Story[]
"Your home galaxy has been invaded by alien colonists hoping to claim all inhabited worlds as their own.
Unacceptable!
You have been given the ultimate responsibility of protecting your galactic neighbors from the invaders. Blasting the aliens with the amazing anti-molecular cannon transports them thousands of light years away where they cause no further bedlam. But beware, the invaders will be increasingly ruthless.
The future of the galaxy rests on your shoulders. Good luck!"
---Game Manual
Gameplay[]
Player operates anti-molecular cannon settled in the middle of each sector. Enemy ships emerge from specific points of every sector and come straight towards to destroy the cannon with one hit.. Player turn the cannon left and right or spin it around quicker with the Fast Rotate button to shoot waves of enemies. Additional weapon Zap destroys everything currently on the sector and can only be used once per sector. Game ends once the player had no more remaining ships.
Enemies, sectors and difficulty levels[]
There are several different types of enemies and sectors.
Enemies[]
name | image | description |
---|---|---|
Escort Ship | - heads straight for the cannon without stopping - present in each sector | |
Astral Defender | - approaches the cannon only when it's pointed in another direction - stops when the cannon faces it | |
Destroyer Droid | - encircles the cannon waiting to strike - attacks when it's directly behind and if gets close enough | |
Colonist Transport | - direct shots push them back to the edge of each sector - cannot be blasted out due to its strong shields - remains in the sector until all other ships are removed - removable only by using Zap |
Sectors[]
name | image | description |
---|---|---|
Sector 1 | - there are only three entry points for ships to emerge from, as this screen is shaped like a pyramid | |
Sector 2 | - four entry points for ships to emerge from; shaped like a bird's foot | |
Sector 3 | - six entry points | |
Sector 4 | - this signifies the start of a next level, having only two points of entry for enemy ships on this one, which the sectors will start recycling after this sector is passed |
Difficulty levels[]
- level 2: sector areas start collapsing; the player must shoot out the ends of a sector to keep ships at bay. If the player allows the entry points of a sector to get real close then enemy ships can emerge from these points and be right on top of the player's ship. This also marks the debut of the Destroyers
- level 2, sector 2: Colony ships debut
- level 3: sectors start rotating around
- level 4: sector rotates faster than level 3
- level 5: sector areas start pulsating
- level 6: sector areas not only rotate, but start doing so at a high rate of speed as the player turns left or right, making it hard to get a shot in at anything
Easter eggs[]
In order to make the programmer’s initials appear, hold down buttons one, two and four on the controller during the Bedlam title screen (which will occur after the music ends).
Additional Info[]
- Bedlam is sometimes compared to the game Tempest, where player controls a blaster that moves around the borders of geometrically-shaped levels and fire at ships emerging from the middle areas. Therefore is called "Tempest in reverse". Ultimate weapon Zap is compared to the Superzapper in Tempest.