''Ballistix'' is a
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
created by Martin Edmondson for the
Amiga
Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...
and
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...
and published by
Psyclapse in 1989. It was also converted to a number of other
home computers in the same year and the
PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 console
Console may refer to:
Computing and video games
* System console, a physical device to operate a computer
** Virtual console, a user interface for multiple computer consoles on one device
** Command-line interface, a method of interacting with ...
in 1991. It is a fictional futuristic
sport
Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
involving directing a puck to a goal by shooting small balls at it.
Gameplay
The game is a unique futuristic sport which has been compared variously to
pinball
Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...
,
the board game
Crossfire
A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I.
...
and
shove ha'penny
Shove ha'penny (or shove halfpenny), also known in ancestral form as shoffe-grote ['shove- groat' in Modern English], slype groat ['slip groat'], and slide-thrift, is a pub game in the shuffleboard family, played predominantly ...
.
The player controls a cursor that can fire a stream of small balls. These are used to direct a puck across a court to score a goal. In the two-player game, this is hindered by your opponent, aiming for the opposite goal. In the single-player game, a form of gravity is the opposition.
The game starts with a simple court but it gets progressively more difficult with added obstacles, simple mazes and bonus items. There are 130 courts in total (64 on the C64, 30 on the BBC/Electron). A court is completed when either player scores three goals. If the computer wins in the single-player game, that is
game over although the game can be restarted from the same court. Goals can score a range of points depending on how far out they are scored from.
The display is an overhead view showing a small section of the court that scrolls to follow the puck.
Development and release
The game was developed by Martin Edmondson for the Amiga and Atari ST. It was ported to
MS-DOS
MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...
and
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...
with these four versions being published by the
Psygnosis
Psygnosis Limited (known as SCE Studio Liverpool or simply Studio Liverpool from 1999) was a British video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher headquartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool. Founded in 1984 by Ian Hether ...
sub-label Psyclapse in 1989. It was also converted to the
BBC Micro
The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...
and
Acorn Electron
The Acorn Electron (nicknamed the Elk inside Acorn and beyond) was a lower-cost alternative to the BBC Micro educational/ home computer, also developed by Acorn Computers Ltd, to provide many of the features of that more expensive machine at a ...
by Peter Scott and released for those platforms by
Superior Software
Superior Software Ltd (also known as Superior Interactive) is a video game publisher. It was one of the main publishers for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in the 1980s and early 1990s. It currently releases games for Microsoft Windo ...
, also in 1989. In 1991, it was released for the TuboGrafx-16 (published by Psygnosis in the
US) / PC Engine (published by Coconuts Japan in Japan). The cover image designed by
Melvyn Grant
Melvyn "Mel" Grant (born 1944) is an English artist and illustrator. Trained traditionally, he originally worked with oil paints, but in the late 1990s Grant switched to creating most of his work digitally with a digitizing tablet and the software ...
was originally used for the 1981 novel ''
The Steel Tsar'' and also the 1984 reissue of
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...
album ''
Rocka Rolla
''Rocka Rolla'' is the debut studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 6 September 1974 by Gull Records. It was produced by Rodger Bain, who had made a name for himself as the producer of Black Sabbath's first three ...
''.
Reception
''
Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...
'' stated "many of the levels did not seem particularly creative", but nonetheless recommended the game based on the quality of the graphics and sound, and the many game options.
Roland Waddilove in
Electron User
''Electron User'' was a magazine targeted at owners of the Acorn Electron microcomputer. It was published by Database Publications of Stockport, starting in October 1983 and ending after 82 issues in July 1990.
Initially it was included as a 1 ...
gave the game a score of 9/10, concluding "''Ballistix'' is original, fun and very addictive".
["Having a Ball"](_blank)
Electron User, vol 6 no 12, September 1989 Mark Heley in
CU Amiga
''Commodore User'', known to the readers as the abbreviated ''CU'', was one of the oldest British Commodore magazines. With a publishing history spanning over 15 years, it mixed content with technical and video game features. Incorporating ''Vi ...
said the game was "well up to the usual excellent standards of Psygnosis's releases", giving a score of 76%.
[''Ballistix'' review](_blank)
CU Amiga/64, May 1989 Zzap!64
''Zzap!64'' was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact.
The magazine ...
praised the "attractive, sharp and very fast moving" graphics and found the two-player game "fun" but were less impressed with the one-player option, awarding an overall score of 72%.
[''Ballistix'' review](_blank)
Zzap!64, February 1990
References
External links
*
''Ballistix''at the Hall of Light
{{Authority control
1989 video games
Amiga games
Atari ST games
BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games
Commodore 64 games
DOS games
Psygnosis games
Superior Software games
TurboGrafx-16 games
Video games developed in the United Kingdom
Multiplayer and single-player video games