Starblade

STARBLADE

This program requires a colour monitor and a joystick in port 2.

Starblade is a space-opera set in the 30th Century in the vastness of
the Orion galaxy. The human race has been violently decimated to a
series of small hi-tech colonies by the ruthless, insectile
Cephalhydras. Aiming to finally wipe out humanity, Cephalhydras
geneticists have produced Genolyn, a hideously mutated Queen brood-
mother, who will spawn a legion of super-warriors; not unlike the
leader of the Conservative party.

Before his murder by agents of the Cephalhydras Investigation
Bureau, Professor Julius Gordon discovered the location of Genolyn. To
outwit his pursuers, he transposed the co-ordinates of her secret
location onto a series of diskettes, and dispersed them on a number of
planets.

Your mission is to board Starblade and eliminate Genolyn
before she starts to breed...

When the game starts you find youself upon the bridge of the
starcruiser Starblade. From here you can access the main computer
which controls the ship itself. Simply walk towards the computer and
press fire where you will be presented with 5 icons. Using the
joystick you can choose anyone of these, each with it's own menu. You
can check the status of your ship, and if necessary send an SOS
message to other cruisers in the near vicinity. This menu also allows
you to move from galaxy to galaxy in one easy and convienient
hyperspace jump. This is essential if you wish to collect the
diskettes from the various planets and assemble in the correct order.

From the front of the ship you can transport to other areas of
the ship simply be standing on the 'S' and 'M' circles and pressing
fire. Once you have transported to the desired area you can
investigate the surrounding areas. On almost every screen you will see
a small hatch which will open when you stand near it and press fire.
This is an information centre where you can find out all the necessary
details about your ship. More importantly you can swap and use other
untensils, vital if the game is to be completed.

The demo version does not allow you to access the planets.