''Exolon'' is a run and gun game programmed by

Raffaele Cecco Raffaele Cecco, born 10 May 1967, is a British video games developer who has created numerous video games since 1984, including ''Cybernoid'' and '' Exolon''. He grew up in Tottenham in North London. Spurred by an interest in computers, he receive ...

and published by Hewson in 1987 for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

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 ...

, and Amstrad CPC

8-bit In computer architecture, 8-bit Integer (computer science), integers or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet (computing), octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) arc ...

computers. It was later converted to the

Enterprise 128 The Enterprise is a Zilog Z80-based home computer announced in 1983, but through a series of delays, not commercially available until 1985. The specification as released was powerful and one of the higher end in its class (though not by the m ...

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 ...

Gameplay

The player takes control of a futuristic soldier across several

flick-screen This list includes terms used in video games and the video game industry, as well as slang used by players. 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 an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

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 is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

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 (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the ...

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

Legacy

''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 Atari ...

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

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

. It can be downloaded from the Retrospec website

References

External links

1987 review of ''Exolon''
from ''Crash'' magazine. * *{{WoS game, id=0001686

at Atari Mania
''Exolon''
at the Amiga Hall of Light

(in Hungarian) both from ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC
''Exolon''
Exact replica of Exolon, playable online 1987 video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games Hewson Consultants games ZX Spectrum games Run and gun games Video games developed in the United Kingdom

Gameplay

Legacy

See also

References

External links