| Credits | |
| Published: | 1991, Storm |
| Developer: | Random Access |
| Copyright: | The Sales Curve |
| Design: | Dan Marchant |
| Coder: | Ronald Pieket Weeserik |
| Graphics: | Ned Langman |
| Musician: | Andrew Barnabas |
| Information | |
| Hardware: | OCS, ECS |
| Disks: | 1 |
| License: | Commercial |
| Language: | English |
| Players: | 1 or 2, Simultaneous |
| Relationship: |  Sequel to Silk Worm |
| Categorization | |
| Genre: | Shoot'em Up |
| Subgenre: | V-Scrolling |
| Tags: | futuristic, helicopters, jeeps, powerup, scrolling, shootemup, vertical |
| Magazine Reviews | |
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Added by Kim Lemon on Aug 31, 2004. Viewed 52594 times.
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Read review by Ariane
Graphics: 10 ‧
Music: 10 ‧
Playability: 10 ‧
Overall: 10
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It was great to see games like this back in the day making full use of the Amiga's capabilities and reminding us why we bought one in the first place and payed out the extra dosh!! Really slick graphics, super crisp music and sfx which felt state of the art back then. Such an incredible game.
View all comments (33)
Technically a good shmup I agree, but hurrrrdurrrr difficulty kaiboshed it, like it did so many others and still does. Only ever played it using cheats all the way.
View all comments (124)
One of the best shmup on Amiga. It's harder than Banshee cause at SWIV you can't gain lives as powerup. There are some points that requires skill to dodge bullets, very hard when the screen is almost full of enemies and bullets.
Hard to complete it with only 1 credit but this game gives you great action!
View all comments (5)
Probably the best vertically scrolling shooter on the Amiga ever. There was never anything to touch it in terms of the amount of wastage and destruction on screen. Truly satisfying carnage and all on one gigantic level!
And at whatever point in the game that you were killed you always had a chance to build up your firepower again which made it supremely tough but just about fair as well. (Unlike some other shooters - Core design's Frenetic for example)...
And yes I did complete this without cheating, but it took a long time and every ounce of my playing skill to finally achieve this.....
8/10
View all comments (254)
A classic masterpiece! Silk Work in vertical is possibly one of the best 2-player vertical shooters on Amiga..
its missing a special weapon and movement... But keeping it simple it does a great job...
I also recommend 2player vertical shmups Banshee AGA and Battle Squadron..
View all comments (21)
I was at an arcade yesterday and they had a cabinet of Namco's "Xevious" from 1983. It is a noteworthy game because many of its ideas and design elements became integral to vertical shooter in the decade that followed. SWIV plays very similiar to Xevious. Its second level even is an obvious homage, with the background and enemy types copied directly.
View all comments (1000)
Marketed as a sort of unofficial sequel to Silk Worm, SWIV is better described as a top-down perspective remake of the Tecmo shooter with very little innovation. It plays reasoneably well but not as good as its precursor and it's technically quite bland (6/10).
View all comments (212)
Amazing shooter! The game plays like one long flow of action without any breaks for coffee or possible moments to stretch your fingers. There are no levels, there is just pure blast of everything that comes into your way. And this is the beauty of this game. Highly recommended for anybody who has not tried it yet.
View all comments (742)
Passable vertical shmup. Nothing special, and the lack of separate levels makes the game feel like it is dragging on. Some music with the sfx would have been nice too. Difficulty is high. 6/10
View all comments (135)
Well i didn't play to this as much as Blood Money, RType ,Xenon ,Hybris and Battlesquadron. I also prefer the first silkworm to play with a friend.
For me it's quite boring, but not a bad game at all.
View all comments (86)
Technically very nice, although I found it a bit dull to look at and monotonous - was never keen on the long continuous level concept.
View all comments (21)
One of the best war-themed shoot-em ups on Amiga, hands down!
View all comments (18)
Everyone in my family SWIv back in the days... There was something special about this game despite the graphical quality and gameplay. I'm 30 now and I'm still playing one time or another. For me, SWIV's the best shoot'em up of that time!
View all comments (1)
Another one of my favourite Amiga games of all time! Superb game concept (the entire game is one large level), excellent graphics, impeccable SFX, great power-ups system, exciting weapons system, fluid animation, non-disturbing load times, only one disk, nice title tune, simultaneous two player mode, variation (could play as a jeep or a helicopter), well-balanced learning curve, etc, etc, etc! Amazing game!
