Datastorm
Datastorm
1989 shooter video game
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]
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2018) |
| 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 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 8 survival pods that roll around on the surface of the planet and take them to a warp gate.[3] An onslaught of enemies try to destroy the spaceship so constantly destroying these enemies 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 going on.[4] The game also features autosave, a highscore table, on-screen instructions and level select.[4] In terms of weaponry, the ship has lasers, smart bombs, cloaking technology that makes it invincible for a period of time.[4] The points increase for each level: on levels 5, 9, 13 and so on, the player gets a new set of eight and the scoring resets.
The game takes place after the planet Xerxes exploded causing its 8 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.
The game was announced in May 1989.[5]
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%.
- Grønbech, Søren. "Datastorm". sodan.dk.
- Dillon, Tony (July 1989). ACE Issue 22 Jul 89. pp. 36.
- 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.
- Datastorm at Lemon Amiga
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