THE SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE

VIRUS

PUBLISHER
Firebird

YEAR
1988

CATEGORY
Arcade

CONTROLS
Keyboard, Kempston, Cursor.
Keyboard controls are redefinable.

INSTRUCTIONS
The country has been invaded by waves of hostile alien
spaceships. Instead of attacking military installations, however,
they are intent on polluting the landscape with a lethal red
virus which kills off all plant and animal life. Determined to
counter this threat, a pilot is strapping himself into the
cockpit of his state-of-the-art Hoverplane. This is equipped with
the latest technology - long-range scanner, laser cannon and
smart bombs, all of which will be needed to destroy the aliens.

The action is shown in 3D with wire-frame vector graphics showing
the Hoverplane and the enemy ships. The contours of the landscape
are shown by a pattern of undulating squares representing the
earth's surface.

The long-range scanner in the top left corner of the screen shows
the position of the enemy ships in relation to the Hoverplane.
Gauges above the main playing area show the amount of fuel
remaining and the plane's altitude. Extra fuel can be obtained
by landing at home base.

The Hoverplane is controlled by thrusting the engines and
rotating the craft. At high altitudes, the fuel supply is
automatically cut and the plane lowers rapidly towards the
ground. You move, helicopter-style, by dipping the plane's nose
and thrusting. You can refuel by landing on one of your landing
pads.

During play, a map of the land can be displayed showing polluted
areas in red. All enemy ships in the attack wave must be
destroyed before the whole map turns red. Each wave contains many
different aliens, including the following:

 1. SEEDERS - flying saucers which hover and sometimes land,
              spraying the virus.
 2. BOMBERS - high-flying alien ships which drop "packets" of
              virus.
 3. FIGHTERS- fast-moving ships which try to shoot you down.
 4. PESTS   - small kamikaze alien drones which try to collide
              with you.

Collision with any alien ship results in the immediate
destruction of the Hoverplane. If an alien attack is defeated,
you gain a bonus score determined by how much of the landscape
remains uncontaminated. An extra Hoverplane and smart bomb are
awarded every 5,000 points.

SCORES RECEIVED
"A playable conversion of a 16-bit game. Just slightly too hard
too keep you really hooked." 77% (CRASH #55, August 1988)

GENERAL FACTS
This game was originally called Zarch on the Archimedes version.

NOTES