With some exceptions, Asteroid type games tend to be less colourful than most arcade programs — some are virtually black and white, but the category is still one of the most popular. Also included under this heading are ‘space’ games which have very little to do with asteroids.
CONFUSION
Producer: Blaby, 58K £4.95
There’s something of a ‘frogger’ feel to this ultra-fast game. Alien ships zip
along parallel tracks which you must traverse, shooting them for points.
Impossible without a joystick and difficult with, goes with Kempston or AGF or
Protek. Generally less than one expects from the usually excellent Blaby
people.
BLACK HOLE
Producer: Fantasy, 16K £5.50
Centre screen is the Black Hole, from which emerge three types of alien craft.
Two of your weapons are deflected by the force of the Black Hole, which makes
aiming difficult, and the third weapon has a limited range. Indiscriminate
shooting leads to loss of power, and the aliens fire back. To make matters
worse there is space debris to avoid on the left of screen, the area to which
you’re confined. Control in eight directions, but too many keys make this game
hard to enjoy, and there are too many for a joystick to handle.
BLOCKADE RUNNER
Producer: Thorn EMI, 16K £6.95 (1)
Author: Graham Johns
You’re on this supply ship, running the blockade of earth by some nasty aliens
and there are 5 layers of defences to get through. First a dense shower of
meteors which can be dodged or shot, then a layer of vertical laser barriers
which you must dodge, then tractor beam units try to pull you off course,
finally a fleet of alien ships try to blast you to kingdom come. You must then
transfer your cargo pods to an earth ship. Control response is frighteningly
fast and violent — it has to be to dodge the laser beams. Pity the control keys
are laid out for the Sinclair joystick — they’re very awkward. A popular game
for shoot em up addicts with plenty of playability, but maybe lacking in great
lasting appeal. Joystick: Sinclair, Kempston. 6 skill levels, 5 lives. CRASH
rating: fairly good, overall 63% M/C.
COSMIC DEBRIS
Producer: Artic, 48K £4.95
An archetypal ‘asteroids’ game with hardly any colour at all. Hollow outlines
for the asteroids which shatter into smaller fragments when hit. Rotate, thrust
and hyperspace and typically nasty flying saucers that appear when you don’t
need them. Two speeds (fast and suicidal — and they mean it!) with bonus ships
for points. A game this fast should have continuous fire facility, but doesn’t.
No popular joystick facility. Good value for asteroid addicts who like a fast
game.
DEEP SPACE
Producer: PSS, 48K £5.95
A standard version of asteroids with rotate left and right, thrust, hyperspace
and fire, wrap around screen and alien ships. Can’t comment on the game’s
quality since none of our three review copies would load.
THE GUARDIAN
Producer: PSS, 48K £5.95 (2)
The gateway to the anti-matter world of Migon is actually an oblong grid line
with radiating lines from an off-centred inner square. Your ship whizzes at
amazing speed round the outer edge of the outer grid, firing inwards at (first)
enemy ships which come outward, one to a segment and which will destroy you if
you are still on that segment when it reaches the edge, (second) at meteors and
(third) at more enemy ships plus an energy force which zips around the inner
edge of the grid line getting closer and closer to you. It has a specialist
appeal for those who like simple asteroidal games played at an almost insane
speed and that require split second timing skills. Reasonable use of colour in
the very small graphics, an ample selection of control keys, joystick:
Kempston. Progressive difficulty, fast and medium addictive. Overall CRASH
rating 68% m/c.
JETPAC
Producer: Ultimate, 16K £5.50
There’s not much can be said about Ultimate that hasn’t already been said.
Graphics and presentation are of the highest standard. In Jetpac you must get
your spaceman to assemble a rocket and fuel it, steal as many gems as you can
and avoid the irate aliens or kill them with the laser. When assembled the
rocket takes off for another planet to plunder. Re-assemble the ship after five
planets. Five levels of different aliens. Joystick: Kempston. One or Two player
games, continuous fire and movement in eight directions. Highly
recommended.
KOSMIC PIRATE
Producer: Blaby, 48K £4.95
There’s a factory below on the planet which you must plunder, guiding your ship
through the heavy alien space traffic. Deceptively simple looking game with
good graphics and sound and really a ‘frogger’ variant. M/C. Joystick:
Kempston.
METEOROIDS
Producer: DK Tronics. 16K £4.95
In a way it’s as well this game is in the cheaper bracket because it isn’t a
very good program. The graphics are jerky in movement and the relative speed of
craft to asteroids is too slow. Worst of all you can only use one function at a
time so you can’t fire while rotating or thrusting. There is a useful
‘redefine’ function which allows you to change keyboard options and alter the
way in which the game plays. No joystick facility, unless redefined to cursor
keys to use AGF or Protek.
