Producer: Activision
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £7.99
Language: Machine code
Author: Dave Rolfe

Some months back we reviewed a game called GForce by Eurobyte. Beamrider is a 3D version of the game and more resembles the arcade original on which it is based. It is a shoot em up in which you control a fighter which can move left or right at the base for front) of the screen. You are sitting on a grid of lines which travel in semi-perspective towards the horizon. Down these beamed grids come enemy alien ships of various types. Hazards encountered (depending on sector) include White Saucers which hop from grid line to grid line before settling down, Red space debris which can only be dodged, Yellow Chirper ships, Green Blocker ships, Green Bounce craft, Blue Chargers, Orange Trackers and Red Zig Bombers. The hazards invulnerable to your laser must be avoided or torpedoed, but you only have three torpedoes per sector and these should be saved for real emergencies and the large Mother ship that crosses the horizon from time to time and earns a huge bonus.

The antics of the hazards are not random, green Blockers will lock onto the beam on which you are sitting, swarms of them appearing if a Mothership is about to appear. The saucers fire down the beams at you and the Blockers absorb your shots. Each sector contains fifteen saucers which are ostensibly guarding the Mothership. A counter at the top left tells you how many are left. When they have all been destroyed the Mothership for Sentinel Ship) will appear. There is also a way of earning additional lives by allowing a Yellow Rejuvenator ship to make contact with your craft. Shooting it will turn it to red debris which kills if it hits you.

COMMENTS

Control keys: O/P left/right, Z to fire laser, Q to fire torpedo (forward on joystick)
Joystick: A poor point about Activision games is that they fail to mention joystick options on the inlays, but you can use AGF, Protek, Kempston, Sinclair 2
Keyboard play: very responsive and well laid out
Use of colour: very good
Graphics: above average, not too detailed, but fast
Sound: very good and plenty of it
Skill levels: 3 (level 1 starts sector 1: level 2 starts sector 5, and level 3 starts sector 10)
Lives: 3 plus rejuvenator
Screens: 1
Special features: 1 to 4 player option

Beamrider is quite an original shoot em up. It's a 3D type game in which you basically shoot at almost everything you can (except Yellow Rejuvenators). The action is fast and furious, especially at levels 10 and above. The graphics are okay but not really fantastic, but the game itself makes up for this. Beamrider is a good shoot em up and is a welcome addition to the Activision range. Overall, fairly addictive to say the least.

The effect of perspective is reasonable with the radiating beams and forwards moving horizontal beams. Graphics are not detailed but they move smoothly and very fast What makes Beamrider a clever shoot em up is the way the various nasties act. Blue Chargers have an unpleasant habit of taking seconds to fade off the bottom of the screen, thus trapping you if unlucky. The Green Bouncers dart up and down beams, switching beams at irregular distances from your craft so you can never be sure what they will do next. The game is simple to look at but quite complex to play well and is certainly addictive. Lots of sound helps the fun.

I thought games like this had gone out of the window years ago, well on the Spectrum anyhow. It seems as though the theme has been revamped somewhat and an attempt has been made to give a true 3D impression of 'Beamrider'. It seems to me that this game will suit many talents of different people, namely quick thinking, quick reactions, good hand/eye co-ordination and a muscular firing finger. The game progresses quite well from level 1 to the higher levels where there are far more objects whizzing about on the screen that tend to make life truly impossible. The graphics don't take 3D to the extreme but are effective and fast. I especially liked the flashing border when an alien is destroyed which adds to the atmosphere, even though this is a commonly used device for explosions, but it seemed to work well here. Beamrider turns out to be quite a fast and surprisingly addictive game.

Dave: Beamrider is a 'skim the surface of the planet (or, in this case, Restrictor Shield) shooting things that appear over the horizon' game. There are few other games of this type around and, I'm afraid Beamrider is nothing really very special. That said, it's an above average 'Zap 'em' with quite a lot going on...

In order to progress up through the screens, you have to shoot 15 of the flying saucers that come down the grid, but there are several other types of alien flying around which sometimes get in the way. Some of the aliens can be destroyed with your 'laser lariats', but others can only be blown up by a torpedo. As you only get three torpedoes and you need at least one to destroy the sentinel ship that appears at the end of each screen. I found myself dodging more often than shooting. Different meanies appear on the higher screens and, by about sector seven, you'll find yourself very busy indeed!

If you're looking for a fast shooting game, then Beamrider is probably worth a look - but it's not exactly state-of-the-art stuff. 2/5 MISS

Ross: This is a very 'old' game... and it shows! The different behaviour displayed by the nasties and the hectic pace of the game on the higher levels make this a reasonable 'zap and blast' game. It does however, have rather a short-lived appeal. 2/5 MISS

Roger: Clearing the sinister Restrictor Shield that surrounds one's planet is about as vibrant as outgrowing the brace on one's teeth. 1/5 MISS

PRICE: £7.99
GAME TYPE: Arcade

Feeling mentally exhausted by a surfeit of adventure games? Fingers itching to kill something? Looking for a game which brings the electronic slaughter of the arcades into your home? You are? Strange.

Beam rider sets you flying through fifteen levels of grids, on each of which you have fifteen ships to blast into oblivion. This starts off fairly easy but, as the levels progress, the screens become littered with space debris, unassailable ships and all sorts of dangerous objects.

The graphics are not amazing, in fact they are small and pathetic. The speed of everything is very fast, so fast that you are likely to leave the game after an hour or so with a severe case of eye strain, and twitching fingers.

It is fast, it is furious, but it is not original, and it does not even approach excitement. Arcade freaks may find it appealing, no one else will.

Beam rider is produced by Activision, 15 Harley House, Marylebone Road, London NW1.