1993 Space Machine has been given away as a limited giveaway four times previously; i.e. 8th August 2017, 14th September 2017, 13th Feb 2018, 17th May 2018

Today's is another 7-day competition, with 20 more keys to win, so, if you were unlucky previously, this is a fifth chance to grab a key for this excellent retro pace SHoot 'eM UP (shmup). Winners will be announced next week. Good luck to all who enter. To stand the best chance of winning a key it is advisable to visit each day to get your extra entries. Each day you enter you'll get an extra 10 entries. If you complete the first day you get 35 entries.

1993 Space Machine

In Brief

1993 Space Machine is an old school shoot 'em up. It was originally created almost thirty years ago, then lost/misplaced until several years ago; one of the creators found a copy and decided to release it via Steams Greenlight project; where the community voted it to be added to Steam; which it was about 5 years ago. It has a 92% approval rating from 184 Steam reviews; (see below for link to reviews).

If you miss this giveaway but still want the game, you can get it 24/7 via Steam HERE. It usually costs £5.99/$8.99.

Introduction:

The game is a traditional side scrolling shoot 'em up, and as many shoot 'em ups made for home computers of its era, it has some amount of progression. At the onset, there are four different locations to choose from and the player earns money which can be spent on new ships and weapons in-between missions. When starting the game, the player has just enough money to choose between three ships with differences in speed, shield strength and the number of weapons it can carry. 6 additional ships become available as the player can afford them. The ship's shield strength doubles as its health bar, the shield can only cover part of the ship at any time, but can be rotated to absorb incoming fire, as it takes hits, the area protected gets smaller. The ship cannot survive any direct hits onto its hull.

Reference accessed HERE Aug 4th 2017, reposted August 2021.

Installation:

Assuming you receive a Steam key for 1993 Space Machine, once you've found it activate it via your Steam client. Once activated it will be permanently tied to your Steam profile and you'll be able to install the game at anytime, anywhere on any computer, so long as you can validate who you are (usually via emails etc.). If you don't have a Steam account you will first have to download and install the Steam client HERE

Then create a Steam profile/account. Once that has been completed you can input the Steam code that you've received (after completing the form filling) via the game button along the top of the Steam client, (located between friends and Help). From the drop-down menu select 'Activate a product on Steam'. This opens a product activation window. Just follow the prompts to complete activation. Once the Steam code has been accepted, the game will be permanently associated with your Steam account and can be installed any time you wish.

If you have a problem installing or activating or getting 1993 Space Machine to work, please visit the problems section over in the Game Discussion forums, which I've now incorporated into the FAQ's thread, and which you can find HERE, or check out the Steam forums. The Steam community are usually good at solving issues.

The Game:

Review 1:

As somebody who sometimes spends most of the day playing video games, I've grown used to seeing modern games with retro-inspired graphics and old classics re-released on new platforms. But rarely do I run across a 23-year-old game seeing a release for the very first time. That's exactly what I discovered with 1993 Space Machine, a 2D shoot-em-up that most people thought would never see the light of day.

As the story goes, this game was created by four Swedish teenagers in the early 1990s. The near-finished shooter had been featured in magazines, a publisher was secured and it looked like game would see release on the Commodore Amiga. But then teenage drama got in the way, and the project was abandoned at the last second. Instead of wowing critics back in 1993, it got boxed up and stored away, far from sight and mind.

As it turns out, nothing stays hidden forever. Recently, one of those developers uncovered the game and, much to his surprise and delight, discovered that it still worked. Best of all, the game held up. This prompted the reunited team to post the game on Steam, giving the world a chance to experience a shooter that should have been released 23 years ago.

Simply put, this is a by-the-numbers side-scrolling shoot-em-up where you take out alien ships and save planets from certain destruction. You've played this type of game before, and it largely doesn't do anything new. You fly from left-to-right dodging bullets and hoping to survive long enough to go up against the boss. Win here and you're off to an even larger stage where you finish the fight for good.

