Quick Review: Attack On Altair by Windmill Software (1983) for MS-DOS

Before their timeless classic, "Digger", Windmill Software came out with "Attack on Altair" for MS-DOS. It is in CGA text-mode beauty so you need to set DOSBOX to be CGA/Tandy display, and you'll also need to ensure that the cycles are set to be that of an original IBM 4.77MHz PC if you are playing in DOSBOX!

Cursor keys move the ship up and down, and F1 fires (yes, F1!).

Text review paraphrased from Bard of Blasphemy at My Abandonware: "The game consists of enemy missiles coming at the player relatively slowly and and are easy to dodge and shoot to begin with. The cavern narrows in places making the game more difficult. Just when you think you're getting the hang of the challenge a new type of missile emerges that attacks at twice the speed. Then, it gets even worse. The next enemy is hard to describe. They rapidly bounce in place from the floor to ceiling and, when shot, explode in both directions with a randomly spreading shockwave that cannot be dodged. Sometimes the ship is hit, other times, not. The best bet is to avoid shooting them and try to weave through. These things always gave me the most trouble because the enemy missiles will occasionally crash into them also causing the explosion. As if this wasn't bad enough, it is not long after the "bouncers" that new enemies appear. More missiles, but this time, attacking from behind. The only option is to dodge and shoot them as they pass. The final wave consists of the faster missiles also attacking from behind.

A progress bar at the bottom offers huge motivation to play and replay. Is anything at the end? As it turns out, there is. This is one of few games that I can think of from the early era of PC games with an actual boss-battle. It's a large eye-of-sauron type structure that shoots an instant-death laser. Shoot the thing in the eye and reap that sweet karma and the envy of all your friends."

You can download The game from "MyAbandonware" from here: https://www.myabandonware.com/game/attack-on-altair-1v#download

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