Datastorm
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| Datastorm | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Visionary Design Technologies |
| Publisher(s) | Visionary Design Technologies |
| Programmer(s) | Søren Grønbech |
| Composer(s) | Timm Engels |
| Platform(s) | Amiga |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Datastorm is a horizontally scrolling shooter for the Amiga published by Visionary Design in 1989. Written by Søren Grønbech, it was inspired by the Defender arcade video game and the Defender-like Dropzone originally released for Atari 8-bit computers.[1]
Gameplay
[edit]Datastorm allows for a single player to play or two players to play simultaneously or one after the other.[2][3] The game takes place on planets in a side scrolling format that wraps around with the player flying above in a spacecraft. The player must protect and rescue the eight survival pods that roll around on the surface of the planet and take them to a warp gate.[3] An onslaught of enemies attempt to attack the spaceship so constantly destroying them and their missiles is necessary. There is also a special type of enemy called an alien lander that captures the pods and whisks them away to the top of the level.[4] In addition to standard enemies, there are also mother ships, which act as bosses within the game. These mother ships come in the form of a fleet of fast luminous ships, a large squid or a large skull.[2]
A radar scanner, which is essentially a mini-map, is presented along the bottom of the screen and gives a complete view of the entire planet to help keep track of what is happening.[4] The game also features an autosave, a highscore table, on-screen instructions and a level select.[4] In terms of weaponry, the ship has lasers, smart bombs and cloaking technology that makes it briefly invincible.[4] The points increase for each level; on levels 5, 9, 13, etc, the player gets a new set of eight pods and the scoring resets.
Plot
[edit]The game takes place after the planet Xerxes exploded, causing its eight orbiting colonies to drift into deep space. The inhabitants of these colonies must locate a new home planet, so they each send a survival pod out into space to achieve this mission.
Development
[edit]The game was announced in May 1989.[5]
Reception
[edit]Julian Rignall, writing for Computer and Video Games in 1989, called Datastorm "the best shoot 'em up yet seen out of a coin-op cabinet."[4] The overall review score was 95%.
References
[edit]- ^ Grønbech, Søren. "Datastorm". sodan.dk.
- ^ a b Dillon, Tony (July 1989). ACE Issue 22 Jul 89. pp. 36.
- ^ a b COMPUTE!'s Amiga Resource - Volume 1 Number 4 (1989-10)(COMPUTE! Publications)(US). October 1989. pp. 84.
- ^ a b c d e Rignall, Julian. "Datastorm". Computer and Video Games. No. July 1989. p. 17.
- ^ "Show Report". .info. May 1989. p. 65. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
- ^ "Datastorm". C-lehti (in Finnish). April 1989. p. 57. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
External links
[edit]- Datastorm at Lemon Amiga
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