Previous Next

The Droid Wars come to a head in this, the final conflict between man and machine. Following massive Droid activity on the planet Void, there have been rumours that the mechanical aggressors are planning to nuke Earth. To prevent this, five fleets of Void Runners have been sent out to destroy the Droid forces, before the deadly missile can be launched. As admiral of the five fleets, the future of Earth is in your hands...

The action takes place on a single screen: four tightly-packed Void Runner craft appear in the middle, and can be moved anywhere within its borders. The formation of the craft varies from level to level - sometimes they're linked together to form a star, either pointing upwards, downwards, diagonally or to one side.

When the action begins, lines of Droid craft emerge onto the screen and maraud around. Contact between a Droid and a Void Runner results in destruction of the entire fleet, and play switches to one of the four back-up fleets.

Another deadly feature is the Teeran scanner, a glowing line which slowly moves down over the playing area, constantly wrapping round and returning to the top. Occasionally, it drops a scan line across the screen which remains 'active' for a few seconds and is deadly to touch.

The fleet is capable of hurling defensive energy bolts across the screen, destroying the majority of Droid craft on contact. Not all of the Droids explode immediately - some change form when hit, turning into red blobs which fire a laser beam down the screen if the fleet flies beneath while others are indestructible and have to be avoided.

If enough Droids are destroyed, the fleet progresses to the next, more difficult level. The mission ends when all five fleets are lost, although an extra fleet is earned when a screen is cleared of aliens.

Mr Minter produces the goods yet again - and all for two quid! Void Runner has got to be an all-time classic budget game. There's a hell of a lot of blasting to be done; most of it at an incredibly frenetic rate.

There are loads of screens, and the amount of things whizzing about at any one time is almost too good to be true. There is a slightly annoying delay between screens as we are treated to some colourful Minteresque graphics, but this is a minor detraction from an otherwise excellent game.

The most notable thing about Void Runner is that its intrinsic simplicity is reminiscent of Jeff Minter of old - good solid, fast and furious blasting.

Granted it's graphically sparse, but the emphasis is on impressive special effects rather than graphic definition. The sound is surprisingly weak, especially when you consider the sonic power that's usually present in Mr Minter's programs. Void Runner is easily one of the best budget buys around at the moment, and will serve to entertain until Revenge II appears. Thank you Jeff, and thank you Mastertronic.

This is a real treat for the eyes, ears and aggression glands. Void Runner is a colourful, visually stunning shoot-'em-up extravaganza, oozing with playability, addiction and challenge. As well as being extraordinary to look at, it also has some really weird control methods. The first screen is fairly straightforward, but on later screens, when the ships start to split apart, it all gets incredibly confusing, adding mayhem to the freneticism.

The action is incredibly fast and furious and has to be played to be appreciated, and there's plenty of challenge to keep any blaster happy for weeks. If you're after a superlative, and slightly off-beat, shoot-'em-up then this is for you.

Presentation 67%
Colourful title screen and high-score table.

Graphics 74%
No picturesque masterpiece, but the graphics do their job.

Sound 59%
No music, but some suitably raucous sound effects to add to the atmosphere.

Hookability 81%
The straightforward shoot-'em-up action provides immediate appeal.

Lastability 80%
Enough challenge to keep the most ardent blasters playing for weeks.

Value For Money 93%
A steal at such a low price.

Overall 85%
An incredibly fast and frenetic shoot-'em-up - definitely one for the collection.