Lunaris & Coloco

"This is not...the actual ship in the game, no...this is just a tribute"

LUNARIS

(Jonathan Cauldwell, 2004)

Who invented thrusting on the Spectrum? Which isn't a suggestion by the way. I think, if this isn't a stupid thing to say, it might have been Firebird, with Thrust. I imagine that that kind of control (or more often lack of control) method was unique at that point. Hence why that title was quite a big hit, on the BBC Micro at least. I always found it intriguing but a bit sensitive for my none too delicate teenage instincts. As for the sequel where you had to drag that ball around, forget about it!

Al, you're meant to be picking up those 4 bubbles, not careering around, shooting at nothing

I don't recall too many Thrust clones really in the classic days of Speccyness, though some games featured docking bits which had similar mechanics. However in 2004 the mighty Jonathan Cauldwell gave it a go. So you knew it'd be good. Apparently he wrote it in just 5 hours at a computer show that year. Now that's showboating if ever I've heard it...

Level 2 goes for a moody industrial age brick effect. With bubbles

No inlay or anything, but clearly your little arrowy ship has to collect a load of bubbles, no sorry orbs, in order to escape the level and go onto a yet more fiendish one. Gun turrets make their presence known here and there, but luckily you have your own pea-shooter to give them some of it back.

Dodging space pixels fired by spray cans can be tricky in zero grav

This game is tough but really good. If you play it properly you may struggle, but there is a password system which proves invaluable ("JCRULESOK" doesn't work though, so don't try it) and so I managed to reach the inevitable level 3. But it's mega addictive even so, with some music from Matt Westcott that's out of this world. Snazzy hi-score table too.

They have space-suits to fit ALL body shapes nowadays, even 'ludicrously curvaceous'

COLOCO

(Tuxedo Games, 2020)

16 years later there thrusted onto the scene another contender for the 'no gravity' crown, Coloco by Tuxedo Games, who appear to have made no other Speccy titles. Shame, 'cos this is quality. Oops spoiler, no it's not, it's rubbish. Phew, can't go giving the game away like that in the first paragraph, what an amateur!

Grab the key, unlock the door and rescue The Stig. Contemporary references, I got 'em

Anyway, this has to be the most colourful thruster in town. It resembles Cybernoid in looks but is actually playable (just kidding Raf) and a different affair altogether really. No HellTubes, phew. You have to pilot your dinky little craft to pick up a stranded astro-nut, then take him back to space base. But don't despair, it's not as hard as rescuing those boffins in Airwolf. Argh, flashbacks.

Things get tighter and bluer on later levels, but your hunk o'junk is up to the task

You get loads of lives, a nice touch in any game (except Technician Ted as usual). And once you've cracked how your vessel moves, you'll be picking those levels off nicely. Sometimes you'll need to pick up extra fuel or a space key to unlock pesky space doors. And the difficulty level increases sensibly, no nasty shocks have hit me so far. Tune's good but is sadly marooned on the menu screen, didn't quite make it into the game proper.

Thrusting...big balls...write your own caption

So which thruster thrusts the thrustiest? Both these games are really solid efforts, and lots of fun in their own way. If I'm forced to choose and not fudge it by giving them equal scores, I'd opt for the greater playability and good looks of... Coloco! But I reckon they're both better than Firebird's Thrusts, heresy though that undoubtedly is...

THE VERDICT

LUNARIS 87%

COLOCO 88%