Lightforce

Your Sinclair

Overall 8/10

Marcus Berkmann 8/10

BARGAIN BASEMENT Skinto deluxe? Then rifle thought this month's cheapies with Marcus Berkmann - you might find a bargain! LIGHTFORCE Rack It £1.99 Reviewer: Marcus Berkmann When I first started on YS a couple of years back there was a great controversy over this game. It was one of the first vertically scrolling shooters to appear on the Speccy. Gwyn and Rachael hated it, Phil hated it, but I loved it. Sure, it's not the fastest game in the world, but the graphics are superb - full of colour and imagination - and the gameplay - easy at first, but getting gradually harder - is perfectly judged. I played it for months. Written by those funsters at Gargoyle - one of the most underrated programming teams in Spectrum history, I'd say - it was a great success and paved the way for around 60000 similar programms. Gwyn and Rachael gave it seven at the time, but they were wong: it still plays like a dream and I'll give it eight.

Crash

Overall 82%

Phil King 82%

OLDIES UNLIMITED This month see the inimitable PHIL KING scouring through the CRASH back issues for that crucial information on all the rereleases between now and mid-November. Take it away Phil... Lightforce Producer: Rack-It Price: £2.99 Original Rating: 91% Greg Follis and Roy Carter of Tir Na Nog and Dun Darach fame (among many others), departed from their usual style in November 1986 to create the vertically-scrolling shoot-'em-up, Lightforce. This was the first release on the FTL (Faster Than Light) label and immediately amazed Spectrum owners with its amazingly colourful graphics. Fast-moving enemies zip around the screen, over a smoothly scrolling coloured background without a hint of colour clash - the second level, Jungle Planet, is particularly impressive. Lightforce is pure mindless violence - the only deviation from blasting enemies is destroying the ground-level control centres to gain extra lives. Multi-coloured aliens swoop down in various attack waves and must either be shot or avoided. If your strangely-shaped ship manages to battle through to the end of a level, bonus points are calculated for the number of alien waves destroyed and an extra life is given if a preset number of control centres have been eliminated. Although it eventually proves repetitive, Lightforce is still a highly playable blast-'em-up, well worth a look at the budget price.

ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment)

Spectrum, £7.95cs CBM, £8.95cs, £13.95dk Amstrad, £8.95cs, £13.95dk A fast vertical scroller this one. And on the Spectrum - miraculously - not a colour clash to be seen. Destroy the descending aliens and the various installations. The varied alien waveforms make this a demanding game that can easily become a habit. Not to be missed if you're a Spectrum owner.

Lightforce - habit-forming mayhem.

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)C+VG Hit

Graphics 8/10

Sound 7/10

Value 9/10

Playability 9/10

Tim Metcalfe

MACHINE: Spectrum SUPPLIER: Faster Than Light PRICE: £7.95 HEY. I must have gone through a time warp or something! I am playing Galaxians aren't I? No. The box says Lightforce. Well, it feels like Galaxians to me. Lots of fast moving spiralling aliens and that stuff. Don't get me wrong, I'm not moaning or anything, Lightforce is a mega-blast of the first order. Pretty graphics, smooth scrolling and enough action to keep even the most demanding zapper happy. But you HAVE seen this sort of game before. Maybe not so polished or attractive - but when it comes to originality Lightforce can't claim much. The aim of the game is to simply blast everything you see. Certain things grant you extra lives if you zap enough of them. Landscapes may change but the object remains the same. The game scrolls horizontally and you can move your Lightforce space cruiser around at will. Learn the waves is the best advice we can give at this stage. Work out where to position your ship to best advantage to tackle the various alien attackers and asteroids. You launch your ship Uridium fashion from a mother ship - which also has a little bit of writing on it explaining what you are about to experience! The thing that REALLY keeps you playing is the irritating hi-score chart, if you fail to get on it, the program tells you your score with the words "Not A High Score" beside it. Talk about frustrating! Graphics are excellent - as you'd expect from the Gargoyle Games people - for it is they who are behind the new FTL label. The aliens and landscapes are colourful, solid looking and well drawn. Sound isn't bad either. Lightforce is a arcade blast from the past with some nice touches which bring a classic game up to date. If you're into shoot 'em ups then Lightforce is the game for you.

