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Zarch (1987) Gameplay for BBC Acorn Archimedes High Quality

Phoenix Risen

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39K views13 years ago2 recommendations

Game developmentHistory and cultureRetro games and consolesRetro computing

A gameplay demonstration of Zarch, a groundbreaking 1987 3D game written by David Braben for the ARM-based Acorn Archimedes.

One of the most exclusive games ever - Zarch a very early game for the BBC Acorn Archimedes. It was written in only 3 months by Elite-author David Braben. Back in 1987 to play this would have cost you over £1000 that's over £2000 in todays money! Gameplay : The game runs in 256-colour mode (a lot of colours for 1987!) Plays very much like a 3D version of Defender. You have to stop the Blue + White 'Landers' spreading the red virus to the landscape and trees. Some of the airbourne enemies can become 'mutants' too. In case you wonder what i am doing at the end of the 2nd Wave - I am trying to get close to the bomber, it's really hard to get near enough to take a shot, so i just got it into view and used an energy bomb (you get 2 of these). Incidentally this game is *really* hard, Later converted to the other systems in slightly cut-down form under the name Virus. A sequel called V2000 was released in for Playstation and PC in 1998 Played on Arculator.

Why it's here

2 people recommend this

What people say. Pointed to as a landmark demonstration of early 3D graphics and the impressive performance of the early ARM-based Acorn Archimedes.

tudorwon Hacker News • Recommends

On “The Ultimate Acorn Archimedes talk [video]”

Got to add Zarch to the list, we had one in the 'computer lab' surrounded by BBC micro's, I only touched on a little of it's potential, but this game was mind blowing! link to this video

onion2kon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Voyager 2 is back online after eight months of radio silence”

Check out Zarch on the Acorn Archimedes. link to this video It's an awesome 3D game from 1987 (with truly awful sound). That was made 6 years before Second Reality, on a RISC-based computer. It's incredible.

robotresearcheron Hacker News • Mentions

On “Acorn and Amstrad”

The Archimedes' performance was astonishing at the time. It was amazing to see Zarch 1 in 1987, when games were mainly sprites 2 (with important exceptions like Elite). 1 link to this video 2 link

mnemon Hacker News • Mentions

On “The dawn of 3D games (2007)”

One of the benefits of growing up in the UK around that time (late 80's) is that there was a chance your school had an Acorn Archimedes or two and you could have you mind blown with Zarch: link to this video

abainbridgeon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Exciting Days for ARM Processors”

> they weren't particularly fast I remember them being amazingly fast. I was comparing them to Amigas in 1987 though. The Motorola 68000 in the Amiga 500 was less than 1.0 dhrystone MIPS, while the Archemedes A3000 was about 4.0. For reference, the machines cost about £499 and £599 respectively in 1987. As a result the frame rate, poly count and screen size in Zarch on the Archemedes was higher than Starglider II on the Amiga :-). Look link to this video , link