Skyhammer Thoughts?

[Sputnik2600]

I’ve been thinking of picking up Skyhammer but I don’t want to drop a c-note for a game I’m not sure I’ll enjoy. I’ve watched multiple reviews on youtube and everything I’ve seen has been down the middle. Everyone seems to enjoy the Battle mode but passes on Mission mode. I wasn’t a fan of Iron soldier, which this game reminds me of, but I really like the cyber-punk/Blade Runner setting. Any suggestions to help get me off the fence for this game?

[sirlynxalot]

I like the aesthetic and the idea of this game on the Jaguar is great. It is a good technical achievement. But I have found the game to be quite boring to play, many missions revolve around finding a hidden item on the map, that's not fun or interesting to me. My view, it's not fun to play but it's worth it to own if you want to have a showcase for jaguar 3d power.

[Major Havoc 2049]

If you don't like mission based action sims like Iron Soldier, then you may not like Skyhammer. The Battle Mode is fun and very playable. The Mission Mode is great fun as well, but it wasn't fully play tested and finished and starts to get buggy about half way through the game. The game will start to randomly freeze up and crash.

Edited August 11, 2017 by Major Havoc 2049

[KevinMos3]

I haven't played it much since I first got it, but I spent many hours with it back then. At the time, I really enjoyed it, but if I remember correctly -- after I cleared the first city, I found it very difficult to get through the second city. I think that's why I stopped playing. I think the difficulty ramped up beyond what I had patience for.

 

To me, the game looks great and runs smooth. I think it's a great showcase of the graphics the Jag was capable of, but whether or not you would enjoy it, I cannot guess. Personally, I've always liked the game, but I've barely played my Jaguar in years (nothing against the Jag, I just haven't actually spent time playing much of anything in a long time). Back then, I was hungry for anything Jaguar and this game was right up my alley. I was really into 3DO as well at the time, so my taste in graphics and tolerance for framerates was quite different than today. I still think it's definitely a game worth having.

[sdrake]

SkyHammer Player's Page

https://web.archive.org/web/20081202115358/http://free.prohosting.com/~pforhan/games/sky#Strategy

Here.

[WAVE 1 GAMES]

The game looks very impressive however gameplay wise its just another Hover Stryke. I didn't care for it, or Air Cars or Phase Zero. Out of all of the drive around and shoot things in a 3D environment, it is the BEST one though. Both the visuals and the ability to fly above the tops of the buildings and in the street below keep it interesting compared to the others. The theme of the dark futuristic city is also very nice. It's just not a lot of fun IMHO

[PeterG]

There is some fun to be had with Skyhammer. It has a nice atmosphere. The complete textured look and the freedom of movement is quite singular on the Jag. The missions vary between attacking enemy battleground, collecting pods, attacking or defending certain nodes. You earn money that you can use to buy weapons and upgrade your ship which is really nice because you get faster too. It also has a battlemode but I always enjoyed the missions more.

 

The downside is that it is buggy so it can crash from time to time so save often. And even then I had it crash on me an lost all my progress. There is also only one saving slot if I remember correctly.

 

And it gets really slow later on when you fight big battlegroups. The game comes almost to a halt and again might crash when there is too much going on, so you have to find ways around this by bombing enemies from above without having them on screen or using the smart bomb to nuke everything.

 

 

With that said I think it is still a really nice addition to the library and I'm happy it was released afterall.

 

The output from Rebellion is kind of strange with AvP then Checkered Flag (what where they thinking?) And then this solid title.

[82-T/A]

I like it. It's a Jaguar game, so if you like that genre of games, you'll like Skyhammer.

 

I'd probably say that if you like Hoverstrike, you'll also like Skyhammer.

 

 

I definitely enjoy it.

[ZylonBane]

I like it. It's a Jaguar game, so if you like that genre of games, you'll like Skyhammer.

 

"Jaguar" is a genre of games? What does that even mean?

[PFG 9000]

I've only had Skyhammer for a year or so, and only played it very briefly. This thread has me interested to at least put a few hours into it to see if I can get into it. I didn't get any sort of Bladerunner vibe from the little bit that I played, so I'd like to at least see that aspect of it.

[UHATEIT]

I'd have to say this is my current favorite for the system. I've been playing it pretty consistently for the last two weeks. I think the graphics could be cleaner but then again it's a Jaguar. I absolutely think the map needs to be better. It comes out a bit blurry for me so it's hard to tell where the enemies are and which direction you're headed. Also wish it was better for seeing where the blinking bases are at for saving and refueling. Overall this game is a blast to play for me.

