''A.M.C.: Astro Marine Corps'' is a 1989 platform shooter video game developed by Creepsoft and published by

Dinamic Software Dinamic Software was a Spanish video game producer and publishing company. It was founded in 1983, and its activity ceased in 1992, comprising the Golden Era of Spanish Software. One year later, a part of its owners founded an independent compan ...

. It was released 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by Microsoft and ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, then vice-p ...

, and Amstrad CPC. The program as written by Pablo Ariza with music by José A. Martín.

Gameplay

The player controls a member of the eponymous Astro Marine Corps, on a mission to stop the Deathbringers, a conglomerate of multiple alien criminals, from launching a campaign to conquer the galaxy. To fulfill his mission, the marine must run from left to right, jumping over obstacles and shooting aliens that try to kill him. Colliding with the aliens or their shots will lower the marine's health bar, or in the case of some enemies even kill him outright, making him lose one of his four lives. From time to time, boxes containing power ups or booby traps drop from the sky, and the marine has to shoot them to reveal their contents. Power ups include health refills, grenades and various alternate shot types such as a flame thrower or a spread shot. The marine can also obtain temporary invulnerability, although it doesn't work with enemies that can kill him instantly. The game is divided in two phases. Each phase must be completed in a limited amount of time, which is extended upon reaching various checkpoints. In the first phase, the marine has to reach the Deathbringers' ship landed on planet Dendar and hijack it. At the end of the phase, a boss alien, the Krauer, must be defeated. In the second phase, the marine must fight through the Deathbringers' home planet and destroy their leader, the Great Alien King, to end the invasion.

Reception

Retro Games Review felt the title was worth repeated play-throughs. ACE: Advanced Computer Entertainment felt the title was slick but straightforward. The One felt the game offered the "monster mashing" genre a "bit of class". ST Format thought it was no more than a competent shooter. Amiga Reviews felt the graphics were the best part. The games Machine wrote it was repetitive, clichéd, and unnecessarily hard. ZZtap64 felt it could pass as an accurate military sim.

References

{{Videogame-stub 1989 video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games Dinamic Software games MSX games Run and gun games Video games developed in Spain ZX Spectrum games Single-player video games