Helter Skelter is a fast-paced Bizarre Puzzle Game published by Audiogenic Software. Originally developed by The Assembly Line for Atari ST and released in 1989, it was ported to the Amiga, IBM Personal Computer, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC.
The player (or each player in two-player mode) controls the horizontal movement and downward thrust of a bouncing ball. The primary goal of each single-screen level is to eliminate all monsters by squashing them with the ball in a predetermined order indicated by pointing arrows. The secondary goal is to collect the bonus icons that appear randomly.
Not to confuse with the manga with the same name or a character with the same name from No More Heroes.
Tropes appearing in this game:
- Asteroids Monster: Hitting a monster out of order will cause it to split into two smaller monsters. Fortunately, the smaller monsters can't divide further.
- Color-Coded Multiplayer: The first player controls a red ball, and the second player controls a blue one.
- Co-Op Multiplayer: Ten of the screens require the help of a second player to complete, and are accordingly skipped in single-player mode.
- Endless Game: The game loops back to the beginning from the last level.
- Level Editor: Level numbers from 81 to 128 are reserved for user-designed levels.
- No Plot? No Problem!: There isn't any explanation for why all the monsters are running around, nor is there any description of what world the abstract level designs are supposed to represent.
- Password Save: A password is displayed for every tenth level completed.
- Spelling Bonus: Spelling E-X-T-R-A grants an extra ball, though duplicate letters cancel each other out.
- Timed Mission: Each level must be completed on a strict time limit. There are bonus icons that add time to the clock or temporarily freeze it.
- Wrap Around: Some levels wrap around vertically or horizontally.
