Novastorm

Novastorm is a rail shooter developed by Psygnosis in 1994. A version for the FM-Towns/Marty systems had previously been released under the name Scavenger 4.

Plot

The game takes place some time in the distant future. Humans have left earth in several huge arks containing Earth's ecosystem, in search of a new paradise. They have become complacent: everything is controlled by artificial intelligence, while the human race sleeps and dreams of its new home. The computer systems evolve, however, and prophetize of a conquest of silicon against flesh.

The player takes control of the Scavenger 4 squadron, which has a mission to destroy the deadly Scarab-X forces, in the last hope for the Human race.

Game play

The gameplay is similar to many other FMV based games of the time. The player takes control of the Scavenger 4 spacecraft over 4 different environments. Each level ends with a boss fight, which the player must complete to proceed.

During the course of each level, the player will be attacked by groups (of about 2-5) of a particular enemy. Taking out every enemy in a particular group produces a token of bronze, silver or gold. These tokens are used like credits to obtain powerups; upon picking one up, the powerup bar at the bottom of the screen moves along by differing amounts depending on the colour of the token. The powerups are of increasing value to the player as the bar progresses. Pressing the select button gives the player the currently available powerup, and returns the bar to the bottom.