Harrier Attack Reloaded

Harrier Attack! The original game

Harrier Attack, by Durell Software Ltd, published by Amsoft, is an iconic game that is instantly recognizable as it came bundled with the machine. I remember spending many hours playing it with my dad when we got our first Amstrad, a CPC 464, back in 1987. I flew the plane and my dad pressed the space bar to bomb the targets. Many people have fond memories of growing up, playing this game.

Some are under the impression that Harrier Attack was written in the BASIC programming language. They may think this due to its slow speed, blocky movements and 8x8 character-sized sprites. But it is written in machine code. Its slow speed is due to the entire screen being scrolled one byte at a time. There are also program loops inserted by the programmer to deliberately slow the game down, presumably to make it easier for children to 'win' on the earlier levels.

As Harrier Attack is a fairly simple game, I wanted to see if I could disassemble it, to try to speed it up. The result is Harrier Attack Reloaded!

Copyright

I contacted Robert White, founder and director of Durell, about the possibility of creating an Amstrad Plus version of the game using the original code. Robert was the inspiration behind Harrier Attack, while Mike Richardson was the programmer for the CPC and Spectrum versions. Robert says the the copyright for Harrier Attack was sold to Elite Games in 1987 for specific platforms, and that while Elite do hold a licence for the CPC464 version, an Amstrad Plus version should be able to be produced without difficulty.

Features

• Fast CRTC scrolling, with a split screen for flight instruments
• Split palette MODE 1 graphics
• Multicoloured hardware sprites
• Dusk and night missions
• Configurable rocket range and contrails
• Air-to-ground guided missiles by pressing left+fire
• Two player mode, where second player / CPU controls other Harrier, in a co-operative style game.
• Air-drops of health and weapons to help the player through the level.
• Flak damage counter, which was present in the original game but not displayed
• Redefinable keys
• Joystick enabled menu and scoreboard controls for GX4000
• Music in the game menu ('I vow to thee my country')
• Cartridge version, floppy disc and cassette versions available
• Physical tape and cartridge editions to follow