Chopper 1 Mini Review

Some of you may actually remember Chopper 1 from the arcade and the amount of quarters you used to sink into it. SNK has decided to bring the game to PSN in the form of a mini. Being a PSN mini means a reduced price of 2.99 as well. Should you “get to da choppa” or let this black hawk stay down?

Chopper 1 is one of those old school top down, arcade shooter scrollers. The screen keeps going forward and you have to dodge and kill enemies, pick up power ups and kill bosses. Now this may sound easy but these arcade games loved it when you died so you would put another quarter in. The bullets and enemy choppers will quickly close in on you and kill you.

This will either make you hate the game or entice you to play it more. The challenge level is pretty high but when you beat it you will feel pretty good.

There is also two player mode so you can have a buddy join in on the destruction.

The mini looks and sounds just like the original. You will get the over-the-top arcade explosions and the explosive sounds that accompany it. The colors don’t wear on your eyes like some of the older titles did. The game even has a decent enemy selection with various colors and sounds.

While the graphics are fine the sound can get a bit repetitive. Hearing the same shot sound over and over from the chopper will get on your nerves. This isn’t exactly something that could of been fixed easily though so you should expect it.

This is a mini so it is much, much shorter then a normal game. You will likely beat it once and stop playing because of the difficulty. Those of you that like the challenge or want to play with a friend might pick it back up. I don’t see most people wanting to play through the game again though.

While the game is cheap it is also very challenging. If you are looking for a challenging way to spend an hour or two then pick this up. Or if you are just feeling like going retro for a bit. It beats putting a quarter in every time you lose.

Rating	Description
out of 10
8.5	Presentation: Looks and feels just like the old one. Good for some not for others.
8.5	Art Direction: Has the retro arcade look. Doesn’t wear on your eyes as much but it is still old school.
6	Soundtrack & Sound Effects: The sound just gets repetitive after awhile and it effects wanting to play the game.
7	Gameplay: Fun but very challenging. It may be to challenging for some.
6	Replay Value: You can play with a friend but you likely won’t want to come back.
7 OVERALL	Good (Better then wasting 5$ in quarters)

This review is based on a retail copy of the PS3 version of Chopper 1 provided by the developers.