Previous Next

I wondered at first if I had the right game - the cassette cover said Lunar Rescue, but all references within the game were to "Space Rescue".

Whatever its name, the game at first appears like many others in concept, but as you play it you begin to appreciate the differences that add to its appeal.

You start off in the mother ship at the top of the screen, and the object is to rescue six men stranded on the planet below. You release from the mother ship, manoeuvre your way down and try to land on one of three pads. Sounds easy until you realise there are four rows of asteroids moving across the screen in different directions, and you must avoid them at all cost.

If you land on a pad without crashing into it or any of the asteroids you get bonus points according to the rating of the pad. That level on the pad is then removed, so it becomes maller and more difficult to land on at your next attempt - and the bonus points higher. Once you're down, one of the men runs across the screen and into your ship - a very pleasing effect. Your ship takes off automatically, but to your horror the asteroids change into rows of alien ships which immediately start dropping nasty bombs on you. You can fire back at them but you have to concentrate on dodging them to reach the mother ship.

Your troubles are not over if you do get through. When you break through, the mother ship stops and opens its door and you have to manoeuvre inside. If you haven't reached a suitable position, you will crash into the ship and lose a life or hit the top of the screen, at which point your little man plummets to the surface, never to be seen again.

You repeat the process for each of the six men and are rewarded with bonus points if you rescue them all. If you reach 3,000 points you get an extra rescue ship. You continue until you run out of fuel or you lose your three lives, which isn't difficult.

Your controls are Z and X for left and right, and a nice additional feature is the multi-use of the RETURN key. It releases you from the mother ship and also slows down your descent (which unfortunately uses up fuel). You use it to fire at the aliens as you go up, and your ascent speeds up if you keep your finger on the button. A pity that a game as good as this doesn't provide for joysticks.

Resolution and speed of graphics is good and the sounds are appropriate. The game requires great concentration and dexterity. It is good value for money and, if you like action, sufficiently dfferent to make it worth buying.

Ian Rowlings