Cybertron Mission
Encyclopedia
Cybertron Mission is a two-dimensional shooter game
, released by Micro Power
(a.k.a. Program Power) in 1984 for the BBC Micro
and Acorn Electron
and later ported to the Commodore 64
in the same year. The game is heavily influenced by the 1980 arcade game
Berzerk
.
en 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
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.
Like many games of the era, Cybertron Mission does not end, each level simply brings a greater number of enemies to fight, which fire more frequently and with greater accuracy.
(#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."http://www.retroalphabet.com/game.asp?Game_Name=CYBERTRON
Shooter game
Shooter games are a sub-genre of action game, which often test the player's speed and reaction time. It includes many subgenres that have the commonality of focusing "on the actions of the avatar using some sort of weapon. Usually this weapon is a gun, or some other long-range weapon". A common...
, released by Micro Power
Micro Power
Micro Power was a British company established in the early 1980s, best known as a video game publisher but they also produced and sold many types of computer hardware and software through their Leeds...
(a.k.a. Program Power) in 1984 for the BBC Micro
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
and Acorn Electron
Acorn Electron
The Acorn Electron is a budget version of the BBC Micro educational/home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd. It has 32 kilobytes of RAM, and its ROM includes BBC BASIC along with its operating system....
and later ported to the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
in the same year. The game is heavily influenced by the 1980 arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
Berzerk
Berzerk
Berzerk is a multi-directional shooter video arcade game, released in 1980 by Stern Electronics of Chicago.-Gameplay:The player controls a green stick-figure, representing a "humanoid." Using a joystick , the player navigates a simple maze filled with many robots, who fire lasers back at the...
.
Gameplay
The player controls a man who has penetrated the electrified Cybertron Fortress, in order to retrieve the priceless treasures within - namely goldGold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
en keys, rings
Circle
A circle is a simple shape of Euclidean geometry consisting of those points in a plane that are a given distance from a given point, the centre. The distance between any of the points and the centre is called the radius....
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
Maze
A maze is a tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route. In everyday speech, both maze and labyrinth denote a complex and confusing series of pathways, but technically the maze is distinguished from the labyrinth, as the labyrinth has a single...
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
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
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.
Like many games of the era, Cybertron Mission does not end, each level simply brings a greater number of enemies to fight, which fire more frequently and with greater accuracy.
Critical response
The game was well received by the BBC/Electron press at the time. Electron UserElectron User
Electron User was a magazine targeted at owners of the Acorn Electron microcomputer. It was published by Database Publications of Stockport, starting in October 1983 and ending after 82 issues in July 1990....
(#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."http://www.retroalphabet.com/game.asp?Game_Name=CYBERTRON
External links
- YouTube video of the BBC Micro version played under emulation