View all comments (211)
Brilliant brilliant game. Very atmospheric. Great playability. Brilliant loading (by Sales Curve - used the same system as ninja warriors i think). Gerat intro tune. As far as vertical shooters go I only prefer Battle Squadron. This is a very close second. 10.10
View all comments (98)
A heart pumping shooter which was really difficult I got quite far with this one but somewhere I gave up.
That doesn't stop this from beeing technically excellent and a pure joy to play.
It was one of those few games which didn't had a "...loading..." screen, just none stop shooting to the end.
Good and smooth graphics and interesting powerups.
An amiga classic!!!!
View all comments (34)
Excellent game, I remember the game having a special loading technique so the action stayed constantly on screen without much loading due to the disc reading ahead. Fantastic shooter which I still come back to play even now. I never did get past 73%-74% complete. I would be interested in seeing the AtariST version of this, as I use to own one. Great graphics, lots of action, excellent gameplay, fun in two player. Quality sequel.
View all comments (95)
Another classic. I can't believe that the graphics are the same on the ST!!
View all comments (115)
We always joked that SWIV stands for "Silkworm in vertical".
But it is actually not that far from the truth: SWIV in an excellent vertical shoot-em-up with a copter and a jeep. It's smooth, has great graphics and the sound is awesome as well.
Play it with a friend and you will have a blast!
View all comments (51)
My favourite shootem up too, a classic for the Amiga! I Love Silkworm too.This was like having an arcade machine at home.
View all comments (61)
My favorite shoot 'em up.
Even now ,when i fire up my Amiga, i give it a go.
I think i'll never stop playing it.
View all comments (31)
If you're into Amiga games, then SWIV is one of the must-play games.
My score: fantastic
View all comments (224)
Me and my cousin used to play this game all the time, prob my favourite shmup on the Amiga.
View all comments (7)
Top down silk worm action, in one continues level! Very impressive how its levels stream together meaning the action never stops from the start right to the end... And awesome action it is to!
View all comments (178)
It's too Shoot'em Up Construction Kit'ish for my likings.
I honestly never understood what all the fuzz about this game was about.
Average game, there are waay better shmups available for good old Miggy.
View all comments (5)
Amazing shooter, the best on the Amiga, just like being in the arcades!
View all comments (19)
Yes, this is "the" v-shooter probably. Unbelievable gameplay, I love that silence after those infinite shootings...a death silence. Impressive technique.
A milestone since the first day it was published.
View all comments (38)
The Amiga's greatest shooter and in the running for greatest shooter on any format.
View all comments (18)
Very good game, but impossible to beat without external help.
Graphics: 9
Gameplay: 8
Sound: 7
Addictive: 6
View all comments (112)
One of my favorites. Very nice shooter. Espacially when played with a friend. The jeep is much more challanging the the heli.
View all comments (9)
The first shoot'em up I ever completed (no continues used). It's very challenging, but always fair. The game design is superb. Graphics aren't breathtaking, the sound fx are indentical to Silkworm and there is no music. Also the framerate drops when there are too many enemies and bullets on screen. And you only have one type of weapon (two, you could argue).
Still one of the best vertical shoot'em ups on the Amiga - but Battle Squadron is better.
8.5/10
View all comments (31)
Outstanding sound effects on this v-scroller. Very difficult though. I just started playing this recently and it had me coming back for more, but ultimately I hit a wall and couldn't make it past level 2.
Hybris is better in my opinion. More playable and not so taxing that you can't make progress. I also wish SWIV had bonuses for shooting all members of a fleet and came with an in-play soundtrack (like Hybris).
Still, this is a good game. People with more patience than me would get more out of it.
View all comments (48)
The best game of its type on the Amiga and for me, a much better game than its predecessor Silkworm. It's tough and challenging, but very fair with it - if you die you only have yourself to blame. It's also very clever in that it adjusts itself to an extent to suit the ability of the player; for instance if you go for ages without dying and get a good weapon you come under heavier attack than you would if you died a lot and had a poor weapon, meaning that you always have a fighting chance. Although it is perhaps slower than many similar games, it is better designed and is a lot of fun either on your own or in two players with someone controlling the jeep. A classic.
