Rays' Reprisal

© 2018 Luca Bordoni for the 48K ZX Spectrum
Based on Yars Revenge © 1981 Atari, inc.

TERMINOLOGY

RAY
Wasp under direct user control.

ENERGY MISSILE
Missile shot by Ray, removes cells.

ENEMY BASE
Laser-base like object on right side of the screen, behind the shield.

QOTILE DEFENDER
Deadly and indestructible vertical-patrolling steel barriers.

SHIELD
Energy shield protecting the Qotile, composed of cells or indestructible steel blocks.

CELLS
Elements of which shield is composed.

DESTROYER DRONE
Guided missiles put out by Qotile to destroy Rays.

ZORLON CANNON
Pulsing, scintillating weapon, appears on left side of screen and traverses the screen horizontally.

SWIRL
Whirling pinwheel fired by the Qotile to destroy Rays.

NEUTRAL ZONE
Colorful and glittering path down the center of the playfield. When in the zone, a Ray cannot operate fire commands, and cannot be harmed by Destroyer Drones. However, the Ray can be destroyed by a Swirl in the zone.

GAMEPLAY

The primary objective of the game is to break a path through the shield, and destroy the Qotile with a blast from the Zorlon Cannon. The secondary objective is to score as many points as possible. See Figure 1 for an explanation of the objects on the playfield.

The shield is the red area in front of the Qotile base. Along the various levels, it will appear in various shapes.

The shield could be made up of cells and steel indestructible blocks. The Ray scout can destroy the cells by firing at them with energy missiles, from any location on the playfield, or by devouring them on direct contact (the Zorlon Cannon can be used to demolish cells, but this is a waste of a powerful weapon).

· Figure 1 ·

Once a path has been cleared through the shield, the Zorlon Cannon must be used to destroy the Qotile. To call up the cannon, the Ray must eat cells (or slam against steel blocks in advanced levels) - the cannon won’t appear while shooting against the shield!

The Zorlon Cannon appears on the left side of the playfleld, and moves In a direct line with the Ray. This means the Ray is in its line of fire. It is important therefore, to aim the cannon at the Qotile, fire it, and fly out of the way fast!

The Qotile has two weapons: Destroyer Drones and Swirls.

The Destroyer Drones come in a more or less constant stream, one at a time (except in some advanced levels, where they are more). The Ray must do his best to dodge them. Periodically, the Qotile transforms into a Swirl. This Swirl winds up and rushes off after the Ray. A Swirl can be destroyed with the Zorlon Cannon by hitting it either in its base location, or in midair.

As levels increase, the Destroyer Drones become increasingly dangerous.

The glittering path down the center of the screen is the Neutral Zone. This area will protect a Ray from Destroyer Drones, but not from Swirls. While in the Neutral Zone, a Ray cannot fire any energy missiles of his own.

When a Ray is hit by a Destroyer Drone, a Swirl, or his own Zorlon Cannon, he dies. Each player has three Rays (turns) to play in a game.

CONTROLS

Default keyboard controls are:

5 – Move left
8 – Move right
6 – Move down
7 – Move up
0 – Fire / Launch Zorlon Cannon

Controls can be redefined. The game uses the Kempston joystick as well.

The screen "wraps" from top to bottom, bottom to top. This means that if you fly the Ray off the top of the screen, it will appear at the bottom, and vice versa.

The "fire" button has two separate firing functions: it will fire an enemy missile in the direction the Ray is pointed, or operate the Zorlon Cannon when it's on the screen.

Press any key after each turn to start a new "life", or continue a successful one. Press any key at the end of a game to go back to main menu.

SCORE

Play starts decreasing a virtual bonus timer. Ending a level in victory, player gains 100 points multiplied by the level number, plus 50 bonus points multiplied by the remaining bonus timer.

CREDITS

- Game program by Luca Bordoni
- Loading screen by Jarrod Bentley
- Music by Rich Hollins
- Multicolour energy field assembly by Paul Dunn
- Special single block dig assembly by Allan Turvey
- AGD by Jonathan Cauldwell

The game was published by Monument Microgames on physical cassette a couple of years after the release.

The zip package includes:
- TZX & TAP files
- PDF instructions
- Inlay cover art

In this version the redefine keys routine was fixed and the menu was totally rewritten in Assembly (the previous one had a compiled code from BASIC). Owners of the cassette can save this version on their tape.