Game Review: Phantom Attack (Vic 20, Mastertronic)

During the early stages of establishing the company, Mastertronic focused on licensing most of their games from other publishers. In the case of the Commodore 64, they turned to Mr Chip and Galactic Software (run by Richard and David Darling) to give them a head start. So it was a surprise to see the release of Phantom Attack – a completely original game for the Vic 20 – during their launch month of April 1984.

What Is Phantom Attack?

There isn’t much of a story to go on with Phantom Attack, but it’s basically a single screen arcade shooter. You’re under attack by phantoms (although I’m sure you’d already figured that part out for yourselves) and your only way to stop them is to shoot them down with your proton beam. The phantoms take mutiple shots to destroy before disappearing completely, but as well as swarming down towards you randomly they also have a tendency to shoot back.

You only have a limited number of lives to get through as many of the 100 levels as possible so good luck… you’re going to need it! At this point, I have to be honest and say that Phantom Attack appears to be a completely original shoot-em-up. I can’t recall any other game – arcade or otherwise that looked or played like it – something that was quite unusual for the games industry at the time.

Technical Marvel

Normally I don’t get too obsessed over technical accomplishments in games, but Phantom Attack is one of those games that really does deserve special mention. As with a lot of Vic 20 games designed to run on unexpanded machines, it loads up in stages to make the most of the machine’s limited memory so the first step loads and redefines all of the graphics allowing the second load to be dedicated 100% to game code. This ensures that programmers can push the Vic 20 to its absolute limit.

And in this case, they certainly have. The first that hits you is the speed the game runs at. On every level there are a huge number of phantoms on the screen simultaneously, either moving freely or in set patterns at breakneck speed. At the same time, each one is fully animated showing a range of facial expressions, and they all cycle through different colours.

If that wasn’t enough, your craft is capable of firing an endless stream of bullets and these too cycle through colours as they are released. I honestly have no idea how many objects are being moved at once by the Vic’s processor, but it just doesn’t seem possible, especially with no signs of struggle from the hardware. And all this while multi-channel sound effects are coming from the TV!

Author Unknown?

Like many early Mastertronic releases for the Vic 20, sadly the author isn’t mentioned anywhere on the game. Neither the inlay or the game’s title screen gives any indicator as to who is responsible for this mini masterpiece. However, we suspect that it may have been written by Mark Srebalius, author of the superb Rockman.

As well as being a technically impress release for an unexpanded Vic 20 as his other games were, there are a couple of other tell-tale signs. The most significant was the typeface used for the numbers displaying the player score on screen. This is identical to the one used in Rockman and RIP right down to the last pixel which is far more than just a coincidence. And while talking of scores, both this and Rockman use the same abbreviations for score and high score – SC and HI respectively. While the latter could be a coincidence, combining that with the typeface gives us strong belief that Srebalius is infact the game’s author.

Playability

All the technical wizardry aside, none of that is important if the game itself isn’t fun to play. For an arcade shooter to be even half enjoyable it has to be fast, and have plenty of action and Phantom Attack has that in droves. The action doesn’t slow down for one second (unless you’ve lost a life or completed a level) so you don’t get the chance to catch your breath. The non-stop action from start-to-finish keeps you on your toes and demands lightning reactions.

It’s not punishingly difficult but you’ll find yourself coming back to try to get further with every game, either to see if you can get to that “next level” or just to beat your personal best score. But it’s the simplicity of it that draws you back in. It’s the type of game where you don’t need to think or concentrate to play – just rely on reflexes and just play and lose yourself in the action.

One thing I did notice – and I mentioned this when I talked about the technical accomplishments – was the colour cycling for the phantoms and your weapon. While it’s not mentioned in the inlay or limited on-screen instructions, it did seem to have an effect on the gameplay and you seemed to do more damage to the phantoms when the colour of your shots matched the colour of the phantoms when the met. If that is the case then that’s remarkable programming for the space the developer had to work with.

Graphics And Sound

I’ve already talked about how much of a technical marvel Phantom Attack is, but when you see it in action it really is a delight to look at. The graphics are extremely well defined, superbly animated, and move smoothly throughout. Everything flies around at a fantastic pace and really helps keep the arcade feel intact from start to finish. There are a lot of subtle touches to the visuals as well with phantoms slowly growing and dissolving gradually rather than popping into view out of nowhere. And there’s a great psychedellic effect every time you lose a life that even Jeff Minter would be proud of.

Sound is just as impressive with a healthy array of sound effects throughout, and rather than relying on the Vic 20’s white noise generator, there are laser blasts and futuristic sounds throughout, all making use of multiple channels.

Overall

I’ve been a huge fan of Llamasoft games on the Vic 20 and Phantom Attack is something that could have easily been written by Jeff Minter. It’s just as fast and is addictive as some of the best games to have come from his creative mind and really pushes the unexpanded Vic 20 to its absolute limits. If you’re even a passing fan of arcade style shoot-em-ups then this has got to be a part of your collection. One of the best games I’ve played on the Vic 20 and with 100 levels to get through, you’ll be playing it for a long time to come.

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Editor’s Note: Since this review was published we have been able to confirm that Mark Srebalius is infact the author of Phantom Attack.

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