Zynaps is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up

Shoot 'em up

Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...

 computer game published by Hewson Consultants

Hewson Consultants

Hewson Consultants were one of the smaller software companies which produced 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 of and can be compared favourably with other...

 for the ZX Spectrum

ZX Spectrum

The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...

, Amstrad CPC

Amstrad CPC

The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...

 and 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 1987

1987 in video gaming

-Notable releases:* January 14, Nintendo releases Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in January for the Famicom Disk System in Japan only. The game would go unreleased in America for nearly two years afterwards.* February 20, Konami releases Contra...

 and for the Atari ST

Atari ST

The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...

 in 1988

1988 in video gaming

-Events:*June — Nintendo releases the last issue of "Nintendo fun club news";*July — Nintendo releases the first issue of Nintendo Power magazine.-Notable releases:*January 8, Konami releases Super Contra....

 and the Amiga

Amiga

The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...

.

It was authored by Dominic Robinson

Dominic Robinson

Dominic Robinson is a computer game programmer. He came to prominence as an in-house programmer for Hewson Consultants when he converted Uridium to the Spectrum in 1986. This was followed by another classic Spectrum shoot-em up, Zynaps, and a puzzle/shooter, Anarchy, both of which were released...

, John Cumming and Stephen Crow

Stephen Crow

Stephen Crow is a game programmer who worked in the 1980s on the ZX Spectrum platform, programming for companies such as Hewson Consultants and Bubble Bus Software. He also worked with members of the Graftgold team...

, and the music was by Steve Turner

Steve Turner (game programmer)

Steve Turner was a computer game musician and designer. His development team, Graftgold, mostly wrote for games published by Hewson Consultants during the 1980s....

.

Dominic Robinson and Steve Turner had also worked together on the ZX Spectrum version of Uridium

Uridium

Uridium is a science fiction side-scrolling shoot 'em up for the Commodore 64 . It consists of fifteen levels, each named after a metal element, with the last level being called Uridium...

.

Critical reaction

The ZX Spectrum version of Zynaps was reviewed in the August 1987 issue of Your Sinclair

Your Sinclair

Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated, was a British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum.-History:...

, receiving 9/10 and being described as "smooth and slick". CRASH

CRASH (magazine)

Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published from 1984 to 1991 by Newsfield Publications Ltd until their liquidation, and then until 1992 by Europress.-Development:...

magazine awarded it a CRASH Smash in issue 42.

External links

• World of Spectrum entry
• Video of Zynaps gameplay