<s>
Deathstar	B-Application
(	O
Also	O
written	O
as	O
DeathStar	B-Application
)	O
is	O
multidirectional	O
shooter	O
for	O
the	O
Acorn	B-Device
Electron	I-Device
and	O
BBC	B-Device
Micro	I-Device
developed	O
by	O
Peter	O
Johnson	O
and	O
originally	O
published	O
in	O
the	O
UK	O
by	O
Superior	B-Device
Software	I-Device
in	O
1985	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
a	O
clone	O
of	O
the	O
arcade	O
game	O
Sinistar	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Firing	O
can	O
destroy	O
both	O
enemy	O
workers	O
and	O
warriors	O
,	O
but	O
only	O
a	O
starbomb	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
against	O
the	O
eponymous	O
Deathstar	B-Application
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Collisions	O
with	O
workers	O
,	O
warriors	O
or	O
asteroids	B-Application
(	O
referred	O
to	O
in	O
the	O
instructions	O
as	O
planetoids	O
)	O
do	O
not	O
harm	O
the	O
player	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
job	O
of	O
the	O
workers	O
is	O
to	O
build	O
the	O
Deathstar	B-Application
by	O
transporting	O
crystals	O
to	O
it	O
,	O
whilst	O
the	O
job	O
of	O
the	O
warriors	O
is	O
to	O
mine	O
the	O
crystals	O
and	O
also	O
defend	O
the	O
Deathstar	B-Application
by	O
attacking	O
the	O
player	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
initial	O
objective	O
is	O
to	O
keep	O
on	O
firing	O
at	O
the	O
asteroids	B-Application
until	O
they	O
start	O
to	O
shed	O
crystals	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
then	O
picked	O
up	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
score	O
points	O
,	O
but	O
more	O
importantly	O
the	O
crystals	O
are	O
converted	O
into	O
starbombs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
starbombs	O
are	O
ultimately	O
used	O
against	O
the	O
Deathstar	B-Application
,	O
once	O
the	O
workers	O
have	O
finished	O
constructing	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
player	O
must	O
successfully	O
defeat	O
the	O
Deathstar	B-Application
to	O
progress	O
into	O
the	O
Worker	O
Zone	O
which	O
has	O
very	O
few	O
planetoids	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
bonus	O
screen	O
between	O
each	O
zone	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
employs	O
16-way	O
scrolling	O
over	O
a	O
multi-coloured	O
starfield	O
and	O
runs	O
at	O
a	O
fast	O
rate	O
on	O
both	O
the	O
BBC	B-Device
Micro	I-Device
and	O
Acorn	B-Device
Electron	I-Device
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
the	O
inferior	O
hardware	O
of	O
the	O
Acorn	B-Device
Electron	I-Device
,	O
the	O
in-game	O
sound	O
can	O
be	O
improved	O
up	O
to	O
BBC	B-Device
Micro	I-Device
standards	O
with	O
the	O
addition	O
of	O
Project	O
Expansions	O
 '	O
Sound	O
Cartridge	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
,	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
to	O
be	O
published	O
by	O
Atarisoft	O
as	O
an	O
official	O
port	O
of	O
the	O
arcade	O
version	O
under	O
its	O
original	O
name	O
,	O
Sinistar	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
was	O
instead	O
renamed	O
Deathstar	B-Application
and	O
a	O
new	O
title	O
screen	O
designed	O
,	O
allowing	O
it	O
to	O
be	O
released	O
as	O
an	O
unofficial	O
clone	O
by	O
Superior	B-Device
Software	I-Device
in	O
1985	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
was	O
released	O
shortly	O
after	O
another	O
popular	O
game	O
Repton	B-Application
and	O
is	O
regarded	O
as	O
being	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
successful	O
run	O
of	O
titles	O
from	O
Superior	B-Device
Software	I-Device
in	O
a	O
short	O
space	O
of	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
