Prodata Group
P.O. Box 2464
Fullerton, CA 92634
$11.75 - 16K Cassette
I have always been a sucker for space and science fiction related games, and Prodata Group's Lunar Lander is no exception. Anyone who has visited an arcade will no doubt be familiar with this program. One of the things which I felt was lacking in this version is the use of a star field, which if added would give the game more realism. The addition of a star field should be an easy task for any knowledgeable programmer.
Once the program is loaded, the next thing to do would be to type in "RUN" and then hit "RETURN". Fine, however I had the feeling that I was being rushed. As soon as you hit "RETURN", the Lunar terrain is plotted and the ship is already starting along its descent. I would like to have seen the use of a title along with a couple of skill level options listed at the beginning of the game.
The ship always starts its descent at position 10,10 (graphics mode 7.) The object is to maneuver your ship to an ideal location on the lunar surface, and make a soft landing before exhausting your fuel supply. I have found it next to impossible to reach the surface with the amount of fuel allocated in this program, so I have therefore changed the program to give myself 200 units of fuel instead of the usual 50. This now gives me a chance to complete a game without destroying my ship. The joystick control is used for thrust and ship direction. Moving the stick up adds thrust, and down naturally lessens the amount of thrust. Moving the stick to either the right or left controls the horizontal thrust and horizontal direction. One feature which I found to be very appealing was the addition of information in the text window which keeps you updated on the thrust (0-11), vertical velocity, horizontal velocity, and amount of fuel.
In the arcade version, when your ship is close to the lunar surface, the screen automatically changes to give the viewer a close up of the terrain where the ship will try to land. In this program, you must wait until your ship reaches an area that is below two yellow lines located just above the surface. Once your ship is below these lines, you must push the joystick button which will then change the screen to the close up view of the surface. If you happen to misjudge your position and press the button too soon or too late, you may find yourself crashing into the lunar surface. Speaking of crashing, if you find yourself in this unfortunate position, there is a very realistic crashing sound along with the word CRASH printed at the bottom of the screen (a nice feature if you're playing late at night and don't have the sound on.) If you are lucky enough to land your ship safely, you will be rewarded with a CONGRATULATIONS. This is an enjoyable program which should be fun for the whole family. The only thing that I felt should have been added were the star field and skill levels that would give the player a greater amount of fuel. All in all, good clean fun.
"PRETTY" Graphics Demo
Note: after completion, hit any key to clear
SWIRL - AN ANIMATED GRAPHICS DEMO
