The 1996 PlayStation version of Aicom‘s classic isometric shooter, Viewpoint, was ported by Visual Concepts Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It features updated graphics and music, with the same basic gameplay elements of the original.

Viewpoint is basically a Zaxxon-style progressive weapons shooter where you control a small spaceship moving along a diagonally-scrolling corridor, shooting attacking enemies, avoiding collisions with bullets and hazards, picking up power-ups, and facing large bosses at the end of each stage.

The PlayStation version doesn’t have the craft launching into blue, cloudy skies, as seen at the beginning of the Neo Geo original, but it does have a unique CGI intro sequence and cut scenes of its own (which are frankly not that good – they’re okay, but look dated now and don’t really show much of interest or help the backstory in any way).

Graphically, the PlayStation version of Viewpoint does feature completely new backdrops and sprites that have been pre-rendered in a 3D modelling package, rather than being hand-drawn like in the original. Which splits my opinion. On the one hand the new graphics are beautifully coloured and do look nice – the metallic first level is particularly impressive – but I think I prefer the original graphics, which are timeless. Pre-rendered graphics tend to date over time, whereas hand-drawn graphics tend not to. Some might prefer the PlayStation version’s visuals; some might not. It depends on your taste. The new, updated music in this I think is better than the dated breakbeats of the original, but again: that’s another subjective opinion and depends on your taste. You can actually mute the music and just have the sound effects if you prefer.

PlayStation Viewpoint does have level passwords, which is good because it’s a very difficult game and they avoid having to re-play earlier levels over and over again. It’s missing a high score table, though, which is a little disappointing as the original Viewpoint had one. Overall, this is a decent PlayStation shooter. It walks a fine line between challenge and frustration, but is a worthy update of the Neo Geo original.

More: Viewpoint on Wikipedia