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| Developer(s) | Mark Haigh-Hutchinson |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Vortex Software |
| Platform(s) | Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum |
| Release | 1986 |
| Genre(s) | Action |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Alien Highway: Encounter 2 is an isometric action game released by Vortex in 1986 for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. It was programmed by Mark Haigh-Hutchinson and is the sequel to Highway Encounter .
Gameplay is similar to Highway Encounter , with the player controlling a "Vorton" robot in its attempt to deliver a bomb to an alien base at the end of a highway. Various enemies and obstacles lie in its path.
A notable difference is that the player has a single Vorton with an energy meter, instead of five lives; accordingly, the bomb must be pushed by the player, whereas in the previous game it was pushed by the player's spare Vortons.
Mark Haigh-Hutchinson, the developer
"After Highway Costa [Panayi] wanted to come up with something completely different again. Since I was now working full-time for Vortex it was decided that I should write Alien Highway whilst Costa developed his new ideas. I had previously written Android One for the Amstrad CPC (in my spare time at University) and then converted Highway Encounter to the CPC in 8 weeks after graduation. Alien Highway attempted to retain the essence of the original game yet expand the gameplay and introduce a random element into the game. It was also considerably faster than the original." [1]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Amstrad Action | 89% [2] |
| Amtix | 80% [3] |
| Crash | 88% [4] |
| Computer and Video Games | 33/40 [5] |
| Sinclair User |  [6] |
| Your Sinclair | 9/10 [7] |
| Publication | Award |
|---|---|
| Computer and Video Games | C+VG Hit [8] |
| Your Sinclair | Megagame [9] |
Alien Highway received positive reviews.
Jet Set Willy II: The Final Frontier is a platform game released 1985 by Software Projects as the Amstrad CPC port of Jet Set Willy. It was then rebranded as the sequel and ported to other home computers. Jet Set Willy II was developed by Derrick P. Rowson and Steve Wetherill rather than Jet Set Willy programmer Matthew Smith and is an expansion of the original game, rather than an entirely new one.
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Vortex Software was a video game developer founded by Costa Panayi and Paul Canter in the early 1980s to sell the game Cosmos which Panayi had developed for the Sinclair ZX81. They converted the game to the ZX Spectrum, but due to the low sales of the ZX81 version they licensed the game to Abbex.
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Highway Encounter is a video game published for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Commodore 64, Sharp MZ, and Tatung Einstein by Vortex Software in 1985. It was written by Costa Panayi who also coded Android, Android Two, TLL, Cyclone, and Revolution.
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Costa Panayi is a former computer game programmer active during the 1980s. He founded Vortex Software with Paul Canter, publishing games for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC.
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Mark Haigh-Hutchinson was an English video game developer. He is most notable for working on Zombies Ate My Neighbors, mid to late 1990s Star Wars titles, and the Metroid Prime games.
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Throne of Fire is an action strategy video game. It was designed by Mike Singleton, developed by Consult Computer Systems, and published by Melbourne House. The game was released for the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum in 1987. Throne of Fire is set in the Burning Citadel, located around the rim of a volcano.
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