then-renamed	O
Deathstar	B-Application
was	O
first	O
published	O
solely	O
by	O
Superior	B-Device
Software	I-Device
in	O
1985	O
and	O
later	O
re-released	O
in	O
1989	O
by	O
Superior	B-Device
Software	I-Device
and	O
Blue	O
Ribbon	O
as	O
a	O
budget	O
title	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
also	O
appeared	O
on	O
the	O
Beau	O
Jolly	O
compilations	O
Five	O
Star	O
Games	O
and	O
10	O
Computer	O
Hits	O
4	O
,	O
and	O
Superior	B-Device
Software	I-Device
's	O
own	O
Superior	O
Collection	O
compilations	O
(	O
vol	O
2	O
on	O
the	O
BBC	O
,	O
vol	O
3	O
on	O
the	O
Electron	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Deathstar	B-Application
was	O
prominently	O
advertised	O
with	O
full-page	O
dedicated	O
ads	O
in	O
various	O
Acorn-related	O
publications	O
of	O
the	O
1980s	O
and	O
was	O
also	O
reviewed	O
in	O
magazines	O
such	O
as	O
Acorn	O
User	O
and	O
Electron	O
User	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
21st	O
century	O
,	O
Deathstar	B-Application
was	O
again	O
reviewed	O
in	O
the	O
2009	O
book	O
The	O
8-Bit	O
Book	O
-	O
1981	O
to	O
199x	O
by	O
Jerry	O
Ellis	O
,	O
published	O
by	O
Hiive	O
books	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
similar	O
title	O
Mega	B-Application
Apocalypse	I-Application
also	O
for	O
the	O
BBC	B-Device
Micro	I-Device
,	O
was	O
due	O
to	O
be	O
released	O
by	O
Martech	O
Games	O
Ltd	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
ultimately	O
abandoned	O
half-finished	O
in	O
1988	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sinistar	B-Application
arcade	O
game	O
uses	O
sampled	O
speech	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
beyond	O
the	O
abilities	O
of	O
standard	O
BBC	B-Device
Micro	I-Device
and	O
Electron	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
BBC	B-Device
Micro	I-Device
has	O
a	O
speech	O
synthesiser	O
chip	O
available	O
as	O
an	O
official	O
add-on	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
has	O
a	O
limited	O
vocabulary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programmer	O
Peter	O
Johnson	O
said	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
"	O
I	O
knew	O
very	O
few	O
gamers	O
would	O
have	O
that	O
speech	O
chip	O
fitted	O
,	O
but	O
I	O
would	O
have	O
loved	O
to	O
see	O
the	O
expression	O
of	O
surprise	O
on	O
their	O
faces	O
the	O
first	O
time	O
they	O
heard	O
the	O
DeathStar	B-Application
speak.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Roland	O
Waddliove	O
,	O
writing	O
in	O
Electron	O
User	O
magazine	O
stated	O
that	O
"	O
DEATHSTAR	B-Application
is	O
a	O
super	O
fast	O
,	O
all-action	O
arcade	O
classic	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
it	O
's	O
the	O
sort	O
of	O
game	O
that	O
you	O
ca	O
n't	O
put	O
down	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
you	O
've	O
got	O
to	O
have	O
just	O
one	O
more	O
go	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Game	O
programmer	O
Jason	O
Sobell	O
stated	O
that	O
he	O
"	O
liked	O
Peter	O
Johnson	O
's	O
DeathStar	B-Application
"	O
,	O
pointing	O
out	O
the	O
similarity	O
to	O
the	O
game	O
Asteroids	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
BBC	B-Device
Micro	I-Device
commercial	O
era	O
,	O
some	O
players	O
using	O
emulation	O
have	O
expressed	O
a	O
preference	O
for	O
playing	O
the	O
Acorn	B-Device
Electron	I-Device
version	O
over	O
the	O
BBC	B-Device
Micro	I-Device
version	O
,	O
because	O
it	O
uses	O
keys	O
'	O
Z	O
 '	O
and	O
'	O
X	O
 '	O
to	O
rotate	O
the	O
spacecraft	O
rather	O
than	O
'	O
CAPS	O
LOCK	O
 '	O
and	O
'	O
left-CTRL	O
'	O
which	O
are	O
vertically	O
aligned	O
on	O
many	O
modern-day	O
keyboards	O
.	O
</s>
