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It is truly surprising that not only games continue to be produced for the Spectrum, but that there are even those who still create coin-op conversions for this historical platform. This is the case of Astro Blaster, conversion of the 1981 Sega arcade game of the same name.

At first glance, Astro Blaster may seem yet another variation on the Galaxian theme: a classic "kill-the-Martians" title where you control a spaceship capable of moving only sideways on the lower part of the screen, shooting the different waves of aliens and meteorites coming one after the other. In truth, Astro Blaster has peculiar features, which make it stand out from the mass of similar titles.

First of all, the laser, if fired continuously, overheats, making it impossible to use it. In addition, you must pay attention to the fuel level - if it reaches zero, it's Game Over even if we still have spare lives.

Another thing to note is the good level of technical realization: the sprites move smoothly on the screen and, on machines equipped with the AY sound chip, you can hear sound effects reminiscent of the old coin-ops of the early 80s.

Astro Blaster is a great representative of a "more retro than retro" genre of games, with no other goal than testing our reflexes, since after the last alien horde the game starts again from the beginning. But going "back to the origins" from time to time is always a pleasure, even in retrogaming!