing they are interested in a fair, but tough gameplay experience.
