''Oystron'' is an

action game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform gam ...

developed for the Atari 2600 by Piero Cavina and released in 1997. It is one of the earliest hobbyist-written games for the console. The game, Cavina's first, was initially made available as a

freeware Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the f ...

4 KB binary file designed for use on the

Starpath Supercharger The Starpath Supercharger (originally called the Arcadia Supercharger) is an expansion peripheral cartridge created by Starpath, for playing cassette-based proprietary games on the Atari 2600 video game console. The device consists of a long car ...

and with Atari 2600 emulators. It was later released in cartridge form by XYPE, a group of Atari 2600 homebrew developers.

Gameplay

''Oystron'' is an action game in which the player controls a ship using the joystick controller, firing at enemies and collecting

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

s dropped by "space

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

s". The player's ship initially appears on the left side of the screen, and enemies attack from the right. Shooting the space oysters reveals a pearl; the player then collides with the pearl and brings it to the "pearl zone" on the left side of the screen. Other enemies appear that attempt to steal the pearls. Collecting eight pearls earns the player a bomb. At the end of each level, a

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...

named "Oystron" appears; the player can defeat the Oystron by placing a bomb in its path, or waiting until it changes into a space oyster. Following the appearance of the Oystron is a warp phase, in which the player travels at high speed and must avoid colliding with enemies. The player is given four ships at the beginning of a game, and earns an additional ship every 4000 points.

Reception

In 2003, ''Oystron'' was one of several Atari 2600 homebrew titles selected by Activision for inclusion in the Game Boy Advance version of their ''

Activision Anthology ''Activision Anthology'' is a compilation of most of the Atari 2600 games by Activision for various game systems. It also includes games that were originally released by Absolute Entertainment and Imagic, as well as various Homebrew (video games), ...

''. In 2005, it was named one of the five "Best 2600 Homebrew Games" in the book ''Gaming Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools'' by

Simon Carless Simon Carless is a video game industry businessperson and former game designer and editor. Simon is the founder of GameDiscoverCo, a video game discoverability consultancy firm, and previously worked overseeing the worldwide Game Developers Confere ...

, who praised the game's fast pace, sprites and color scheme.

References

External links

''Oystron''
at AtariAge
Gameplay video
{{Homebrew 1997 video games Atari 2600 homebrew games Video games developed in Italy