Lunar Jetman

About

Lunar Jetman is a 1983 shooter that pits you against an alien invasion on multiple fronts. As the titular hero you battle through waves of enemies while fending off attacks on Earth itself. The game supports both solo and split screen multiplayer letting two players tackle the mission together. Developed by Ultimate Play the Game it was one of the first ZX Spectrum titles to demand 48K RAM, a hardware leap from earlier games. The Stampers, Chris and Tim, handle design and programming blending frantic action with a surprisingly varied color palette for its era. Critics praised the game’s addictive pace and vibrant visuals which stood out on monochrome monitors. The inclusion of the optional Microspeech peripheral let players issue vocal commands a rare gimmick that feels ahead of its time. Decades later Lunar Jetman remains a staple of 8 bit nostalgia later revived in Rare’s 2015 retro collection Rare Replay. Its follow up Solar Jetman would hit the NES years later but the original still holds up as a slick fast paced shooter with a cult following.