Fiends

About

Fiends is a 1984 shooter for Commodore 16 and Plus/4 where you pilot a craft across a single screen, blasting waves of aliens and dodging bombs. Your goal is to clear the base of enemies while rescuing scientists, each held by a specific alien you must destroy. Move left or right at the bottom, firing upward as enemies swarm overhead and crawl across the ground. Contact with aliens or their explosive drops costs one of six lives, pushing you to balance offense and defense. The game stands out for its tight controls and dual focus on shooting and rescue, which adds strategic depth to the chaos. Players remember it for its punishing difficulty and fast action, with bombs and erratic enemy paths keeping tension high. Originally part of a 1986 compilation, its 1987 standalone release solidified its place as a budget-friendly Commodore title. Decades later it’s still noted for simple but tricky gameplay, appealing to fans of retro arcade-style challenges.

Storyline

On a research base, the geologists are being abducted while they work by aliens, and in this side view single screen shooter, it is your mission to destroy all the aliens while saving the scientists. You control a craft at the bottom of the screen, moving left or right, and you blast upwards to destroy various waves of aliens as they move around the screen dropping bombs. To save a scientist, you must shoot the alien that is holding him to save him. Other aliens appear on the surface and move across the screen and these need shooting as well because if you touch one or are hit by a bomb then you lose one of six lives.