If you've got a Jag, you've played CyberMorph. The sequel harnesses the power of the Jaguar CD, but does it bring anything new to the party?

THOSE Pernitians, eh? Not content with being soundly trounced when they tried to invade our peaceful blue globe in CyberMorph, they're at it again. After the Earth forces routed the Pernitians last time, a fleet of huge battle cruisers was built to patrol neighbouring space. When cruisers suddenly stop coming home, the top brass finally suss that something is out there, and it isn't the truth. In a final stab at global peace and harmony, they send the last of the cruisers out to spank those irritating bug-eyed monsters once and for all.

DURING the time between conflicts, your original TransmoGriffon ship has been upgraded. The new War Griffon can do everything the CyberMorph ship could, and has added capabilities. As well as being faster and harder than before, your ship can now explore beneath the ocean waves and penetrate hidden underground complexes to boot. As the last pilot of the final Griffon aboard the only remaining cruiser ­ nice cheery job there ­ it's your job to track the Pernitians across the galaxy, recovering enough stolen plasma to power the Sutherland long enough to reach the enemy homeworld.

The Battle Cruiser Sutherland, home to your assaults against the Pernitians.

CYBERMORPH was a tiny cartridge, and BattleMorph arrives on a CD packed with a whopping 750 MBytes of storage space ­ so what's new? For starters, the music. Rather than the limited soundtrack offered by CyberMorph, your airborne assaults are accompanied by 'real' music ­ perfect 16-bit stereo played direct from the CD. Likewise, sound effects benefit from being clearer and more varied. There's also lots of full-motion video movies, which crop up as you play. The quality is superb, with the tale of the Pernitian battles rendered in glorious moving TrueColour. The most amusing part of all this is the voice-over which tells the story, and acts as your mission guide. Rebellion have managed to find a very credible Sean Connery impersonator here ­ it made us smile, anyway! The extra space also means more scenery, more enemies and lots and lots of textures. Everything from the buildings to the enemy ships is lovingly texture-mapped to provide a real visual feast.

SO how does it play? CyberMorph with knobs on, basically. Where most of the original missions involved collecting anonymous yellow pods, BattleMorph offers more scope. Mission tasks range from taking out entire planets by popping huge generators to searching underwater for segments of lost weapons technology. As the missions progress, you'll be rewarded with new weapons ­ unlike CyberMorph's system of picking arms up each mission, once you find something you get to keep it. The game hasn't suffered a speed penalty despite the more appealing visuals, either. Everything belts along, with a real feeling of speed. Try cutting across the surface of a lake at full tilt to see what we mean.

Aha, the Atari UK offices. You can tell, 'cos it's a nice building that doesn't do much.

It finally dawned on the designers to make your ship waterproof. Shame we're in for a drought.

SO is it any good? We like it a lot. If you liked the idea of CyberMorph but found the lack of variety a little annoying, you'll enjoy the increased depth of BattleMorph. If you're a fan of the original, you'll certainly relish the prospect of getting deeper into the Pernitian scenario this time round. BattleMorph is a real treat for the ears and eyes, but that isn't everything despite what some programmers think. On its own, it's a fast and addictive game. With the added bonus of the atmospheric music and fantastic visual extras, it's an absolute stunner. As with all Jag CD games though, you really do need a Memory Track cartridge to get the best from it, or you'll be playing the first few worlds 'til the cows come home. Now, where did I leave my space-boots?

Price: £49.99
Contact: The Console Centre (01484 544926)
Min System: Jaguar and Jaguar CD.

Highs

• Varied missions.
• Superb sound and music.
• Fast and fluid.

Lows

• If you didn't like CyberMorph...

STF Rating : 89%

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