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Later levels have doors that are opened by shooting a panel. After all 6 levels have been completed the levels start again, but first with gravity reversed, then with the planet and walls invisible unless the shield is used, and finally with invisible walls and reverse gravity. After the 24th level
249:
Each planet has turrets which fire bullets at the ship, which can be destroyed with a single shot, and a reactor which powers the defence system of each planet. If the reactor is shot enough the turrets will cease firing for a short amount of time. Hitting the reactor with many bullets causes it to
229:
The aim is to pilot a spacecraft which must pick up a pod using a tractor beam and fly it into space. The ship and pod are subject to gravity and inertia, and being connected by a stiff rod can end up spinning around each other, out of control. Hitting the walls of the cave with either the ship or
278:
who published the game on their £1.99 budget label. Firebird's C64 version was released first, reaching the top of the Gallup All
Formats and Commodore 64 charts. Nine weeks later, Superior Software's full price release entered the BBC Top Ten at number one.
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is complete a message is displayed. Two more messages are available after completing the 48th and 72nd level, and from then on the 3rd message is repeated. On the BBC Micro implementation, the messages displayed are "Support
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Fuel is needed to manœuvre the ship and can be collected with the tractor beam, if the ship runs out of fuel the whole game is over. A shield is also available, although when activated it uses fuel and the ship cannot shoot.
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go critical and destroy the planet in 10 seconds - the ship must escape into space before this happens, with or without the pod (more points are gained if the pod is present).
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171:. The player's aim is to manoeuvre a spaceship by rotating and thrusting, as it flies over a two-dimensional landscape and through caverns. The gameplay of
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Superior promoted their release with a competition. Prizes included a trophy, £250 in cash, and a book by astronomer
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456:"GB64.COM - C64 Games, Database, Music, Emulation, Frontends, Reviews and Articles"
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558:. No. 17. Argus Specialist Publications. August 1986. p. 49
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programmer Peter Irvin. He died in an accident four years later.
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532:. No. 30. Sunshine Publications. 24 July 1986. p. 46
506:. No. 21. Sunshine Publications. 22 May 1986. p. 46
480:. No. 23. Sunshine Publications. 5 June 1986. p. 5
360:. No. 91. Future Publishing. November 2000. p. 115
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was credited by Bjørn
Stabell as an influence on the game
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Before releasing the BBC/Electron version of the game,
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Penn, Gary; Liddon, Gary; Rignall, Julian (May 1986).
302:(2004) consoles using the same name as the original.
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programmed by Jeremy C. Smith (who later co-authored
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licensed the rights to produce ports of the game to
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386:. No. 79. Imagine. 22 July 2010. p. 46.
317:Jeremy C. Smith went on to develop the 1988 game
294:Hobbyist-written clones were released for the
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8:
973:Video games developed in the United Kingdom
577:Stabell, Bjørn; Ken Ronny Schouten (1996).
348:
346:
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21:
382:"From the Archives: Superior Software".
262:", "Physics is fun" and "I love space".
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375:
7:
983:Video games set on fictional planets
933:BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games
14:
978:Video games scored by Rob Hubbard
175:was heavily inspired by Atari's
474:"Firebird's Thrust is Superior"
215:. Firebird released a sequel,
1:
938:Commodore 16 and Plus/4 games
754:Grand Prix Construction Set
1004:
923:Atari 8-bit computer games
230:the pod results in death.
953:Single-player video games
948:Multidirectional shooters
29:
530:Popular Computing Weekly
504:Popular Computing Weekly
478:Popular Computing Weekly
245:runs in two colour mode.
131:Multidirectional shooter
963:Superior Software games
958:Space combat simulators
323:with school friend and
638:from Firebird Software
552:"Thrust Advertisement"
246:
842:By Fair Means or Foul
579:"The Story of XPilot"
438:"Review of Thrust II"
354:"The Making of Exile"
236:
197:Atari 8-bit computers
943:Commodore 64 games
247:
187:was ported to the
988:ZX Spectrum games
968:Telecomsoft games
918:Amstrad CPC games
900:
899:
835:Cosmic Camouflage
675:Superior Software
276:Firebird Software
272:Superior Software
169:Superior Software
167:and published by
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45:Superior Software
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913:1986 video games
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585:. Archived from
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418:. pp. 16–17
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768:Palace of Magic
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60:Jeremy C. Smith
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19:1986 video game
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16:1986 video game
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928:Atari ST games
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640:at Byte Cellar
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631:at Atari Mania
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623:at Atari Mania
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605:External links
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583:ACM Crossroads
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556:Computer Gamer
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239:Acorn Electron
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789:Bone Cruncher
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589:on 2007-12-12
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591:. Retrieved
587:the original
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560:. Retrieved
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534:. Retrieved
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508:. Retrieved
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482:. Retrieved
477:
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460:www.gb64.com
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420:. Retrieved
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362:. Retrieved
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205:Commodore 16
189:Commodore 64
184:
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176:
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158:
149:
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147:
107:Commodore 64
103:Commodore 16
40:Publisher(s)
796:Spellbinder
677:video games
615:at Lemon 64
384:Retro Gamer
358:Edge Gaming
298:(2000) and
241:version of
221:, in 1988.
213:ZX Spectrum
193:Amstrad CPC
111:ZX Spectrum
95:Atari 8-bit
91:Amstrad CPC
78:Platform(s)
71:Rob Hubbard
66:Composer(s)
56:Designer(s)
907:Categories
877:Perplexity
740:Ravenskull
593:2009-08-02
333:References
296:Atari 2600
163:) for the
155:video game
153:is a 1986
891:Citadel 2
884:Hyperball
821:Conqueror
806:1988–1993
726:Galaforce
705:Deathstar
691:Overdrive
683:1984–1987
416:Newsfield
218:Thrust II
165:BBC Micro
83:BBC Micro
870:Ricochet
828:Pipeline
526:"Charts"
500:"Charts"
406:"THRUST"
225:Gameplay
201:Atari ST
178:Gravitar
126:Genre(s)
120:May 1986
99:Atari ST
49:Firebird
856:Camelot
747:Syncron
712:Citadel
411:Zzap!64
300:Vectrex
266:Release
137:Mode(s)
117:Release
814:Spycat
782:Elixir
719:Thrust
698:Repton
636:Thrust
628:Thrust
620:Thrust
612:Thrust
562:18 May
536:18 May
510:18 May
484:18 May
422:18 May
364:18 May
311:XPilot
306:Thrust
290:Legacy
243:Thrust
211:, and
209:Plus 4
185:Thrust
173:Thrust
150:Thrust
25:Thrust
849:Exile
775:Zarch
320:Exile
260:Hotol
160:Exile
863:Qwak
564:2023
538:2023
512:2023
486:2023
424:2023
366:2023
237:The
909::
581:.
554:.
528:.
502:.
476:.
458:.
440:.
408:.
392:^
374:^
356:.
341:^
314:.
286:.
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181:.
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667:e
660:t
653:v
596:.
566:.
540:.
514:.
488:.
462:.
444:.
426:.
368:.
207:/
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.