Nebula Strike: weapons, waves and bosses

Waves of enemy ships fill the screen in Nebula Strike, a 16-bit side-scrolling space shooter on the Retro arcade shelf of Games by Zaweba. There are three stages to blast your way through, weapon capsules to collect along the way, and a towering boss at the end of each stage. It's drawn in the style of a 16-bit home computer, and it's the most hectic game on the shelf.

Flying and firing

Arrows or WASD fly your ship, and you hold Space or Z to fire. With the mouse, hold the button and the ship flies towards the pointer and fires at the same time, which some players find easier for weaving through busy waves.

Because firing is a held button, you can keep shooting almost all the time and concentrate on where you're flying. Your position on screen is the thing to think about.

Earning capsules

Wipe out a whole red wave and it releases a capsule. That word "whole" matters: you need every ship in the red wave, not most of them. When a red wave appears, it's worth putting yourself where you can catch all of it rather than spreading your fire around.

There are three kinds of capsule. S spreads your shots, L fires piercing lasers, and O adds an option drone that copies your fire. Collect the same weapon again to power it up.

Choosing a weapon

Since collecting the same weapon again powers it up, there's a choice to make each time a capsule appears: build up the weapon you already have, or switch. Spread shots cover more of the screen, which suits waves that come from several directions. Piercing lasers go through targets, which suits enemies lined up in front of you. An option drone adds to whatever you're firing by copying it.

Many players settle on one weapon and keep powering it up, because a weapon at a high level is worth more than several at a low one.

Bosses and lost ships

Each stage ends with a boss. A boss is a bigger, tougher target, and the way through is to keep firing while staying out of trouble. Watch how it moves and attacks before trying anything ambitious.

Losing a ship costs a weapon level. That's the other reason to fly carefully: a death doesn't just cost a life, it weakens you for what comes next. Playing a little more safely when you're well powered up protects what you've built.

Practical points

Esc pauses, which is a real help in a game this busy, and F11 gives you the whole screen, so you can see waves coming in good time. The title card and F1 explain the controls and the capsule letters. Games by Zaweba keeps your best score and plays on your PC and shows your best alongside your score when the game ends.

As with the rest of the app, the ships and their sounds are all made in code, so it runs offline with no adverts. Catch every red wave, pick a weapon and build it up, and fly carefully once you've got something worth keeping.