Armalyte

Cancelled conversions

Although being previewed and advertised in magazines in 1988, the ZX Spectrum version was never released for unknown reasons. Later, a demo version appeared on this platform. Also, the Atari ST and Amiga versions of this game were announced for the same year and never made it to production, eventually replaced with the development of the 1991 release on this platforms Armalyte: The Final Run.

Cancelled sequel

Cyderdyne Systems planned a sequel in 1990, under the name Maglyte, but it never happened due to the company being contracted to System 3. Plans included improved AI, a power-up shop and improved graphics, but was not intended to be a two-player game. A small demo was created showcasing some of these improvements over a level of the original game, which is available to download from here.

PC version

Jason Mackenzie from Psytronik Software explains how the updated PC version was greenlighted:

Well, it's basically a story of everyone being in the right place at the right time. After the Psytronik re-release of Mayhem in Monsterland proved to be so popular I decided to contact Dan Phillips to ask if I could also re-release Armalyte on the C64. He gave the idea the thumbs-up so I contacted the owner of the Armalyte IP (Andy Roberts) and he also approved the idea. Smila mentioned that he and Stu C were busting to do a remake of Armalyte for the PC so I ran the idea of releasing a PC remake of Armalyte commercially past Dan & Andy and the Armalyte PC version was given the green light!

Awards

• Commodore Format
  • January 1991 (Issue 4) - listed in the A to Z of Classic Games article (Great)
• Computer and Video Games
  • Issue 06/1989 - Winner Golden Joystick Award 1989 for Best 8-Bit Graphics (reader's vote)
• Power Play
  • Issue 01/1989 - Biggest Sprites per Square Centimeter Ratio
• Zzap!
  • January 1990 (Issue 57) – 'The Best Games of the 80's Decade' (Robin Hogg)