My sixth Star Citadel gallery. Things are very much hotting up now and, something else you may not have noticed so far, is that that cannon’s energy projectile is getting larger, and thus harder to avoid. This isn’t something that happened in the original Star Castle, nor does it happen in the classic variant of Star Citadel.
Note that Star Citadel has two variants: a modern version, from which these screenshots are taken, and a classic version, which is designed to play as much like the original Star Castle as possible.
Click on the images to see larger versions.
Missing this would be the equivalent of missing an open goal in a football match (soccer, for those of you on the other side of the pond). Seriously, it's an absolute sitter.
Yet somehow I manage to miss and am forced to evade the cannon's energy projectile at the very last moment.
Undeterred I'm diving back in for another run, spraying bullets all over the show. There are plenty of opportunities to attack when the cannon is this wide open, but that also affords the cannon plenty of opportunities to mount a counterattack.
I'm rotating in the hopes of getting off a more solidly targeted spray of fire.
And now I'm diving in for the kill but sadly, although particles are bursting off in all directions, it doesn't look like I'm quite on target.
No - I'm forced into a u-turn at the last second, before the cannon has chance to fire again. The diving in close style of attack does become increasingly risk as the game progresses.
Coming in from the top I'm forced to bail out again as the cannon gets off a round.
And, honestly, it's a good thing that I did choose to leave because, not only did I have the energy projectile to deal with, but a mine has wrapped over from the bottom of the screen. Note that, just like Star Castle, your bullets, and the enemy's mines, can both wrap around the edges of the screen. This can make the mines particularly hazardous on higher levels as they can effectively sneak up on you.
Relative safety has been achieved, at least for a moment. Both the energy projectile and the mine are now miles away. Still, another mine is free, and heading my way.
These mines were really becoming quite troublesome, so I decided it was time to take them out.
Well, at least one of them has been dealt with, which gives me the opportunity to...
...sweep in and deal a killing shot through the cannon's shield rings. It's tempting to feel smug at this point, but look where that energy projectile is. This could be bad.