Hail fellow gamers! How many of you can remember all the way back to the time of the Commodore 64? *LOL* I'll bet many of you can, but for the ones that can't, I'll fill you in a bit. Way back before hard drives and compact discs there was a computer called the Commodore 64. Now there were many games for that system, but I would have to say that by far, Beach Head was one of the best games I have played to date. It started out by you having to shoot down wave after wave of planes. If you were able to finish that stage you moved on to doing battle with ships. I have to say it was a blast with one little land cannon vs. battle ships and planes. Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, up popped stage 3. Now on this stage you were the commander of a tank that had to make its way through a mine filled maze full of pill boxes and other tanks to make it to the end. If you were lucky enough to make it to the end, you had to fight the mountain of death. Now the object here was to shoot all the lights out of all the windows before this huge cannon on top of the mountain turned and blasted you into nothing. It was such a great game for its time.

As soon as I heard the company called Wizard Works was working on Beach Head 2000 I couldn't wait to pick it up. I thought it was going to be all that Beach Head was and more. Well, the day it hit the stores I went down and picked it up. After installing the game and playing it for about an hour or two I had to turn the game off, grab a beer, find a nice chair to sit down in and think of a reason why they would ruin a game that could have been the game of the year. In Beach Head 2000, you are still a lone gunner facing an "overwhelming onslaught of enemy fire." Every stage starts out the same. First, a few planes fly over dropping bombs on you trying to soften up the beach before the landing craft arrive with the troops and tanks. They give you a few guns to help you defend the beach. The first is a twin 50 cal. machine gun used for killing troops and planes. Second is an anti-tank cannon used for what else, killing tanks. *LoL* I have to add that this gun is also fun to shoot at the guys running on the beach if you want to see them get blown apart and fly through the air. Finally, they give you a few missiles for those pesky airplanes. As far as game play goes every level is the same, but each gets a bit harder (ie: more planes, tanks, and guys on the beach all trying to kill you). The games 3D graphics aren't that bad, and no 3D acceleration is required for you guys with slower systems.

What it all really comes down to is, if all you are looking for a new game to play for a few hours here and there, when you don't feel like playing anything else you have, it's a lot of fun, but that about it.

by Jason