ZX-Galaxians

The Good
ZX-Galaxians is a clone of Namco’s classic shooter that didn’t make its way to Sinclair’s ZX81 machine. The game requires 16K, which means some heavy programming code is behind the scenes. One feature of the game missing from Galaxian is the personalized high-scoring system; when you get enough points, you are given an opportunity to enter your name, which is displayed during play. It gets wiped if you turn off the system.

If you haven’t heard of the concept, you operate a ship at the bottom of the screen, and rows of aliens are above you. From time to time, one or more aliens will perform kamikaze attacks and you need to shoot them before you get shot yourself. You go on to the next wave once all the aliens are destroyed.

The first thing you see after the game loads is an impressive title screen. The title is done in Sinclair graphics characters rather than just typed on screen, and there is also a rundown of what you need to do. In-game, the keys and the current high-score holder are listed on the right side of the screen, along with your score and the number of lives. Because both the rundown and the keys are displayed, there is no need to keep the yellow sleeve, which looks bland and unattractive.

Graphic-wise, the aliens are represented as rows of V’s, while the kamikaze aliens and your ship are done in graphic characters. Just like Namco’s game, they are capable of shooting at you while performing kamikaze attacks. The neat thing about this game is the way you can shoot their projectiles to destroy them before they get to you. There is no sound because the ZX81 was incapable of it.

The Bad
There is nothing bad about this game.

The Bottom Line
The ZX81 didn’t receive an official port of Galaxian, but that is understandable given that the machine’s hardware is limited. Still, this didn’t stop Artic from making an attempt; and from what I can see, ZX-Galaxians is not only faithful to the arcade game, but you also get a backstory and a high-scoring system.

The animations could have been improved. As it stands, a kamikaze alien goes off the screen and a V mysteriously appears somewhere in the pack instead of the alien appearing from the top of the screen and joining the pack. Also, sound could have been implemented for users who bought a sound generator from one of the minor companies like Quiksilva. It would have made the game less boring.