diff --git a/alienblaster/project/jni/application/src/SdlForwardCompat.h b/alienblaster/project/jni/application/src/SdlForwardCompat.h
index f3f5f2986..6e619d6d1 100644
--- a/alienblaster/project/jni/application/src/SdlForwardCompat.h
+++ b/alienblaster/project/jni/application/src/SdlForwardCompat.h
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ static inline SdlCompat_AcceleratedSurface * SdlCompat_CreateAcceleratedSurface(
 	
 	// Allocate accelerated surface even if that means loss of color quality
 	Uint32 format;
-	
+
+	/*
 	if( surface->flags & SDL_SRCALPHA )
 	{
 		format = SDL_PIXELFORMAT_RGBA4444;
@@ -59,17 +60,33 @@ static inline SdlCompat_AcceleratedSurface * SdlCompat_CreateAcceleratedSurface(
 		format = SDL_PIXELFORMAT_RGB565;
 		ret->t = SDL_CreateTextureFromSurface(format, surface);
 	}
+	*/
+
+	format = SDL_PIXELFORMAT_RGB565;
+
+	if( surface->flags & SDL_SRCCOLORKEY )
+		format = SDL_PIXELFORMAT_RGBA5551;
+	ret->t = SDL_CreateTextureFromSurface(format, surface);
 
 	ret->w = surface->w;
 	ret->h = surface->h;
+	ret->format = new SDL_PixelFormat();
+	*(ret->format) = *(surface->format);
 	
 	if( ! ret->t )
 	{
 		SDL_SetError("SdlCompat_CreateAcceleratedSurface: Cannot allocate HW texture, W %d H %d format %x surface->flags %x", ret->w, ret->h, format, surface->flags );
+		return ret;
+	}
+
+	if( surface->flags & SDL_SRCALPHA )
+	{
+		SDL_SetTextureBlendMode( ret->t, SDL_BLENDMODE_BLEND );
+		Uint8 alpha = 128;
+		if( SDL_GetSurfaceAlphaMod( surface, &alpha ) < 0 )
+			alpha = 128;
+		SDL_SetTextureAlphaMod( ret->t, alpha );
 	}
-	
-	ret->format = new SDL_PixelFormat();
-	*(ret->format) = *(surface->format);
 	
 	return ret;
 };
diff --git a/alienblaster/project/jni/application/src/explosion.cpp b/alienblaster/project/jni/application/src/explosion.cpp
index 8c840be1c..ab3222962 100644
--- a/alienblaster/project/jni/application/src/explosion.cpp
+++ b/alienblaster/project/jni/application/src/explosion.cpp
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ using namespace std;
 
 Explosion::Explosion(string fn, const Vector2D &position, 
 		     const Vector2D &velocity, const ExplosionTypes &explosionType) {
-  sprite = surfaceDB.loadSurface(fn);
+  sprite = surfaceDB.loadSurface(fn, true);
 
   nrAnimStages = sprite->w / sprite->h;
   expired = false;
diff --git a/alienblaster/project/jni/application/src/global.cpp b/alienblaster/project/jni/application/src/global.cpp
index bd3b01055..45e77a47e 100644
--- a/alienblaster/project/jni/application/src/global.cpp
+++ b/alienblaster/project/jni/application/src/global.cpp
@@ -368,8 +368,8 @@ void initAllSurfaces() {
   surfaceDB.loadSurface("./images/heavyFighterDeflector.bmp", true);
   //surfaceDB.loadSurface("./images/font-20red");
   //surfaceDB.loadSurface("./images/font-20blue");
-  surfaceDB.loadSurface("./images/explosion.bmp");
-  surfaceDB.loadSurface("./images/explosionEnemy.bmp");
+  surfaceDB.loadSurface("./images/explosion.bmp", true);
+  surfaceDB.loadSurface("./images/explosionEnemy.bmp", true);
   surfaceDB.loadSurface("./images/bannerExcellent.bmp", true);
   surfaceDB.loadSurface("./images/bannerYouRule.bmp", true);
   surfaceDB.loadSurface("./images/bannerHeiho.bmp", true);
diff --git a/alienblaster/project/jni/application/src/surfaceDB.cpp b/alienblaster/project/jni/application/src/surfaceDB.cpp
index f96840b43..ed7a09f1d 100644
--- a/alienblaster/project/jni/application/src/surfaceDB.cpp
+++ b/alienblaster/project/jni/application/src/surfaceDB.cpp
@@ -93,14 +93,7 @@ SdlCompat_AcceleratedSurface *SurfaceDB::loadSurface( string fn, bool alpha ) {
   }
 
   if ( alpha ) {
-    hwSurface = SDL_DisplayFormatAlpha(newSurface);
-    if( hwSurface ) {
-      SDL_FreeSurface(newSurface);
-      newSurface = hwSurface;
-    }
     SDL_SetAlpha( newSurface, SDL_SRCALPHA, 128 );
-    SDL_SetColorKey( newSurface, SDL_SRCCOLORKEY, 
-		   SDL_MapRGB(newSurface->format, transR, transG, transB) );
   }
 
   surfaceDB[ fn ] = SdlCompat_CreateAcceleratedSurface( newSurface );