Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters

Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters is an isometric multidirectional shooter inspired by campy 1950s B-movies. Evil Reptilons have invaded Planet X, kidnapped the brilliant Dr. Sarah Bellum, and forced humans to build a robot army. You control a SWAT team member sent to rescue the scientists. Gameplay involves blasting through maze-like levels, freeing human hostages, pulling levers to activate escalators, and collecting gems to upgrade your ray gun. Food lockers restore health, bombs damage surrounding enemies, and each level ends with an isometric spaceship obstacle course.

Amstrad CPC

Released in 1990 by Domark. The CPC version supports one or two-player cooperative play on tape or disk. Graphics are very good indeed, with excellent use of the available colour palette, making it almost look like the 16-bit versions . Characters do not disappear behind objects or walls, and there are no hollow bugs . However, the animated intro sequence from the Amiga and Atari ST versions is missing. Sound is spot on, featuring bangs, whistles, crashes, and everything you could hope for . The gameplay requires getting used to the unique movement: you cannot simply move left or right, only forward by turning your character in the desired direction first . Overall, a solid and colourful conversion that captures the arcade spirit well.