View all comments (101)
Too difficult. Without a trainer I would never saw an ending. Very good graphic and fantastic enemies, but only 6/10.
View all comments (24)
This is one game I used to play a lot. I have completed it numerous times. It is one of the best Vertical shoot-'em-up's on the Amiga. To really enjoy this game to make it faster in pace it is definately worth while finding a trained version
BTW, SWIV stands for Special Weapons Interdiction Vehicles.
View all comments (3)
If i'm correct, SWIV means "Silkworm in Vertical". It's not mentioned anywhere on this site, but you probably know it already. Data streaming was used in "Ninja Warriors" and "St. Dragon". The game itself was a little too difficult for me, but still a great shooter.
View all comments (96)
With and exception of the slowness of the game and ugly STish graphics at points and no gameplay music, then I'd say that this game is recomended if you want arcade action and non stop replay value, that is if you are an expert staying alive as enemies keep on killing you...
View all comments (50)
If you wanna have pure action, then play this game! It's really mind blowing even if its slow at some points. Do you remember those bubble explosions? Awesome game!
View all comments (61)
Nice, but a bit over-hyped in my opinion. The graphics didn't impress me or some reason, and it was moving slowly. Still quite good.
View all comments (48)
Wow. The first game with datastreaming? A great game nonetheless. It's just a tad slow these days.
View all comments (142)
It's arguably a bit slow these days but this is still a brilliant shooter with excellent graphics, involving gameplay and a terrific amount of variety. There's a real desire to get further just to see more of the game.
View all comments (145)
I never had this game back in the day, I had Silkworm (the prequel) and loved that though so I always wanted to play SWIV. Thanks to WinUAE I've had the chance to check it out and to be honest I'm a bit disappointed. The movement of the sprites are quite jerky and that puts me off the game.
The gameplay is good, and the sound effects are awesome just like Silkworm, but the jerkiness of the sprites killed it for me. 5/10.
However, as mentioned by an earlier comment by Jim, there is a remake of this game available on the PC and I have to say it is absolutely fricking BEAUTIFUL. There is music added to it which is ambient to say the least and the graphics are silky smooth with awesome explosions. Get that version, it's worth a shot at least once. It supports joypads but the only problem is that I get an 'access violation' when I lose my last life - but still it's worth downloading even if you are only remotely interested in this game.
Here is the link for the PC remake:
[www]
View all comments (14)
By the way, cheat is NCC1701 (Star Trek's Enterprise) (not the 1704!)
View all comments (26)
One of the best vertical shoot'em-up of all computers & consoles. DMA driven unique dynamic loading system & uninterrupted game play (from start to end). Rivals: Battle Squadron & Xenon 2. Thank you 'Sales Curve' crew for creating this great game!
View all comments (26)
Liked this one. It was all beautifully drawn - all of the vehicles were great, enemies included. Can't remember if we ever finished it without the cheat but who cares. End sequence was simple but great too.
View all comments (94)
Just another truly honest shot-em up, not the best on Amiga but a true honest think, thought refined and worked-on. NCC1704!
PS I recently replayed it and I must say it is even more good than I remembered! Not only the "feel" from Silk Warm but even some nice atmosphere and graphics from Xevious (Namco, a lot of enemies are taken directly from Xevious, and even some graphic backgrounds), this is a sort of hommage the authors did to some classics coin-ups.
The only defect of this game is there's no music.
SWIV and Battle Squadron as best shoters for Amiga!
View all comments (192)
Didn't hook me up, but basically this is a fine shooter of course. I enjoyed Silk Worm much more, though. Perhaps I'll give this game another change some day.
View all comments (250)
Action packed, nice looking, hot sounding well playing game. A true expression of the term "shoot em up"
View all comments (39)
Excellent technically. I found gameplay to be just a little too bland.
View all comments (15)
Guybrush: I think you mean "game that would not disappoint"
View all comments (94)
Fantastic game, nice GFX and lovely music by Mr. Barnabas, this is a game that would disappoint
View all comments (522)
Excellent game, a lot of fun to play.
View all comments (142)
That's a very good game, with a solid gameplay, superb sound effects (you feel like you are in the middle of a war) and good graphics, though the game is totally unoriginal, it is worth playing it at least once; not a classic, not a real sequel to Silkworm
View all comments (32)
For this one, I hooked my Amiga up to my hi-fi-stereo-system, and had a full bass sound inferno! Apart from the genius sound design, this is one of the best shoot'em-ups ever, with smooth and detailed graphics and very good level design (there is only one!). Great fun in 2-p-mode!
