The game itself is an evolved version of Delta, basically a space-based horizontally scrolling shoot ‘em up with progressive weaponry upgrades, increasingly difficult levels and huge end-of-level aliens. There was nothing new about this game format - the likes of Nemesis (Gradius), Salamander and R-Type had defined the genre in the arcades - but it was never done on an 8-bit home computer so impressively, on such a grand scale and with such finesse.
The attention to detail is often the key to the best productions, and Armalyte demonstrates this perfectly.
Every aspect of the game is executed superbly, from the design of the Thalamus advertising and packaging to the game itself, and certainly helped to give the player a fuller, richer experience. Oliver Frey, the finest illustrator working in the industry in the 80s, reserved his work for just two privileged clients - Newsfield Publications (Zzap64, Crash, Amtix), and Thalamus - and his fantastic evocative artwork graced each one of their game covers.
As one had come to expect from Thalamus, the graphics and sound are nothing less than stunning. The visuals at the time were some of the best ever seen outside of the arcades, and the amount of sprites that manage to make their way around the screen is breathtaking for the viewer, not to mention overwhelming
for the player! The colour and design is imaginative, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere throughout, and ships and sprites are highly detailed with beautiful animation. Some stages feature futuristic metallic hardware, some feature organic alien lifeforms with pulsating skin and slime, others feature rocky subterranean caves or crumbling ancient architecture. Each of the 8 spectacular stages contains a smaller mid-level boss, and of course a huge end-of-level enemy. Very impressive mothers they are too, usually taking up most of the screen and presenting suitably difficult and spectacular challenges.
The music is a nicely atmospheric thumping affair, written by Martin Walker, and the sound effects make full use of the 64’s SID chip with a wide array of sci-fi sounds, from metallic clunks and pings to thudding laser ripples and gas hisses.
Although not essential to the gameplay, there are dozens of nice touches that distinguish the title, and remind us just what a quality game this is - for example, enemies will keep moving after they are destroyed, or at least their fading explosions will continue moving, giving a great feeling of speed and momentum, and certain areas of the game feature mechanical ‘hums’ on the soundtrack to enhance the technological sci-fi atmosphere.
Gameplay is as slick and impressive as the rest of the presentation, and the controls are smooth and responsive. The ship handles well and allows the player to concentrate on the tasks at hand. Difficulty is well balanced and rewarding, allowing the player to advance further and further with each game, although learning enemy attack patterns is an inevitable requirement.
Progress through the game relies heavily on upgrading your weapon system, but thankfully there are plenty of opportunities of grabbing upgrade capsules. By shooting capsules more times various upgrades can be obtained, and consist of the customary speed increases, multiple, vertical and rear shots, as well as short-term invincibility. A laser beam ‘superweapon’ can also be fired to combat tougher enemies and comes in 3 different forms - a single focused high powered beam, a wide blast of several, weaker beams fired forwards and backwards, and a pulsating ripple effect beam firing multiple lasers depending on your upgrade status.
A very clever concept is utilised with the laser beam weapon in the form of a ‘battery’ system. Activating your ship’s superweapon uses power stored in the generator, and extra generators and batteries can be picked up to prolong the use of lasers. Although this idea of ‘consumable’ weaponry is used frequently in games today, in 1988 it was something of a revelation! The weapon system on the whole sounds quite complicated in theory, but in practice is very simple and intuitive to use.
In single player mode the player is aided by a drone, which follows the ship and adds to your firepower, obtaining weapon upgrades along with your own. In dual player mode there are no drones, just two ships that fend for themselves and are upgraded independently. As well as making progress in the game slightly easier, this also adds to the fun and mayhem - the ships can bump each other off course and into obstacles, so care must be taken around tight scenery not to ‘accidentally’ kill your partner!
What can be a tad infuriating however, is losing your whole arsenal of weaponry at the end of every stage, returning to your slow, single bullet ship for each new stage - and if you don’t get off to a good start at the beginning of each level by acquiring the necessary speed and weapon upgrades early on, survival becomes almost impossible - especially in later stages.
That said, it certainly helps the longevity of the game - the way games were played was different in the 80s to what it is now. Most games back then didn’t allow for saving between stages, and we found ourselves returning time after time just to beat that certain bit that was driving us insane! I miss those type of games for what they were, but I’d hate to have to play that way today.
In summary, Armalyte was an incredible achievement in home gaming at the time of its release and today is regarded by most - myself included - as quite simply the best shoot ‘em up game ever made for the C64. If you haven’t played it, download it immediately. Retro-gaming might not be your cup of tea and the games are certainly tame by today’s standards - most mobile phones have more advanced games on them nowadays - but a playable, addictive game is still the same now as it was back then. For the spectacle alone, have a blast, and enjoy a true piece of gaming history.
