Bonkers but poor effort
Another effort from Operasoft, perhaps best known for their Livingstone games, this is a slick hi-tech action game which looks pretty decent in an eighties kind of way but which plays less impressively than it looks. It's not a bad game, simply an average one which is only really worth playing by dedicated retroheads. The bizarre storyline relates how a rather mean spell has turned Billy and Monica into a fish and a hawk respectively. Under certain circumstances they can return to their normal form but never at the same time, so in order that they can be together, they now seek a way to break the spell for good. The gameplay is divided into a few stages with the first one seeing Billy running through a side-scrolling level, blasting enemies and jumping around while looking for Monica who is trapped in a cage. The second level sees Monica running escort duties on Billy, with her in human form and he turned back to a fish, but which plays out basically the same as the first level. Sol Negro is really only worth playing if you're fascinated by the curious plot on display here or if the graphics are of interest. The visuals are pretty cool, with lovely chunky sprites and good use of colour, while the story is so utterly bonkers that it is quite fascinating. The gameplay however is very weak, consisting of little more than very basic run 'n' gun action accompanied by a few blips and bleeps. The levels aren't particularly well designed and the whole thing gets very dull very quickly so if you are tempted to play, don't expect it to last very long.
