Llamatron

Llamatron is a multi-directional shooter where the objective is to stop an invasion of Earth that is being launched by alien mutants known as the Zyaxxians. The player’s character—the eponymous Llamatron—is placed in the center of a black screen, with enemies—labelled in-game as “Grunts”—scattered across the playing area. Once the level begins, the enemies move towards the player and, if any of the enemies come into contact with the llama, the player loses a life. The player’s goal is to destroy every enemy on the screen with the llama’s laser, which fires automatically in the direction that the llama is facing. Players can also use a second joystick to control the direction of fire or hold the firing button down to lock the firing direction regardless of movement. The keyboard can also be used instead of a joystick. The game includes modes that allow a second player, or an indestructible computer-controlled “droid”, to assist the Llamatron.

The player gains points by destroying enemies and collecting llamas, sheep, goats, and camels—known collectively as “Beasties”—that are placed on the screen at the start of the level. Upon destroying all of the enemies on a screen, the player advances to the next level. Some levels, known as “Herd Waves”, also require the player to collect all of the “Beasties”. “Grunts” take a variety of forms, including Coca-Cola cans, kitchen utensils, cherries, Space Invaders, Eyes of Providence, televisions, fire hydrants, Zippy the Pinhead, marijuana plants, and Rizla rolling papers. Blue brains chase after the “Beasties” and transform them into “Zombeasts”, who then attempt to rush and kill the player. Other enemies include indestructible devices that shoot screen-wide lasers, 16-ton weights that attempt to crush the player, hedgehogs that explode into spikes when destroyed, Mandelbrot sets that shoot projectiles and scream when hit, and a large toilet that throws rolls of toilet paper at the player. The game contains 100 levels, in addition to a tutorial and a high-score table.

The player can collect power-ups to assist them in their task, such as smart bombs that damage all of the enemies, extra lives, invincibility, and hearts that attract the “Beasties” to the player. There are also items that allow shots to bounce off of walls, split into three, and become “hot bullets”, which deal extra damage. “Warps” add 50,000 points and immediately move the player ahead five levels. The “Floyd bonus” grants extra points and is shaped like the artwork from Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon album. In two-player mode, each player shares the score and the power-ups, but both players lose a life if one player dies.