Light Force (video game)

Light Force
Publisher(s)	Faster Than Light
Designer(s)	Greg Follis, Roy Carter
Composer(s)	Rob Hubbard
Platform(s)	Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum
Release date(s)	1986
Genre(s)	Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)	Single-player

Light Force is a shoot 'em up game released by FTL in 1986 for several home computer systems.

Plot

The Regulus system is under attack by aliens. A single Terran fighter of the "Light Force" of Galactic Fighter Command must defeat the invaders and rescue their hostages.

Gameplay

The game is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up. The player controls a spaceship which must defeat waves of attacking enemies over five different levels.

Reception

The game went to number 2 in the UK sales charts, behind Paperboy.^[1]

• Sinclair User:

  "The ultimate blaster, LIGHT FORCE is mindless destruction at its very best. An essential purchase."^[2]

• Crash:

  "The graphics are THE BEST that I have seen on a Spectrum shoot 'em up ... large, colourful and very fast, and the background scrolling is excellent. Sound is a touch disappointing, as there are no tunes, but the effects more than make up for that. Gameplay is extremely compelling but very hard, which can be a little disheartening. I'd recommend this to everyone who likes a good shoot 'em up..."^[3]

• The game won the award for best graphics of the year according to the readers of Crash magazine,^[4] and was nominated in two other categories. The Spectrum version was rated number 26 in the Your Sinclair Official Top 100 Games of All Time.^[5]

References

1. http://ysrnry.co.uk/ys13.htm
2. "Lightforce Review", Sinclair User, October 1986
3. "Lightforce Review", Crash, November 1986
4. http://www.crashonline.org.uk/38/awards.htm
5. "Readers' Top 100 Games of All Time". Your Sinclair. September 1993.

External links

• Light Force at World of Spectrum
• Lightforce at Lemon 64
• Light Force at C64.com