Talking Android Attack - Microdeal - Dragon 32 - XRoar - 7,950

Talking Android Attack is an arcade game for the Dragon 32. It was released by Microdeal in the UK in 1983. This game was originally released by Spectral Associates for the TRS-80 CoCo in 1982 and as the Dragon 32 is very similar in its hardware, it was common for CoCo software to be ported to the Dragon as well.
The game is a Berserk clone. Like the original arcade game, you must survive an endless maze of rooms inhabited by Androids. In this version, the walls are deadly to the touch and so are the androids. The androids can also fire at you. When shot the androids turn into mines (again deadly, but they do not move or shoot) and after several seconds, the mines turn into Ghost Androids. These can be shot (and shoot back) but are able to travel through walls. There is no Evil Otto in this game, instead, part of his role (passing through walls) is given to the Ghost Androids.
You can leave a room at any time, but you cannot stay too long as there is a countdown timer at bottom right - if that reaches zero, you will be killed. There is also a crown that can be collected for bonus points. A further bonus of remaining time for a room will also be awarded if you destroy all the androids and mines and collect the crown. Your lives are in the form of an energy bar at the bottom which shows you the protection level of your suit. Some extra energy is awarded at 10,000 points, should you get there. Once the energy level gets too low, any further hits are fatal and end the game.
The game is a reasonable version of Berzerk. The graphics are small and only slightly animated. Sound is adequate - but there is a twist - this game features digitised speech! This isn't too bad but is not very clear. I can tell it says 'Intruder Alert' when you enter a room and it also mocks you with 'Coward!' if you leave without killing everything, but the rest is hard to discern. It is certainly a novelty - this sort of thing was not very common at all on home computers of the time. The thing that really lets the game down is the slow speed of the action at this level (Level 0), but it is a lot quicker and more arcade-like at Level 15.
This run was made using the XRoar emulator running as a UK Dragon 32 (PAL). The date of play was the 22nd December 2024 and the score reached was 7,950 points.
Time stamps:
00:30 High Score table. You enter your name when the game is loaded and don't need to enter it again.
00:34 Game start.
04:26 Shot and a respawn required for the first time, basically first life lost.
08:39 Shot and respawn for the second time.
13:54 Shot for the last time. Game Over! Final score 7,950.
13:57 High Score table.
Intro Music:
Music by: Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Title: Legend
/ @whitebataudio