Xyphr

Overview

In Xyphr, the player is placed in control of a space fighter flying over an alien planet. With the action seen from behind, the ship races over the inhospitable, lava-encrusted planet surface with enemy fighters launching plasma fire at it, all the while avoiding geysers of lava.

The object of the game is to set a high score. This is achieved by staying alive as long as possible and taking down enemy fighters. The player spacecraft is protected by an energy shield, which loses power with every hit by an enemy plasma weapon. When the shield energy is depleted, the player ship explodes. At the start of the game, the player is given three lives.

Technical Specifications

Xyphr was released for the PC platform (MS-DOS). The game has 256-colour VGA graphics and runs in a 320x200 resolution. Sound is produced through the PC speaker. A notable feature is that the enemy craft are rendered at different angles, in order to give the game screen a feeling of depth.

Controls

The player ship is controlled exclusively using the mouse. Plasma missiles are launched by clicking the left mouse button.