If Altair was a coin-op from Nichibutsu or Taito surely we would be talking about one of those machines that marked a before and an after of shooters, with original and innovative ideas, but unfortunately it did not. And it was not, because it follows the pattern that marked the Spanish games of the eighties: well, nice and unplayable.
What's hot on Altair? Well, lot of things that were not seen before, or at least not usually. First, the spacecraft is controlled in eight different directions, and can move around the screen, with the addition that can turn around anywhere on the screen and shoot it down. Moreover, if the enemies shoot to the sides of the ship, we will lose the part affected by the impact, not the entire ship, which is much appreciated.
The rest is pretty standard, waves of different enemies (some inspired by other games or movies of the time), and a final boss, popularly known as the "Cabezon" (Big Head), which has to be destroyed in a suspicious similar manner to the Phoenix mothership.
The ships, as it should be in a CIDELSA game, have a bad temper and impressive shoots, and almost seem to have intelligence.
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