Previous Next

Orbix The Terrorball sounds like one of those domestic detergents that kills 99 per cent of all known germs. But in this case it's a tactical planetary warfare craft which kills 99 per cent of all known insectivores.

This first release on Domark's arcade label puts you in charge of Orbix The Terrorball on a rescue mission on the unhospitable planet Horca.

You have to find bits of a crashed spacecraft, reassemble it and rescue the crew scattered around the planet's surface. Alien droids and other weird nasties want to stop you of course.

The first task is to find a Federation Property Detector which will show you the whereabouts of the factory droid which is carrying a bit of the lost spacecraft.

You have to destroy the factory droid in order to recover the part.

The detectors are cubes with flashing panels on the front. Don't be fooled into thinking that they are the transistor radio thingies which you come across like I was. I spent ages trying to pick the **?!s up!

Once you've got a detector you can see where the factory droid is hiding and sat off in pursuit. The alien creatures can steal your detector away so watch out for the ones that look like nuclear particles!

If you lose one you have to start looking for another before you can proceed. There are quite a few scattered around, fortunately.

Shooting alien droids can have one of two effects. They either transform into energy-giving pods which you can collect to give Orbix more essential power, or they turn into deadly mines which vaporise your craft at the merest touch.

Once you've tracked down a factory droid and destroyed it you pick up the part and race back to the launch pad at the centre of the planet. Why? Because the bit you've just collected is booby-trapped and you have just 90 seconds to get it back before it detonates.

The launch pad area has a built-in neutraliser which renders the booby-trap useless. There are six bits of the craft to find and eight spacemen to rescue. You score points for picking them up, shooting aliens, picking up detectors and collecting energy.

The graphics are nice - maybe a bit on the small side. The multi-directional scrolling reminds you of Durell's Critical Mass - but Orbix is far more playable than that game.

Orbix bounces around really smoothly and the landscape is animated as well. Things move up and down. Trap doors mysteriously open to capture an unwary Orbix pilot. And then there are the mysterious spider creatures who sometimes are useful in blocking enemy fire, and always useful if you're low on energy. Shoot a spider - they insect you can eat between meals!

You can call up a map of the planet by hitting a key - this also acts as a pause mode, and you can also access a short range radar screen to help you collect stranded spacemen.

It's essential to make good use of the small radar screen in the centre of your instrument panel. This shows you where the detectors are, where the factory droids are, and where the launchpad is, in that order during different stages of the game.

Orbix isn't a brilliant game - but it's not a naff one either. Sometimes frustrating but always playable. Orbix The Terrorball is a good debut for programmer John Pragnell and the Streetwise label.