30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 22
Stellar Assault on the Sega 32X (1995)
Hoping to emulate the likes of Wong Commander and X-Wing, Stellar Assault (also known as Shadow Squadron) looked nice, but its presentation was lacklustre and the sound minimal. Decent effort, but fell short.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 21
Rebel Planet on the C64 (1986)
Based on the popular Fighting Fantasy game book, Rebel Planet follows the plot of the book, but it a standard text adventure. Fans of the book and Fighting Fantasy will love it, other might find it a little basic though.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 20
Wing Commander on the PC (1990)
The first really detailed and involved space dogfighting game, with a campaign and storyline to play through. Flying against enemy targets, being able to command wingmen, was all new. Brilliant…until X-Wing came along.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 19
Space Shuttle on the Atari 5200 (1984)
An early space shuttle simulator on a platform not usually associated with simulations, it is reasonably detailed, if limited with a single mission being able to be replayed on increasing difficulty settings.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 18
Asteroids in the Arcade (1979)
An Arcade classic, as you need to avoid the asteroids, whilst blasting them into smaller and smaller chunks. A truly landmark title and highly influential, there’s a reason it’s know worldwide.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 17
Starion on the ZX Spectrum (1985)
A space combat game that actually does a little bit more than shooting things. Throw in some anagram puzzles and a history quiz, and that’s what Starion does. It’s an odd combination, but it works very well.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 16
Master of Orion on PC (1993)
The first really great and influential space based 4x strategy game set the standard that all games in the genre since have followed. Take one of ten races to galactic domination through diplomacy and conquest.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 15
Epic on the Amiga (1992)
An impressive looking space combat game, that draws on Battlestar Galactica for its plot. Great presentation, great 3D graphics and an engaging plot can hide the length of the game that’s way too short. Fun, whilst it lasts.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 14
Starglider on the Atari ST (1986)
A game that, ultimately looked far better than it played, essentially being a souped up version of the Star Wars arcade game, but for those of us raised on 8-bit computers, seeing it for the first time was astonishing.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 13
Lunar Lander in the Arcade (1979)
A simple early arcade game that replicated the Apollo moon landings. You need to guide your craft over the surface and land it in areas of various difficulty. Limited fuel and physics make this a fun but tricky game.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 12
PSI-5 Trading Company on the C64 (1985)
An early space trading game in which you have to hire a crew for your freighter and quickly prioritise your orders to get to your destination through pirate infested space. Quirky and enjoyable for its time.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 11
Star Trek: Legacy on the XBox 360 (2006)
A lacklustre space combat game wherein you get to control various starships from the Trek universe through various eras, following an overarching plot. The voice acting is good, with original actors though.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 10
FTL on the PC (2012)
A more strategic space combat game, as you don’t so much control your ship, as you control the crew and the ships systems. Resources must be managed, and crew directed to key systems during realtime that can be paused.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 9
Spacewar! on the PDP-1 (1962)
Perhaps not the very first video game, but certainly the first one specifically designed as a game, the game was rudimentary, but still gained huge popularity with the students of MIT. It can be played via emulation today.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 8
No Man’s Sky on the PS4 (2016)
A salient lesson in over promising and under delivering, No Man’s Sky, an Elite style exploration survival game that boasted 18 quintillion planets to explore, but couldn’t quite match the hype it generated.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 7
Star Raiders II on the Atari 800 (1986)
Sequel to the earlier must have game on the Atari 800, this was originally developed as a tie into The Last Starfighter, but even without the link, it’s a rip roaring space shooter.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 6
Microsoft Space Simulator on the PC (1994)
A serious flight simulation that allows you to fly historic space craft as well as future ones, this is not a game for casual gamers, but will require attention, patience and perseverance to get the most out of
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 5
Galaxian in the Arcade (1979)
I couldn’t let this month go without going with a classic single screen space shooter, and having already done Galaga and Space Invaders, Galaxian was the remaining classic. An improvement on Space Invaders in every way.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 4
3D Starstrike on the ZX Spectrum (1984)
The official conversion of the Star Wars arcade game didn’t come out on the Speccy until 1987, so until that point this was the closet you could get, and it’s a very good version indeed.
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 3
Apollo 18 on the C64 (1987)
A simulation of an Apollo mission to the moon, based on real life experiences as you guide the mission from launch to moon landing to splashdown. Limited, considering the era it was developed, it’s still a game for space fans
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 2
Elite Dangerous on the PC (2014)
Elite was a classic open world space trading game of the 80s, and Elite Dangerous is the upgraded and improved version for the 21st century. Same game at heart, but being online, you’ll share the galaxy with others.
April 2026 could not only see a return to the moon in over 50 years, it’s also the 65th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin being the first man in space, so this month I’m doing…
30 Days of Space - Video Game Edition
Day 1
Starfield on the XBox One (2023)
Skyrim in Space. That pretty much sums it up.
31 Days of Robots - Video Game Edition
Day 31
Portal on the PC (2007)
One of the smartest games of the last 20 years gets it place here due to the psychotic AI GlaDOS, but it’s the portal gun and the physics involved that make this first person puzzle game a real winner. Top class all round.
31 Days of Robots - Video Game Edition
Day 30
Bride of the Robot on the Amiga (1989)
An “erotic” sex comedy, the last in the Brad Stallion series that took its cue from the Leisure Suit Larry games. Poor graphics, humour and sound make this game one to miss.
31 Days of Robots - Video Game Edition
Day 29
Robotron: 2084 in the Arcade (1982)
The classic arcade game that was inspired by Berserk, but dials everything up to 11. Dozens of waves of robots have to be destroyed, whilst avoiding obstacles and saving humans. A top draw twin stick shooter.
31 Days of Robots - Video Game Edition
Day 28
Zoids on the ZX Spectrum (1986)
A rather odd game based on the robot toy series, that was well rated at the time, but has subsequently been re-evaluated as a bit overly complex and confusing. You certainly need to look hard for the fun here.
31 Days of Robots - Video Game Edition
Day 27
Star Wars: Droids on the Amstrad CPC (1988)
Like the short lived cartoon series, this is a game that is best forgotten Eve of it stars the most famous robots in pop culture. Poor controls, dull gameplay and basic graphics kills this platformer.
31 Days of Robots - Video Game Edition
Day 23
Front Mission 3 on the PS1 (1999)
The third in the series of mech based tactical role playing games with giant mechs is the first western release and skews more to the role playing than the tactical side of things.
31 Days of Robots - Video Game Edition
Day 25
Arac on the C64 (1986)
A cute little flick screen game where you control a robot who has to switch off three reactors, but needs to capture enemies in its net to gain their powers to allow it to get to the reactors. We’ll recovered but sadly forgotten
31 Days of Robots - Video Game Edition
Day 24
Z on the PC (1996)
The Bitmap Brothers last hurrah was a real time strategy game without all the fiddly resource management. Infused with the sense of humour they were known for, it was a quick and dirty war game where two groups of robots fight.