Blast Droids

Blast Droids © 1983 Esoterica

The object of this game is to clear several sectors of alien droids, who are protecting force-fields in various stages of construction. In the first two levels, you need not move your ship, except for clockwise or counterclockwise (right and left on the joystick), in order to aim your blaster at the droids. After these two levels, you are situated in open space, and the droids wrap-around to sneak up behind you. If you collide with any aliens, your partner's ship (in 2-player game) or your own shots (which is, by the way, possible), you lose a ship.

Levels 4 and 6 contain mazes, which are a different and welcome addition to the game. You must maneuver through these, to the center, and shoot one of the droids inside a force-field there. The catch is that the force-field has a door, that slowly closes, and if you don't make it before this door closes, you lose a ship.

The cartridge also contains a training sector, which is a good idea, because it does take a while to hone your skills enough to brave one of the mazes, and this certainly helps. The training sector can also be used, by the pro, for dueling with another player, though scores will not register for hits on friendly ships.