Star Cruiser (Sharp X68000) - The Better Part of Valor

I've checked that I can go to Gothic, and discovering that it's just a dungeon, have decided not to give Gaby Todd $3000 for information. If she wants to lock her business behind an insurmountable barrier, she can suffer the consequences. Meanwhile, I plan on finding where an ore processing unit is. Which means doing something I done since I left Sol. Explore the planetary bodies. First, I head for Ghost.

Ghost is a strange shell of a planet. There's someone blocking my path at the entrance. Or rather, it's a heavy ore I can pick up. it's another dungeon. Figuring that I should come back to this, I leave and head for the next planet, Salamander. If memory serves, this is important to the plot at some point. It's another dungeon. Is this entire system just a dungeon?

Continuing through to the next reachable planet, I head to Colony 3. Which just has recharge stations and a bar. Oh, and a building where Brian asks if they know about any black markets, because word on the street is that there's one here. The guy knows nothing about it. Oh, well. That's everything around the one star, and it's a long way to the other one. But this does give me a chance to find out something I haven't gotten about space combat.

Up until this point, I've been assuming when I point at the guys on the radar, I'm facing that guy and the issue is I'm not up or down enough for it. Not so. I don't know how well it'll come off in the screenshots I have, but you can see that the direction I'm pointing and where the enemy is in relation to me are not as well coordinated as they should be. Hence my trouble finding enemies lately.

The first planet around the second star is Atlantis. Glad we found it, I wonder how Shepard is doing. Jokes aside, there is a store that sells actual equipment, but it just sells analyzers, both ones I already have. There's an ammo shop and the usual buildings, but nothing that helps me. Interestingly, there's another location nearby labeled ????, which I don't need a hint to figure out is a dungeon. This leaves Riechen (Probably spelled wrong) a dungeon-looking planet and the Bermuda.

Bermuda is a prison planet, and contacting the control tower causes the guy there to say I likely don't want to be here, but if I want to land they could always use more laborers. And that's this system. I could go to Rigel Kent, but I'm going to hold off on that until I have reason to go back. For now, it's time to clear out Gothic.

Gothic is what looks to be another dungeon full of dozens of encounters with groups of three enemies who bounce around like they're on a sugar rush, but at least dead is dead. I'm not dealing with it all very efficiently, but the space ships surrounding the planet are over a grand a pop, for less effort than the ones I was previously dealing with. Things could be a lot worse.

Like manna from heaven, I find another energy tank. It's at this point that it occurs to me that I've been treating this game wrong. I've been treating it like I would a standard JRPG. Follow the signposting, do what the game asks, when this is actually more of a western-style experience and I've just been too stupid to realize it. Chalk up another one to Morpheus believing the old adage about Japanese players preferring linear experiences.

The way this level works is that there are a lot of locked doors and one lever, that's behind a hidden passageway. Unfortunately, once you get that open you need to find the elevator up, every other door has 1000 energy fuel tank or a repair unit. I've never used a repair unit yet and I doubt I will. The second is that once you reach it, a trap activates. A new group of enemies spawns all over the entire level. It's just the once, not a repeatable one, so small mercies.

Unfortunately, once you get off the first floor it's more or less a straight shot through corridors with only small items in sidepaths and enough encounters to make you question what's going on. It's more tedium at a stage where this game is really feeling it's length. Fortunately, what we then get is a boss fight against the guy who ran away before. His shots take two blasts to take, which is annoying, but not more than the usual enemies.
 

This leads to a scientist and a door switch. He's a hostage, judging by how he cowered before I entered. He's Kenny Jones, space archaeologist. They were having him analyze a stone slab taken from the ruins on Unicorn, in Rigel Kent. There's nothing special about it, save that it's from an ancient alien civilization. Which I presume means a powerful one, rather than finding something from Ancient Egypt. The door back opens the path back, which is the only one back. This respawns all enemies again, great...

