Producer: Micromega
Memory Required: 16K
Retail Price: £6.95
Language: Machine code
Author: Derek Brewster

You are test-flying a new Starfighter in what was supposed to be empty space, when you are suddenly jumped by an Imperial Strike Force which has jumped from hyperspace. Tough luck. You can't outrun them, so you'll just have to fight it out alone. The enemy Mothership is protected by four waves of fighters. The object of the game is to destroy each wave in turn and fight your way through to the Mothership and then place a laser bolt in whichever of her two power cores is active. Added difficulties come in the form of meteor showers.

COMMENTS

Control Keys: simple, well placed - Z/X left/right, SPACE = fire
Joystick: Kempston
Keyboard play: responsive
Colour. average to good
Graphics: good
Sound: continuous, fairly good
Skill levels: each wave harder
Lives: 3
Screens: 4 waves plus mothership

This game has been taken right from the arcades. I can't remember the arcade version name, but it's been around a fair time now. The graphics are smoothly moving and quite detailed characters. A problem you must watch out for is the ammo supply which runs down, forcing you to be accurate. A good, playable game, but it might lose its qualities after a bit.

It looks deceptively simple at first. The waves of attackers don't seem to move all that fast, as they jig their way down, but their concentrated fire power homes in on your position, so you can't stay still for a moment, and it's easy to get trapped between fighter fire and the flaming meteors that also descend thickly from above. Reasonably addictive to play.

Starclash is a shoot em up 'Invader' type in which each attack wave is more difficult to destroy than the last. It's not easy to get through to the Mothership at all. I would say this is well above the usual galaxian/invader game standard, almost a scaled down version of the arcade original Altair. Quite good.

Producer: Micromega, 16K
£6.95 (2)
Author: Derek Brewster

Not, perhaps, Derek's best effort, but still a worthy addition to this section of games. Fight your way through 4 waves of enemy fighter craft to reach the Mothership and then place a bolt of laser power in whichever of her two power cores is active. The large graphics work very well, the ships peeping coyly into the screen tram the top as the serried ranks make their jiggly way downward. Additional hazards are thrown at you in the form of flaming meteors which come down from between the attacking enemy ships, and the fact that the enemy fire power homes in your laser base so you can't sit still for a second. General rating was above usual galaxian/invader game standard, a good version of 'Altair'. Simple keys, joystick: Kempston, progressive difficulty, CRASH overall rating 69% m/C.

MACHINE: Spectrum 16/48K
JOYSTICK: Optional
CATEGORY: Arcade
SUPPLIER: Micromega
PRICE: £6.95

How's this for an original idea? You control a spaceship and have to shoot your way through waves of alien craft!

Yes, it's yet another space shoot-out and I'm afraid this one has nothing new to offer. There are four different waves of aliens, but their movement is more or less identical.

What's worse is that in each wave, the attackers move in formation - no Galaxian type wheeling and swooping. If one must do battle in space, it should at least be interesting.

After getting through the aliens you have to take pot luck at shooting down a narrow 'reactor code' to destroy a 'mother ship'. Then you have the 'thrill' of starting all over again.

Apparently, you have been deserted in space by your escort whilst test flying a new starship. Confronted by an Imperial Strike Force, the starship is incapable of out-running the enemy; all that can be done is to stand and fight until your almost inevitable destruction. The imperial mothership is protected by four types of defence fighter. These must all be destroyed before it is possible to attack the mothership herself. To make it more difficult you are only supplied with three shields and a limited amount of laserbolt energy.

Verdict: Little can be said about Starclash, except that it is only one step up from Space Invaders. Undeniably, the game is addictive but hardly original. Action is too slow to start, and your laserbolts travel painfully slowly. Action is reasonably smooth, the graphics are quite good, and the sound is about as good as can be expected from the Spectrum, fairly poor.