An early attempt at a vertical shoot ’em up by Derek Brewster, Starclash was published by Micromega for the ZX Spectrum in 1983.

Starclash isn’t a bad game, with waves of aliens moving down the screen you must shoot them all before they reach the bottom, otherwise you have to do them all again. It’s a slight twist on the Space Invaders/Galaxian theme that adds to the challenge.

There’s no scrolling starfield in the background, or any sensation of vertical movement, but Starclash works well enough nonetheless.

More: Starclash on World of Spectrum