Sunday, February 11, 2018

Killing Machine


Killing Machine is a vertically scrolling shooter by Atlantis Software released in 1992. We're on a remote planet controlled by a giant brain that identifies you (and your sassy spaceship) as nothing less than an invading bacteria. Vermin, that needs to be wiped out!! The battlefield spans over three levels and is stuffed full of kamikaze enemies out for blood - so don't expect a cakewalk because it demands lightning-fast reactions. And plenty of luck.

The first thing that struck me was the graphics which are uniquely colourful using a sweet palette. The smooth scrolling is slow and steady with impressive enemy sprites zipping across the screen. Sound effects go beyond mere bleeps for some rather raspy samples. Okay, they're not the greatest but the grunge works well and suits the styles.

Killing Machine is brutal and requires lots of practice before you begin to get close to beating the first level. This is a painful learning curve but collecting the power-ups and learning the enemy attack patterns is a must. Don't die a suckers death! Overall, this isn't the best shooter but it's good fun and I've really enjoyed playing it. Recommended.

Stonish has floppy disks (Pure Energy #53)
8BitChip has a version for hard disk installation.
AtariMania has this listed along with scans of the manual.

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