''Parallax'' is a shoot 'em up video game developed by British company Sensible Software for 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 ...

. It was released in 1986 by Ocean Software in Europe and Mindscape in North America. The game was named after its primary graphical feature, parallax scrolling, which gives the illusion of depth to side-scrolling video games. On release, reviews praised the game's mix of traditional side-scrolling action and

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...

-inspired puzzles.

Gameplay

On a routine exploratory mission, five astronauts discover a friendly-seeming planet run by an artificial intelligence. The inhabitants drop their pretense of friendship after the astronauts uncover a plan to invade Earth. Four of the astronauts are captured, and the player takes control of the fifth, who must free his companions and stop the invasion. Gameplay is split between two modes. The main part of the game is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up aboard a spaceship. The player scores points by destroying enemy ships and turrets. At hangars, the player can land and exit the spaceship. In this action-adventure mode, the player drugs enemy scientists and retrieves keycards to unlock the password to advance to the next of five zones (attempting to leave the zone without disabling the system results in instant death). The first scientist drugged in each zone also counts as a rescued astronaut. Once the password is unlocked in the fifth zone, the computer controlling the invasion shuts down, and the player wins after a final escape.

Development

''Parallax'' was Sensible Software's first game. It was designed after signing an agreement with publisher Ocean Software; Ocean was the first publisher Sensible approached. The founders, programmer Chris Yates and artist Jon Hare were 19 years old at the time. Yates came up with the initial concept of a shoot 'em up game where players could fly above and below platforms. Hare designed the levels and graphics, and Yates added additional effects, such as sliding walls. The puzzle elements were planned to be more complex, but the Commodore 64's limited memory did not allow it. The ending of the game, which simply outputs "System Off", was all they could fit in the remaining memory. Programming the game took six months, and it was released in October 1986. The game's score was inspired by Jean-Michel Jarre's album '' Rendez-Vous'', which composer Martin Galway had been listening to during development. Mindscape distributed it in North America.

Reception

Contemporary reviews were positive and highlighted ''Parallax''s combination of shoot 'em up action and adventure-inspired puzzles. '' Zzap!64'' rated the game 93/100 and called it "a neat mix between shoot em up and an arcade adventure, with a few other things thrown in for good measure". Lee Noel, Jr. of '' Compute!'s Gazette'' wrote that the game has "excellent graphics" and simulates depth and perspective well. Describing the gameplay, Noel said it initially seems like "just basic components of a fairly good shoot 'em up" but later incorporates elements of adventure games, though stripped of their characterization and complex interactions. Noel concluded, "Although it's not particularly deep or complex, ''Parallax'' and its arcadelike graphics present an entertaining and incredibly challenging puzzle." Scott A. May of '' Commodore Magazine'' called it "state-of-the-art arcade fare you will thoroughly enjoy". In a 1988 roundup of

space combat game A space flight simulation is a Video game genres, genre of flight simulator video games that lets players experience space flight to varying degrees of Reality, realism. Common mechanics include space exploration, space trade and space combat. ...

s, David W. Wilson of ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

'' praised the mix of genres, calling it the game's "cleverest aspect". ''The Australian Commodore and Amiga Review'', in a 1990 roundup of shoot 'em up games, wrote that ''Parallax'' "hasn't mellowed with age and still impresses as much as it did then". The review called it a "special blend of strategy and action", rating it 90/100. '' Eurogamers retrospective review from 2006 rated it 7/10 stars and said that it has "intriguing gameplay variety" and "neat parallax effects", though it is not the most technically advanced Commodore 64 game. The reviewer, Dan Pearson, criticized the game's ending, writing that it must have seemed anticlimactic to anyone who won it. Author Roberto Dillon wrote that the game's

chiptune Chiptune, also known as chip music or 8-bit music, is a style of synthesized electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video game consoles. The t ...

score differentiated it from other games and has become popular with retrogamers. Pearson called the main theme "truly demented but utterly mesmerising", and May said it was "both inspirational and unnerving".

References

External links

* * {{moby game, id=/parallax 1986 video games Commodore 64 games Commodore 64-only games Horizontally scrolling shooters Ocean Software games Sensible Software Video games scored by Martin Galway Mindscape games Video games developed in the United Kingdom