Spacewar
- Spacewar (1969 on Terminal)
- Spacewar (1976 on Altair 8800, Intel 8080, Zilog Z80)
- Spacewar (1979 on TRS-80)
Description
Spacewar is a shareware Spacewar! variant. Two spaceships, controlled either by human or by robot, battle it out in a fight to the death.
The spaceships' weapons of attack are phasers for short range and photon torpedos for long range, both of which use up the energy bar; if this bar is drained, you can't attack. As defense there is the impulse engine to move, as well as a cloak and hyperspace to jump to a random location, all of which use energy also.
To alter gameplay, when switching on gravity the ships gravitate towards the centre of the screen. Photon torpedos are affected by gravity in the same way as the ships. Also, you can add a planet in the centre of the screen, which your ship can crash through, draining your shield energy bar.
When a ship's shield energy is all gone, one shot or planet collision will cause the ship to explode, making the surviving ship the winner of the game.
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 50% (based on 1 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 5 ratings with 1 reviews)
One of the best shareware games I had going up in the 80s
The Good
This was a really fun game that I spent many hours playing. Very smooth animation, sharp graphics, smart enemies, and good controls. I played on a PCjr and most of the time it was fine but occasionally it would lock up requiring a reboot. I've never seen others complain about that so assume it was the PCjr, especially now that I learn it used a "tweaked" CGA mode. Get this one for your PC or PC/XT if you haven't tried it!
The Bad
Minor compatibility with PCjr casing lockups. Does not seem to happen on my 5160 IBM PC/XT today.
The Bottom Line
Two ships equipped with phasers and torpedoes. Various play mode including gravity and planets.
DOS · by Shane Hill (1) · 2019
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by BdR.
Game added July 1, 2008. Last modified February 18, 2024.