''Exolon'' is a run and gun game programmed by Raffaele Cecco and published by Hewson in 1987 for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 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 ...

, and

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for "Colour Personal Computer") is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spec ...

. It was later converted to the

Enterprise 128 The Enterprise is a Zilog Z80-based home computer announced in 1983, but due to a series of delays, was not commercially available until 1985. It was developed by British company Intelligent Software and marketed by Enterprise Computers. The s ...

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

, and

Atari ST Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...

Gameplay

The player takes control of a futuristic soldier named Vitorc across several

flip-screen Since the origin of video games in the early 1970s, the video game industry, the players, and surrounding culture have spawned a wide range of technical and slang terms. 0–9 A ...

levels of gameplay. The screens that make up these levels are filled with various generic aliens as well as gun emplacements, homing missiles, landmines and other hazards. The soldier can defend himself with both a gun and rocket-propelled

grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

s. The two different weapons are effective against different enemies. The enemies themselves are varied, taking the forms of flying aliens of the type traditionally found in shoot 'em up games as well as homing missiles, fixed guns, tanks,

land mine A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...

s, swarming red pods and "crushers" which shoot out of the ground. Partway through each level, there is a pod in which the player can "upgrade" until the end of the current level to an armoured

exoskeleton An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the internal organs, in contrast to an internal endoskeleton (e.g. human skeleton, that ...

with improved weapons and armour. Completing the level without this upgrade results in a score bonus.

Reception

The ZX Spectrum version of ''Exolon'' was placed at the top of the Woolworths Top 30 chart for September 1987, with the Commodore 64 version at number 29.

Legacy

After developing the two '' Cybernoid'' titles in 1988, Cecco's next game was '' Stormlord''. It is considered a

spiritual successor A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous product or work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue th ...

to ''Exolon'' and used the same main character sprite during development. ''Exolon'' is one of the games included with the

C64 Direct-to-TV The C64 Direct-to-TV, called C64DTV for short, is a single-chip implementation of the Commodore 64 computer, contained in a joystick (modeled after the mid-1980s Competition Pro joystick), with 30 built-in games. The design is similar to the At ...

(2004). In December 2005, Retrospec released an updated remake of ''Exolon'' for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. It can be downloaded from the Retrospec website.
/ref>

References

External links

1987 review of ''Exolon''
from ''Crash'' magazine. * * * * {{abime, id=2895

(in Hungarian) both from ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC 1987 video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games Hewson Consultants games Run and gun games Single-player video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom ZX Spectrum games