ArkFullofSorrow.  Yes, ArkFullofSorrow.

The title screen fully harnesses the power of the Genesis as well as the power of the finest graphic artists of its day. A plane flying low enough you can't shoot it.  Ingenious level design. Although I did admittedly think enough of Sidewinder to beat two levels, something I can rarely say around these parts.

6) Sidewinder

Another game, another genre, this time Active sees how low the flight sim can go.  For better or worse, Active is now dicking around with a much more impressive array of genres in the Genesis version.  Back in '91, the only genres they ruined were the singled-screen 2600-style classic action, the scrolling shooter and the platformer.  I guess they're spreading the trauma as far as they can here.  I suppose the only thing safe from their deadly-to-the-touch grasp are RPGs.

While playable, Side Winder is incredibly boring.  I this description, with proper nouns interchanged, of course, is likely suitable for most games in this collection and will likely appear several times in this feature.  Sidewinder might look like something out of 1988, but it plays as interesting as some three centuries earlier when watching candles burn passed for entertainment.  The goal of the game is to... I don't know.  You can shoot at planes, if you want, though they pose no apparent danger and serve no apparent purpose other than to boost your score.  There's just something supremely honorable about shooting non-combatants, and Active recognizes this fact and made it the centrifugal aspect of this game.   Occasionally heat-seeking missiles will come roaring to you for a couple seconds, nothing you can't easily avoid.

Perhaps these guys were trying to recapture that classic war feeling.  I once read in some WWI vet's journal that war is basically long periods of boredom followed by short bursts of horror.  Sound like Sidewinder?  Sound like the non-warlike Action 52 titles?

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