Retro Force

Phase one brought us peace, but only the completion of Phase Two could sustain it. A "peace that will last" meant only one thing to our kind - radical death to "The Unity". Such a Final Solution is a tall order for an under equipped cell such as ours, but was well within the remit of the Alpha Squad, whose main objective, was the delivery of a warhead that would make that possible.

The Game

Ah, the warhead... What a marvellous weapon... Salvaged from forty years of alien technology meant for our destruction, scientists had constructed something that could effectively wipe away a whole solar system... Its use was never going to be something our species could witness first hand though...

And therein lies the problem: we have no way to verify whether the payload had been delivered, without compromising our assets.

Which brings us to Plan B and the activation of our sleeper cell...

On this glorious day, we are to lead an assault team deep into enemy territory to take out as many of their infrastructure as possible. Anything we destroy, Alpha won't have to; anything we leave, might compromise their ability to deliver the payload. Ultimately, we are the pointman for a human incursion that will finish the job. We are to clear the way for logistic craft, which will later seed the area with hardware that will lay dormant for any surviving Alpha team members who do make it across. Failing that, we are the last chance for mankind to strike deeply and directly at The Unity. Ideally, Alpha team will finish the job; failing that, we'll at least go down in history as those who extended the Peace in our Time...

The Aim Of The Game

Before the big boys can find their way into this part of the galaxy with their explosive payloads, your job is to clear away all targets and resistance found within the next 24 sectors ahead.

Targets are typically embedded within the sector's infrastructure, and can be many and varied. But this isn't a sight-seeing tour soldier!!

Each of the 24 sectors, Alpha to Omega, have a designated number of targets that must be destroyed, before you can get a crack at destroying that sector's guardian ship. This designated number, representing a percentage of the sector's industrial infrastructure, and can be found on the right hand side of your control panel - for instance:

Failure to destroy the designated number of targets before level end, will force the player to have to replay that sector from the beginning again. Success in destroying all such targets however will activate sector guardian, who must be destroyed before proceeding further...

Energy And Lives

By default, this game involves both energy drainage and loss of life systems during play. This means contact wth enemy shots will drain shield strength, but won't necessarily prove fatal until your shield runs dry. Direct collision with enemy craft, however, will prove immediately fatal.

The number of ships you have remaining, and a visual representation of shield strength, can both be seen together on the bottom right of your control panel.

For die-hard players with more skill, the options screen allows users to determine difficulty of gameplay by tinkering with how the game treats enemy shot and target collisions. Enemy shots can be made fatal, faster and more accurate, while map target collision detection can be turned on to add more avoidance to gameplay.

An additional option three is included in the 128K version of this game, to control gaming speed. Gaming speed can be slowed down to 0, or increased to 6 for maximum speed (the default is normally 3).

Note: The 48K version of this game runs definitively faster than the 128K version, even on a 128K maximum game speed setting of 6...

Opposing The Odds

R-Type never made it this far out into the galaxy, s don't expect heavy armaments in this game... That being said, you're not totally defenceless... Flashing pickup icons do exist...

Typically, picking one of these up will grant one of the following:

1. Auto-fire - Perhaps the most useful asset your player can have, and the only weapons upgrade in this game.
2. Smart Bomb - An EMP blast that will immediately destroy all kinetic cybernetic craft.
3. Ground Blast - A smart bomb to clear away all ground-based industrial targets.
4. Bonus Points - Not immediately useful... but save enough of these, and you might just get an extra life...

Basic Gameplay Tips

1. Don't be afraid to dive into enemy fire to avoid enemy ships.
2. Sacrificing a life, to collect missed targets, is worth it...
3. Memorize those attack patterns!
4. Players who linger at the back, risk everything in later levels.
5. Weaving and dodging become essential in later gameplay levels.
6. Get up close and personal when confronting level end guardians.
7. Choose wisely between enemy craft or ground-based targets...

Game Progression

24 Sectors are believed to exist just prior to the area believed to house the species known only as "The Unity". Their demise won't be accomplished by your craft though. You are tasked with clearing the way to secure safe passage for those that will fly ahead...

The first eleven sectors are partially known by navigational intelligence gathered over the last nine years, but sectors beyond Lambda are essentially unknown to humankind. It is believed that sectors MU onwards are colour-coded according to function, representing industrial, cybernetic and organic environments, but little can be said with certainty at this stage...

Beyond sector Omega, nobody can say what awaits...

Thankfully, it won't be your team that has to conduct that level of infiltration...

Good luck, soldier... You'll need it...

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