Datastorm
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| Datastorm | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Visionary Design Technologies |
| Publisher | Visionary Design Technologies |
| Programmer | Søren Grønbech |
| Composer | Timm Engels |
| Platform | Amiga |
| Release |
|
| Genre | Scrolling shooter |
| Modes | Single-player, multiplayer |
Datastorm is a horizontally scrolling shooter for the Amiga published by Visionary Design in 1989. Written by Søren Grønbech, it was inspired by the Defender arcade video game and the Defender-like Dropzone originally released for Atari 8-bit computers.[1]
Gameplay
[edit]Datastorm allows for a single player to play or two players to play simultaneously or one after the other.[2][3] The game takes place on planets in a side scrolling format that wraps around with the player flying above in a spacecraft. The player must protect and rescue the eight survival pods that roll around on the surface of the planet and take them to a warp gate.[3] An onslaught of enemies attempt to attack the spaceship so constantly destroying them and their missiles is necessary. There is also a special type of enemy called an alien lander that captures the pods and whisks them away to the top of the level.[4] In addition to standard enemies, there are also mother ships, which act as bosses within the game. These mother ships come in the form of a fleet of fast luminous ships, a large squid or a large skull.[2]
A radar scanner, which is essentially a mini-map, is presented along the bottom of the screen and gives a complete view of the entire planet to help keep track of what is happening.[4] The game also features an autosave, a highscore table, on-screen instructions and a level select.[4] In terms of weaponry, the ship has lasers, smart bombs and cloaking technology that makes it briefly invincible.[4] The points increase for each level; on levels 5, 9, 13, etc., the player gets a new set of eight pods and the scoring resets.
Plot
[edit]The game takes place after the planet Xerxes exploded, causing its eight orbiting colonies to drift into deep space. The inhabitants of these colonies must locate a new home planet, so they each send a survival pod out into space to achieve this mission.
Release
[edit]The game was announced in May 1989.[5]
Reception
[edit]| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| ACE | 870/1000[2] |
| Aktueller Software Markt | 7/12[6] |
| Amiga User International | 7/10[7] |
| Commodore User | 83%[8] |
| Computer and Video Games | 95%[4] |
| Génération 4 | 78%[9] |
| The Games Machine (Italy) | 90%[10] |
| The One | 84%[11] |
| Tilt | 17/20[12] |
| ACAR | 85%[13] |
| Amiga Magazin | 9,7/12[14] |
| C=lehti | 4/5[15] |
| Info | 4.5/5[16] |
| Power Play | 71/100[17] |
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Datastorm received a generally favorable reception from critics.[3][18][19][20] Computer and Video Games' Julian Rignall called it "the best shoot 'em up yet seen out of a coin-op cabinet".[4]
References
[edit]- ↑ Grønbech, Søren. "Datastorm". sodan.dk.
- 1 2 3 Dillon, Tony (July 1989). "Screen Test: Datastorm". ACE. No. 22. EMAP. p. 36.
- 1 2 3 Anderson, Rhett (October 1989). "Reviews: Datastorm". Compute!'s Amiga Resource. Vol. 1, no. 4. Compute! Publications. p. 84.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rignall, Julian (July 1989). "Review: Datastorm". Computer and Video Games. No. 93. EMAP. p. 17.
- ↑ "Show Report". .info. May 1989. p. 65. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
- ↑ Schmidt, Ottfried (October 1989). "Action Games: Totale Hektik". Aktueller Software Markt (in German). Vol. 4, no. 10. Tronic Verlag. p. 46.
- ↑ Horgan, Tony (July 1989). "Entertainment: Datastorm". Amiga User International. Vol. 3, no. 7. Croftward Limited. pp. 96–97.
- ↑ Patterson, Mark (July 1989). "Screen Scene: Datastorm". Commodore User. No. 70. EMAP. p. 27.
- ↑ Franchi, Robert; Querleux, Philippe (September 1989). "Arcade/Action: Datastorm". Génération 4 (in French). No. 14. Pressimage. p. 10.
- ↑ "Datastorm". The Games Machine (in Italian). No. 24. Edizioni Hobby. October 1990. pp. 60–61.
- ↑ Penn, Gary (July 1989). "Review: Datastorm". The One. No. 10. EMAP. pp. 65–66.
- ↑ Huyghues-Lacour, Alain; Hautefeuille, Olivier (September 1989). "Hits: Datastorm". Tilt (in French). No. 69. Éditions Mondiales S.A.. p. 51.
- ↑ Munro, Greg (September 1990). "Entertainment: DataStorm". Australian Commodore & Amiga Review. Vol. 7, no. 9. Saturday Magazine. p. 75.
- ↑ Kähler, Jörg (July 1989). "Spiele-Test: Datastorm". Amiga Magazin (in German). No. 24. Markt & Technik. p. 153.
- ↑ Teittinen, Petri (April 1989). "Bäng! Bäng!: Datastorm". C=lehti (in Finnish). Erikoislehdet Oy Tecnopress. p. 57.
- ↑ Malcom, Tom (July–August 1989). "Games for your Amiga: Datastorm". Info. No. 27. Info Publications. p. 44.
- ↑ Lenhardt, Heinrich (October 1989). "Power Computerspiele: Datastorm". Power Play (in German). No. 19. Markt & Technik. p. 46.
- ↑ Costa, Paul (July 1989). "Datastorm". Amazing Computing for the Commodore Amiga. Vol. 4, no. 7. PiM Publications. p. 43.
- ↑ Jeppesen, Claus L.; Bang, Hans H. (June–August 1989). "Amigames: Datastorm". Oberoende Computer (in Swedish). Vol. 3, no. 7/8. Förlaget Audio A/S. p. 12.
- ↑ Bellamy, Bruno (July 19, 1989). "Timber: Datastorm". Joystick Hebdo (in French). No. 37. Business Edition. p. 12.
External links
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