Publisher: US Games
Release: 1982
Controller: Joystick
Players: 1-2
Genre: Shoot’em Up
Alternate Title: N/A
Model: # VC1012
Rarity: 4
Programmer: N/A
In this discount Missile Command knockoff you must use your base to defend your civilization’s energy supply against an army of missiles. Instead of raining down from the top of the screen, these bombs fly horizontally across the screen before arming themselves and dropping. On paper this had the potential to be a nice spin on the Missile Command gameplay, but the execution falls flat.
When the game begins you are greeted with some truly horrific music before the first of the enemy projectiles appears. There will be multiple rows of either rockets or helicopters flying by, and they will be harmless until they turn white. Once that happens they are officially armed and will fall towards your energy supply beacons. All is not lost if you fail to shoot them, since the collision detection is way off. What looks like a direct hit will sometimes not register, while what looks like a complete miss will decimate the target. 
The biggest issue with the game is your gun that is nestled in a giant moving pyramid. Instead of having a full range of motion, the canon snaps into place when you aim left or right, making it very difficult to line up your shots. To put it another way, it’s like a clock hand that jumps from twelve to ten, then to twenty. If you miss your target they will have a window where they can drop without fear of you taking them out, which as you can imagine poses a threat to your longevity. The only saving grace of your weapon is that it can have two bullets on screen at the same time, so while you may miss your indented target you can at least take something out with you.
To make matters worse, the difficulty ramps up quickly. By the third wave there will be enemies coming from both sides of the screen, and on the fourth wave they come out already armed. If you somehow survive past that, get ready for bombs that hit the ground in record time, giving you almost no time to react. Add in the facts that if a missile hits your gun you lose an energy base, and there is no way for you to regain a lost base, your game isn’t going to last very long.
If you enjoy Missile Command type games, you might enjoy this knockoff. For most people however, you will be better served sticking with the original.
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Derek began playing video games in the early 80s, cutting his teeth on every Atari 2600 game he could get his hands on. This kickstarted a lifelong love of games, which continues to this day. No matter how advanced the systems and games become, the love for Atari remains supreme, which is why the Atari 2600 Encyclopedia project was done. With this massive project completed, Derek looks to begin work on another system encyclopedia, hoping to pay tribute to the games that shaped his childhood.
