What it's like to play

Star Battle is a 960×480 shooter. You fly a 70×70 plane with WASD at 4 px per frame — 240 px per second at 60 fps — and fire with Space. The gun has a 30-frame cooldown, so holding Space gives two shots a second.

Fuel is the timer. You start with 15 points, lose 1 per second, and the run ends at zero. A fuel can adds 15 and caps you at 30; hitting an enemy costs 15, the same as standing still for 15 seconds. The pickup queue is part of the routing, not a bonus.

An enemy is worth 5, a meteorite takes two hits and pays 10, and shooting a friendly plane costs 10. Enemies, friends and fuel spawn on 2-to-5-second timers; stars every 1 to 2 seconds. There is no shield or bomb: two collisions drain a full 30-point tank. The rank table sorts by score, with time breaking ties.

The start instructions and rank headings are Chinese, though the controls are standard. Twenty-three sprites and three audio clips load before the start button enables.

A short, high-score run.

Scores: enemy +5, meteorite +10, friendly plane −10.

Start screen and rank are Chinese; 23 sprites and 3 audio clips load first.

Verdict: A short, high-score run where fuel is the timer, so every pickup is a routing decision, not a bonus.