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The object of Solar Fox is to successfully manoeuvre your Starship through a series of colourful, pulsating solar cell matrixes, or matrices, whichever you prefer! Points are scored for each solar cell you capture and for how fast you clear each astromaze.

You begin each game with a squadron of three starships. The number you have remaining are shown in the right hand side of the screen. They can travel at two speeds, depending on the difficulty level you have chosen, and can also be speeded up by holding down the fire button.

There are twenty different solar cellmazes. each maze varies in shape, composition, complexity and in some cases colour. Racks one to six are composed of single solar cells. Racks seven to twenty are made up of double solar cells. Each cell must be passed over twice to be cleared from the screen if they are of double composition.

All the matrixes are guarded by two sentinels. Each sentinel continually oscillates along the perimeter shooting a pattern of deadly fireballs across the playfield. As you advance into more complex mazes, the frequency of fireballs increases and their patterns become more erratic.

Each of the matrixes are equipped with a Skip-A-Rack timer. If you manage to clear a matrix before the letters of 'Skip-A-Rack' disappear you will automatically skip the next matrix and earn all the points available from it.

After every fifth matrix of Solar Fox a Challenge Rack appears. There are six different challenge racks making the total number of astromazes 26. These special racks are much more difficult than the ordinary ones - you need expert manoeuvrability and precise timing. You must clear these racks of all their solar cells before all the letters of 'challenge' disappear. Bonus points will be rewarded for doing this.

When you complete the Challenge Rack a code letter will briefly appear on the screen. This letter is part of a mystery word that has been programmed into your cartridge. To get all six letters you must successfully complete all six Challenge Racks. "The mystery word is your key to exciting new surprises from CBS Electronics", it reads in the instruction booklet!

Solar Fox is not exactly riveting - the whole object of the game is to shoot at things and avoid fireballs. The graphics are not particularly wonderful either. Overall it is just space-age version of Pac-man.