''Cybertron Mission'' is a multidirectional shooter released by Micro Power in 1983 for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron and ported to the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 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 Guinness ...

in the same year. The game is heavily influenced by the 1982

Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...

game '' Shamus'', which was itself inspired by the 1980

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...

'' Berzerk''.

Gameplay

The player controls a man who has penetrated the electrified Cybertron Fortress, in order to retrieve the priceless treasures within: golden keys, rings and bars. The player character has 8-directional movement, and may shoot in the direction he is facing. The objective of each level was to find all the listed treasure, and then touch the safe, located at a random position on the level. The amount of treasure required increased by one item every level, up to the maximum of six. Cybertron Mission had four maze-like levels, repeating the series every four levels, with palette shifts in order to make them appear different. There are four enemy types. Spinners (appearing on all levels) move blindly towards the player, but cannot harm him even when touching, unless he walks into them. Clones (appearing from level 2 onwards) move pseudo-randomly, and shoot in the direction they were moving/facing. Cyberdroids (appearing from level 3 onwards) move in straight lines for a period. They change direction when they hit a wall, see the player, or after a certain period of time. They will fire towards the player. The fourth enemy type is Spook, the

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

of a previous entrant to the fortress. He appears if you spend too long on any one screen, moving towards you and ignoring walls. He cannot be destroyed, but may be paralysed if shot. Touching the electrified walls of the maze kills the player. ''Cybertron Mission'' does not end, each level simply brings a greater number of enemies to fight, which fire more frequently and with greater accuracy.

Reception

'' Electron User'' (#1.07, April 1984) concluded, "It's exciting with plenty of variety, excellent graphics and interesting sound effects. You'll be a-mazed. And if you are anything like me, you won't be able to put your Electron down. A winner."

References

External links

Origin of the packaging artwork
{{Micro Power 1984 video games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games Commodore 64 games Maze games Micro Power games Single-player video games Multidirectional shooters Video games developed in the United Kingdom