Xenophobe/Gameplay

Controls[edit | edit source]

• Joystick: Use the 8-way joystick to make your picked character walk left and right and aim his (or her if Dr. Udderbay) current weapon up and down.
• Trigger: Use the trigger to make your picked character fire his (or her, if Dr. Udderbay), current weapon at the Xenos; if weaponless, they will punch.
• Thumb Buttons: Use the thumb buttons to make your chosen character do the actions, above the texts of "LEFT BUTTON" and "RIGHT BUTTON", including jump, crouch, stand up, pick up items, throw bombs, press buttons, break the glass panels next to the self-destruct timers and enter codes.

Characters[edit | edit source]

First-player characters[edit | edit source]

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From left to right: Mr. M. Brace, Col. Poupon and Dr. Kwack; they look like Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, a male version of the Courier (from Spy Hunter II) and a blue duck respectively. Their names are also puns on "embrace", Gray "Poupon" (the brand of mustard which was introduced in 1866) and "quack" (as in an unqualified person who professes medical knowledge or other skills they do not have) respectively.

Second-player characters[edit | edit source]

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From left to right: Col. F. Truth, Mr. Fogg and Dr. Udderbay; they look like the parallel version of Mr. Spock from Star Trek: The Original Series, a Cylon, and Lt. Ripley from Alien respectively. But unlike the first-player characters, their names do not appear to be puns on anything, with the exception of Col. F. Truth, whose name is a pun on the phrase "Kernel of Truth" (which refers to a singular element of truth or wisdom within a greater story, narrative, speech, or claim, especially when the majority of or all other elements within it are either fictitious or of a questionable veracity).

Third-player characters[edit | edit source]

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From left to right: Dr. Zordirz, Mr. Eeez, and Col. Schickn; they all look like members of the USS Enterprise's crew due to their uniforms, but the second one also looks like a green caterpillar. Their names are also puns on "doctor's orders", "mysteries" and "Colonel's chicken" (as in Colonel Sanders, 1890-1980, the founder of the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant whose likeness was later featured in Dynamite Düx) respectively. Dr. Zordirz also bears a resemblance to Dr. Zachary Smith, the traitorous ship's medic from the original Lost in Space series.

Xenos[edit | edit source]

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These Ridley Scott-inspired aliens are the antagonists of this game; each room contains a randomly-generated amount of their eggs (which are worth 25 points when destroyed), which, if not destroyed, will hatch into small ones (which are worth 50 points when destroyed, but 100 if they are thrown off by a press of the right thumb button). They will then grow into medium ones (which are worth 75 points when destroyed) before eventually growing into large ones (which are worth 100 points when destroyed) - however, the medium ones cannot be hit, when they are curled up in a ball and rolling around, and the large ones also have a habit of throwing themselves at the players, to knock their weapons out of their hands (and, if that impact was forceful enough, the weapons will explode when they land upon the ground). Starting from the second starbase, the large ones will also peer around the corners of the doors as they open, and (if a player is close enough to them) hold them in a magnetic force field; you will have to press the left thumb button to free your character, which will send him (or her, if Dr. Udderbay), flying across the room backwards. They will also throw bombs into the room, which will have the same effect on your characters as breaking free from their force fields on impact - and, if you fail to kill all of them, or order the destruction of a starbase before its self-destruct timer runs out they will overrun it and you will not receive any bonuses (except the 1000-point bonus for every item you recovered from the base). They can also stick their tentacles through the floors and ceilings which are worth 125 points when destroyed, but 250 if broken free from or cut with the left thumb button; the "XX% ALIEN INFESTED" display shows the percentage remaining upon each starbase.