Hyperdrive
This is a game targeting the Amstrad CPC 464 (or later, although it only requires 64K of RAM), including the GX4000.
Hyperdrive is a vertical scrolling shoot’em up.
There’s a video of Hyperdrive’s attract-mode.
Controls
The game can be controlled with the keyboard or a joystick (two buttons are supported).
| Action | Joystick | Keyboard |
|---|---|---|
| Move left | ← | Cursor left (or J) |
| Move right | → | Cursor right (or K) |
| Move up | ↑ | Cursor up (or A) |
| Move down | ↓ | Cursor down (or Z) |
| Fire | Fire 1 | Space |
| Bomb | Fire 2 (or N) | N |
Press P to pause/resume the game.
Press ESC to end the game (or press P a few seconds; for example on the GX4000).
Press ESC or Fire 1 to exit the demo mode.
Press Space on the title screen to start the game using keyboard.
Press Fire 1 on your joystick to start the game using joystick.
How to Play
In order to complete the game you must reach the end of all 5 stages and destroy their final enemy.
Your ship includes one main weapon, controlled with your primary fire, and Nova bombs, triggered by the secondary fire (or N key).
The main weapon can be upgraded up to 8 times. Each upgrade provides an improved weapon. When you lose a life, the weapon will be downgraded one level.
The Nova bomb is an intelligent energy weapon that will cause enough damage to destroy most enemies and all the bullets on screen. Your ship can store up to 9 bombs.
At the end of each stage, bonus points will be awarded for the number of enemies destroyed, the number of full chains (9 enemies destroyed in a row), and for not losing a life on that stage.
Every 20,000 points you will get an extra life.
Chains and Power Ups
The power ups appear when 9 enemies are destroyed in a row. If no enemy is destroyed after some time, the chain counter will reset.
Not all the enemy waves will have enough targets to complete a full chain so you may want to wait until there are enough enemies on screen before starting a chain.
The longer the chain, the more points you will get.
How to Load the Game
The game requires a large amount of data and it was designed to run from cartridge.
It can be downloaded in two formats: CPR and Dandanator ROM.
CPC+ Cartridge
Although CPR format can be used on a CPC+ cartridge, it doesn’t include any feature that requires a Plus model and it can be played on any machine with 64K.
| Method | Amstrad CPC | Amstrad CPC+ | GX4000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| M4 board | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| C4CPC | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Plus2CPC | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| CPC+ cartrige | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
It can also be played in one of the emulators supporting CPR cartridges, including Retro Virtual Machine 2 (recommended), WinAPE and CPCEC.
Dandanator
The Dandanator ROM can be loaded in the real hardware using a Dandanator Mini (or DES).
It can also be played in one of the emulators supporting Dandanator, including Retro Virtual Machine 2 (recommended) and CPCEC.
Downloads
This game is powered by Arkos 2 Player by Targhan.
If you love the game, I love coffee!
Version 1.0.1 (2022-12-10)
hyperdrive.zip (CPR, ROM and manual inside)
hyperdrive_MiSTer.zip (ROM for MiSTer)
Thanks to Antxiko and Fran Loscos (@Metr81) for their help testing the game.