Confidential Mission (Dreamcast)

The Dreamcast version is a perfect conversion of its arcade counterpart in every way. The graphics, sound and screen-shooting gameplay have been converted from the arcade into the comfort of your own home. It brings with it the entire arcade experience and feels just as good. Your wallet will also be feeling good too because you won't have to keep pumping £1 coins into the machine in order to finish it! Instead, you can simply sit at home and play it over and over again to your heart's content. But what is it about Confidential Mission that makes it so good? Let me explain.....

Confidential Mission sees you taking the role of either Howard or Jean who are government agents sent out to infiltrate enemy bases and stop the enemy from taking over the world! You'll need more than just a gun to survive though. In order to do well you must have super-fast reactions and the ability to intelligently dispose of your enemy in the most efficient way possible. What I mean by this is that you must look at the circular display that surrounds each of the enemy and decifer which is going to shoot first. This can be done simply looking at the display and if it is going red, that enemy is about to shoot wheras a green display would mean that enemy is not going to shoot yet. It sounds complicated but believe me, its simple to get used to. If you've played Virtua Cop then you'll know what to expect.

Each enemy only takes one shot to kill but a skilled player will try to shoot the enemy's gun from their hand. This is called a Justice Shot and you get a lot more points by doing this shot as opposed to shooting the enemy in the belly! The points you get is what makes Confidential Mission so playable over and over again. Trying to beat your last score is half of the fun and doing this with your mates is top fun and makes the game a perfect social game. On the subject of 'mates', you can play this game in 2 player mode with 2 guns for fantastic co-operative gameplay. This really is the height of gaming enjoyment and you MUST experience it! You don't have to own two guns though as the controller can be used but using guns does make it a lot more 'authentic'.

As well as the Arcade mode, Confidential Mission features an Original mode which is the same as the arcade mode but with slight gameplay variations which make it very playable. You can collect power-ups as you progress which can be used in the next game that include being able to permanantly use top weapons such as Assault Rifles!

There is also a training mode which features various training rituals including 'shoot the enemy' which sees you trying to react in super-quick time by shooting the enemy as opposed to the hostage. There are many more modes that I can't go into here but take it from me, they are all really fun and seriously challenging. Some of them will really test your gun-toting abilities.

As I have mentioned previously, the game's presentation is fantastic. The graphics supplied by the powerful NAOMI graphics board are exceptionally smooth and detailed and the animation of the people on screen is brilliant and realistic. Sound-wise the game is good too with some spy movie style music that also takes stuff from action films too. I won't go into the plot as not to spoil it but I can tell you that it takes ideas from action films such as the James Bond films and Mission:Impossible.

Overall, this game is a top Dreamcast title worthy of purchase by any Dreamcast owner. If you've been looking for another reason to use your lightgun since House of the Dead 2 then this is more than it. Everyone should play this classic Sega title and appreciate its qualities. Well, what do expect from Sega's Hitmaker, the creators of Virtua Tennis and Crazy Taxi. Fantastic!

Yeah, so you've got to buy a light gun, big deal. With a game like House of the Dead 2 also available it's a definite must have for all arcade action freaks.

The missions are tough with plenty of variety plus some hidden extras. Ever wanted to be James Bond? Believe me, this is as close as it can get. (Make sure when you get the automatic Assault Rifle, you fire it sideways Miami Vice style for ultimate immersion!!) Training mode will have you cursing with frustration, but I guarantee you won't be able to stop going back.

Do yourself a favour.. BUY IT NOW!..