Arcadians (video game)

Arcadians

Developer(s) Orlando
Publisher(s) Acornsoft
Platform(s) Acorn Electron, BBC Micro
Release date(s) 1982 (BBC Micro)
1984 (Acorn Electron)
Genre(s) Shoot 'em up
Mode(s) Single player, 2-players alternating turns
Media/distribution Cassette
Floppy disk (BBC)

Arcadians is a shoot 'em up for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron programmed by Orlando (his real name is Nick Pelling) and released by Acornsoft. It is very similar to the Namco arcade game Galaxian.

The player controls a ship at the bottom of the screen, able to shoot upwards but only so that one shot is on screen at any given time. Above him a pack of aliens move from left to right, then back. From time to time an alien or group of aliens will swoop and attempt to dive bomb the player. Once all aliens have been shot the player advances a stage and faces a more difficult variation on the same challenge.

As with all other Acornsoft arcade games, the rights to this title were eventually sold to Superior Software, and it was re-released on their Acornsoft Hits compilation.