Battle Beyond The Stars

Copyright : Solar Software | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

Aliens are once again threatening the safety and future of mankind by sending out wave after wave of spacecraft in an attempt to destroy what is left of mans defences. You are the only man who can save the planet from destruction and have been sent by those higher than you to stop the aliens before they put an end to all life on earth and take over as the dominant species.

Graphics

Anyone who has ever played arcade classics such as Gorf or the Amstrad CPC classic "The Galactic Plague" will no doubt instantly recognise the visual style that has pretty much been copied by Battle Beyond The Stars. Things are very basic from a technical point of view but considering the original arcade games had little more to show for themselves than this it can hardly be held against it, there are some good points about the game including many different attack waves, various enemy ships which change from wave to wave and some very nice looking graphics (despite it looking like a MODE 0 game). Those that love classic shoot-em-ups like Gorf or Space Invaders will no doubt not be disappointed by the graphics this game has to offer as it does not attempt to improve on them and keeps things they way they used to be while providing a healthy does of entertainment.

Sound

Sound is again pretty faithful to the shoot-em-up arcade games of the time, no music welcomes you to the game and only very primitive sounds are heard during the game itself. This is certainly not a bad thing as most people who loved the original arcade machines will probably want those that attempt to copy the formula to do it right, something that Solar Software have managed to pull off with this one.

Gameplay

Gameplay is very simple, shoot the enemy attack waves and try to avoid being hit yourself by either oncoming fire or the ships themselves as they move down the screen. The control system is very basic but responsive, simply move left and right to avoid being shot and hit the fire button to blow up some alien ass. While the game is far from being a challenge to most of todays gamers it?s certainly worth playing more than once and will demand that you keep trying until you defeat the high score tables.
All in all Battle Beyond The Stars is just one of those games that you can?t find faults with, it emulates the classics superbly and offeres a good dose of quality addictive entertainment to gamers of all ages. We here at CPC Zone say this game is well and truly worth picking up and adding to your collections, you certainly won?t regret it.