Paradroid
1985 · Shooter · Commodore 64
Overview
Paradroid (1985) is Andrew Braybrook's Commodore 64 classic, in which a weak little droid clears a fleet of rogue robots by shooting them or taking them over through a circuit-board duel.
Deep Dive
The player controls the Influence Device, droid number 001, aboard a space fleet whose robots have turned hostile. Every droid carries a three-digit number that roughly marks its strength, across 24 types. Rather than simply shooting them, the player can attempt a takeover: a short subgame played on a circuit diagram of logic gates, where whoever powers more of the circuit at the end wins. A captured droid's abilities are the player's, but the higher its number the sooner it burns out, dropping the player back into 001. Each ship has 20 decks and more than 400 screens joined by lifts and doors.
Developer Story
Braybrook began Paradroid straight after Gribbly's Day Out, reusing some of its code. A faster Competition Edition followed in 1986 and Heavy Metal Paradroid in 1987, then Paradroid 90 for the Amiga and Atari ST in 1990.
Did You Know?
- Braybrook kept a development diary that Zzap!64 published, and the magazine gave the finished game 97% and a Gold Medal.
- Braybrook said the droid-swapping idea came from the arcade game Front Line.
Sources & further reading
- Paradroid — Wikipedia