The big change here is that players can choose between a few different upgrade-able ships and then equip them with a wide assortment of side weapons. Much of the game revolves around players picking up money from downed alien ships and then using it to buy new equipment and upgrade what you already have. There are a lot of different weapons to upgrade throughout the course of the game, so get ready to collect a lot of money.

Beyond the side weapons, the ship comes with a curved shield that can be rotated all the way around the craft. This will protect you from stray bullets, which makes some of the bullet hell sections a lot more manageable. But the shield can't sustain too many hits and will disappear over time, so you still need to stay cautious when going through the varied stages.

Speaking of which, 1993 Space Machine does a great job of mixing things up from level to level. Sure, you can expect the usual stages where you're stuck in the middle of space, but I liked what they did with the forest levels, cavernous sections and the city-scape bits. Each stage offers unique obstacles to overcome and enemies to destroy. It's never the most ground-breaking content, but it's undoubtedly fun.
Unfortunately, it's also a little broken. I'm not sure if it's because the game was never fully developed or something else, but I ran into a number of game-breaking problems. In fact, there's one boss that seems to halt the game dead in its tracks, simply refusing to blow up so that our hero can get back to saving the universe. I also ran into checkpoints that didn't work properly and several other issues that made me wish 1993 Space Machine was more polished.

On the topic of checkpoints, I found that they were too few and far between. You'll often start a stage with a countdown at the top letting you know how far away you are from the boss. Unfortunately, you'll have to go that full distance in a single life; one death will send you right back to the beginning of the stage. Eventually, the game gives in and does offer checkpoints, but you must jump through a lot of hoops to get to one.

Even with some unique stages and a solid presentation, I found myself liking the history of 1993 Space Machine a lot more than the gameplay. It has a cool shop system that is full of customization, but the action is fairly generic and occasionally frustrating. It's a shame this game took so long to come out, I would have loved to have seen what critics thought two decades ago.

Edited reference accessed HERE. Originally posted by Cyril Lachel on March 28, 2016. Re-posted by Whiterabbit-uk Aug 7th 2017 then again August 2021.

Review 2:

The story of 1993 Space Machine’s creation and release is far more entertaining than the game’s actual story. You see, 1993 Space Machine was actually developed by teenagers in the 90’s to be published for the Commodore Amiga. It was even featured in magazines and a publisher for the game had been secured. For whatever reason the team behind the game had a falling out and the game never saw the light of day. Flash forward twenty-something years into the future and one of the game’s original programmers stumbled upon the game and like in a good fairy tale, the original team reunited to finish their work.

As for the game’s actual story, there really isn’t much. What I could piece together is that the universe is at war and a bad guy named Nestor stole the Space Machine and is using it to wreak havoc on the galaxy. Something like that. Back in the 90’s these types of games rarely put the story front and centre and 1993 Space Machine is like that. The thing is, you are the only hope of the universe and chase after Nestor to try and put an end to the chaos. How do you achieve that? Well, by blowing stuff up and surviving impossible odds. Isn’t that how all the cool guys do it?

The game is clearly inspired by classics like R-Type and Gradius and offers that same style of 2D side scrolling bullet-hell gameplay. You make your way left to right shooting all manner of spaceships, satellites, asteroids, floating mines, robots, cannons and whatever else the game throws your way. Although the enemy designs are varied most of them have similar patterns to one another. There are those that charge at you to ram you to death like a space game of chicken, those that shoot missiles, bullets or other single shot projectiles, those that shoot in a spread and of course, those that blow up when you get too close. The game does a good job of turning stages into challenging dances as you bob and weave not only dodging bullets and mines, but also environmental obstacles like space debris and somehow managing to shoot back. It can be daunting at first and newer gamers not used to the difficult good old days might get frustrated initially. Each stage usually culminates with a boss fight and to be honest, none of them are particularly hard. You might die once or twice until you figure out their patterns but that’s about it. I never felt frustrated or stuck and their designs are not particularly memorable.

