Light Force

Light Force is a vertically scrolling shooter. The player controls a "Light Force" flightcraft in the Regulus system, tasked as the only fighter in the area to fight off a species of aliens taking over the peaceful system. The game spans five levels, ranging from a jungle section, an asteroid belt, an ice planet, desert planet, and ends at the aliens' factories. Every level has the player tasked with shooting down multiple waves of enemy spaceships to progress to the next level.

Weapon upgrades and a shield for your ship can be acquired as you progress. After completing the last level, the game loops back to the first. The game has a high score feature, where the player can get point bonuses for completing optional objectives, like destroying all alien buildings.

Light Force is the first game published under Gargoyle Games' Faster Than Light label. The company's co-founder Greg Follis explained that Faster Than Light was originally the title of the game, but he considered it "too good to waste". The game was the first to use "Lasermation" for the graphics, which was described by Gargoyle director Ted Heathcote as "a new technique for showing really vivid high speed animation". Rob Hubbard was the composer for the Commodore 64 version. It was released in 1986 for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum computers.

According to MicroScope, the ZX Spectrum version of Light Force debuted at number two in the UK sales charts, behind Paperboy. It dropped down to number three the following week. All three versions of the game received positive reviews from video game critics. Graham Taylor for Sinclair User called it "the ultimate blaster" and "essential purchase".

One reviewer for Amtix considered it to be one of the best shoot 'em ups for the Amstrad. Crash praised its graphics, calling it the best he has seen on a Spectrum shoot 'em up. Computer and Video Games' Tim Metcalfe positively compared it to Galaxian. 64 said that the title was appropriate for fans of scrolling shooter genre.