REVIEW

AT 5,26; "ZERO ASTEROIDS"

Reviewer: LiBruce
Developer: MatGubbins
Genre: Shoot-em-up
Platform: Spectrum 48K
Language: BASIC

Asteroids was released in 1979 by Atari and designed by Lyle Rains and Ed Logg. The player controls a spaceship and the object of the game is to shoot and destroy asteroids and flying saucers while not colliding with either.

The player's vector-based ship rotates left and right and can shoot and thrust forward. Inertia keeps it moving unless thrust is applied in another direction. There is also a hyperspace function causing the player disappear and reappear in a random location on the screen which is useful for avoiding a collision, however, comes with the risk of self-destructing by rematerialising in the middle of another object.

Each level starts with large asteroids drifting in various directions on the screen. As the player shoots them they break into smaller asteroids that move faster, are more difficult to hit and are worth more points.

Once the screen has been cleared of all asteroids and flying saucers, a new set of large asteroids appears, thus starting the next level. The game gets harder as the number of asteroids increases and the saucers (which fire at the player) get more and more accurate. The player starts with 3 lives and gains an extra life every 10,000 points. When the player loses all their lives, the game ends.

Zero Asteroids was released in 2014 by MatGubbins. The player controls a spaceship in... well... nothingness.

Following in the footsteps of Zero Invaders the player can rotate left and right and thrust forward - all in low-definition UDG-o-rama - but there are no asteroids, no flying saucers, no shooting, no hyperspace and no scoring, losing of lives or game over.

Once again we have a classic screen display including player lives, scores (again for two players?) and an inexplicable high score of 1000! Somehow, without even the ability to shoot, this feels like an even more empty gaming experience than Zero Invaders - so congratulations to MatG for improving on an already crap concept!

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