Datastorm
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| Datastorm | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Visionary Design Technologies |
| Publisher | Visionary Design Technologies |
| Programmer | Søren Grønbech |
| Composer | Timm Engels |
| Platform | Amiga |
| Release |
|
| Genre | Scrolling shooter |
| Modes | 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 | edit source]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 | edit source]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.
Release
[edit | edit source]The game was announced in May 1989.[5]
Reception
[edit | edit source]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
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