METEOR STORM
Producer: Quicksilva, 16K £4.95
Mercifully, Quicksilva have proved their originality in the games field by
going onto games which make this one look as silly as it is. If you like
asteroid games then this is pretty fast. Simple outlines hover in a blank black
space. Ship orientation is in eight directions using all the number keys which
means you can’t concentrate on the game.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
Producer: Silversoft, 16K £5.95 (1)
Author: Jeremy Brown
This is a Lander type game where you must guide your craft down to a planet’s
surface and rescue stranded astronauts or miners or something and return them
to the mothership above. To get down to the planet you must dodge your way
through the masses of asteroids, and then return through layers of enemy
shipping. Controls provide a retro rocket for braking, important when landing
as an inaccurate or fast landing results in death. On the return journey the
retro becomes a gun to shoot at the aliens. On higher levels there is also a
force field as a added hazard. Throughout, the graphics are very good and move
smoothly. This is a very difficult game and bound to be addictive. Takes time
to get good at it. Sensible control keys, joystick: AGF, Protek or Kempston. 3
playing speeds, over 50 screens, generally recommended. Overall CRASH rating
80% M/C.
PLANETOIDS
Producer: Psion, 16K £4.95
A very good copy and a classic version with the best graphics of the lot. Nice
bright yellow asteroids which shatter satisfyingly. A bit slow, although the
shattered fragments change direction and move faster. Alien ships are well
defined graphically. Using Z/X for rotation and SPACE/ENTER for fire/thrust is
quite good, but H for hyperspace takes some getting to in an emergency. No
skill levels, which means the addictivity rating is low, but good value at the
price. No joystick option.
SCHIZOIDS
Producer: Imagine, 16K £5.50
Imagine come up with some of the best games — this isn’t one of them. You’re
supposed to clear the space lanes of civilisation’s debris by bulldozing it
into a black hole in the centre of the screen. The graphics are black and
white, though nicely drawn but the game is confusing. Joystick: Fuller.
SENTINEL
Producer: Abacus, 16K £5.00
Author: Kevin Flynn
Prevent the enemy from attacking the five Sentinel space stations with your
four ships. Careful though — your three remaining ships (lives) are docked with
the station so if your protective screen isn’t effective you can lose lives
before you’ve even had a chance to use them! Enemy comes in various forms and
meteroids make life impossible at times. Your weapons are laser and a guided
missile so you have to contend with left/right rotation, thrust, laser fire,
missile fire and two controls for guiding it, which makes Sentinel a game for
the four-handed player! Oh, and there’s a force field for the station —
five-handed player! A good fast and furious game. Good value. No joystick
option.
SHUTTLE
Producer: Blaby, 48K £5.95
Take your shuttle craft from the mothership and descend to two specially
created landing spaces on the planet’s hilly surface to rescue the stranded
astronauts, which stand on the hillsides waving their arms frantically. You can
only take one at a time and landing results in the nearest dashing to your
craft and partial safety. Unfortunately the sky is crowded with bi-directional
meteors. The graphics are cute and the sound very good, but the inlay card
suggests you can fire at something when you can’t. Avoiding the meteors is
simply done by dodging them (a sort of frogger). Not the most addictive of
Blaby’s games, but still very playable. Joystick: Kempston, AGF or Protek.
SPECTROID STORM
Producer: Abersoft, 48K £4.95
A very new asteroid game and one of the most colourful with a pretty packed
screen. Wrap around action and multi-shaped objects. Good acceleration and
braking but requires a tender touch as the action is quite violent. Hyperspace,
no difficulty levels. It looks good but it needs more playability to put it in
the top rank. Joystick: Kempston, AGF or Protek.
3 DEEP SPACE
Producer: Postern, 16K £7.95 (1)
This is the, by now, famous real 3D game which uses red and blue spectacles to
create a three dimensional feeling. Sadly the effect doesn’t come off at all,
with few people reporting any success with the effect. On top of that, the game
itself is not sufficiently exciting enough to be worth the very high price
asked. Basically your ship moves vertically at the left of screen, confronting
the alien ships which move from right to left. You can ‘zoom’ in and out of the
screen to match the depth of the attacking vessels. 6 control keys, no joystick
option, smooth movement but not colourful and only average sound. Overall
CRASH rating M/C.
VIOLENT UNIVERSE
Producer: Fantasy, 16K £5.50
This game has an essential difference — instead of firing ahead, you lay gas
clouds behind you to destroy the aliens. The aliens are made of anti-matter, so
as they rush headlong into your vapour clouds they’re annihilated. You must
score 1000 points within 40 seconds to get to the next level, an idea which
makes this game extremely addictive to play. Wrap around screen, 8-directional
movement in a very crowded screen. Hiding inside one of your vapour clouds is a
sneaky way of avoiding death. Joystick: Kempston, AGF, Protek, Fuller or
Mikrogen II. Good value.