Kiloblaster, the first of three, was released in 1992 by Epic MegaGames, Inc (later shortened to Epic Games). The minimum system requirements for Kiloblaster are at least an 80286 class CPU, DOS 3.0 to 3.3 and a minimum of 512 kilobytes of RAM. It supports EGA and VGA video modes, PC Speakers and SoundBlaster, and a joystick or keyboard for game play. When the game is opened it detects your hardware and gives the option to configure. (Taken from here: http://www.mobygames.com/game/techinfo/gameId,1074/). There are lots of levels, and every few a new background appears. They aren't exactly recent Final Fantasy quality, but the graphics are still good. The sound consists of beeps if you've a SoundBlaster, and with speakers hooked up, you've got music accompanying basic sounds of destruction. The story and objective are as follows, quoted from the game itself:


A FEW DAYS AGO IN THIS GALAXY....

YOUR SHIP WAS ATTACKED BY ENEMY ALIENS LEAVING 100 MEMBERS OF YOUR CREW DEAD. THE WARP DRIVE WAS HIT AND SENT YOUR SHIP (PLUMMETING) INTO THE DARK VOID OF OUTER SPACE!

YOU ARE THE CAPTAIN OF THE STARSHIP KILOPRISE. YOUR SHIP NOW HANGS MOTIONLESS IN SPACE. IT IS BEYOND REPAIR AND YOU ARE MILLIONS OF MILES FROM HOME!

THE FATE OF YOUR SHIP AND CREW IS IN YOUR HANDS. KNOWING THAT THE REBEL ALLIANCE WILL ATTACK AGAIN, YOU MUST ACT FAST!

THE MISSION--SHOULD YOU DECIDE TO ACCEPT IT--IS YOUR ONLY HOPE OF SURVIVAL. IT WILL BE DANGEROUS AND YOU MAY NOT MAKE IT ALIVE. IT WILL TAKE ALL YOUR YEARS OF TRAINING TO COMPLETE THE MISSION.

YOU DECIDE TO TAKE A SMALL FIGHTER JET ARMED WITH SOME OF THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPONS!

THE CREW WILL BE TRANSPORTED TO EARTH BY WAY OF CARGO SHIPS. IT IS YOUR TOP PRIORITY TO GET TO EARTH AND WARN THE PEOPLE OF THE COMING INVASION. BE WARNED THAT THE REBEL FORCES WILL NOT MAKE IT EASY!


You are to achieve your objective by completing levels, laden with rebel forces intent on destroying you. There are twenty enemy vessels in all throughout many levels, some bouncing from right to left on the top of your monitor, while you below move back and forth and annihilate them, and some hovering in a center location that disappear and reappear at random, while still others come from above in fleets and divide off to either side of the screen. And then there are the ones that come from above, attacking with magenta Death LasersTM and retreating from whence they came. Also, there are seven bonus items that can be collected in this game, by colliding your ship's cute little icon with the items that hover through space from the top of the monitor to the bottom.

Bonus items:
  • Strawberries. Strawberries give you wingmen. I believe you can have up to six wingmen (two per strawberry collected), that appear on either side of your ship and add to your arsenal. After x amount of time they disengage themselves and shoot off into outer space.
  • Bananas. Bananas give you 1,000 points. Points are collected throughout the game as you destroy rebel fiends and collect certain items.
  • Apples. Apples increase your shields! This is a necessity, as your ship loses a shield per minor hit. Later on in the game you encounter mother ship-like foes that attempt to destroy you with lasers, and the apples really come in handy.
  • Spinach. Spinach makes you invincible. When collected, your ship is temporarily protected from all attacks, and you can destroy some opposition with head-on collisions (though too much of this will make your invincibility disappear prematurely.) Like all good things, this does come to an end.
  • A red circle with a yellow T in the center. Get this for triple firepower. Normally, your ship only does single-shots, with a second or less delay between each when you hold down the fire button (be it on the keyboard or joystick). This gives you a nice upgrade of sorts. With wingmen, it's even more fun.
  • A multicolored icon that looks sort of like a lantern, or a spinning blue top with neon green and magenta inside. Get this for maximum shields! Better than apples. You can have five shields at a time (shield level being indicated by a meter on the right side of the screen), and you start out with one ship and two extras, should this meter go down to zero. When that happens, you lose a ship and start on the next with full shields. And... after you collect a certain amount of points, you get an extra ship (a maximum of four, including the one you'd be using). Whee!
  • A blue ring. This spinning ring gives you either a guided missile or a multiple warhead missile! The green guided missile, called the Patriot, is your general maneuverable projectile. The Patriot is a guided missile system with a 98.7% kill ratio! Halfway to the top of the screen, the Pink Panther separates into a multiple warhead. The Pink Panther has a multiple warhead and is very powerful. When you've collected wingmen and shoot bombs, wingmen shoot their own bombs as well.

This is a lovely game, akin to Phoenix, and I recommend it to anyone who needs a new addiction. The mindless tasks are sure to keep you up all night, blowing things up and staring at the computer screen like some sort of zombie. Unless of course it's just me that adores this game enough to waste my life away playing it.

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