MegaMania

• Release Date: April 09, 1982
• Genre: Shooter
• Style: Fixed Screen Shooter
• Similar Games: Plaque Attack (Atari Video Computer System), Galaxian (Atari Video Computer System), Space Invaders (Atari Video Computer System), Astroblast (Atari Video Computer System), Threshold (Atari Video Computer System)

Roots & Influences

MegaMania was heavily influenced by the arcade title Astro Blaster.

Review: Overall

Inspired by Sega's Astro Blaster, MegaMania is a space shooter that has you blasting various falling objects across eight different waves. These objects aren't your ordinary aliens or spaceships -- they're products of your nightmares. To achieve some level of sanity, you'll need to wipe out hamburgers, cookies, radial tires, bugs, diamonds, steam irons, bow ties, and "space dice." Shooting each object increases your score from 20 to 90 points, and you'll receive an additional blaster for every 10,000 points accumulated.

You begin with three blasters and an energy meter that functions like a timer: should it completely decrease before you clear the wave, you'll lose a blaster. After finishing all eight waves, the "nightmare" doesn't end: play continues until you either exhaust your fleet or reach the end of the game -- one point shy of a million. Each subsequent wave features objects with different colors, speeds, and attack patterns. Mix things up by selecting the guided missiles option, which lets you "steer" each shot with the joystick, or choose between fast or slow shots.

Review: Enjoyment

The game is very fun to play, with a wide variety of enemies and patterns.

Review: Graphics

Your ship looks similar to a top-down view of the Starship Enterprise. All of the colorful enemies are alive with activity.

Review: Sound

The game has a nice phasing noise whenever your ship is destroyed, and the other sound effects are excellent considering the release date.

Review: Replay Value

Each wave gets progressively harder and changes patterns as you play through the game. It does end, however!

Review: Documentation

Everything is explained in detail and designer ({$Steve Cartwright}) offers some tips on play.

Production Credits