Games developed by Elven Software Company
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Round 42
One of the best Space Invaders clones ever made, Round 42 is also one of the first free games I really like.
The name comes from the fact that there are 42 rounds of battle against invading spaceships. The game is very easy to learn: you move by pressing the arrow keys on the numeric keypad, and attack by pressing the F1 key (to fire normal bullets) or the F2 key (to fire a special weapon called phasor). Your ship has a limited number of phasor charges, which are shown as lightning bolts next to your score near the top of the screen. Each ship starts with one charge, so you have to use it sparingly. You can get more phaser charges simply by staying alive: one charge (as well as an extra life) is awarded every 7500 points you earn, as well as at the beginning of each round.
So what makes Round 42 so much more fun than most Space Invaders clones? I think there are three main answers. First, each of the 42 rounds introduces a new and different type of enemy. It's a lot of fun trying to figure out their flight patterns and fighting logic. This is in stark contrast to the 'been there, done that' feeling of most similar games, where you run out of new enemies after the first few levels.
Secondly, there is a 'warp round' after every four rounds. In these rounds, your job is to move the ship left and right through the maze without hitting the walls. It's a nice change of pace, and a good way to let that sore finger rest before the action starts up again.
Third and finally, the game makes incredible use of the PC's speaker to generate a wide range of cool sound effects. They're not as revolutionary as the human voices in Silpheed, but they're still much better than the typical beeps and buzzes.
