Gravitar was a vector graphics arcade game that used some of the elements of asteroids (the controls and free flight abilities of the player's ship[s]), but made them more rigorous by placing players on a series of planets. Players had to skim across the surface of planets and destroy any bunkers in them, as well as pick up fuel cells to maintain their fuel level(s) and avoid or destroy saucers that might also spawn. The game did not perform well commercially, and was only ported to the Atari 2600 a few years later (although it has since appeared in some modern compilations).
Gravitrex is a clone of Gravitar, albeit with many differences such as the addition of humans dotting planetary landscapes to be rescued, and the Gravitrex Plus Cart also includes two bonus games and other features. All games are single player only.
The player controls a fighter jet that starts every game in the solar system. In the middle is the sun, and there are multiple planets to choose from so the player can start their mission. If the player takes too long to select a planet, a pair of space saucers will spawn from the reactor planet, which will engage the player in dogfight if they get close enough (although the player can simply elude them by entering the planet). If the player's ship is destroyed or the player shoots both saucers, the player will return to the main solar system screen.
Once the player hits the planet by dashing into it, they must destroy every enemy bunker on the surface and dispose of every fuel tank and person. People and fuel tanks can be shot (although the player won't get any points for doing so), but a bonus is given if all people are saved in the level (see Scoring and Extra sections), plus fuel tanks are needed to keep up with the level the player's fuel (which is indicated by a line to the right next to the result in the upper left corner of the screen). People and fuel tanks can be teleported to the player's ship by maneuvering their ship close and activating the teleport/shields feature. Once all bunkers have been destroyed and all people and fuel tanks have been disposed of, the sound effect will signal the end of the mission, and upon leaving the planet, it will self-destruct, and the player will receive a bonus for that planet.
The exception to this rule is a lone reactor planet in each level, within which there is only one target - the reactor. This planet is different from all the others, as the player is given 99 units of time to go through a short maze, shoot the reactor, and get out before the time runs out, otherwise the player's ship will be destroyed and the reactor will remain. intact. If the player does not destroy this planet last in the level, then they clear the space saucers for the remainder of the level, since that is the planet they spawn from.
Hazards include the player's ship crashing if it runs out of fuel, plus the ship will be destroyed if it gets shot by a bunker, space saucer, or alien air interceptor (which looks like space saucers but spawns inside a planet), if they hit a wall, the sun , space dish, or alien air interceptor, or don't leave the reactor planet before their time runs out. If the player runs out of spare ships, the game ends. However, the player's fuel is replenished primarily from the fuel tank, and is completely replaced when a planet is destroyed, a level is cleared, or with each new ship. The player's teleport function also serves as a shield to protect against enemy fire. In addition, if the player defeats all the planets in a level, then the sun of that level will become new, then various bonuses are awarded (see below). Extras section), and if the player wins the third level, the game ends, giving a congratulations message as well. how to share some trivia about Gravitrex from game programmer John Donzil on screen.
While playing Gravitrex, there are several other ways to earn extra ships besides earning points every 10,000 points, which include earning a ship for each reactor destroyed once per level number, three additional ships are earned for completing a level, five are earned for saving each person on the first level, and 10 for saving all people on the second level. (Note: The level must be cleared before any of these bonuses are awarded.)
The options menu screen allows the player to remap controls and enter passwords that are awarded for completing the first and second levels, giving the player the option to resume the game at the beginning of the levels where they left off. The cassette also includes an "arcade" version of the Gravitrex (which is identical to the standard game, except the player ship's thrust is more powerful) and two bonus games Patriots III (which also has the option to use the original analog Vectrex controller setting) and paratroopers.
Patriots III Ballistic Destroyers (background) Edit
Missile Command was an arcade game in which players had to defend six cities with three missile bases from enemy missile, air, and satellite attacks. If all six cities are destroyed and there are no cities left in the supply, the game will end.
Patriots III is a clone of Missile Command, albeit with some minor gameplay differences.
Missiles fall from the top of the screen and the player must place the target cursor on the appropriate spots below the missiles and fire one of their three Patriot launchers in hopes of stopping the missiles. Enemy saucers and bombers will also spawn and drop their own missiles, as well as smart bombs (starting in the third wave), creating straight lines for bases or launchers that evade the player's fire. The player has unlimited firepower, although after firing multiple shots from the same launcher in a row, the launcher will have to reload (as indicated on screen by an exclamation point above the launcher) and the player will not be able to fire that launcher again for a few seconds .
Six bases are to be defended along with three missile launchers; when an enemy missile or smart bomb hits one of them, it is destroyed. However, with every 10,000 points, the base will be returned. The game ends when there are no remaining bases in the reserve after they are destroyed.
This is a Gravitrex Plus hidden game that is a clone of the Apple II Sabotage game, in which the player controls the revolver turret at the bottom center of the screen. Helicopters would fly overhead dropping paratroopers; if too many land (four on each side of the player's tower), the game will end. Later, jets dropped bombs. The player earned points for everything he shot down, but for each shot he fired, he would be awarded one point.
Paratroopers are a simplified clone of Sabotage that only has planes that drop paratroopers. If the skydiver gets to the ground, it will start moving towards the player's weapon and destroy the weapon once it reaches it. The player will not be penalized for shooting, however, aside from being able to fire direct missiles (since sabotage also gives the player the ability to have guided missiles if they choose to), plus the soldiers don't explode into pieces when shot and take out other soldiers from time to time, as on original. There is also only one continuous wave until the player is eventually overrun and the game ends, unlike the obvious change with Sabotage when a deadly bomb dropping plane appears.