GALAXXON-neo
V 2.0
By Sean Kelly

It's happening again.  As you step into your brand new enhanced Mk. 2 GalaxTec fighter, you can't help but think back to the great Galaxxon wars of 199X.  You know this won't be easy.  You vs. an entire squadron of agile alien kamakazie fighters that really don't care how badly they scratch your finish.  At least you now have the advantage of the InstaLock homing nuclear mine, a notable step up from the lately retired GalaxTec smart missile.  The government is even letting you test a new, top-secret short-range teleport unit, should you find yourself stuck on an alien's windshield with an overheated cannon.  Good old days?  That last war was more like the Dark Ages.  You feel rather smug as you scream through the strasosphere.  Then you see the aliens...

Galaxxon has a very simple premise.  Kill stuff without being obliterated yourself.  The game consists of 50 rounds pitting you against one member of the alien fleet.  The more aliens you destroy, the faster they'll come at you.
You have five basic defenses against the enemy fleet:

Thrusters (mouse): The GalaxTec Mk. 2 has unprecedented maneuverability, which has been linked to a 'mouse' type controller in your cockpit.  Simply slide the mouse and the ship will track the horizontal location of the cursor as well as it can.

Cannon (0 key): standard GalaxTec laser bolt accellerator.  Possibly the only piece of technology that hasn't changed since the last Galaxxon war, your cannon fires powerful green energy bolts capable of destroying alien ships in a single hit.  Unfortunately, as it takes 100 clicks for your cannon to cool and recharge between shots, and, purely coincidentally, laser bolts dissipate after 100 clicks, you can only have one shot on screen at a time.

Shield (automatic): Due to the increased cost of the GalaxTec Mk. 2, the military no longer keeps banks of ships in reserve.  Instead, each ship is equipped with a strong energy shield.  When fully charged, it has been estimated that the shield can absorb 5 heavy collisions.  After that, you're just as well off as the poor Galax pilots of the last war, and one hit will send you spiralling into the afterlife.  It is worth noting that your commanding officer doesn't like his ships returned with dead shields, so you don't score any points for enemies destroyed through collision.

Feintwarp (1 key): The highly classified experimental teleport module the government has installed on your personal fighter.  It's activation will allow you to make a quick jump across a part of the screen, useful for getting out of the enemy's way at the last minute.  To use the Feintwarp, press '1' and quickly move the mouse.  Your GalaxTec fighter will flicker out, reappearing a split second later at the mouse's new horizontal location, without having passed through any points in between.

InstaLock homing nuclear mine ('Smart Bomb', [shift] '1'),: The pinnacle of destructive technology.  Unlike the old GalaxTec Smart Missile, which homed in on the enemy in real time, the InstaLock will immediately locate the nearest alien fighter via a laser coordinate system, and destroy it before it has a chance to move.  Your GalaxTec fighter only has the capacity to carry three of these mines, so it is reccommended that you save them for emergencies only.  Besides, as 'Smart Bombs' are considered cheap, you're only given half credit for alens destroyed with them.

In case you should find yourself irreconsilably screwed, the GalaxTec fighter has a built-in auto-destruct system.  Simply press 'q' to detonate your ship.  You'll die, the aliens will take over Earth, but at least your boss/teacher won't catch you playing games.  Galaxxon does not (at least not yet) feature a score save feature, so if you really want bragging rights, you'll have to use pen and paper, take a screenshot, or simply oblitterate the level 50 ship 'just for fun' in front of everyone.
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Special
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I have now completed a functional 2-player version of GALAXXON!.  Second player controls are listed on the title screen.  THe reason it's still 'beta' is that I have not limited the second player (enemy fighter) power dive attack, and thus it's possible to abuse the maneuver, not letting the first player attack with anything but a smart bomb.
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GALAXXON!, being my first real game, is CheapskateWare.  You are under no obligation to pay me anything no matter how much you use the game, but if you consider it worthwhile, I am accepting donations.  Mail seanstar@aol.com for details.