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Spectron

ColecoVision

ColecoVision

The planetary clust Shalix is plagued by an intergalactic dust cloud that blocked out their sun. Now the Shalix have built a fleet to colonize new worlds. Unfortunately they set their eyes on Spectron, the player's home world. It's up to the player to repel the invading forces from Shalix. Spe...

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Developer
Spectravideo International

Released on
1983

Size
1–2 Players

Version
ColecoVision

Requirements
ColecoVision

Downloads
Shooter

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

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Description

The planetary clust Shalix is plagued by an intergalactic dust cloud that blocked out their sun. Now the Shalix have built a fleet to colonize new worlds. Unfortunately they set their eyes on Spectron, the player’s home world. It’s up to the player to repel the invading forces from Shalix.

Spectron is a single-screen shoot ’em up in the vain of Space Invaders. The player controls a Spectron fighter, a land-based vehicle that can fire high speed rockets. The player is protected by a shield that consists of various segments above the player. Each segment can be destroyed by enemy fire when hit often enough, but the player cannot shoot through it. Invaders will appear at the top of the screen and must be destroyed. Some invaders can plant bombs in the city backdrop. When more than nine bombs have been planted the game ends immediately, irregardless of the remaining lives of the player. Alien forces are brought in by a transport ship, if the player manages to destroy it it’ll destroy up to eighteen ships at once. The various invaders have two different types of behavior, representing the untrained cannon fodder and the elite Shalix.

There are various difficulty levels and modes included and a two player mode is included. The player earns points for every enemy killed and the goal is to reach a high-score.

Spectron

Overview & History

Released in 1983 by Semicom and published for the ColecoVision by Telegames, Spectron is a visually dazzling, fast-paced fixed shooter heavily inspired by arcade classics like Galaxian and Phoenix. While the ColecoVision library was heavily populated by arcade ports, Spectron carved out its own unique identity through aggressive enemy artificial intelligence, multi-layered wave progressions, and a distinctive cosmic color palette that pushed the console's Texas Instruments TMS9918 graphics chip to its limits. The game's storyline casts the player as the pilot of a lone starfighter defending the outer quadrants of the galaxy from a relentless armada of sentient energy-aliens and their colossal mothership commanders. Unlike many of its contemporaries that relied solely on looping levels, Spectron introduced a structured campaign featuring distinct tactical phases, forcing players to adapt their shooting strategies as enemy formations evolved from erratic diving swarms into heavily shielded defensive matrices.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

The core gameplay loop of Spectron revolves around precision timing, energy management, and spatial awareness. Players control a horizontally restricted starfighter at the bottom of the screen, utilizing a rapid-fire laser cannon to decimate incoming alien ranks. A standout mechanic is the energy-shield system, which allows players to absorb a limited number of enemy projectiles before their ship is vaporized, adding a layer of tactical depth missing from standard one-hit-kill shooters. As players clear standard waves, they must contend with diving kamikaze squads that attempt to collide directly with the player's craft, as well as heavily armored motherships that require concentrated barrage fire to penetrate their oscillating force fields. Bonus items and high-scoring enemy flagships periodically streak across the upper starfield, rewarding risk-taking players with crucial point multipliers and temporary weapon upgrades.