Astroclone

About

Astroclone is a 1985 ZX Spectrum game that mashes up shooter action with strategy and adventure elements. Play as the Astro-Clone, a composite of trained warriors who merge their skills into a single entity. The game switches between dogfights in space sectors and managing resources to prepare for waves of enemy attacks. You navigate a grid-based map, launching ships to destroy targets while balancing fuel and reinforcements. What sets it apart is its genre-blending structure, which shifts between fast-paced combat and slower tactical planning. Though lesser-known, it’s remembered for its ambitious design and the way it layers multiple mechanics into one campaign. The title change from Seiclone avoided clashes with another game but didn’t stop it from becoming a niche entry in 80s gaming.

Storyline

A team of crack pilots, soldiers and technicians were assembled to form a group known as the Clone Warriors. For months they trained for an unknown mission. At the end the Space Commander himself arrived for their final briefing. The Clone Warriors were led to a large chamber resembling a hospital ward with rows of couches fronted by monitor screens. The cloning device lowered and the room lights dimmed. The advanced Sei computers combined the data from each of the Clone Warriors to produce the master image of the Astro-Clone. The monitors flickered to life to show the static image of the 24 Star-sectors. The combined mind of the Clone Warriors recognised Sol in the top left corner where 15 Clone Ships were ready to battle the Seiddab. Simultaneously the combined minds operated the control panels. A ship left the Sol sector and moved into Seiddab territory. The Astro-Clone invasion was underway.