An excellent version of the arcade classic Galaxians.

ZX ComputingZX Computing Monster Hit

GARGOYLE GAMES' NEW ARCADE LABEL GETS OFF TO A FLYING START WITH LIGHT FORCE. FTL £7.95 It took me about thirty seconds to become addicted to Light Force and my joystick and trigger finger haven't been the same since. Light Force is the first game to be released on Gargoyle's new Faster Than Light arcade label, and the first to feature their new 'Lasermation' graphics techniques. The game itself is very simple; it's a straightforward 'blast everything in sight' shoot-'em-up along the lines of Galaxians but with a few added touches. You control the Light Force fighter craft, the sole space ship in the vicinity of the human colonies in the Regulus system which has just been overrun by a vast alien force. Each planet is defended by waves of enemy spacecraft, and, in true shoot-'em-up tradition, you've got to avoid their attacks and blast them all out of the sky if you can. In addition, there are numbers of control centres based on both the surface of each planet and on space-stations in the asteroid-cluttered void between each planet. If you can destroy enough of these control centres you gain extra lives, so obviously their destruction becomes your main aim. The tricky bit is in concentrating your fire on these centres at the same time as dodging asteroids and enemy craft and also trying to destroy as many of these as you can in order to rack up a high score (it took two days before I finally managed to creep onto the hi-score table at no. 14). Some of the attack waves are really vicious, coming at you in different formations, swooping across the screen, dropping bombs and generally giving your trigger finger a hard time. It's this multiplicity of targets that makes Light Force so addictive. It's not enough just to stay alive and zap a few spaceships, you've got to coordinate your attack so that you can handle the waves of attacking aliens at the same time as trying to get the control centres. To make things harder the control centres require about three direct hits before they're totally destroyed, and the whole thing results in me frantically pounding away at the joystick's 'fire' button, rocking madly from side to side as I try to zoom all over the screen without losing my sweaty grip on the joystick. It's that kind of game. LASERMATION The graphics in Light Force have been programmed using Gargoyle's new Lasermation technique which, miracle of miracles, actually seems to get around the Spectrum's attribute problems. The result is a fast-paced game with lots of large, colourful, and smoothly animated sprites. It does make a difference to the game to have the improved use of colour that Lasermation makes possible, and it also gives the sprites a more solid chunky look that's quite nice. My only minor niggle about the game is that you have to shoot most of the asteroids and spacecraft absolutely dead centre in order to destroy them, so that quite often when it looks like you've scored a hit you can still get pulverised by an asteroid that refuses to blow up and go away. And of course the asteroids and alien craft only have to strike a glancing blow to settle you hash and get rid of one of your lives. But that doesn't stop Light Force from being the most addictive shoot-'em-up I've played in months.

Your Sinclair

Graphics 9/10

Playability 7/10

Value For Money 6/10

Addictiveness 7/10

Overall 7/10

Rachael Smith 7/10

Suddenly scrolling shoot 'em ups are back in style, so we shot off to our very own stylish lovebirds and asked Gwyn Hughes and Rachael Smith whether they've got the scrolls, or if they always walk like that? Faster Than Light £7.95 Reviewer: Rachael Smith Lightforce is the first release from the new Gargoyle label, Faster Than Light, and it's a shoot 'em up. Remember Imagine's Arcadia? Well, this is the same thing three years on, with the addition of vertical scrolling and super-large characters. You start the game in an asteroid shower, which should warn you that things can only get worse. Your simple choice is to dodge them or blast them. The way to survive is a combination of these two, which should get you through to the first alien craft. You then have to score multiple hits on its control chambers if you want an extra life. But, of course, the enemy is well protected, with craft that drop down - only you can't blast these! And things have hardly started to get difficult yet, because the enemy fighters perform elaborate little dances. Before you can say Red Arrows, they're weaving all over the place dropping bombs on you. Nobody could deny that Lightforce looks nice, and you'd expect nothing less of a Gargoyle game. But it doesn't quite seem to have captured the elements that make a shoot 'em up totally addictive. Instead it becomes frustrating and though the graphics move fast for their size, they seem rather sluggish on-screen. So though it's definitely not a 40 watt bulb on a snail, it's not Faster Than Light either.