View all comments (809)
Excellent V-shooter with great visuals, sounds and even better playability.
Among the BEST shoot 'em up on the Amiga, also due to its stunning technical realization, which beats hands down the terribly overrated Xenon II.
View all comments (100)
Yeah this was bad ass.
View all comments (132)
Loved this game...aaaand I liked being the tank/jeep thing unlike most people. Class game.
View all comments (65)
I agree, the continuous loading was one of the best features! Swiv is a highly entertaining little game that may look dated now, but surely wasn't back then. It set the standard for a lot of shooters that came afterwards and was very rarely beaten. Amiga gaming at its best.
View all comments (57)
SWIV is an aesthetically and technically impressive game. I wish I had been a better and more patient player. I never got more than five minutes into the action before crashing the helicopter or wrecking the buggy. I had to use cheat codes to finally see the awesome ending sequence.
View all comments (1000)
Total quality, from the fact that the whole (amazing-looking) game was loaded on the fly, to the adaptive/reactive difficulty level this game just ruled. I played it until I completed it and loved every minute.
View all comments (116)
This is another nice scrolling shoot em up game. Hard to use the jeep but the heli will stop at nothing. Really nice are the sounds - when you shoot someone on the right an explosion sound also comes out of your right speaker. And reversed.
Graphics - 9 Sounds - 9 Playability - 7 (stupid jeep hehe
View all comments (4)
An excellent shoot em up game for the Amiga, in fact probably one of the best top scrollers out there. The multiload thing however was a bit crap , the idea behiond it was fantastic , no loading between levels just ongoing scrolling, but sometimes it screwed up and the backgrounds etc.. Went crazy on you driving the jeep in water and dying on land madness..
View all comments (42)
Even though controlling the jeep was pure torture, I still gave this a 10, as the best single player shooter on the Amiga. And if you really hate someone ask them to jump in as the jeep.
View all comments (245)
Tons of playability, nice graphics, awesome sounds and neat level design here, all of 'em squeezed into the good little Amy. A milestone for vertical shooters, way better than many modern arcade efforts too.
View all comments (233)
Controls are tight / the difficulty curve is just right / there's a 2 player mode for helicopter and jeep / so turn up the volume and your neighbours certainly won't get any sleep!
In other words, this is pure poetry for any shoot'em up lover!
View all comments (201)
One of the few games in which a cooperative mode actually worked.. It made top 50 all platform shoot'em up games of all time: [www]
View all comments (42)
This game is great! The background and enemies are constantly changing throughout and theres no end of level - it just keeps on going (loading while you're playing don't you know)
Could have been a few more weapons to pick up though.
View all comments (50)
SWIV is THE vertical-scrolling shoot 'em up on the Amiga. Especially in multiplayer. I played this game more then ten times right to the end together with mates. Besides that... At least 100 times. Graphically good, but the sound was excellent! I turned the sound of my stereo way up and the neighbours thought World War III had started! Massive game!
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 9/10
Playability: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
View all comments (211)
COoKie: the multiload system was first introduced by The Sales Curve for Ninja Warriors, another massive game indeed. I agree that SWIV is one of the best vertical shooters on the Amiga, together with the massive Xenon 2 and Battle Squadron.
View all comments (15)
Definitely one of the best shoot'em up's on the Amiga! I had a lot of fun with this game.
View all comments (15)
I can only say : the BEST shoot'em'up in the history of computer gaming! ... In my book anyway..
View all comments (20)
Jim - if you mean SWIV 3D, get out of here, that's an uncontrollable bland mess bearing minimal resemblance to this (it doesn't even scroll vertically). This is the better game by far, with some lovely design touches and original ideas. The Dynamic Loading System Cookie refers to was the icing on the cake.
View all comments (185)
For sheer onscreen mayhem, I think Silkworm has the edge over this game; still, it's awesome.
View all comments (14)
A excellant remake of this game is available for the PC.
View all comments (105)
Successor to Silkworm. Great game. What makes it stand out is that there are no levels. It's one massive level loaded from disk as you play. Check it out.
View all comments (232)
Without a doubt the best shooter on the Amiga. Except for when you play with the crappy tank thing.
View all comments (44)