Asterax 1.2
Michael Hanson
P.O. Box 10009
Stanford, CA 94309
Re: Arvandor Software
Shareware Fee - $10.00

     Many brave pilots have sought their fortune in the emeraldium-rich asteroid belts of Arvis Omega.  Some have returned with wealth beyond the wildest dreams of men, women, or small fuzzy creatures from Alpha Centauri, retiring to a life of luxury and exotic frozen drinks.  Most, of course, have simply died brief but heinous deaths.
     You, of course, being a brave but currently poor pilot, do not plan to die one of the aforementioned deaths.
     Alone, or with a single companion, you will enter the asteroid belt to blast the precious emeraldium loose from the rocks where it hides.  You will also uncover rare elements that provide energy to sustain your ship.  If you are successful and gather the delicate crystals, you will be able to trade them for better equipment and eternal fame.
     Of course, you are not the only pilots in the belts of Arvis Omega!  Aliens from far-off worlds come there as well, to gather the crystals for themselves, or just to blow away some annoying humans. 
     Good luck!

     If you like games such as Hemiroids, Maelstrom or CheeseToast you'll love this one.  Asterax is another take off on the arcade game asteroids.  This game has added to the fun to make it one of the better shareware games.  When you start the game you choose between different ships which differ is terms of shields and speed.  The play is different because you are not rewarded for speed but accuracy.  Within some asteroids are gifts such as shield recharge or Emeraldium pieces.  The shield pieces just recharge your shields.  At the end of each level you are taken to the store where you can trade in your Emeraldium pieces for bonus points or to build up your ship.  To take advantage the store you have to save you Emeraldium pieces so that you may buy bigger toys for your ship.

    Overall game play in Asterax is outstanding.  The movement of the ship is clean and the sounds are good.  I really like the four-channel sound idea and it works well for this game.  Once you understand what the game is about it is real easy to play.  Remember, the object of the game is accuracy and not speed.  This game is one of the better shareware games that I have ever seen and it is bound to attract many people because it is so good.

DAVE'S RATING  ****

may not be 32-bit clean (SIZE resource says this is not 32-bit clean)