Droid is a platform/shooter game created in 1991 by Miles Lord and originally released on ST Format's Issue 37 (August 1992) coverdisk. Droid Special Edition is a remake of the game which takes advantage of all of the extra hardware features of the Atari STE - blitter, hardware scrolling, DMA sound, enhanced palette and enhanced joystick port.
You (yes, you - ask your mum) are a droid, and in this game you MUST destroy enemies and collect powerups to blow "up" sort of barriers at the end bit or whatever, to reveal an exit so that you can go to there.
On the title screen, press the Fire button on a joystick plugged into port 1 or the B button on an Atari PowerPad plugged into enhanced controller port A to set the input.
Command: Joystick: PowerPad:
Jump Up C
Crouch Down Down
Move left Left Left
Move right Right Right
Shoot weapon Fire B
Change weapon Numpad 0 A
Enter doorway Enter Option
Lose a life F10 F10
(crouching before jumping allows higher jumps)
Items:
E Increase energy
A Increase ammo
Keycards Use to remove gold/blue/grey barriers
Grenades Use to destroy barriers at the end of the game
Weapons:
Single shot Standard weapon
Double shot Twice as powerful as standard weapon
Triple shot 3-barrel version of standard weapon
Rocket Vertical shot
Bomb Bouncing bomb
Double arrow Refill energy and ammo
Hints:
There are areas that are blocked off unless a certain number of items are collected or a certain number of enemies are destroyed. Listen out for a sound that indicates an area has been revealed.
Gold keycards are important. If you've revealed a new section then making sure you are holding at least one gold keycard before proceeding can prevent you from getting stuck later on.
An extra life is awarded every 20,000 points.
Cheat code:
On the title screen, type FEELCOSMICALLTHETIME to make Dennis laugh. He will then reward you with infinite energy and ammo.
Hope you enjoy this remake!
Jamie Hamshere (Junosix)
July 2020
Plymouth, UK
