
- 59/100
- Players7 ratings

1983 · Cheshire Engineering · Arcade · Shoot 'em up
Beamrider
Atari console exclusive
A web of iridescent blue beams engulfs Earth-Space. You stand watching. Mesmerized at first, you now realize the beams support weapons, frightening creations in different forms. Will you just watch or will you take action?
- Released
- 1983
- Platforms
- Atari 2600Atari 5200Atari 8-bitColecoVisionCommodore 64Commodore C64/128/MAXIntellivisionMSXZX Spectrum
- Genres
- ArcadeShoot 'em upShooter
- Developers
- Cheshire Engineering
- Publishers
- —
- Modes
- Single-player
- Perspective
- Third person
- Themes
- ActionScience fiction
- Country
- United States
- Languages
- English
About
Beamrider is a fixed shooter video game written for the Intellivision by David Rolfe and published by Activision in 1983. The game was ported to the Atari 2600 (with a slightly reduced feature set), Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit computers, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and MSX.
Keywords
- spaceship
- auto-scrolling levels
Media
The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Gameplay
Beamrider takes place above Earth's atmosphere, where a large alien shield called the Restrictor Shield surrounds the Earth. The player's objective is to clear the Shield's 99 sectors of alien craft while piloting the Beamrider ship. The Beamrider is equipped with a short-range laser lariat and a limited supply of torpedoes. The player is given three at the start of each sector.
To clear a sector, fifteen enemy ships must be destroyed. A "Sentinel ship" will then appear, which can be destroyed using a torpedo (if any remain) for bonus points. Some enemy ships can only be destroyed with torpedoes, and some must simply be dodged. Occasionally during a sector, "Yellow Rejuvenators" (extra lives) appear. They can be picked up for an extra ship, but if they are shot they will transform into ship-damaging debris.
Reception
The Deseret News in 1984 gave the ColecoVision version of Beamrider three stars, describing it as "basically a slide-and-shoot space game."
A reviewer for Your Commodore described the Commodore 64 version of the game as "a really good, wholesome arcade zapping game."
Releases by platformdates and regions as published
Editions and related releases
- Included in
- Activision's Commodore 64 15 PackActivision AnthologyActivision Flashback Blast!Atari Flashback XAtari Flashback X DeluxeActivision Hits RemixedAtari Flashback 50th Anniversary EditionActivision Anthology: Remix EditionAtari Flashback 8 Gold: Activision EditionActivision Collection 1
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Collections7 collections
Platform libraries
- MSX games
- ZX Spectrum games
- Atari 2600 gamesRetail game releases
- Atari 5200 gamesGames
- Intellivision gamesMaster component releases
- ColecoVision gamesOfficial › U.S.
Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.
