Nuclear Embargo

The source of Earth’s energy and power is nuclear fission, obtained from a
rare mineral called Uranium 235 which was discovered in the early part of the
21st Century after earth’s fossil fuel supply finally ran out. Uranium 235
itself finally ran out but huge deposits of the mineral were discovered on the
many moons of Saturn and a deal was brokered with the dictator called Rayol
the first to supply Earth with this precious mineral. Centuries later and
Saturn has a new Premier called Rayol IV or Rayol the Perverse and he has
decided that he requires a zoo containing different races of the Earth’s
inhabitants and so has demanded Earth give him 1000 of it’s inhabitants. Earth
rejected this claim and so Rayol has stopped Uranium 235 from being delivered
to Earth and with stockpiles on Earth getting low and the potential for mass
starvation something has to be done. Instead of sending a mass force to wage
war on Rayol and the planet Saturn, the leaders of Earth have decide to send
one man to participate in a surprise raid. You have been the man selected for
this important mission, and in your ship loaded with nine robots you have to
visit all of Saturn’s moons, transport down a robot and collect as much
Uranium 235 as you can.

The game starts with a map of the area around Saturn in a 10 x 10 grid. Inside
various squares are a moon or a pulsar and you have to decide which moon to
explore with varying levels of difficulty or when to visit a pulsar area which
is needed for energy. As soon as the game starts you are losing energy so
action and decisions need to be swift. You move a cursor to the moon you want
to search and with a press of the fire button you move to that square, keeping
in mind that any movement decreases your energy further. Once you are in the
required square then you press F1 and you are looking at a close up of the
moon’s surface with a small part shown on the screen and the screen scrolls in
multiple directions when your sight moves. In the bottom left of the screen is
a bar which is your X-Ray detector and when there is Uranium 235 nearby then
the bar will move from the left to the right and when it reaches the end then
a alarm will sound briefly and you have found a location containing the
mineral. On some moon surfaces there are defences which fire at yourself but
you are able to return fire and destroy them.

It is time now to send one of the nine robots down to the surface so a press
of F5 brings up the transporter room and a robot being placed ready to go. In
the bottom right corner is a target and a small cursor. When you are ready to
send the robot down to the surface you hold the fire button down and the
cursor starts moving out of the centre of the target. As the robot is in the
process of transportation, you must keep the cursor in the centre by moving
the joystick or the robot starts to overheat. Stay out of the centre for too
long and the robot is destroyed and another one will have to be sent. Keep the
cursor central for long enough and the robot appears on the surface. You view
the robot from the side with a part of the surface shown and the screen moves
to the left or right when the robot moves. A arrow below the game screen shows
the direction of the nearest barrel of Uranium 235 and you move the robot to
it’s location. Patrolling the surface and sky are droids which will attempt to
destroy your robot but you can deflect missiles away with a beam. There is
also a radar that shows the location of any droids that need to be avoided.

When a barrel is reached you can empty it and move onto the next one. Once all
barrels have been emptied you can the return back to the ship. You press F5
again and you see the transporter room again and returning the droid is the
same procedure as transporting it to the surface. On some moon’s surfaces
there are pyramids and below the game screen there is another arrow indicating
it’s direction if one is on this moon. Inside the pyramid you have the
opportunity to shut down the defences and to do this you play a game like the
old board game Mastermind where you have to guess the correct five colours and
their position that the computer has. This is a process of elimination and you
have a limited number of attempts to get the sequence right. Get it right and
you shut down the defences. Once your robot is back on ship you can decide the
next square on the map to visit (press F1 to see the map) and hopefully
collect enough Uranium 235 that is needed.

If you find your energy getting low you can select a square containing a
pulsar which the game then changes to a 1st person perspective from your ship
as you move you sight in multiple directions searching for the pulsar. The
pulsar is a flashing object and when shot boosts your energy but that pulsar
is destroyed when shot so careful use of the pulsars is needed. The game is
over when you run out of energy or all your robots are destroyed and you are
given a score on how well you have done.