Andrew Braybrook was one of the greatest game writers to grace the Commodore 64 - and his genius continued will into the Amiga's hay-day. Paradroid 90 is the sequel to Paradroid on the Commodore 64 - one of the best games the machine saw in the 80's lifetime.
The premise is very simple. You start out as the lowest of the low - a weak droid with few powers and outgunned by every other droid around. Through a simple process, you have to battle your way through the entire ship to kill everything that moves.
But as well as your trusty laser, you can also 'take over' the other droids through a great minigame. Progress through the game is mainly achieved through this mechanism and allows you to take control of every droid on the ship - if you win the game. Lose and you're back to the lonely droid you started with.
Each of the droids on the ship come from different classes and each have special powers. Some are really fast, others slow, some have amazing lasers and other great defensive shields. A lot of the fun in the game can be had by finding the bigger, more powerful droids and trying to take them over. Of course, they have a lot
more advantages than you in the minigame but there's a huge satisfaction to be had from making the leap from a 001 to an 821 droid - if you can be skillful enough to do it.
Heaven knows what Andrew Braybrook is doing now but he left a legacy that's as good today as it was when it came out decades ago. This really is the best of the 16 bit scene and there's little doubt that you'll love Paradroid 90.
