Penetrator

Year of release: 1983
Publisher: Melbourne House (UK)
Producer/Author(s): Beam Software (Philip Mitchell)

Listed on: WorldOfSpectrum , Wikipedia

Controls:
Q - Up
A - Down
O - Brake
P - Thrust and Fire
SPACE - Bomb

NOTE: Trainer mode is disabled in this version.

SCORING
- Ground missiles: 10 points
- Flying missiles: 50 points
- Radar bases: 100 points
- Defending paratroopers: 100 points
- Neutron bomb store: 1000 points for the first one, 2000 points for the second one, and so on.

CONTROLS
The up and down movement of your fighter plane is controlled by the Q and A keys on your Spectrum console.

The minimum height your fighter can fly is obviously determined by the terrain. Your maximum height is determined by the fighter aerodynamics, but may also be limited by the surroundings - for example when you enter the underground defense caverns.

Thrust and Brake:
Due to the forward momentum requirements of your fighter, you cannot stop the plane for any length of time.

It is possible to control your thrust and braking by the use of the P and 0 keys, but note that these can only be imposed for limited periods. Thrust involves holding down the P key Firing control A forward missile launcher is available as a standard on your fighter plane; this launcher enables you to fire missiles directly ahead, and is activated by the use of the P key.

Firing involves repeatedly pressing the P key. The number of forward missiles is limited only by your firing rate.
If you hold the P key down continuously, you will get thrust instead of firing. Bomb chute You may drop bombs on the enemy landscape, missiles and radar bases. The bomb chute is controlled by any key along the bottom row of the SPECTRUM console. Note that it is possible to only have two bombs in the air at any one time.

DANGERS
Be especially careful of the danger presented by the enemy radar bases. Although these bases will not fire at you, the information they gather can and will be fatal to your mission unless you destroy them.

As the enemy builds up knowledge of your position and flight path, this is transmitted to the missile command centre, thus enabling the missiles and enemy paratroopers to track you more accurately.

The danger level is shown on your console, and will continue to build as you penetrate into the enemy territory. There is only one way to reduce the danger level - blowing up the neutron bomb store, and thereby damaging the enemy missile command centre.

If you should allow the danger level to reach a critical level, the warning RED ALERT will flash on your console. Once this level is reached, you must assume the enemy has tracked your flight. Evasive action will now be difficult.

STRATEGIES
- Half the technique of the game lies in having proper control over the maneuvering of your fighter, so learn to do it well.
- Use the thrust and braking power of your fighter to your advantage. If you stay too far to the left or too far to the right you will not be able to use that extra thrust or brake to avoid enemy missiles. Keep your fighter in such a position as to maintain maximum flexibility.
- Note that the bombs are slowed down by the friction of the atmosphere as they drop.
- In Stage Three, where you must maneuver through narrow vertical and horizontal passages, stay as far to the right as your thrust will allow.
- In Stage Four, the enemy paratroopers will be hiding and waiting in ambush. Try to lure them out of their hiding place and then either shoot them while braking, or thrust quickly while going up to fly over them.
- In difficult situations, use the up/down keys for evasive action, and press the right arrow key and the space bar (simultaneous missile firing and bomb dropping) to destroy the enemy.
- If you wish to abort a mission completely, press ENTER and 0 simutaneously. This teleports you back to Control Centre.

Posted by Matt_B on Fri, 06/27/2008 - 14:35

Yeah, the controls are pretty odd, but I got used to them 25 years ago and have kept playing the game enough not to lose it. I guess that it was done that way so you could play it with a single button joystick.

Aside from a bit of flicker and colour clash, I don't think the game has dated at all. I'll have a go and see if I can get the top spot back shortly.

Posted by Daren on Sun, 06/22/2008 - 19:51

Fairly weird controls on this game. I don't know of any other speccy game where the same key performs two major functions (the right key also fires the laser as well as moving right). Takes a bit of getting used to.

Also the graphics (especially the firework display) are pretty good for 1993, as is the sound.