Thrust
1986 · Shooter · BBC Micro / Multiple
Overview
Thrust (1986) is Jeremy Smith's gravity game for the BBC Micro, in which a ship tows a heavy pod out of a planet's caves on a swinging tractor beam.
Deep Dive
The ship rotates and thrusts, and has to lift a pod out of the caves with its tractor beam and carry it into space. Gravity and inertia act on both ship and pod, so the pair can swing and spin out of control, and touching the cave walls is fatal. Turrets fire at the ship, fuel runs down, and the shield uses fuel and blocks firing. Shooting the planet's reactor enough times sends it critical, giving ten seconds to escape. After six levels the cycle repeats with reversed gravity, then invisible walls, then both.
Developer Story
Jeremy Smith wrote the game for the BBC Micro, published by Superior Software, and later co-created Exile. It was converted to the Commodore 64, Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST and other machines, and Thrust II followed in 1988.
Did You Know?
- Its play was heavily inspired by Atari's Gravitar.
- Firebird's budget Commodore 64 version, at £1.99, topped the Gallup all-formats chart.
- Hidden messages on the BBC Micro version include "Support Hotol" and "Physics is fun".
Sources & further reading
- Thrust (video game) — Wikipedia
