An awesome looking sequel to the great Lion’s series, almost taking the Armalyte crown right away from them. If you have not seen or heard of Lions Of The Universe, then go and grab it and play it in a closed and dark room for a few hours.. its great!
The very strange thing is that this game seems to be next in line to Return Of The Lions, which was not completed.
The preview present is unplayable, but rolls through the game and what was being promised. Some stunning backdrops, sprites and gameplay from the looks of things, taking a step further from the predecessors with scrolling up and down while scrolling right.
Music as usual is great from Karl Sommer , and overall the preview had the making of what looked awesome in terms of C64 SEU’s.
The game was said to have never been completed, apparently due to Cosmos leaving the C64 scene and finding that selling games on the C64 was not too profitable anymore. Leaving games like this to fall onto the scrapheap.
However, thanks to Andreas Millinger, we are shocked to discover that the game was actually reviewed in an issue of 64’er and scored an impressive 9/10. It seems a lot more of the game does actually exist and (hoping that 64’er didn’t review a preview or something) maybe even a full game! Even more evidence was when Hannes Sommer confirmed himself that the game was completed and actually sold to someone (unfortunately he cannot remember who that is!) So the game is out there quite remarkably! We just need to find that someone who brought it! Hannes is also desperate to see the game again, as he no longer has it either!
Check out the Shots area to see a whole new range of previously unseen screenshots which show some very colourful worlds and baddies. Also check the Magazine Review item for a translation by Andreas of the original review (With link to the scan). The final game apparently had 4 levels with 2 stages each.
This is very exciting, and now we hope to find something of this game.
Is this a big C64 title about to be found at last?…
Contributions: Andreas Millinger, Jazzcat
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A BIG thanks to Andreas Millinger for the very kind translation from the German review from 64’er magazine. For the original review click here for the scan(Which is thanks to the guys at Kultboy)
REVIEW
Recently it happened once again that an especially evil alien race wanted to disturb peace in the universe.
But to thwart their plans, a courageous fighter gets put in a glider and flies through four levels to restore order in the universe. The player assumes the pilot’s role in “Born in Space” by Cosmos Designs. In the four horizontally scrolling stages, a large number of mean alien species were placed by programmer Hannes Sommer which make this game a rather hard challenge.
Nevertheless, with a bit of practice you quickly find the right strategy and cause heavy losses among the monster formations. The same can be said about the mid bosses and the screen-sized end bosses. Regarding the number of enemies and the space glider’s weapons, the programmer wasn’t stingy and causes a lot of ruckus on the screen.
Extras which are activated by a few shots are placed in the levels. They expand the weapons system and create protection with satellites and shields. Unfortunately, the player loses his complete equipment after successfully solving a level and you have to fight for the extras again.
Regarding the graphics, many special effects create atmospheric action surroundings. The levels are designed with a lot of variety and the sprites are animated very nicely. Sound creator Karl Sommer creates interesting acoustics with many ideas. To sweeten the loading time between the parts, an IRQ loader was integrated. “Born in Space” offers technical excellence and a high level of shoot-em-up fun.
Title: Born in Space
Price: Approx. 30 Marks
Source of supply: Talentebank, Theaterplatz 1, A-9020 Klagenfurt
Rating: 9/10
Idea / Graphics / Sound
Difficulty: High
Hello there,
Perhaps one chance to get a copy of the complete game is to contact the guy who reviewed the game: https://www.xing.com/profile/JoernErik_Burkert
Best,
Lenny Bronstein
Thanks Lenny, good suggestion and will see if I can get hold of him.