Gridrunner++
| Gridrunner++ | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Llamasoft |
| Publisher(s) | Llamasoft |
| Designer(s) | Jeff Minter |
| Platform(s) | Mac OS X, Windows |
| Release | 2002 (Mac OS X, Windows) |
| Genre(s) | Scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | single player |
Gridrunner++ is a shooting game written by Jeff Minter originally for Pocket PC but released commercially for Windows. It has since been ported to Mac OS X, to the iPhone, to a portable Java applet, and to Flash for Facebook. It was offered only as shareware for download from the Llamasoft website, with a registration fee of £5. It has been followed up by Gridrunner Revolution (2009) and Gridrunner iOS (2012).
The player controls a spacecraft with the mouse. A series of enemies appear and attack the craft; the player must destroy all enemies on the stage to complete it. Enemies that are part of the current stage but have not yet begun to attack can be seen as glowing lines in the background.
The player's ship fires bullets upwards continuously, which are used to attack the enemies. If the player's ship contacts an enemy, it is immediately destroyed.
Small circular "pods" may be left on the stage in the locations where enemies are killed; some stages include special enemies which drop pods directly onto the stage in lines. Pods can be destroyed by shooting them. They destroy the player's ship if the player collides with them, and if left unattended eventually explode sending out lines in the four cardinal directions. These lines are also fatal to the player's ship.
Finally, at intermittent moments the "XY zapper" is activated: four sets of lines begin to converge on a particular location on the screen. When they do, the player's ship is destroyed if it is aligned with that location either horizontally or vertically.
As the player scores points, sheep (referred to as "sheepies") begin to drop from the top of the screen. These sheepies have several different effects:
As with many of Jeff Minter's games, Gridrunner++ is riddled with references and in-jokes. These include references to Underworld tracks, retro games, and numerous references to users on the Llamasoft BBS, Yak Yak.
...
Wikipedia