Jetpac

Jetpac is a seminal 1983 arcade platform shooter video game, famous for being the very first title published by Ultimate Play the Game (the legendary British developer founded by brothers Chris and Tim Stamper, which later became world-renowned as Rare).

Initially released for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore VIC-20 (and later the BBC Micro), the game was a massive critical and commercial success, winning the "Game of the Year" award at the 1983 Golden Joystick Awards thanks to its fast-paced gameplay and responsive controls.

Gameplay

Players control Jetman, an astronaut equipped with a jetpack and a laser gun. The goal of each single-screen level is to defend against waves of unique aliens while achieving two key objectives:

1. Reassemble the rocket: During the initial stages, you must collect pieces of the spacecraft scattered across the platforms and drop them onto the launch pad.
2. Refuel the ship: Once the rocket is built, you must gather 6 fuel canisters to fill the tank. After refueling, Jetman can board the ship and blast off to the next planet.

The entire game was coded to fit into the ZX Spectrum's 16K memory limit. It features a loop of 16 levels with 4 different rocket designs before cycling back with increased difficulty.