A classic that will always have a place in my heart.
Scorched Earth is a very basic artillery game with many weapons and enhancements, from Missiles to batteries, lasers and parachutes, nukes and heat-seekers.
Graphics: It's 1991 okay, there were still 8-bits. Even so, the color is pure eye-candy with it's bright colors and decent animation. Every time that little Nuke or Funky Bomb hits and colors fly everywhere, it feels like archaic magic.
8/10
Sound: Once again, it's 1991. There weren't realistic cranking or explosions, but the sound is still pleasant. For a few hours, and then you have to turn it off because it does get annoying.
7/10
Game play: Depends if you like artillery games. If you do, you'll love this game. If you don't, you could still have fun. As I said, you can buy weapons (Nukes, napalm, rolling missiles, a very colorful and deadly Funky Bomb, and the sheer obliteration of Death's head) and upgrades (Shields, guidance systems, parachutes to reduce falling damage) with the money you collect after winning battles. Another thing is how the environment ties into the game. Shooting stars, falling dirt, and lightning can change the battle drastically.
10/10
Accessibility: You can customize sound, money, physics, difficulty, environments, and even save your changes for later. You can select up to 10 players at a time, up to 9999 rounds (thanks for the save function!), put people on teams, and stop whenever you want. One unique function of Scorched Earth is the "NO KIBITZING" message that pops up when you press the K key. The manual says that this is a visual message that tells people to be quiet when you're trying to aim (considering they know what kibitzing is).
10/10
Variety: Nukes, missiles, and even tunneling warheads come to mind. There are many different modes and tanks. Some tanks have treads to move when you give them gas. Some are compact to avoid attacks. But once you master a treaded tank and another tank, you can pretty much master them all.
Yeah, it's really rough, but really fun, really customizable, and really worth trying. Let's hope that it can evolve and spread to other platforms. It could be perfect for DS or Wii, and PSP too.