C&VG
1st October 1984
Buck Rogers
Yes, it's time to save the universe yet again. This time, you take the part of Buck Rogers, fearlessly flying through the planet Zoom some time in the twenty-fifth century.
For the first part of your mission, you have to guide your ship through the electron posts. These look like electricity pylons and are positioned in pairs so that you have to race through them like a skiing slalom.
An indicator at the top of the screen tells you how many more posts youo have to pass through. Once you have achieved your quota, you are then faced with the added hazards of the Space Hoppers. These are not groups of children on inflatable toys but small, dangerous creatures who take their name from the way they move.
You have to shoot a certain number of the Space Hoppers and again the indicator tells you how many you will need to get before moving on to the final stage of the mission.This is in two parts. Firstly, the planet surface disappears and you find yourself floating in space. You have to destroy a number of flying saucers as they come hurtling towards you at quite a speed. Once the fleet has been obliterated, you can aim for a direct hit on the mothership. Your mission is now complete and you can move on to another level.
On subsequent skill levels, the posts are closed together and you have a larger number of aliens to hit in each stage.
Texas owners have had a bad deal when it comes to arcade software. Although the States is flooded with good games, no-one has ever brought any over to Britain. But now that Parco Electrics has changed that, we should be seeing more of this type of game in the future.Buck Rogers is the best game that I've ever seen on a TI. The graphics are smooth and the sound is realistic.
Buck Rogers comes on a cartridge at £27.50. You may think that this is expensive but it's well worth spending the money if you want only the best for your machine.
