Licence to Kill

The title of this article is ambiguous. James Bond (Disambiguation).

Licence to Kill

Game No.	398
Voting	6.50 points, 18 votes
Developer	Anthony West, Christopher West
Company	Quixel
Publisher	Domark
Musician	David Whittaker
HVSC-File	MUSICIANS/W/Whittaker_David/ Licence_To_Kill.sid
Release	1989
Platform	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, C64, PC-DOS, ZX Spectrum
Genre	Arcade
Gamemode	Single player
Operation
Media
Language
Information	See also: James Bond (Parker Brothers) Live and Let Die The Living Daylights The Spy Who Loved Me A View to a Kill

Description[edit | edit source]

In 1989 Timothy Dalton had his second (and last) movie job as James Bond. The name of the movie was "Licence to Kill". Domark used this as an occasion to publish a game with the same name, which set itself pleasantly apart from the forerunners. Bond chases the dangerous drug baron Sanchez, who floods the USA with a large quantitiy of drugs. The game consists of several independent levels which all exist as scenes in the movie and require much skill and partially also the ability for tactical approaches.

Design[edit | edit source]

All levels are shown from the bird's view. The graphics are detailled and the used colours are pleasant. The playability is excellent, only the difficulty grade was set a bit too high. The course of the game is diversified. But you have to lower your expectations for the intro. The typical James Bond prelude is almost completely missing. Only the white dot is there. There is no view out of the muzzle in this game. You will also search in vain for a proper title screen or an end sequence.

Hints[edit | edit source]

Level 1 - Helicopter Chase[edit | edit source]

Here you need to chase the escaping enemy Sanchez - who drives along a street with a Jeep - with the helicopter and avoid houses and shots.

The controls:

- fly faster
- fly slower
- steer left
- steer right
- shot + put down James (at the end of the level)

Level 2 - The Gunfight[edit | edit source]

Bond needs to fight through a hostile area by foot. Here you need to keep Sanchez's men from escaping and beware of not being shot yourself. In this level you need a tactical approach.

Controls:

- walk up
- walk down
- walk left
- walk right
/ - aim left/right
- let go button = shoot

Level 3 - Plane Escape[edit | edit source]

Sanchez flies back to Cuba with the plane. Bond ropes down from a helicopter and needs to try to cling to the tail of the airplane.

Controls:

- fly faster
- fly slower
- steer to the left
- steer to the right
- put down James at the tail of the plane

Level 4 - Diving[edit | edit source]

Here Bond needs to swim for his life and dive, because Sanchez uses divers and rubber boats against Bond. To take the harpoons from the divers you need to swim over them and press the fire button. Bond can dive beneath boats (Joystick forwards). Collected packages with drugs get you bonus points. To hang onto the plane (and with this get to the next scene) it needs to be hit with the harpoon.

Controls:

- swim upwards, dive
- swim downwards
- steer to the left
- steer to the right
- take harpoon, destroy drugs, fire harpoon

Level 5 - Water Ski Chase[edit | edit source]

Bond has made it to hang onto the water plane with the harpoon and converts his feet to water skis. Now you need to avoid rocks and other obstacles. Bond needs to get to the plane to be able to take it over.

Controls:

- closer to the plane
- further away from the plane
- steer left
- steer right

Level 6 - Truck Chase[edit | edit source]

Bond has destroyed the drug factory of Sanchez, but he himself has escaped and tries to get over the border. Bond needs to be put down by a plane onto a truck (steer the plane from behind over the truck until the display for putting down appears) and with this destroy all trucks by forcing them off the road until he reaches Sanchez's truck.

Controls:

- fly/drive faster
- fly/drive slower
- steer to the left
- steer to the right
- jump from the plane onto the truck

Solution[edit | edit source]

Cheats[edit | edit source]

The version by "711" offers the following cheat modes: unlimited lives, unlimited energy, no damage on the truck in the last level, unlimited air supply in level 4, no time limit, unlimited ammunition.

Voting[edit | edit source]

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
6.50 points at 18 votes (rank 646). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
C64Games	9	10th April 2007 - "top" - 3356 downs
Lemon64	7,4	10th April 2007 - 23 votes
ZZap64	80%	Issue 89/09

Reviews[edit | edit source]

H.T.W: "The single movie scenes were converted to well playable levels. Also the controls (except for the second level where aiming is a bit notchy) are simple and exact. Graphics and sound are not above average but well done. Only the difficulty level is partially extremely high. Furthermore, a proper end sequence and a saveable highscore list is missing. Nevertheless: The best Bond for the C64".