A spaceship pursued by an avalanche of shots, rooms crammed with turrets, mines and ricocheting projectiles - Cybernoid is one of those games that greets you with alarming music and then mercilessly punishes you for every hasty mistake. On the ZX Spectrum it went down as one of the hardest and most stylish action games of its day.
You command a fighter whose task is to fight through a series of single-screen chambers and recover stolen cargo. Each room is a snare in itself: static turrets fire in patterns, flying enemies attack from multiple directions and you have to dodge, shoot and at the same time watch that you do not impale yourself on an obstacle or end up in crossfire.
What set Cybernoid apart was the rich arsenal you could activate. Besides basic fire, the ship had launchable rockets, ricocheting projectiles, shields, mines and bombs - a whole palette of weapons whose clever deployment at the right moment made the difference between survival and instant demise. Collecting bonuses and deciding which weapon to use when added a tactical layer to the otherwise hectic action.
Visually and sonically the title was among the Spectrum's best. Its opening music in particular is famous, instantly recognized by retro players to this day, and its overall austere sci-fi flavor harmonized with the uncompromising difficulty. Cybernoid gave nothing away for free - progress required memorizing room layouts, precise maneuvering and steady nerves, because a single collision meant the loss of a life.
Its success also called for a sequel, Cybernoid II, which continued the same devastating formula, and both installments earned a reputation as a benchmark against which players tested their reflexes. Today Cybernoid recalls an era when difficulty was a proud feature of design, not a flaw.
Why play it: For merciless, stylish action with a rich weapons arsenal and one of the most memorable melodies ever to sound from a ZX Spectrum.
Game 18 of 100 for ZX Spectrum
The same title elsewhere (1)
This action shooter from Hewson built its two 8-bit versions on very different sound foundations. The Commodore 64 version uses the SID sound chip, giving it richer, more layered music and punchier explosion and gunfire effects that add a lot to the tense atmosphere. The ZX Spectrum version has to make do with the simpler beeps of its internal speaker, so the sound is plainer and less prominent, though the game itself stays just as fast and unforgiving on both machines. Graphics are similarly detailed on both platforms, so the main difference is sound — the C64 version is simply the more pleasant one to listen to today.
