ASTRO BLASTER
» PLATFORM: ZX SPECTRUM » DEVELOPER: MATT JACKSON
» PRICE: FREE » DOWNLOAD: KIKSTART.ME.UK/ASTRO-BLASTER-SPEC
Based on the coin-op of the same name, which was released in 1981 by Sega and Gremlin, Astro Blaster is a gallery shoot-‘em-up with a few differences. Yes, there are the relentless waves of enemies to destroy but the ship has a limited fuel supply so you must top up regularly to avoid becoming a sitting duck.
To make things more difficult, the ship’s weapons also have a temperature gauge which slowly creeps upwards >>
with each shot fired, so simply blazing away will eventually max it out, which in turn leads to an enforced cooling off period before firing can be resumed.
This managing of resources is challenging in the middle of a pitched battle and takes some acclimatisation, but players must be both frugal and accurate with their bullets to take out waves as quickly as possible and reach the next refuelling station without too many overheats.
Score 88%