''Sidewize'' is a horizontally

scrolling shooter Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of character m ...

released by

Firebird Firebird and fire bird may refer to: Mythical birds * Phoenix (mythology), sacred firebird found in the mythologies of many cultures ** Fenghuang, sometimes called Chinese phoenix * Vermilion bird, one of the four symbols of the Chinese constella ...

in 1987 for the

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

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. ...

home computers. It was followed by a sequel, ''

Crosswize ''Crosswize'' is a shoot 'em up released by Firebird in 1988 for the ZX Spectrum home computer and is the sequel to '' Sidewize''. Plot The planet Luna is under attack by Mutants and must be defended. Overview The game is similar to its predece ...

''.

Plot

The four worlds of Omicron, Nu, Delta and Iota are under siege by the Dariard Mutants. The Warriors of the Xeolom Alliance are all that stand between the Mutants and victory.

Gameplay

''Sidewize'' is a 2D horizontally scrolling shooter with similarities to the

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

arcade game ''

Side Arms is a 1986 side-scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Capcom for arcades. The player takes control of a flying mecha fighter who must battle an alien army. ''Side Arms'' uses a two-directional attacking system similar to Capc ...

''. The player controls the warrior Dynar on his lone mission against waves of Mutants on the four worlds of the Xeolom Alliance. Dynar is equipped with an armored suit with a jetpack and an array of weapons. Power-ups may be collected for improved mobility, weapons and firepower. The four Xeolom worlds may be played in any order, but must all be completed before the player moves on to the alien world of Zeta, where the final Mutant boss awaits.

Development

''Sidewize'' was developed by

Odin Computer Graphics Odin Computer Graphics was a Liverpool-based computer games developer that came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a variety of titles for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC home computers. History Odin was started by Paul McKenna a ...

Reception

* ''

Your Sinclair ''Your Sinclair'', originally ''Your Spectrum'' or ''YS'', is a discontinued British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was commercially published between 1984 and 1993. History The magazine was la ...

'':

"The game itself is a simple concept, but there's just so much to it, and the difficulty is so well judged, you just can't pull the plug. It's fast. The action is flicker-free. The monochrome graphics are great and the sound effects set it all off. It could take years of careful manoeuvre to beat this one, unless you're into hacking..."

References

External links

* * {{lemon64 game, id=2307 1987 video games Amiga games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games Fictional mutants Horizontally scrolling shooters Multiplayer and single-player video games Odin Computer Graphics games Telecomsoft games Video games about alien invasions Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games set on fictional planets ZX Spectrum games