I end up using missiles in one encounter, and you know something? Outside of not costing energy, they suck. They ignore enemy shots, and you can't swap to a regular weapon. You need to activate the menu, switch weapons and while it pauses, you still need to be fast on the draw. Still, it helps me get out of this mess intact, so there's that.

Back on Hollywood...nothing has changed. Well...you know what? I'm still not paying. Off to Rigel Kent. Maybe I can find an ore processor there. So I head there and there's a guy at the gate. He tells me I can't use the Gravity Catapult because there are too many people in my starship. I...wasn't aware that was a concern...but wait, I have two, max. Oh, you're going to make me pay, you jerks.

Going back and paying Gaby her blood money, I notice something this time around that I didn't before. She tells me about the black market on Colony 3. Afterwards, Gaby and Kenneth are introduced, with Kenneth being able to stay here for a moment before going back to his house in Old New York in the Barnard system. Brian asks them if they know about any VOID presence in alien ruins, and Gabby says that her brother was headed to Kai in Rigel Kent. Two locations I should examine there.

The method to enter the black market is annoying. First, go to the bar, where Gaby's contact is. He'll then allow you to enter the actual building, where you can buy incredible items. Oh, I'm sorry, did I say that? I meant it's another dungeon, because screw you. More trash cans, signifying thematically the level of quality this part of the game has sunk to. And this is not just some small group of enemies, there are individual paths each leading to a shop.

But you know what? It's actually worth it. I don't mean that metaphorically, it really is. Because I find an ore converter. It converts ores into energy, fuel. This is something of a game changer, because there are a lot of asteroid fields around, and each asteroid gives you an ore. In theory, this means you can handle more than you normally could...but it also means more grinding for asteroids. 

Now that I've done that, it's time to head to Rigel Kent, first off, after recharging, Kai. Don't be fooled by the enemies there, they're about 23 down from the planet. I'll just go there and...there's an invisible barrier. Hmm...would have been nice of the game to warn me, but I did remember that bit. Since one planet at the edge of that star is outside this seeming barrier, maybe I can go there? I can, but outside of a secret passage leading to a locked door, there's nothing I can do here. Better go off to Unicorn...but I'll take the long way around, since I should see what's going on with the rest of this area.

There's nothing else I can reach around the second star, so I go up around it. Cherry Shuffle's off in the upper right corner of the map, but it's nothing special. There's a locked building which may become useful later...but that's later. There are a few $1000 ships wandering around, which is nice for my wallet, but at the same time, I'm not in danger of running out of money I've earned legitimately, let alone via the translation's cheat option. Foul/Egg is engulfed in a civil war, which means I'm not there anytime soon. It's also two planets locked together, which is weird.

After that, I check my map to find out where Unicorn is...it isn't there. If it isn't around Sirius, which I know it isn't, and it isn't around Rigel Kent...where the hell is it? Oh, it's some settlement I have to find, which means checking every single planet again. After I travel to Hurricane, and realizing it's a dungeon I already cleared out, then head to Colony 2, I find the bar there and discover the game knew I was going to be stupid.

Brian somehow knows that someone came back from Kai here, and the bartender knows who it is. There's a drunk who apparently went there. He talks about barbarians and Praid. I'm out 3k for this information, because that was his bar tab. Fine, at least this isn't the mess that was the Hollywood death march. Barbarian is a clue, because that's one of the planets around here. Then Praid must be another planet. Pride. Is it between the two? Well, let's check Pride first.

Exploring around, one of the stores sells an ore processor 2, meaning my earlier trip to that black market would have been completely pointless if I actually explored this system. That alone made this trip worth it, but there's a research institute here, hidden behind some moveable trees, where the guy tells me that the Feds are doing some sort of experiment and they've moved the device to Barbarian.

