viewpoint

(vyū'point')
n.
A position from which something is observed or considered; a point of view.

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noun

The position from which something is observed or considered: angle², eye, outlook, point of view, slant, standpoint, vantage. See perspective.

IN BRIEF: Opinion. Also: A position from which things are looked at.

There are no guarantees. From the viewpoint of fear, none are strong enough. From the viewpoint of love, none are necessary. — Emmanuel Philibert (1528-1580).

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• Release Date: 1995
• Genre: Shooter
• Style: Side-Scrolling Shooter
• Similar Games: Zaxxon (Arcade), Thunder Force IV (Sega Genesis), Zaxxon (Commodore 64/128), Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000 (Sega Genesis 32X), Zaxxon (Atari Video Computer System), Viewpoint (Arcade), Zaxxon (ColecoVision), Zaxxon (Atari 5200)

Game Description

Far into the future of mankind's existence, the world is being threatened by its own mechanical creations. After being banished to the 31st sector of the galaxy, the Ralfedacc has began orbiting around Earth. Those in the death orb more commonly known as the Director of the Dark have created destructive robots that will be deployed on the seemingly helpless planet; their ultimate objective is revenge.

Naturally, you've been selected as the Byupo probe pilot that will save the world; no pressure, eh? A Byupo is a small yet powerful fighter ship capable of mass devastation; it can pick up and use various weapons and utilize special items. Your mission objective is short and to the point: pilot your craft with a quick trigger finger throughout six key battle areas.

Viewpoint features six robot riddled worlds set throughout a three-quarter perspective. Growing in complexity as the game progresses, the levels have been rendered with computer-generated SGI textures, enemies, and various explosion effects. At the end of certain levels, players will square off against large mechanized bosses.

The Byupo can obtain sidecars, or helper items and/or weapons, during each levels. Players can utilize homing bombs that targets enemies in clusters, the wall of flame that emits from a dropped fire bomb, and a wave bomb that sends out a lightning attack. Additionally, power bubbles equip your shooter with temporary shields and the bonus Byupo acts as an extra-life.

But watch out -- there are a variety of traps and hazards built to terminate your quest. In addition to trap doors, the enemies have erected draw gates to hamper your progress. You'll have to destroy the wheel locks if you wish to make it through the gate. The Gears of Gore move on tracks and do devastating amounts of damage; avoid these at all costs!

Review: Overall

Even the most diehard shooter fans will be frustrated with Viewpoint. Rather than going with either the traditional side-scrolling or overhead perspectives, the developers opted for a three-quarter view that allows for beautifully rendered SGI graphics and animation but complicates the gameplay. And there's that pesky problem of having only three continues to finish the entire game...

Like all shooters, Viewpoint starts off easily enough with the weaker, standard enemies flying about. All of a sudden, however, you'll find yourself in a chaotic bullet-ridden scene with large quantities of slowdown and flickering enemies. In conjunction with the three-quarters perspective, this makes the game almost unplayable; not to mention the later stages are mind-numbingly difficult.

Because the original version of Viewpoint was designed in accordance to the Neo Geo's hardware limitations, the slowdown was intentional. The developers thought gamers might need a few seconds to make last minute decisions and avoid bullets; this was really helpful. But this PlayStation moves faster than the original and pumps more enemies and effects onto the screen creating unintentional slowdown.

The graphics have been completely reworked from the original version with nicely rendered ships and environments. Additionally, the special effects such as explosions and lighting have been enhanced with crisp and realistic looking sprites. Apparently, however, the PlayStation can't handle all the pretty effects or the developers couldn't tap the console's power; the constant flickering goes a long way to ruin the title.

As far as actual gameplay goes, the controls are slow, unresponsive at times, and sluggish. It feels as if the Byupo uses molasses as fuel; either that or the air is just really, really thick. Also, the three-quarters perspective is poor resulting in many missed shots and even more deaths on your behalf. It would have been better off using an overhead perspective. That way, players could actually tell where they were in relation to the surrounding enemies.

In conclusion, I'm not sure Viewpoint even be enjoyed by the hardcore shooter fans. You'll be cursing this game for the difficulty combined with a lack of innovation, slowdown and flickering problems, and the weak three-quarters view. Because there's so many bullets flying at your tiny little ship, the game feels almost unplayable at times. Rent before you buy.

Review: Enjoyment

If unresponsive and slow controls, flickering gameplay, and dying every few minutes sounds like an enjoyable game, then Viewpoint is the game for you.

Review: Graphics

While the levels and enemies are nicely rendered with great special and lighting effects, the graphics flicker and the action becomes choppy far too often.

Review: Sound

The electronic soundtrack is great with lots of sound effects.

Review: Replay Value

Because there are only six different stages, there isn't much to come back for. Many gamers will become frustrated well before the game is finished, expect a very long shelf life.

Review: Documentation

The manual is decent and explains basic controls, operating doors, and using the various weapons.

Production Credits

For a list of words related to viewpoint, see:

• Judgments and Critiques - viewpoint: position from which or basis on which judgment is made; point of view

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See words rhyming with "viewpoint."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Viewpoint.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - synspunkt

Nederlands (Dutch)
oogpunt, standpunt, gezichtspunt

Français (French)
n. - point de vue

Deutsch (German)
n. - Standpunkt

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - άποψη, σκοπιά, θεώρηση, σημείο με καλή θέα

Italiano (Italian)
punto di vista

Português (Portuguese)
n. - ponto (m) de vista

Русский (Russian)
точка зрения, точка обзора, съемки

Español (Spanish)
n. - punto de vista

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - synpunkt, utsiktspunkt

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
观点

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 觀點

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 보이는 지점, 견해, 관점

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 見地, 見解

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) وجهه نظر, وجهه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮נקודת-ראות‬

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