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It's no secret that I am a big fan of game developer Jose Javier Garcia Aranda. Over the last few years he has developed the 8BP BASIC coding tools that make it possible for anyone to create some cool games in CPC BASIC. He regularly attends retro events and holds programming lessons on how he makes games. He is just a good guy.

Eridu: The Space Port was his first game of 2019 and I think it's his best one yet using the 8BP tools. Unashamedly a Scramble shoot-'em-up clone it plays so very well. There is only a minor bit of glitch at times with your space craft movement from left to right. The speed/frame rate of play is almost perfect, with no clunky movement. Enemy waves are consistent. The game is not that difficult - enemy ships don’t fire bullets at you, so any gamer should be able to progress quite easily to complete this game.

Your ship can shoot horizontally, and can also drop bombs. It is very responsive to do either. Gameplay focuses on you shooting at everything on screen to stay alive. Most importantly though you have to shoot the fuel capsules marked with an 'F' so you can keep flying. And remember: Don't crash into the enemy ships, as you will lose one of your three lives!

Score 500 points and you are given another life. Eridu: The Space Port, is a very cool Scramble clone written entirely in Basic. Screens change colour frequently and the gameplay has a number of interesting levels. First and second levels you fight off enemies in the sky, the third and fourth level you are dodging and weaving through a tunnel system to collect fuel and destroy the enemy.

A very nice tune plays throughout. The graphics and sprites look much better than being coded in BASIC. The playability feels just right too. No real sluggishness or movement concerns. If I have one negative thing to say about the game is that there is no joystick play - aaargggh!!!! I am not a keyboard basher, I wish there was a joystick feature. However, many thanks Jose Garcia Aranda for another fun shoot-'em-up game to play.