The area between Pride and Barbarian is pretty dense with enemies, but since they're all below $1000 bounty, this is just busywork. There's a guy at the entrance, and it's Joshua. Who is chasing a suspicious person and asks me if I've seen one. Brian says he isn't, but I am reminded of that little traitor suggestion. Barbarian itself is not a town or a dungeon, it's a puzzle planet. Where you really just wander around moving rocks and trees until you find a strange device and move that. Now you've changed locations.

For some reason, Daniel is now blocking my way out. That's funny, I seem to remember thinking that if Diana isn't the traitor, he's the best possibility...and now he shows up here. He asks Brian why he's here, which is to find Max. Daniel tells us that he's in the planet with the old ruins, but I shouldn't go there since VOID is also there.

Once I'm out into space again, I see that I've been warped to the second star. I should point out that while the impression is that Barbarian teleported to the second star, in actuality, it's another planet called Transporter. Kai is, as you've probably guessed, a dungeon. No respawning tiles at the entrance, no special enemies and freedom to go to and from. Just a lot of fighting guys I tired of fighting last entry and a long trip back. I'm not sure being non-linear is doing it any favors. 

Eventually, I find Max, and he's not doing well. VOID apparently has spies everywhere and they found out that he and Gaby have something important. He says something about a Gibb, obviously Gibson. Which means the game is leaning us towards Gibson being the spy, because he is or is being implied to be the one. He tells me something is in a place called Kirk on planet Egg. The question is, do I go there first or do I see if Gaby needs help? Yeah, her business sense is terrible, but that doesn't mean she deserves to get murdered. Fortunately, that's what making a save is for. Save at Pride, then make the five minute (real-time) trip to Hollywood. When her home is empty, reload.

Planet Egg and Planet Fowl are two neighboring planets which are currently at war. The guy at the gate tells Brian that there's no VOID here, just a civil war. When Brian asks what caused the hostilities, he mentions a surprise attack from Planet Fowl, and how a mysterious third force is helping them occupy a satellite between the two planets. I think I know who that is. Egg is mostly a mundane town, no bar and some guy just hanging around, but it has all top of the line equipment at this point, and H-Shot 2s. Which I'm sure will completely change the way I fight if I ever buy them.

On the south end of the town is a governmental building I can't enter, a locked door, and a teleport with a guy who's blocking my path. There's no hidden path, so I keep checking around. The guy just hanging around asks for money the second time, so I give it to him. Nothing seems to happen, so I talk to him again, nothing. It turns out that mysteriously, the switch to the gate has appeared.

Inside is quite the scene. Destroyed buildings and some black dude got really hurt...and then it turns out that Brian has been staring at the guy for a while and he's not actually dying. He's actually drunk and trying to push a building. A subtle hint that these things can be pushed. Okay. This is actually a strange area in how you explore it, it's like Barbarian, except more exploration than just wandering around.

There's a building in the middle of the place, containing Lean Kirk and a mystical new music track. He has the Lorne Green portrait like a lot of guys seem to have. Brian asks him why Max Todd was here. Kirk tells me that he comes by sometimes, and asks if I'm an unsatisfied customer. I laughed. After Brian tells him that Max is dead, he reveals that Max was his best friend, and he's horrified by the news. Whoever killed him is now after him too.

Brian asks what he was last doing. Max's last task was exploring some ruins related to VOID. "Related"? As in, connected to or they're hiding in? A hunter was spotted, which causes Kirk to freak out. After Brian calms him down, Kirk talks about how Max had some files, which he was going to give to someone. There's a person in his schedule he mentions, only known by his initials, D.G., Daniel Gibson. I believe we have our traitor.

And we'll find out if I'm right next time, in what I sincerely hope is the final conclusion to the game, because otherwise I'm going to put it on hold until after the Halloween season.

This Session: 3 hours 30 minutes

Total Time: 17 hours 40 minutes 

 

Star Cruiser (X68000) - Cleaning Up The Galaxy For Not Much Profit

It turns out I was supposed to go to Colony 2, not Station 2, as there's no Station 2. There's no Colony 1 here either, but that's okay. No random encounters, even though at one point I'm right on top of an enemy pixel on the map. The local shop has some H-bullets, which sound powerful. Unfortunately, my ship needs to be remodeled before I can use it. I get it and a Gravity Gun 1 anyway, since the second I upgrade my ship it can be improved.

