Swoop — rapid fire and even more frantic dodging Runs here
1995 · Ambrosia Software · Mac OS 8 · SheepShaver (Power Macintosh 9500) · 800×600 at 8-bit colour
Guide updated September 2026
Formations of rendered aliens peel off and dive at you, and you slide along the bottom of the screen shooting back. Swoop is Ambrosia's take on the Galaxian idea, written by David Wareing in 1995.
Its own FAQ describes it as frantic rapid-fire activity and even more frantic dodging, and adds that it is definitely not a game for wusses. This is version 1.0.2 on an emulated Macintosh.
Boots Mac OS 8.6 and opens Swoop by itself. Click Not Yet on the shareware notice, then New Game.
Controls
| Keyboard | Move and fire; the keys are listed and changed under Controls on the menu |
| Return | Start a new game from the menu |
| Mouse | The menu |
Swoop is Ambrosia Software shareware. Its licence permits non-profit distribution provided the software is unmodified and the complete works are included, and both are true here. The copy is unregistered, and the shareware notice it shows at startup is left in place. Full reasoning is in notices/swoop.md.
Archives
- Internet Archive: the Ambrosia installer this copy was produced from, via the Tucows Mac archive.
How it works & what to expect
| Machine | Power Macintosh, 800×600, 256 colours |
|---|---|
| System | Mac OS 8.6 |
| Emulator | SheepShaver, compiled to WebAssembly |
| Version | Swoop 1.0.2 |
| Saves | Inside the emulated Mac, in your browser |
The first start is the slow one: Mac OS 8.6 downloads once and every Mac OS 8 title after it starts much faster. Swoop was written to run happily on anything from a 68020 LC to a Power Mac, so it is light here.
The game
Waves of aliens arrive in formation and then break off in named attack patterns. The game's own files name them: dive bombers, a fish hook, a twister, an under-the-radar run. Some come straight at you and some circle back. You have a variety of weapons, and the dodging matters as much as the shooting.
The menu has New Game, Instructions, High Scores, Controls, Register and Quit.
David Wareing's first Ambrosia game
Wareing was a freelance Macintosh games programmer. Swoop came first, in 1995, and he followed it with Mars Rising for the Power Macintosh in 1998. Swoop's FAQ makes a point that was a selling line then: it works just as happily on a 68020 Mac as on a PowerMac.
Questions people ask
How do I start?
Click Not Yet on the shareware notice, then New Game (or press Return) on the menu.
What are the controls?
Keyboard, and they are listed and can be changed under Controls on Swoop's menu.
Is Swoop like Galaxian?
Yes, in the same family: enemies fly in formation and dive at you while you move along the bottom of the screen. Swoop's are 3D-rendered and come in a lot of named attack patterns.
Is it legal to play here?
Swoop is Ambrosia shareware, and its licence allows non-profit distribution as long as the software is unmodified and complete. This site is non-profit and carries no advertising.
Are high scores kept?
Inside the emulated Mac, in your own browser.
Put Swoop on your own site
Free, no permission needed and no account. Paste this where you want the machine to appear; it brings its own emulator and asks nothing of your page.
<iframe src="https://macemu.com/embed/swoop/"
width="800" height="600"
style="border:0;max-width:100%"
allowfullscreen
title="Swoop"></iframe>Sized to this title's real screen. How embedding works.
