I have spent a lot of my time over the last year competing (badly) in challenges in retro gaming facebook groups, such as RetroTech100 and Retro Games Forever, this weeks RGF challenge on the ZX Spectrum was Mega Phoenix. As Phoenix is among my favourite shootem up games on almost any platform I held out high hopes. Those hopes were met, and maybe even exceeded.
For those who don’t know the game, Phoenix is a shoot em up, along the lines of Space Invaders, or more probably Galaxians. The aliens in this one are Phoenix’s which will swoop at you, dive and shoot and in some cases will regrow a wing if you knock one off. Mega Phoenix takes it all up a notch and adds extra levels, including the Mega Phoenix, a Phoenix mother ship and the regular birds. But on your end it adds a shield, but use it sparingly as you have to wait for it to recharge before you can use it again!
The ZX Spectrum version played here plays very well, and the 128k version also has great music and sound effects as a bonus. Bright colourful sprites, fast moving action and tough but fair gameplay makes Mega Phoenix a great game to play on Sinclair’s 8 bit microcomputer. Take a look at the video of our game play here.