Right, since the Meister isn't in town, I just have to...check the dungeon. That doesn't exist. I'm supposed to have tone to Station 2 back in Sol, wasn't I? Well, it's an excuse to get some money, since the Gravity Catapult here is all the way down from Rigel Kent A. I take a short stop at Fantasia, which is currently too dangerous to enter. I need a reason to do so, which I obviously lack at this moment.

The Catapult deposits me on Saturn. Finally getting back to Sol, I can get my funds back up from a little dealing with the local pirates, and find my way to Station 2. Which was my stop between Mars and Venus back when I was going around here regularly. It's nice taking things a bit slower and just clearing out the randoms, brings my money back up to where it was before I started getting charged for traveling between stars.

Now that I'm actually paying attention to Station 2, there's not a lot here. Just the refueling station and a bar. The bar tells me a rumor about something in the orbit of Saturn, which I heard earlier. There are some trees here, so I try what I did on Mars, move some trees because something is hidden behind them. This doesn't work, but next up I check the walls...and find a cache of fuel. Okay, what gives? A wrong statement on where to go next or I got it wrong at some point? Maybe...maybe I should head to Station 4, where the enemies I couldn't really fight were? No.

After an embarrassing amount of time, I find out that I was supposed to head to Axis 2. Because the full name is Axis Station 2, a fact which is not mentioned anywhere but the station itself. Last time the bar wasn't open, but now it is, and apparently it's glorious even if it looks the same as every other bar. Come to think of it, are those bottles of wine next to the giant keg? They look like dynamite. After Brian finishes discussing the quality of the joint with the lady bartender, a blond man comes in looking for a hiding place. He doesn't say who's after him, but the portrait of the guy who comes in asking for him looks like a VOID commander. Brian picks a fight with them.

After taking out the four guys, yes, that was difficult to deal with, I reenter the bar. The guy is someone who sells information, and seems to have underestimated how valuable his latest bit is. He doesn't offer the information though, but does tell me his name is Max Todd and that he's in the Sirius system. Well, now I just have to find where the Meister is.

It's one with the portrait of the apprentices, who doesn't even pretend Brian is worth his time before getting the card. I can get my ship upgraded for the steep price of $3000. Since I just dealt with the issue at the bar, the ship is upgraded in a snap. Now I can use the Gravity Gun 1, but not the missiles, oddly enough. Diana then calls me and tells me to meet her at the bar on Colony 2. A short jaunt left from Axis Station 2 later...

Thanks to their successes elsewhere, VOID has been able to build a base on Fantasia's moon, Unicorn. Another terrorist organization, White Wolves is involved somehow. Their concern there are alien ruins, where they've found something special. Interesting. Diana suggests bringing good equipment. Well, I think I've got the best I can get for now. Off to Fantasia.
 

The dungeon on Fantasia is dead simple. So simple that it fails to occur to me that it might be a trap until I reach the boss. Uh-oh. He informs me that the White Wolves are already taking action, but after Brian asks, he says he'll refrain from cliches and just kill me...or have his underlings kill me, because he leaves and I'm teleported to a place I need to go through before going back to my ship.

This place is now thick with dozens of groups of two, who, while they don't take that much damage, do move around a lot, and while I'm being reasonably efficient, I'm still getting worn down. Both in-game and physically. You'd think after the thousandth guy I'd be better at this, but I'm constantly making mistakes against this one group which I should be able to get around by now. Enough that despite the odd 5000 recharge, I still run out of fuel long before getting back to my ship. So, I reload and try to do things more efficiently, starting with clearing out the area before the teleport, going out for a recharge, then going through the rest of the area.

