Minority Report: Atari 8-bit
■ Developer: Zeppelin Software ■ Year: 1988
Great games you must play on Atari’s range of home micros
Released by budget software house Zeppelin, Zybex had its work cut out for it to compete with the current crop of shooters that were around at the time. R-type, which had recently been ported to the Spectrum, and Salamander on the C64 were both receiving high praise, so the Atari had to do something to compete; Zybex did just that.
Zybex is a beautiful looking game with its crisp, bright, colourful sprites and detail; with even the start screen and its metallic-like reflections having you just wanting to wait a few more seconds before you press start. Playing the role of an escaped convict avoiding execution, your mission is to collect tokens from the end level bosses to move on to the next.
You move and fly with the aid of a jet pack and are armed with a singular gun, though this is not all what it seems. Firstly, the game has an autofire system which lets you concentrate on your movements without the added difficulty of timing your shots – the fire button is used to switch between various weapons, which you can collect throughout each level. You start with a simple shooter, the Orbiter, but as you progress you can upgrade the power level of your gun by collecting power-ups. There are also four extra weapons to collect in the shape of an eight-way Shooter, Rail Gun, Pulse Rifle and Wall Gun. These won’t look much until you start to upgrade sufficiently – then you can start to do some real damage.
What is different here from many games of the same genre is that you can choose which level you want to take on next. When enough tokens are collected, you can choose to move on to levels of double digits if you’re brave enough. There’s also a two-player option which means you can play simultaneously with a friend, which is not only fun but can also come in handy when faced with difficult sections in the game.
The game for the majority of the time has a lot going on with there always being enemies to destroy, many of which shoot back, and scenery to be avoided meaning you will always find yourself needing to move, which adds an extra pace to the game. Each level has its share of very interesting and original-looking enemies which move around the screen in a plethora of ways; from spinning, bouncing, swirling and to just heading straight at you, your ability to manoeuvre is seriously put to the test so you better get practicing if you want to get out alive.
With regards to sound effects, there isn’t a lot going on but where the game comes into its own is the music; which can only be described as a work of art. Brilliantly composed by Adam Gilmore, this really has to be listened to all the way through to the end. It takes you on a journey, from its simplistic start followed by its bouncing bassline it then just springs to life – it’s jaw-dropping stuff.
A budget release, but one with the looks and game design of the heavyhitters at the time. Zybex is a brilliant example of just what the Atari 800 was capable of.