Cosmic Kidnap - Superior Software - BBC Micro - Emulated (Pantheon) - 1,680 points.

Cosmic Kidnap is based on the 1979 Universal arcade game Cosmic Guerilla. It was released by Superior Software in 1984 and written by Nick Wilson (Combat Lynx on BBC) and Julian Todd (Fat Worm Blows a Sparky, Combat Lynx on BBC).
In this Space Invaders style shooter, you are defending a prison that contains three aliens. Two swarms of aliens at either side of the screen move in and damage the jail, eventually being able to reach the captives and drag them to safety. Your role is to shoot the aliens and prevent the captives escaping. Just like Space Invaders you have some shields to hide behind and a UFO flies across the top of the screen for bonus points. From level 3, a creature known as "The Bug" appears in the lower section of the playfield and makes a nuisance of itself. Shoot this as quick as you can to get rid of it before it kills you, but you can only kill it by hitting its outer edges.
Cosmic Kidnap is a decent conversion of its arcade inspiration. All the elements are there, and gameplay is smooth and easily controlled. There is plenty of sound and the action is frantic. The learning curve for the game is also set just right - something I really appreciate in a well-designed game. I'm not a big fan of Space Invaders, but this evolution of the genre is much more fun to play.
This run was made on the 27th May 2024 using the Pantheon emulator on PC. There are no skill levels. The score reached was 1,680 points.
Time stamps:
00:30 Loading the game in Pantheon.
00:35 Title screen.
00:39 Game start.
01:14 Level 1 complete.
02:02 Level 2 complete.
02:14 First appearance of The Bug.
02:44 Level 3 complete.
02:56 First life lost.
03:17 Second life lost.
03:50 Level 4 complete.
04:12 Third life lost. Game Over! Final score 1,680 points.
04:24 Initials entry and High Score table. But who is Karl?
Intro Music:
Music by: Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Title: Legend
/ @whitebataudio