''Beyond the Black Hole'' is a

computer 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, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

developed by

The Software Toolworks The Software Toolworks (commonly abbreviated as Toolworks) was an American software and video game developer based in Novato, California. The company was founded by Walt Bilofsky in 1980 out of his Sherman Oaks, California, Sherman Oaks garage, ...

and published in 1989 for the

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 ...

Commodore 128 The Commodore 128, also known as the C128, C-128, C= 128,The "C=" represents the graphical part of the logo. is the last 8-bit home computer that was commercially released by Commodore Business Machines (CBM). Introduced in January 1985 at the ...

, and

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 ...

, as well as for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...

in 1990 under the name ''Orb-3D''.

Plot

The player is a scientific officer sent to investigate some strange phenomena. Using cartography orbs, the player must examine a variety of objects in space. Two rebound fields are located on the left and right side of the screen make certain the cartography orb is reflected back into the middle of the screen when it reaches the outermost edges of the current screen. The orbs require fuel as the player dives from the peak of orbit into the objects center-screen. The player garners points by striking an object with the orb. Pirates can steal fuel, and the player must maneuver the orb through the fueling pods to reach the service center itself.

Gameplay

''Beyond the Black Hole'' is stereoscopic 3-D arcade game which comes with 3-D glasses. The player commands the "craft" through space using the keyboard, a joystick, or a mouse. The game is playable without the glasses, as the game uses motion, not color, to generate the 3-D effect.

Reception

''Beyond the Black Hole'' was reviewed in 1989 in ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'' #152 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars. ''

Compute! ''Compute!'' (), often stylized as ''COMPUTE!'', was an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's ''PET Gazette'', one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET c ...

'' was less positive, stating that the game "is heavy on packaging and special effects and light on gameplay". The magazine hoped that "a more substantial game" would use the "impressive 3-D effect".

References

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External links

Beyond the Black Hole
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MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...

Beyond the Black Hole
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GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

Beyond the Black Hole
at

GameFAQs GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by Fandom, Inc. since October 2022. The site has a databa ...

1989 video games Commodore 64 games DOS games Nintendo Entertainment System games The Software Toolworks games Video games developed in the United States