Personal Compuer Games


Stellar Dodger

Author: TH
Publisher: Terminal
Machine: Commodore 64

 
Published in Personal Computer Games #5

Stellar Dodger

Although it's yet another version of Lunar Lander, Stellar Dodger is a good deal more interesting to play than most of its ilk.

As usual, you have to choose your moment to drop from the mother ship and then navigate your way very carefully through a horde of asteroids down to any one of three bases. That much is dead standard.

The interest comes in the flight controls, which take some skillful handling. Your remaining fuel is displayed as a red line on the right hand border. Pressing 'F1' fires the thrust motor, while 'F3' cuts it. Getting down to the surface in one piece is relatively simple. The problem lies in getting back and docking successfully with the mother ship.

The asteroids are as thick as fleas, so firing the motor to get out of the line of one cluster automatically makes you a candidate for another. You have to be a pianist or have the reflexes of a 12-year old arcade junkie to weave your way through.

Sound-wise this game is just about par for the course. Each game has its little introductory jingle. Thrusting gives you a sheet of white sound and bombing an asteroid produces a grand explosion. I would have expected a little more imaginative use of sound if the graphics hadn't been so banal. Whatever this game has, it gets from the navigational skills it demands.

TH

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