Silkworm (1989)

Silkworm was released in 1989 for the ZX Spectrum by Virgin Games. The development team included Nigel Brown, Ned Langman, and Barry Leitch, with inlay art provided by David John Rowe and Junior Tomlin. The game is based on the original arcade coin-op by Tecmo Ltd.

This side-view 2D shoot-em-up supports two players and utilizes horizontal scrolling. Technical features include AY sound capabilities and multiple boss fights. Players can navigate the action using Kempston or Interface 2 joysticks.

The cassette version cost £9.99, while the disk version was priced at £14.99. The title was also released on several other platforms, including Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, NES, Amiga, and Atari ST.

The game holds an average magazine score of 84.42%. It earned several accolades, including the C+VG Hit, Sinclair User Classic, and Your Sinclair Megagame awards.

The game became widely recognized in Russia, serving as the inspiration for the local clone Chip. It saw numerous TR-DOS releases from various groups, and Alexey Mednonogov created a Russian translation. Cracked cassette versions were also distributed by groups such as Inxs Soft.