While perusing the aisles of the local software store this month, I happened upon an updated version of a game I used to play on my Commodore64: Beach Head 2000. In its day, the game offered a combination of advanced graphics and addicting play. In terms of computer games, an eternity has passed since then, so I couldn't resist picking it up and giving it another shot. For less than 20 bucks, I could relive the old days.

Beach Head 2000 still has the basic premise of its predecessor. You are the lone gunner in the last line of defense against an overwhelming wave of enemy intruders. In your arsenal, you have a .45 caliber pistol, an antiaircraft gun, an antitank cannon, and missiles. The reality, though, is that you are not totally alone in your defensive position. During the enemy onslaught, a supply plane drops armor and ammunition reserves. You can also radio for artillery support from time to time, which is particularly successful in clearing off large numbers of enemies in a hurry. Your objective is a lot like that of the classic Missile Command-like games, in which waves of enemies approach your position, so you must gun them down. Once your defenses have been exhausted, the enemy intrusion is complete, and it's game over.

In Beach Head 2000, enemies come in the form of helicopters, tanks, fighter jets, and heavy bombers. To supplement these attacks, a seemingly endless number of foot soldiers clamber toward your position, delivered on the beachhead by barges. In later levels of the game, foot solders are airlifted behind your position by troop choppers, and are motored around by armored personnel carriers.

As you survive successive levels of attack, the attacks become stronger and more difficult to fend off. The game engine also has enough smarts to combine different sets of offensive units to create havoc. You accumulate points for destroying enemies, but points are hardly the objective. Success is measured by the number of attacks you can withstand.

As previously mentioned, Beach Head 2000 doesn't cost much. Because of its beginnings on more meager platforms, it only requires 75MB of hard-disk space, so by no means is it the most graphically intense program available in today's gaming market. In fact, any low-end Pentium (233 MHz and higher) running Windows 9x with 32MB of RAM and an 8X CD-ROM drive will run this game.

While admittedly you do shoot and destroy enemies, graphic violence is kept to a minimum; still, the game carries a Teen (13-plus) rating.

Beach Head 2000 does not offer any sort of multiplayer mode. You cannot play against anyone over the Internet or team up with a friend with a modem connection. It is truly a throwback solo computer game. The game does not take advantage of the latest video and sound drivers, much less require a flashy computer. What Beach Head 2000 does deliver on is fun.