159: Moon Strike

Number 159
Moon Strike
YS Readers: 100

Who says you need hardware sprites to do a good scrolling shoot 'em up? Well, it does help, but the Speccy's still capable of something half decent.

Playing very much like the arcade classic Xevious, Moon Strike sees you piloting a spaceship with laser on its wings, and with the ability to drop bombs which you aim using the permanent crosshairs in front of you. Despite a very narrow playfield (it only takes up half of the screen), this smaller size means the action stays focused and there are more sprites than would likely be possible with a larger display.

I'm going to let you know that there's a very clear distinction between the Readers 100 and Stuart Campbell's 100 at the lower end of the list: Stu loves the oldies, while the readers tend to go for newer, flashier games. Here we have the first in that category, and for a Speccy shooter it's actually not half bad. It's a very short game to play through, but it's a challenge to get through, given the impressive amount of sprites on display. It's a good start to this list, showcasing something that you wouldn't have thought possible on the Speccy in its early days.

16K - No
48K - Yes, explosion effect after loading
128K - Yes, in-game music, no explosion effect