Gates of Zendocon

Gates of Zendocon is a 1989 shoot-em-up action video game by Epyx written by Peter Engelbrite for the 1989 color portable handheld console Atari Lynx.

The game is a horizontally oriented, automatically scrolling shooter where the player flies a space ship across 51 levels ("universes"). During gameplay there are a number of little alien allies that aid the player and protect the ship. If the player gets hit by an enemy or projectile, the ship sprite will reflect the damage: it can lose the laser tip and the engine before the last hit. There is a bonus level hidden inside the game where the player can earn high scores by destroying the faces of the game's creators.