The Seiddab Trilogy is a series of video games designed by Steve Turner (as

Graftgold Graftgold was an independent computer game developer that came to prominence in the 1980s, producing numerous computer games on a variety of 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit platforms. History The Hewson era Graftgold was originally ST Software startin ...

) for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

and published by

Hewson Consultants Hewson Consultants were one of the smaller software companies which produced video games for home computers in the mid-1980s. They had a reputation for high-quality games which continually pushed the boundaries of what the computers were capable ...

. It consists of '' 3D Space-Wars'' (1983), ''3D Seiddab Attack'' (1984), and ''3D Lunattack''. All three games were later published together as ''The Seiddab Trilogy'' by Hewson for the

Rotronics Wafadrive Wafadrive packaging Rotronics Wafadrive shown with two Wafa tapes, a blank 64 kB and software release tape Front and back of a Rotronics 64 kB Wafa tape The Rotronics Wafadrive is a magnetic tape storage peripheral launched in late 1 ...

. The series name is derived from the word "baddies" being spelt in reverse. ''Astroclone'' (1985), also written by Turner, is part of this series.

''3D Space-Wars''

''3D Space-Wars'' was released in 1983 by

''3D Seiddab Attack''

''3D Seiddab Attack'' was released in 1984 by Hewson Consultants.

Critical reception

Your Spectrum ''Your Sinclair'', originally ''Your Spectrum'' or ''YS'', is a discontinued British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was commercially published between 1984 and 1993. History The magazine was la ...

's review highlighted the realistic 3D effect and split-screen display, but criticized the monochrome graphics and slow game speed.

Sinclair User The ''Sinclair User'' was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum (while also occasionally covering arcade games). Initially published by ECC Publications, and later EMAP, it was pub ...

awarded 5 out of 10, criticizing the unclear, flickering display but praising a sophisticated concept and satisfying explosions.

Personal Computer Games ''Personal Computer Games'' was a multi-format UK computer games magazine of the early/mid-1980s published by VNU. History ''Personal Computer Games'' was launched in July 1983. The magazine was part of VNU and had its headquarters in London ...

were unimpressed with the 3D effect and felt that the enemy ships were indistinct and the action unexciting.

''3D Lunattack''

''3D Lunattack'' was released in 1984 by Hewson Consultants, and is the only game of the series that was also published for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

. The player takes control of a Z5 Luna Hover Fighter in an attack against the Seiddab command base. The Z5 must be piloted through three rings of defence before destroying the base.

Gameplay

The game requires the player to attack the Seiddab base, which is protected by three rings of defense. The first consists of robotically controlled tanks which fire missiles; these tanks can be destroyed by laser fire. The second ring is an area of mountains protected by mines, which are set to explode when the player gets too close. They may be shot using the Z5's lasers, or dodged. An exploding mine rocks the players craft altering its course. The third ring of defence is studded with missile silos, which may be attacked with the Z5's lasers. If the player manages to penetrate the command zone, the base must be repeatedly strafed while avoiding its defensive firepower. At any time the player may be attacked by Seiddab fighters. The Z5 is armed with air-to-air missiles that can be used to destroy the enemy fighters before they come into range. Once they are visible, the lasers must be used. Weapon selection is automatic - if the target is below the horizon lasers will be used, but if the target is above then missiles will be fired. The screen displays a cockpit with a horizon of mountains, and enemy craft displayed, and crosshair sights of the Z5's weaponry. There is also a radar display which switches on automatically when an enemy hover fighter is detected, and places a small box near the enemy location indicating the range to the fighter. At this stage missiles may be fired and forgotten. Below the main display are indicators for fuel, armament type in use and hull temperature, which increases to a critical point with each enemy strike. An additional audio track was included on the cassette tape. ''3D Lunattack'' also supported

Currah Microspeech Currah was a British computer peripheral manufacturer, famous mainly for the speech synthesis ROM cartridges it designed for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and other 8-bit home computers of the 1980s. Currah μSource for the ZX Spectrum The Currah ...

Reception

Reviews were mixed. While ''

'' only gave the game 6/10, '' CRASH'' awarded it a CRASH Smash at 90%. ''Sinclair User'' said that "the controls are difficult to handle and of the type where you lose position rapidly through having to over-correct continually", while ''CRASH'' decided that "the display is wonderful, the best three dimensional '' Battlezone''-type game yet... Really excellent, most playable and addictive too".

''Astroclone''

''Astroclone'' was published in 1985 by Hewson Consultants. Its working title was ''Seiclone'', but was changed to avoid confusion with

Vortex Software Vortex Software was a video game developer founded by Costa Panayi and Paul Canter in the early 1980s to sell the game ''Cosmos'' which Panayi had developed for the Sinclair ZX81. They converted the game to the ZX Spectrum, but due to the low s ...

's ''

Cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

''. The game combines

shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a Video game genre, subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain typ ...

sections with

arcade adventure An action-adventure game is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements from an action gam ...

elements that Turner had developed with ''

Avalon Avalon () is an island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appeared in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' as a place of magic where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was made and later where Arthur was taken to recove ...

'' (1984) and ''

Dragontorc ''Dragontorc'' is an action-adventure game developed by Steve Turner (game programmer), Steve Turner's Graftgold and released for the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum by Hewson Consultants in 1985. It is a sequel to 1984's ''Avalon The 3D Adventure Mo ...

'' (1985).

References

External links

* {{WoS game, id=0004393 1984 video games Shoot 'em ups Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games set in outer space ZX Spectrum games ZX Spectrum-only games