Nakamoto is an old school platform game in which you're tasked with collecting all of the objects scattered around the screen. A unique feature not seen in many games of this genre is the ability to jump and cling to overhead rails. You can use these to overcome tricky areas of the screen. The critters on-screen come in two forms – a creature that flies around, and a platform-based one that occasionally warps to other parts of the screen. The visuals are bright and colourful and move smoothly. It's an easy game to get into that does have an addictive quality, even though it's a simple platformer.

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Nanako's village is under attack, so Nanako decides to visit the Oracle and ask for his advice. He tells her to venture into the depths of hell and retrieve four pieces of an artefact that will destroy the attackers. Of course, hell is not a particularly pleasant place to explore, and there are lots of ghoulish monsters to avoid. However, you can collect bottles of holy water, which will kill them. Axes and scissors can also be collected in order to cut down trees and fences (whoever heard of using scissors to cut down a fence?!). This is a fairly simple game to play, and the playing area is quite large, so making a map is advisable. It's well presented with some lovely graphics, but the appearance of monsters at random every time you enter a screen is annoying.

See also: Nanako in Classic Japanese Monster Castle.

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Nanako's younger sister, Mya, went to the Heún Tower, but she has not been seen for several weeks. Being the caring sister that Nanako is, she goes to the tower to rescue her. Starting at the bottom floor, you have to reach the top of each screen by moving boxes around the screen, which you can use to build staircases or platforms. Karakasa (umbrella-like monsters) roam the tower as well, and Nanako can stand on top of them – but if she falls off, she will lose a life. The graphics are very colourful and well drawn and really enhance the appeal of the game, and each level has a password allowing you to skip earlier levels in future games. However, the random movement of the karakasa means that lives are often needlessly wasted, which can be very frustrating.

See also: Nanako Descends to Hell.

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NARC
(Ocean, 1990)
Reviewed by John Beckett

In this very faithful version of the hit ultra-violent arcade game by Williams, you play as tough anti-drugs officer Max Force (with – in two-player mode – his buddy Hit Man... nice name) and, using your twin machine guns and rocket launchers, you set out to destroy the cities leading criminals and shut down the drugs empire KRAK once and for all. There are seven levels in the game, with you taking out a different criminal mastermind in each, culminating in a huge shoot-out with Mr. Big himself. I quite enjoyed this game. The graphics are good, the levels are varied (you can even hop into a Porsche on the third level to mow down the bad guys!), it's not too hard and it has a great two-player mode. On the down side, however, it plays rather slowly and there's absolutely no in-game sound at all, which is a great shame.

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An enemy submarine has been sighted off the coast, and you've been sent in alone to capture it. The game comes in two parts; the first one sees you in a dinghy, jumping over mines to reach the submarine, and the second one sees you in the submarine, on the lookout for four officers who hold the codes to the submarine's computer. You're armed with a gun and a flamethrower and have to shoot soldiers on sight, and then search them for extra ammo or lives. Sadly, this is a typical Dinamic game; it's well presented, but the first part is impossible to play. Thankfully that's not the case for the second part.

See also: Army Moves.

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A helicopter crew of Navy SEALs, an élite American commando unit, has been kidnapped in Beirut by terrorists. A group of five of their comrades has been sent out to infiltrate the terrorists' headquarters, rescue the hostages and destroy their stockpile of Stinger missiles. This is a platform game which involves brains as well as brawn. The terrorists are heavily armed, and one shot from them will kill you – so you have to sneak up on them, make sure they haven't seen you, then shoot them before they do the same to you. This game was only released on cartridge, but it uses the Plus' extra facilities to good effect and is well worth playing, although be warned that it is very difficult; if it was a bit easier, I would give it a higher rating.

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Nebulus
(Hewson, 1988)

Several towers have popped up on the ocean planet Nebulus, and our hero has to reach the top of each one, starting from the bottom. Each tower is surrounded by staircases and lifts which you have to use. You also have to avoid the various monsters; running into one sees you tumbling to the bottom, usually into the ocean. The graphics are colourful and well animated, and there's a really nice tune to listen to as well. The game is a bit tough, but it's worth sticking with it.

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Orbiting above Earth is the Necris-Dome, a graveyard for the dead now that there is no room for them to be buried on Earth. It is ruled by the Arch-Mandroid and his servants who have taken it over. You have been sent in a coffin along with the latest batch of arrivals, and you have to destroy the Arch-Mandroid and the Dome itself. This is a text adventure created using GAC, and the accompanying pictures are OK, especially the picture of the Mandroid, but there is hardly any description of the rooms, and experienced adventure fans might find it a little bit easy.

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Le Nécromancien
(Ubi Soft, 1987)

You are Kothar the mercenary, and your friend Balthar the Red has written a letter asking you for help. You decide to travel to the town of Stragla to find out what is going on – and it's very sinister indeed. A necromancer has brought terror to Stragla, and his hordes of lizard-men patrol the streets, bringing death and destruction to the town. This is one of those multiple choice text adventures, in which rather than entering commands and trying to guess the right ones, you choose one option from two or three. This makes it very easy to play (well, if you can read French), although the game is by no means easy to complete. The prose is well written and atmospheric, and it's one of those games in which you really want to explore further.

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NEIL
(Alternative, 1988)

The spaceship EPIC has been infected by an alien lifeform, and the crew have sent an android called NEIL to clean the ship of aliens. Each room contains ten green aliens to be destroyed. There are also robots which leave cells behind them when they are shot; collecting them allows you to replenish your air supply or ammunition, which you will need to do frequently, or use a smart bomb which kills all the aliens in the room. The graphics are very good, but there's very little sound and no music, and the game is quite slow and slightly too difficult.

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