1993 Space Machine introduces a few innovations to the formula. First of all, you can choose from several different ships to pilot, although they fit one of three types: small and fast, big and slow (with more weapon slots) or somewhere in between. Although you will start with a small and fast ship (since they are the least expensive) you can spend money to eventually buy a different vessel. While many classic bullet-hell shoot-em-ups required you to acquire power-ups mid-level to switch to a new weapon, 1993 Space Machine allows you to buy and slot weapons before a level starts. There is plenty of variety and choosing which weapons to bring can make a significant difference. These side weapons include classics like the spread shot and the one that fires behind you as well as a mini-gun, laser beams and more. In order to acquire this gear, you will need to collect crystals during the levels, which translate into dollars and this currency is then spent upgrading your weapons and ships. Each ship and weapon can be upgraded up to three times, increasing their damage, range, size and more. These side weapons then show up surrounding your ship and are slotted on top, bottom, left and right of your ship, if you have a big enough vessel to support the maximum of four slots. Combined with your ship’s main weapon you are essentially firing five guns at once. This might sound like overkill but the game remains difficult enough that you never feel overpowered, even with a fully maxed out set.

In addition to the ability to upgrade your ship it is also equipped with a semi-circular shield that you can rotate at will to absorb fire. The size and resistance capacity of your shield varies depending on the ship type and how many upgrades it has. That adds another variable to the proceedings as you are not only moving, shooting and dodging dozens of things at once, but also must be aware of your shield as rotating it to the correct area that means the difference between life and death. Once again, although it might seem daunting at first it becomes second nature with practice.

The graphics of the game are very good looking, sort of like a hi-resolution 16-bit game. Some of the environments can get repetitive, but surprisingly the game uses its colour palette well. You are not confined to the blackness of space and instead will shoot your way through caverns, cities and even a forest. Although none of the bosses are particularly memorable they are at least uniquely designed, with the sole exception of the one that looks like a giant space potato. The game’s music and sound effects are like any other space shooter of the 16-bit era and none of it will stick with you after you are done with the game. The game also demands the use of a controller. Unless you are an expert at finger gymnastics playing this with a keyboard is a hassle. I played with a PS4 controller, using the left stick to move, X to shoot, Triangle to use the limited screen-clearing smart bombs and the right trigger to rotate the shield and this setup worked really well.

Although I had a lot of fun playing 1993 Space Machine, the game is incredibly short, just like in the good old days. It took me one hour and forty minutes to beat the whole game and that is after I died a good 48 times. You can bump that time to two hours if you add the two hidden levels. That would be okay…..if the game didn’t currently sell for $12.99 on Steam. I got it as part of the Humble Monthly subscription so the game’s price didn’t really affect me, but I wouldn’t buy it unless you can get it in a deal for under $5. Outside of trying out different ships or weapons, there is not much replay value to be had here. This feels like a missed opportunity because the game’s upgrade system felt fresh and like it could be a part of a larger game.

1993 Space Machine is a decent blast from the past that will bring you plenty of nostalgia if you grew up in the 8-bit and 16-bit days, arguably the pinnacle era of the space shooter. However, underneath some of its most innovative ideas is just the skeleton of what could have been a truly fantastic game. Once again, if you can catch it on a deal for under $5 and you love the space shooter genre then give it a try. Just be aware that when the nostalgia-fuelled run is over there is little reason to come back.

Edited reference accessed HERE. Originally posted by Armando Rodriguez on May 12, 2016. Edited by Whiterabbit-uk Aug 7th 2017 then reposted again August 2021.

Other Reviews and Videos of 1993 Space Machine:

You can see Steam community reviews of 1993 Space Machine HERE, and if you want to see some action, you can see some videos of game play HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

Conclusion:

If you like old school 'shmups' like R-Type, Gradius and the Thunder Force series you'll love this one. It's got all the elements I remember loving from the shmups I played back in the early 90's. It's well worth entering to win one of the keys that are being given away by the developers (thanks guys). (I won't be entering as I purchased this game when it was first released; shmups being one of my favourite genres next to breakouts)

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the developer ‘Modesty’ for giving away another bunch of 20 Steam keys for this excellent re-discovered retro shmup and also to the game giveaway team, as always, for securing other ways to get free games, in this case a Steam key.