>Paradroid is a Commodore 64 computer game written by Andrew Braybrook and published by Hewson Consultants in 1985. It is a Shoot ’em up with puzzle elements that was critically appraised at release.
The objective is to clear a fleet of spaceships of hostile robots by destroying them or taking them over via a mini-game. It was later remade as Paradroid 90 for the Amiga and Atari ST home computers and as Paradroid 2000 for the Acorn Archimedes. There exist several fan-made remakes for modern PCs. In 2004 the Commodore 64 version was re-released as a built-in game on the C64 Direct-to-TV, and in 2008 for the Wii Virtual Console in Europe.
Enemy forces have hijacked a space fleet by turning its robot consignment against the crew and your job is to neutralize all the robots, rescuing the humans. You control a prototype influence device that allows you to control the hostile robots.
The game is set on a spaceship viewed from a top-down perspective. The ship consists of numerous rooms and levels, each one populated by hostile robots or “droids“. The player, in control of a special droid called the “Influence Device”, must destroy all the other droids on the ship. Each droid (including the player) is represented as a circle around a three-digit number. The numbers roughly correspond to the droid’s “power” or “level”, in that higher-numbered droids are tougher to destroy.
The Influence Device is numbered “001”. The primary way in which the Influence Device destroys other droids is by “linking” with them, effectively taking them over. When the player takes over another droid, the previously-controlled droid is destroyed.
Taking over a droid is done via a mini-game involving basic circuit diagrams and logic gates.
The spaceship has several decks, and each deck can have several rooms. Doors and elevators connect the rooms and the decks. Many rooms have computer terminals that provide access to maps of the current deck and the entire ship as well as droid information. Each droid can access information about itself and all lower-numbered droids (this access is available to the player based on the droid being controlled).
Paradroid Remakes and clones
- Several free software clones of the game have been published:
- Paradroid for Windows and Linux, current version 1.3 (March 2004),which garnered favourable reviews at The Home of the Underdogs.
- Freedroid Classic for Windows, Linux, OS X and Sharp Zaurus, current version 1.0.2 (2004)
- Project Paradroid for Windows, current version 2 (2006)
- Paradroid Redux is a reimplementation of the original Commodore 64 code, fixing bugs and adding features.
- Freedroid RPG is a Diablo-style role-playing video game based on Freedroid Classic, inheriting only the main theme of fighting hostile robots, the takeover-game, and the robot models.
- HEAVY METAL PARADROID FOR C64
- PARADROID90 FOR AMIGA :
- >PARADROID REMAKE by Trevor Smila Storey “Ovine”
>Quazatron
Andrew Braybrook’s Graftgold partner, Steve Turner, wrote a version of Paradroid for the ZX Spectrum called Quazatron in 1986, also published by Hewson. Gameplay was similar but on an isometric playing field, and based in cities rather than spacecraft.
>QUAZATRON REMAKE
Hewson’s 86 isometric classic. Theres never been a game before or since like it (Except its sequel of course, but that doesn’t count).
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