Hi everyone,
Yesterday, I decided to give one my all-time favourite shoot’em ups a go again. It’s actually not an Amiga game (surprise, surprise! ;)), but one that was made for PC’s running DOS. The game is called Tyrian 2000 and it is awesome. 🙂
Thanks to the great guys at Good Old Games (GOG), I got the game for free when I signed up at their site many months ago. The beauty of the GOG-system is that you just download an installer, run it and everything is configured for you. No need to fiddle with settings in DOSBox!
Tyrian was first released back in 1995 by Epic MegaGames. Tyrian 2000 is an updated version of the original, which became available in 1999. Since 2004 the game has been freeware.
The game is basically a fast-paced vertical scrolling shoot’em up. You’re in control of a spaceship and you’ll have to use all your skills to survive the chaos of bullets and enemies.
What’s the plot of the game? I found a great description on Wikipedia about it:
The game is set in the year 20,031. Players play as a skilled terraforming pilot named Trent Hawkins, who is employed to scout out habitable locations on newly terraformed planets. His latest assignment is the planet Tyrian, which is located near the territory of the Hazudra, who are a lizard-like race.
One day, Buce Quesillac, a Hazudra and Trent’s best friend, is shot in the back by a hoverdrone which quickly disappears into the sky. As Buce lay dying, he tells Trent that it was all the work of Microsol, the giant corporation who controlled the terraformation of Tyrian. They had Buce shot for his knowledge of Gravitium, which is a special mineral, unique to Tyrian, able to control the force of gravity.
Microsol want to use Gravitium to power their warships, which could result in them becoming nearly unstoppable. They also attempt to eliminate anyone who knows of its existence. Trent is the next person on their hit list, and with his last words, Buce implores him to try to reach Savara, a free world. Trent manages to secure a small fighter, and departs for Savara.
I think it’s cool that the game has an elaborated story behind it. Not all shoot’em ups have that!
Your ship can be improved by purchasing upgrades. You’ll find gems and coins throughout the game that you can pick and later spend in the shop. 🙂 There are several kinds of upgrades available, for example better weapons, shields or engines.
You’ll also find objects containing interesting information concerning the Tyrian universe. Mini-games are also included, but I won’t spoil your fun by mentioning any of those here.
What I like about this game is the wide range of options when it comes to improving your ship, the fast-paced action that twists your brain and leaves you exhausted after completing one of the more difficult levels, the mini-games, the music, the large bosses.. I could go on, but I guess you’ve gotten the point by now. 😉 There’s so much that makes this an awesome shoot’em up. 🙂
This has been a quick peek at Tyrian 2000. I might do a proper review of it some time in the future. Right now I just wanted to share my excitement for this game. If you’re into shoot’em ups and haven’t tried it, then please consider downloading it. It’s well worth it, I can assure you. 🙂 Did I mention it is free to download?
Anyone else out there playing or having played Tyrian 2000? Would love to hear what you think about this game.
Thanks for reading and have a good evening!
Old School Game Blog 
Great blog, love it!
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Hi there Dan,
Many thanks for your comment and for visiting my blog. I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
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I’ve got this game, it’s really good. If you like Xenon, SWIV and Battle Squadron then it compliments them nicely.
Check out the ‘Apogee Software Productions’ they made some real classics for DOS available at many of the great DOS archive websites. Hocus Pocus is a nice title of theirs.
I play them on my Dell 386 computer I fixed up some time ago: http://jetsetskippy.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/dell-333sl-computer.html (Some gaming snapshots in the gallery)
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I would definitely check this out. I love shoot ’em ups.
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It’s a good one. Definitely worth checking out. 🙂 There’s a chance that you might get hooked though.. hehe..
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Nice blog you have here. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed my post ‘My C64 and Me’, thanks for reading it!
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Hi there Arbitrarium,
Thanks for your comment! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed reading my blog.
I found your post both interesting and entertaining. 🙂 Keep up the good work!
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Excellent pictures. You actually make me want to play! I like shooting games too, but I’m not much of a gamer. Still, I watch my son when he gets into it sometimes & I can feel the adrenalin & the drive. You’re going to think me WAY basic, but I liked Duke Nukem so much when he first came out. All the funny things he said, & the walking through the streets & hearing electricity in the street signs etc. I really liked it. Good post 🙂
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Hi there,
Thank you for commenting and for visiting my blog. 🙂 Keep up the good work with your own blog btw!
There are so many good shooters out there. Duke Nuke’Em is a true classic and I think it deserves a place in the all-time hall of fame. If you like a bit more basic shoot’em ups, then I think you might enjoy Warblade.. it’s based on the standard Galaga arcade game, but with tons of upgrades, add-ons, variety of levels and so forth. I became addicted to it a few years ago, especially since it contains a brilliant two-player mode. If you want to know more, please have a look here:
https://oldschoolgameblog.com/2011/04/26/review-warblade-pc/
It’s great stuff. 🙂
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Thank you for the link. As soon as you said ‘Galaga’ I was there!
I think Duke’Em should be in the hall of fame too. I really did like it. I can never forget I was reading on the couch & my son was playing but he left to go to the toilet. He took a while! So, I was sitting there quietly & suddenly Duke said, ‘What are you waiting for? Christmas?’ & I really giggled at it. It was me, space, the computer, & it’s like he was saying it to entertain us both while Daniel was on the toilet – it was so great like that 🙂
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That’s great to hear. 🙂 Hope you’ll enjoy Warblade if you give it a shot!
Hehe.. that’s a good story. 🙂
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I like that we both copied and pasted the story from Wikipedia. Did you do that because you didn’t realise the amount of story there was? It was nice to have a proper story, but it all passed me by
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Hmm, I can’t remember writing much about the original story of the game at all. 🙂 Maybe you were thinking of another post? Ah, now I see. I have also written about it on OSGB… I was thinking of my latest review on amigaos4gaming.wordpress.com. 😉
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