Battlemorph

Battlemorph is a 1995 shooter video game developed by Attention to Detail (ATD) and published by Atari Corporation for the Atari Jaguar CD. It is the sequel to Cybermorph (1993), a pack-in game for the Atari Jaguar. Taking place 30 years after the events of the original game, the player pilots the morphing infiltration fighter War Griffon in an extermination mission against the Pernitia empire, which plans to launch a full-scale invasion to eradicate humanity and take over the galaxy after being pushed back to their home planet. The player is tasked with various objectives, while fighting against enemies and bosses, across eight galaxy clusters in order to liberate them from control of the empire. Battlemorph is a three-dimensional shooter game that is played in third person, just like its predecessor. Thirty years after the events in Cybermorph, the story takes place; following the resistance''s defeat, the Pernitia empire was forced back to its home planet, albeit at the expense of human settlements. In order to avoid taking a chance on another invasion, the Earth Defence Council constructed interstellar battle cruisers to monitor colonies. No anomalies were detected, but cruisers close to the Perseus star cluster started to vanish, and other fleets detected indications of Pernitian activity in eight galaxies prior to their disappearance. The Sutherland cruiser, which the Council sent into the Perseus cluster with the morphing infiltration fighter War Griffon, runs out of plasma energy after exhausting its warp drive systems. The main objective the game is to gather the plasma energy that Pernitian generals are holding back on each galaxy in order to get to the Pernish cluster and destroy the empire before they launch a full-scale invasion to wipe out humanity and conquer the galaxy. Before launching the War Griffon into the target, the player can load up to four special weapons onto it and choose a planet, each of which displays a mission briefing. To clear a planet, a variety of mission objectives must be fulfilled, including locating data pods, setting off detonators at military outposts, and taking out opposing headquarters, must be completed in order to clear a planet. Each galaxy cluster consists of multiple planets that can be played in any order, with a boss on the last planet that must be defeated before moving into the next cluster. The War Griffon can travel via interconnecting tunnels, submerged regions, and the main surface of the planet. The player can only move left and right while flying through tunnels, which also include first-person views. Blocked doors can be unlocked by firing at switches located within these areas. Later areas have additional adversaries and obstacles, while some bodies of water can help or hurt the player.There are two unique weapons available to choose from at the start, but other weaponry can be gained by discovering four fragments to increase the War Griffon''s armoury. However ammunition for special weapons must be picked up, as they are not refilled after clearing a planet, while their overall capacity is increased by finding hidden expansions. Other upgrades for the War Griffon are also found through each planet.