Jeff Minter‘s Voidrunner is about as a good as a bullet hell shooter gets on the Commodore 16. It was published alongside Hellgate (as a double pack) by Llamasoft in 1987.

Voidrunner is part Galaxian, part Centipede, and part acid trip, and it alludes to the goodness in all of Minter‘s games. That is: the simple joy you get from blasting everything in sight and having loads of explosions and mad effects go off all around you…

Voidrunner mixes things up by having you shoot from the ground; from the ceiling, from the walls, and from the middle, and the ever-snaking opponents come at you from all angles. At times the action is overwhelming…

And Voidrunner is both classic Minter, and a classic Commdore 16 game. Definitely one for the collection.

More: Voidrunner on Plus/4 World
More: Voidrunner on Moby Games