Producer: Lothlorien
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £5.95
Language: Machine code
Author: Matthew Rhodes

In the midst of a summer concerned with the depredations of software piracy, slump and the manic drive towards originality often at the expense of playability, Hyperblaster comes as a welcome return to the days of games infancy. There's nothing all that original in the concept of this 'Asteroids' type game, but it is certainly a modern one rather than suffering with yesterday's graphics as so many 'throwbacks' seem to. The cassette cover even has one of those 'old fashioned' scenarios that bring tears of nostalgia to your eyes for the good old days of a year ago!

You're out in space testing the newly developed G.P.4.U. when a bunch of unpleasant Deltanoids jump your ship. Risking all, and despite demands for your return to base from control, you decide to push the ship to the edge of its conceived capabilities, and engage the unarmed Deltanoids. That's when you realise that there are more waiting beyond the range of your sensors - thousands more...

In respect of the newly developed G.P.4.U. the graphics we standard and would be recognised by any 'Asteroids' fan as a good old laser blasting triangle fitted with rotational controls and forward thrust, and possessing the ability to hyperspace - or hyperblast as Lothlorien refer to it. But the Deltanoids are a different matter. They may be unarmed and easily dealt with in screen one, but they are guided by intelligence, each wave getting worse - and there are seventeen waves to survive.

COMMENTS

Control keys: 1/2 rotate left/right, 6 for thrust, 7 for fire, bottom row to hyperblast
Joystick: none, but the keys are simple
Keyboard play: responsive, with good positions
Use of colour: average, but well used
Graphics: fairly large, detailed and smooth moving, good explosions
Sound: above average
Skill levels: 3 speeds
Lives: 3
Screens: 17 sheets
Features: 1 or 2-player games
Originality: obviously not original, but one of the best implementations

This is an 'Asteroids' derivative. Unlike 'Asteroids' , the objects don't split up into smaller fragments when hit, but on later levels you have to hit them several times before they are destroyed. The thrust on your ship is a good one with some inertia as on the original arcade version. Overall, not a super-original game, but a pleasant surprise and something to keep 'Asteroid' fans happy. Can't say that there was a really good Asters for the Spectrum before.

I was a bit worried when I realised this was a sort of 'Asteroids' game. Having been an avid fan of the original and played for hours on the Atari VCS version, I have always been disappointed in the many Spectrum versions. However, Hyperblaster really works! Your ship is nothing very special although it is larger than most rival versions which gives a better sense of position, and the thrust works well. But the asteroids are very good. Spinning planetoids, fast spinning coins, flying crinkle-cut chips and so on. Lots of variation, all detailed and nice graphics all fast and smooth moving. Also, these asteroids are intelligent, more so as you go on. Towards the end of each wave they really get vicious and must be hit several times. Perhaps the rate of fire could have been slightly better to cope with them. I enjoyed this game a lot and recommend it to anyone wanting a simple, good shoot em up.

The hyperspace facility is the best I've seen. When you press the key your ship vanishes and a large, brightly coloured square ring forms on the screen, then zooms into the new position where you reappear. This stops all that 'where've I gone to'confusion usually associated with hyperspacing in this sort of game. The intelligence of the asteroids and the different characteristics of each wave makes for a very addictive game in the tradition of old shoot em ups. Definitely one to get.

Roger: Get ready for a thoroughly hyper-yawn experience, because this is nothing but a down-market and down-wind re-work of that lounge bar favourite of yesteryear, Asteroids. Read an then instantly forget the fantasy blurb on the cassette liner, as the game's got virtually nothing to do with "hi-tech galaxy surveillance craft".

If there's anyone left in the universe who isn't familiar with the game format, then tough - I'm not about to bore you all by describing it. It's enough to say that for the sake of 'originality', the victims of player aggression have been named 'Deltanoids'. Their spherical appearance and painful manners, which are alleged to become "more brutal and devious" as infantile skill level rises, should really have attracted the seminal title for games of this ilk, which has to be Heamorroids.

And if you haven't got it yet, let's just say this one's guaranteed to give you a meaningful pain in the bottom - especially if you've clawed yourself up to a respectable height on the evolutionary ladder. 1/5 MISS

Ron: I thought we killed off Asteroid lookalikes sometime in the dark ages of computing. Will software houses never learn that you can't lump together Asteroids and Arcadia and get away with it! 1/5 MISS

David: A pretty good version of Asteroids, but then I'm sure we've all got at least one copy somewhere at home. The graphics get more interesting as you progress the levels. 3/5 HIT

Penultimately, we come to Hyperblaster, which is another asteroids type game. For many people this will obviously be an instant turn-off as the number of invader/asteroid type games on the market is innumerable and when you have seen one, you have seen them all. BUT - this game is different. This game seemed to have an unknown addictability force surrounding it and once sitting in the pilot seat of the G.P.4.U. hi-tech galaxy surveillance craft, it is very difficult to get off.

Unfortunately there was not a joystick option, which would have helped, but as the controls are simple to use - 1 for clockwise, 2 for anti-clockwise, 6 for thrust, 7 for fire and any key on the bottom row for Hyperblast there should be no problems.

HYPERBLAST is just a posh name for Hyperspace with effective sound and graphics as your G.P.4.U. is beamed to another position in the galaxy.

Having selected the skill level and either 1 or 2 players, the action begins. You have got 99 seconds to completely clear the first screen of aliens. There are 17 screens totally and each screen has got its own detailed shapes to be destroyed, from rotating balls to discs to diamonds to barrels etc. and each shape is peculiar to where it can be shot to be blown up.

There is not much more that I can say about this game, apart from its detailed graphics and arcade quality sound make it up into an exciting and addictive game. Great fun.