Astrosaurox

This is a simple retro arcade game where you control a tank and shoot at an endless stream of enemies. The playing field consists of several lanes that move from the right side of the screen to the left. You can freely jump between the lanes without any restrictions, although you need to watch out for spikes placed across certain sections. Other than changes in texture and the occasional spikes, the lanes do not offer much variety. Your tank also remains completely under your control instead of moving along with the lanes. The controls are straightforward, with only a jump button and a fire button. The fire button can be held down for continuous shooting, but the weapon eventually needs to cool down. You have to release the button and wait a few seconds before firing again. If the gun overheats, it becomes unusable for a short time, leaving you vulnerable to enemy attacks. Fortunately, the gun can fire in all four directions and has a decent range, making combat feel reasonably fair and giving you a good chance to clear enemies out of your path. There are only a handful of enemy types, although their appearances change throughout the game. One type is a flying enemy that can move freely between lanes and reach almost anywhere on the screen. Another usually stays on a single lane but can jump to the lane above or below it at any moment. The third type remains on one lane but quickly speeds toward you once it notices your tank. While the enemy variety is limited, each type requires a slightly different approach. The main objective is to survive long enough for the environment to change. Eventually, all of the regular enemies disappear and a boss appears. Bosses move around the screen in unpredictable patterns and fire bullets in seemingly random directions. Defeating one allows you to progress to the next stage, where you face another boss. This continues for several more stages, with each one introducing new challenges. Later stages add new enemy types, such as robots that can only be defeated from two specific directions. The bosses also become more interesting, often having a surprise attack or movement pattern to keep you on your toes. Unfortunately, the scoring system feels almost pointless. There does not seem to be much reason to collect points, and as far as I can tell, they do not provide extra lives or any other meaningful advantage. This is especially disappointing because you only have three lives to get through all of the bosses.