Cosmic Guerilla

The aliens steal shields protecting the player's stock of lives

Cosmic Guerilla is a two-dimensional fixed shooter game. The player takes control of a laser cannon at the bottom of the screen whose movement is limited to left and right, and must fire at the aliens above.[1] In contrast to Space Invaders the aliens are arranged in a single vertical line on each side of the screen,[2] with their movement being towards the centre, one or more at a time, in an attempt to capture and remove the player's shields.[3] The aliens cannot be hit by the player's shots until they begin to move, and the player may only fire one projectile at a time.[4] Once a row of shields has been removed, one of the player's "lives", is exposed and able to be captured.[3] Occasionally a very fast "mothership" will appear and traverse the screen just above the player dropping bombs.[4]

There are six levels of difficulty[4] along with four game modes[3] allowing combinations of the regular game, bonus enemies, and faster aliens. There is also a two player mode where players take alternative turns.[3]

Cosmic Guerilla was invariably compared to Space Invaders, though Sinclair User described it as the "next step up", with its different scenarios and object arrangement.[2] Home Computing Weekly, Sinclair User and ZX Computing all praised the game's smooth graphics,[1][2] though HCU felt that better use could have been made of the sound.[3] The game was generally well received, and described variously as "incredibly addictive" and "very playable",[2] and "highly recommended".[1][4]

• Cosmic Guerilla at the Killer List of Videogames
• Cosmic Guerilla at SpectrumComputing.co.uk