Matica.comOnline fun since 1998Licence our games

From our classic games collection

Vectrox

Oh no! You've been hyperspaced into a psychedelic storm of Meteors and Asteroids! You can try to fight your way out ... but they just keep on comin' and comin!

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Vectrox artwork
Vectrox

A little internet history

When games arrived in the browser.

1995
Java applets helped turn web pages into places you could play, with games running inside the browser.
The plug-in era ends
Browsers gradually stopped supporting Java plug-ins. Java 11 removed the browser deployment tools; the Java language itself continues.
Today
This original game runs through our browser emulator. You don’t need to install the old Java plug-in.

Our part in that early web

Our Java games began on Smilie.com in the 1990s, before Matica followed. A surviving Smilie archive from 1 June 1997 refers to Mirkin’s Darts; Matica appears in the archive from 11 November 1998.

These games are part of that first wave of web play. We’re keeping them accessible, along with their original pages and history.

Read more: Java’s early tutorial history · Oracle’s applet deployment notes

Space to start and fire; Left/Right turn; Up thrusts; H uses hyperspace. Sound starts off. High scores are shared between Matica and SmilieGames; loading and game-driven saving await owner testing.

Play Vectrox

Original game notes

Click within the applet
Use the Left & Right cursor keys to steer
Use the Up cursor key for thrust
Press Spacebar to Fire
Press H (or Y,U,G,J,B,N) for Hyper space
For very 10,000 points you score you get an extra life!
Aim for the High Score!

Press S to turn the sound effects on or off
Press M to turn the music on or off