[Sputnik2600]

Alright,I've place an order on the AA store for this and Rebooteroids. I can't wait to try Skyhammer for myself.

[Austin]

Eh.. Well, let's hope you enjoy it. I was going to say that if you do not like Iron Soldier, you will not enjoy this. Too late for that it seems.

[Sputnik2600]

Well if I hate it I'll blame UHATEIT, as it was his post that convinced me. Anyway I'm sure Rebooteroids will be awesome.

[UHATEIT]

I think it's great! The map just needs to be more clear.

[82-T/A]

 

"Jaguar" is a genre of games? What does that even mean?

 

 

What do you think it means?

[ZylonBane]

What do you think it means?

If I knew, I wouldn't have asked. Taken literally, it's nonsense. The Jaguar is a system, not a genre.

[Lost Dragon]

There is some fun to be had with Skyhammer. It has a nice atmosphere. The complete textured look and the freedom of movement is quite singular on the Jag. The missions vary between attacking enemy battleground, collecting pods, attacking or defending certain nodes. You earn money that you can use to buy weapons and upgrade your ship which is really nice because you get faster too. It also has a battlemode but I always enjoyed the missions more.

The downside is that it is buggy so it can crash from time to time so save often. And even then I had it crash on me an lost all my progress. There is also only one saving slot if I remember correctly.

And it gets really slow later on when you fight big battlegroups. The game comes almost to a halt and again might crash when there is too much going on, so you have to find ways around this by bombing enemies from above without having them on screen or using the smart bomb to nuke everything.

With that said I think it is still a really nice addition to the library and I'm happy it was released afterall.

The output from Rebellion is kind of strange with AvP then Checkered Flag (what where they thinking?) And then this solid title.

Rebellion themselves admit they really struggled with control system etc on Jaguar C.F..

 

For myself they were never the team to produce a Jaguar Virtua Racing clone..

 

Lee Briggs/Teque would of delivered it..far far better.

 

It's a crying shame time and resources were wasted on C.F..when likes OF AVP could perhaps of been released sooner if Rebellion had focused on a single Jaguar title..

 

Who knows maybe Skyhammer could of seen a commercial release and Legions Of The Undead reached a stage where playable footage existed?.

 

Wishful thinking perhaps..but C.F tied up resources and did the Jaguar no favours..

[+Stephen Moss]

I quite like Skyhammer although I have not player it for a few years as it can mess with my motion sickness. As I recall in mission mode it just switches between the two cities when you clear all the missions in one city and in the second city you cannot fly all the way across as the buildings are too tall, you have to use the transport mechanism the transfer between bases to get from one side to the other. I could not get on the with helicopter type control of some engines variants but I do like the Blade Runner inspired city scape (hoping Blade Runner 2049 will be good).

I think the map is good enough for what it is needed for, although the bases can be had to find as if you approach from the wrong direction they can be hidden by projecting building section/signs and like the way that damaged ships have a Star Trek style emissions of fuel (or something) and spin like they are out of control due to damage/dead crew until you destroy them or they crash and explode.

A really good example of what the Jaguar is capable of and proves to the naysayers that the Jag can handle 3D and texture mapping well when pushed and programmed correctly.

[Schmudde]

I love Skyhammer. When you're protecting the cities, it truly feels like there are armies in other sectors on the move and it takes a bit of strategy to decide how to mount a counter offensive.

 

If you didn't like Iron Soldier, I would approach with caution. Having said that, I think the gameplay is much different and definitely has more depth than Hover Strike. Really no comparison on the latter.

[Cobra Kai]

Skyhammer is dope yo.

[82-T/A]

If I knew, I wouldn't have asked. Taken literally, it's nonsense. The Jaguar is a system, not a genre.

 

 

Haha, ok. It's hard for me to take your semantic outrage seriously... since we're talking about video games, and I'm a 39 year old grown man.

 

But, yes... obviously the Jaguar is a system. I consider the Jaguar games to be in the same genre as other odd/orphaned systems of the time like the 3DO, CD-32, etc. More specifically, games that have been ported from computers, but largely from Amiga or Atari ST type systems. Compared to Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo, those systems were more well known for their platform specific games.

 

The games that were Jaguar specific, were usually games that followed the old "Atari" model... IE: beat your high score. Defender 2000, Tempest, Breakout 2000, Missile Command, etc.

[Austin]

Uh... no. Just, no.

[ZylonBane]

It's like he really doesn't know what the word "genre" means, but he's determined to use it anyway.

[+madman]

3DO games were Amiga and ST ports?