The instructions to Space Rescue 2.0 give a full scenario of the game, which is set in the 21st century.

In brief, Earth has been robbed of the space factories and lunar mines which provide its energy. Using the last 10 landers abroad their mothership, you must penetrate the defences of the Xyolians to gather as many power pods as you can.

The pods are plcaed on three pylons at the bottom of the screen. Each lander is released from the mothership, guided past the crossing alien defences to land on the pylon, then returned to the ship.

Once all the pods have been collected, the action becomes progressively more difficult as defences are increased.

This lasts through four screens, after which the mothership returns to Earth. The game then restarts at a higher skill level.

Control of the landers is either by joystick or keyboard.

As the lander is moved continuously in one direction, it starts to accelerate. To counteract this, the direction must be reversed until stopped. This makes manoeuvring more difficult than in a straightforward dodging game.

J.W.