Read it at Your Sinclair Rock'n'Roll Years

Your Computer

Graphics 4/5

Sound 3/5

Playability 4/5

Value For Money 3/5

Overall 4/5

John Barnes 4/5

Amstrad/Spectrum FTL Shoot-'em-up £8.95 When Gargoyle Games, the company responsible for some of the technically best games on the Spectrum, and the company to which Elite turned when Scooby Doo became a nightmare, announces that it is starting a label on which to release games of a more arcade nature, you know that the result will not be disappointing. Lightforce is a shoot-'em-up of almost unparalleled quality, at least on any machine except the Commodore. Using vertical scrolling, it combines the natural 'kill everything' feeling with a sense of urgency which has the player trying frequently to find that elusive extra bullet to get him out of a very sticky corner. Graphically, Lightforce makes the most of the various machine facilities. On the Spectrum it avoids colour clash well and the graphics are carefully and well-defined. On the Amstrad the game is colourful, and the shading is excellent, especially on the later, shrubbed masses. As you play the game it becomes apparent that, as with all classic shoot-'em-ups, there is method behind the madness. To achieve success, you must be quick-witted and also be able to guess from where the next few enemies are likely to appear. Using this method it is possible to get to grips with the first two stages relatively easily. Points are scored for shooting baddies and for blowing-up the specified amount of control centres. The latter is also rewarded with an extra life. Overall, Lightforce bodes well for FTL.

CrashCrash Smash

Use of Computer 92%

Graphics 95%

Playability 91%

Getting Started 90%

Addictive Qualities 90%

Value For Money 89%

Overall 91%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Faster Than Light Retail Price: £7.95 Author: Greg Follis, Roy Carter Lightforce is the Punishment Arm of the Galactic Fighter Command. If a law is broken then Lightforce is on hand to ensure the penalty is paid. And nobody escapes. Lightforce is also the first game from the Faster Than Light label. This is an off-shoot of Gargoyle Games, the people responsible for the acclaimed scrolling graphic adventure quests Tir Na Nog, Dun Darach and Heavy on the Magick. The new label allows programmers Greg Follis and Roy Carter to depart from a game style which they have made their own, and to take on mainstream arcade entertainment. The Terran-settled Regulus system, set in an unobtrusive corner of the galaxy, is in trouble. Inoffensive and ignored by most races, it becomes the unusual target for marauding aliens. These aliens are very tough cookies and in no time at all have taken over the peaceful Terran system, culling many of its inhabitants and enslaving the rest. Vengeance is obviously called for. The GEM council's reaction to this invasion of one of its colonies is predictably swift and violent. They order all Lightforce fighters in the Regulus sector to attack. Unfortunately, your fighter turns out to be the only craft in the vicinity and, though daunted by the prospect of taking on umpteen aliens on your tod, you prepare to engage the enemy. Yours is not to reason why... The game is split into five sections. Emerging from the lightdrive tunnel, you find yourself in the thick of an asteroid be it. Blasting a path through the debris you see below vast alien installations of weapons systems, armament pods and energy domes circling every planet. The odds are ridiculous. In a nano-second the aliens have registered the arrival of an intruder and despatch ships to intercept. Cool, calm and collected, and chanting the motto 'Lightforce is for REVENGE', you set the lasers and start blasting. Before descending to the planet surface the massive orbital stations must be annihilated, and then there are further alien control stations to be destroyed in the jungle below. After the jungle section play progresses to the ice planet, then the desert planet, and finally the alien factories. For every four control stations destroyed a bonus is added to your score. The screen action scrolls downwards and the aliens swoop in from every conceivable angle, each type of alien craft attacking in separate waves. The Lightforce fighter has sensitive controls and can move upwards, from side to side and downwards if you want to beat a hasty retreat. COMMENTS Control keys: redefinable: up, down, left, right, fire Joystick: Kempston, Cursor, Interface 2 Keyboard play: slick Use of colour: revolutionary Graphics: most impressive Sound: limited, a few spot effects Skill levels: one Screens: five scrolling play areas

