The Story
On the moon, sensors detected faint ripples in the space-time continuum, before anyone knew what was happening, the Lords of Darkness and their minions burst into our realist and slew the colony, and destroyed all of its defence ships.
But one survived, as only survivor of task force Alpha Lunar 1, you must go forth and defeat the Lords of Darkness and their minions or Earth and the other colonies will be next!
Controls:
Up – up arrow key
Down – down arrow key
Left – left arrow key
Right – right arrow key
Start – enter key
Fire weapon – space key
Levels
Level 1Minions
Level 2 (Lord of Darkness – Skullitron)
Level 3Minions
Level 4 (Lord of Darkness – Tentocoil)
Level 5 (High Lord of Darkness – The Ultimate Evil)
Level 6 (Bonus level – destroy the head of The Ultimate Evil as it falls for 10000 points)
Cheat mode – press these keys at the menu
3 go to level 2
3 go to level 3
4 go to level 4
5 go to level 5
6 go to level 6
“c” key view credits
“i” key invincibility (recommended for levels 3 to 6)
Enemies:
Minions
Space ShipRecruited demonic mercenaries
Slime WormPieces can only destroyed separately
SkullsFast and deadly
BlockRemains of the colonies that have been magically enhanced to fly at you
PsychicStorms of these hurtle around space ready to pounds on unprotected minds
Time spikesRadioactive balls of chromovore slime with spikes – when massed in number they slow time down making your ship and weapons sluggish
AsteroidBlast the huge clouds of them to dust before they destroy you
EyesDemonic entities that can form as chains or attack individually
Lords of darkness
SkullitronFires bones at you and is HUGE. Beware though, he may stop occasionally to lull you into a false sense of security before he starts firing again
TentocoilUses psi powers to hurl huge asteroids at you.
The Ultimate EvilThe high lord of darkness has all the powers of the previous lords and more. If you hit its head as it falls in the bonus level before it tries to destroy you, you gain 10000 points.
Credits
This game was created by David Harper for the RETRO REMAKES competition and is freeware – available for all to download.
This game was inspired by Quantum Fighter, Castlevania, Space Invaders, Galaxia, Galaxian, Galaga and Peanix
Troubleshooting
You require Direct X 8.1 or above to play this game. It is recommended that you use windows 98 or above (XP is supported)
Also if a “dial up connection” box should appear, click cancel. The reason it appears is because you computer is detecting direct play and is automatically bringing up the “dial up connection” box. As directplay is not used in this game there is no need to connect.
Another thing that really makes Alpha Lunar 1 enjoyable for me is how it manages to stay interesting even after playing it multiple times. Many games feel repetitive after a while, but here, the experience still feels fresh because of the small details and different ways you can approach the gameplay. As you continue playing, you naturally start improving and understanding the mechanics better, which makes everything feel more rewarding. I also appreciate the balance the game maintains—it’s not too difficult, but it’s not too easy either. You can play it casually for a short break or spend longer sessions without getting bored. That flexibility is one of the biggest reasons why I keep coming back to Alpha Lunar 1. Overall, it’s the kind of game that doesn’t just entertain you for a moment, but actually gives you a consistently enjoyable experience every time you play.
