Planes - A & F - BBC Micro - Emulated (Pantheon) - Fast Mode - 4,710 points.

Описание: Planes is a fixed vertical shooter arcade game for the BBC Micro. It was released by A & F Software in 1982, making it a very early game for the system. It was written by Brian and Marian Clark, who had been authors on the BBC Micro's predecessor, the Acorn Atom. Planes itself was later released for the Acorn Electron under the name Kamakazi. Pharoah's Tomb for the BBC is an adventure also written by the Clark's that was one of A&F Software's most well-known titles. As well as commercial releases, their programs also appeared as listings in several of the magazines of the time. Their listing Death Watch appeared in the very first issue of BBC Micro User in March 1983, for example.

Planes is a take on the Galaxians genre. A fleet of craft appear above you, with one or two members diving down at a time. Instead of aliens, your enemy this time is a selection of aircraft. Every so often you get a 'Bonus' round, where you have twenty shots to destroy a fleet of helicopters. Once your twenty shots are fired, that level ends.

The game was a very early BBC one and resembles games for the earlier Acorn Atom as a result. It's colourful and quick, but movement is not as smooth as it could be. Such refinements were to come later as programmers learnt more about the Beeb, and Planes has a fair amount of BASIC in its code. There is plenty of sound though and the game is not that easy. There are two speeds of play - Slow and Fast - but even Slow will keep you on your toes as the enemies and their fire can be very fast.

Considering it being such an early release, this game was perfectly acceptable for the time. In a few years though, the quality bar would have been raised significantly, but this was true of all platforms - a lot of early ZX Spectrum releases being a good example. It took time for the tricks and tips of the hardware to be understood. Planes will still give you a challenge today, if you can forgive the lack of smoothness.

This run was made on the 1st February 2026. The emulator is Pantheon, running on PC. Fast was selected as the skill level and the final score was 4,710 points.

Time stamps:
00:30 Title screen, controls and speed selection screen.
00:38 Fast game selected, game starts.
00:52 First life lost.
02:17 Second life lost.
02:31 Third life lost. Game Over! Final score 4,710 points.
02:45 Initials entry and High Score table.



Intro Music:
Music by: Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Title: Legend
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