An orbital alien installation gets its come-uppance, with the control centre disintegrating at bottom centre. You're the white space craft.

Now you're swooping in low over the jungle planet, loosing off a few missiles at fast-approaching aliens. There's another.

Speeding through the asteroid belt. Six deceptively harmless alien ships attack in waves.

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition

Sinclair UserSinclair User Classic

Overall 5/5

Graham Taylor 5/5

Label: Faster Than Light Author:In house Price: £7.95 Joystick: various Memory: 48K/128K Reviewer: Graham Taylor Lightforce is, simply the ultimate shoot 'em up on the Spectrum. 'You obliterate things, you dodge things, you need faster than lightning reflexes. If you survive the first couple of levels you're pretty good. Hang on a minute though. Isn't there something wrong here. I mean is the age of up-right-left-down-fire games gone or what? What about icons, artificial intelligence, what about complexity? Lightforce is a simple game presented using every programmer's trick there is, Faster Than Light are experienced programmers. In another guise the company was called Gargoyle and created game like Tir Na Nog some of the most sophisticated and complex adventure puzzles ever. I think this achievement in Lightforce is simply this - Faster Than Light has created the nearest thing to a true arcade game ever seen on the Spectrum. Somehow it combines highly detailed backgrounds , with large sprites, with colour and manages to scroll the whole lot along very smoothly. Do you need a plot? For some reason or other you, equipped only with a few battle cruisers, must destroy not only a wide selection of assorted alien spacecraft, but also a host of buildings, and other gear. Some of the aliens lob vicious mines at you. This is bad. There are a variety of backgrounds, each with particular features and problems. The detail and variety of the backgrounds is astonishing. You begin hurtling over a jungle planet but later blast your way across an ice world, an industrial complex and a river. Getting a high score means not only lasting the course but going for a wide range of bonuses. This usually involves destroying all the buildings of a particular complex. Though the game is simply described, survival is not easy. The alien hoards in Lightforce are a sophisticated bunch not about to fly in conveniently avoided formations. ALien attack patterns are subtle and complex and with each you must learn a whole new set of tactics. As with all the best games at least some of the aliens seem absolutely impossible to avoid and just when you're about to admit defeat you discover a way, something, a dodge, that will get you through. The first such situtation in Lightforce arises when a bunch of star shaped aliens come straight for you - it seems impossible to get past then and you end up pinioned on the back wall - easy pickings with little you can do. I lost, a hundred lives or more until I discovered how my movement patterns were linked to the star ships and figured out how to avoid them... Much fuss is being made with Lightforce the fact it has 'no attribute problems'. It's an astonishing thing to see - all those highly detailed multi-coloured backgrounds and large sprites resolutely refusing to change colour. The answer is simple but brilliantly executed - in fact at the colours keep to character squares but pixel shading in black and white disguises the fact extraordinarily well. There isn't much else to say about Lightforce, no complexities of plot to discuss. All it is is just about the most impressive zap 'em game yet seen on the Spectrum. Does that sound pretty good?

A space industrial complex. You know what to do with those little blue devils... Destroy buildings for bonus points.

Ships on the runway. Hang on - not too far to Level 2.

Space, the final frontier. Battling over the asteroid belt.

The jungle planet. The obliteration begins.

HINTS AND TIPS Don't stay on the bottom of the screen - you'll get blasted. Go for all the life bonuses you can - you'll be sure to need them later. Don't let the Mothership form. Blast the parts before they come together. Go for survival, rather than a high score.