Somewhere, in a forgotten quadrant of the Galaxy, there is a life and death battle going on. It is the war against the Jaggies — a race of terrestrial terrors who are hellbent on taking over the Galaxy. Their sheer ugliness is only matched by their inability to win spaceside dog fights as proven by their poor record to date. Dim they may be but stupid they ain't. They have now taken the war to an acidic abortion of a planet called Fractalus. Here, they've dug in, relishing the harsh atmosphere that would burn through a space suit within a few minutes and cause all sorts of hassle to the lads from Ethercorps, as, although the Ethercorps are virtually unbeatable in space, they just can't handle their ships so well in gravity. That's why there are so many of them being shot down on the planet surface. We need them all back, especially those in the distinctive purple helmets denoting their Ace standing. It's up to the Air Corps who are still long enough in the tooth to remember what gravity is all about to get them off the planet and back into the war.. The controls for the game are straightforward. By using either joystick or keyboard you can control the spaceship in the usual eight directions with down or back to climb and vice versa. The keyed controls are B for boosters to take you back to the mothership (if she's there!); the > key increases thrust from one to eight as shown by the orange row of lights to the left of the cockpit and also launches the ship if it's parked on the planet surface with the < key reducing thrust but not to a standstill. Only L will do that using the craft to land if it is low enough. If it isn't, a ‘Too High' message will appear at the top of the screen. Each mission starts on the mother ship. This is where the level of the next mission is selected. At the beginning of the game, any level up to 16 can be selected. After that, after every successful mission, a mission up to four levels higher can be selected. This sequence looks rather like going up and down in an elevator. Once the level has been selected, the fighter shoots down a multicoloured tube into the inky blackness of space. Then it's down through the atmosphere on auto pilot to the surface. THE MISSION Now the tricky bit. On every level there will be a quota of pilots to be saved. They must be located and picked up. Depending on the level selected, the first priority may well be suppressing the local defences. Generally there are two approaches to any level: getting in quick and rescuing the pilots or stooging around blowing away the defences and then rescuing the pilots. There is a bonus for every second spent on the planet, so most people will probably go for the second approach. However, at the higher levels, this is a recipe for disaster, the object is to get down into the valleys and hug the terrain for all you are worth. Not only are there the static gun emplacements to take care of, there are also suicidal saucers, which become progressively more hellbent on their own destruction as time goes on. THE RESCUE Downed pilots are equipped with radio beacons which show up on the on board scanner. Line up with the beacon, put the ship into a gentle dive, and, once in range, land. Then try to get the space ship in your sight. After that, close down your systems. The ship is now inert and defenceless. Fortunately, it is these systems that Jaggi gun emplacements lock on to, so they immediately loose their lock on. Once the systems and shields are down, the downed pilot will amble up to you. Watch this guy closely: green helmet, he's an alien, white helmet, dunno, purple helmet, swing open the hatches— it's the ace. Sometimes you land on top of the ship and can't get it in your sights. You'll have to wait until he either bangs on the hatch or jumps up at the window screen. Fortunately, the Jaggi haven't sussed out how to knock on doors with the old tentacles. Once the chap's happily in side, the energy gets a quick boost and then — if possible—blow away the downed ship and it's off again. Once the pilot's been rescued, there's no guiding beacon, this is why it's essential to try to centre the ship before turning off the systems to rescue him. HOW I SAVED THE UNIVERSE BEFORE LUNCH Out of the cockpit window is a computer enhanced view of the Fractalus terrain. The first job is to suppress a bit of ground fire. Wind up the revs a bit and select your first emplacement, which will probably show up as a green blob on a mountain peak. Weave in and out to avoid enemy lock on — especially if the tracking lights start going on. Then aim fairly roughly and let fly. Remember, your firing anti matter torpedoes, so aiming isn't critical — who cares if you take a sizeable chunk of the mountain out as well, you don't get marks for neatness. If you miss, it could be that the gun position is the other side of a ridge. Either leave it for later or fly around the ridge and let fly. Watch out for the saucers. That and hitting the ground at high speed is the easy way to lose energy. While you're busy with the emplacements, pilots will come up on the scanner, so reduce your altitude and land. Watch out for tracking lights, once on the ground, be ready to cut your systems if they draw a bead. Find the downed ship, this shows up as a green flashing cross. If you can't get him centred, try taking off and landing again quickly. Then down with the shields. Fingers on the system key and wait for a friendly knock or an alien hitting the windshield. Then blast the ship and look around for the next pilot; with luck he'll be within range, just spin round and set off. Once you're quota has been reached, depending on your energy state, either hit the boosters or stooge around for some more bonus. Night flying (days last nine minutes!) is tricky. Keep your eyes glued to the instruments at all times and keep your speed down.   
CRITICISM 1. At first, I didn't think I was going to like this game, chunky graphics and easy game play. But after a few easy blasts, round about level fifty, things start getting pretty tough. It rates very highly as a simulator, with neat instruments that make night flying really fun. Add to that a fascinating plot and an element of strategy — managing your energy level, and you've got the makings of a classic. Only one drawback, you couldn't start at any level and you couldn't save the game. So if you want to make it to level 99, it's going to be a long sitting. 2. When I first saw this game on the Atari I was very impressed with th smooth graphics and horrifying monsters, but unfortunately that speed has gone and so has the playability of the game. Ok the game is quite jolly to play for a while, to me it's one of those, ‘This doesn't look to good ... wow I never knew there was so much in it' followed by a very quickly found period of boredom. As a simulator I found it much too simplified, if a proper flight simulator was brought out with these sort of graphics then it would be a winner, but to me Rescue on Fractalus has very little to keep me going. 3. This was a highly exciting game on the Atari and it has retained all of its feel on the Amstrad. Colour is good and the graphics are simple but very effective with the sound effects playing quite a strong part in the game. You soon get the feel for flying around blowing up the nasties' stronghold. The Fractalus nine minute days are beautifully done going through twilight and into the pitch blackness of night flying; all adding a very definite sense of realism. It's a pity you can't save out the games but that apart Rescue on Fractalus is an old game with a timeless appeal that would have bene fitted from a slightly less heavy price tag.. Amtix
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