And it's still too much. It doesn't help that there are various dead ends and multiple paths, which, while normally pretty cool, are here a trick to make you lose energy. If I'm at my best, I'm getting five guys a tank, if they're getting shots on me or I'm wasting my shots, it can get down to three. It's mostly the former, because recharging shields costs a lot. Some of these are me getting too focused on one guy, but in some cases it's me being too close and having zero chance of getting away.

I make it through the third time by sheer accident. Lo and behold, I get nothing for making it through but a call from Joshua. VOID has attacked a weapons research lab on Metal Dune in Sirius. Better get there fast. I'm sure I have the ability to recharge first, but I head to the Catapult first, deciding that I can recharge there. This game hasn't been that cruel. Joshua meets me at the Catapult, and gives me the pass to Sirius and $8000. Now that makes...well, it doesn't make up for the frustration, but it's nice.

The Catapult deposits me on Atlantis, nice name for a planet, where I meet Gede. Who I at first confuse for Max Todd, but turns out to be a hunter I met back in the Solar System, when I had to find evidence to free Masashi Clark, the head of the newly formed Hunter Guild. He's been working for the feds lately, and when I need some information, he'll give me a freebie. Not counting towards that is him mentioning that Daniel has been acting strange lately. Foreshadowing that he's been replaced by a VOID member, or just depressed? I explore the town and recharge, getting an Analyzer 2 I can't yet use.

Like Rigel Kent, Sirius is a two star system with fewer ships wandering around. Unfortunately, this system really likes the Z axis. Enemy ships tend to fly away rather than toward me, but hey, $800 a pop is a sweet deal. I'll just clear all of them out around Metal Dune, avoid all the asteroids, then go there to recharge my energy before...

Oh, it's another dungeon. Oh, good, it's the exact fight against an enemy which takes just a few shots more. Just as I fear I'm through another tedious set of fights with the odd trip back to a place with a recharge station, I spot change; More variety in enemies and buildings. It's not always easier, but the variety doesn't drive me to tears and I can go back to the town and get a recharge. Sure, there's an interior area, and when I leave it the enemies just outside it respawn, but otherwise everything's okay.

I return after getting a recharge and find that the entire place has respawned. Fortunately, while I was clearing the place out, I also noticed that there was a second path leading to a different area. This leads to a bunch of one-way paths and annoying fights, but I should be able to easily get out. If not, I can reload. It's annoying, but I'm starting to suspect that's going to be this last part of the game.

Then, I meet this guy, and he says he's going to overload the nuclear reactor. Okay, fine...wait, a timer? That's not going down once a second, that's going down fast. Even during the fights. I start worrying, because this sounds like it's going to be one tight timer...until I realize that all the enemies are gone. I just need to find the right switch for this door, then return and enter it to stop the meltdown.

Diana calls me. Sure, why not? At least it's stopping the timer. The way out is trapped, so we need to stop the meltdown. Or rather, she will, Brian can focus on hostages. Since there's nothing stopping me but my own navigational skills, this is rather straight-forward. The hostages, as it turns out...are the plant workers, and they stop the meltdown. The terrorists here were the White Wolves, and they fled to Margarita. Diana calls again, relaying that the traps are gone, and while she'd love to come with to Margarita, she needs to deal with the remains of VOID there.

As I'm getting out of the plant, Joshua calls me. To give me $5000. Kind of small for saving an entire city, but at this point I don't need money. Brian tells him where he's headed and to ask Diana for the details. Joshua then tells me that Diana actually defected to VOID, which Brian responses with disbelief. He followed Brian into Sirius, but most of his troops were killed. I don't remember if there was a traitor, but at this point, I'd be surprised if it was Diana, since...you know, we'd be dead if it wasn't for her. What other option is there? Daniel? Gede?

Margarita is surprisingly ungreen for a planet named after a famously green drink. Sure, the ground in the town is, but the planet's blue and red from the exterior. In the bar, I meet Masashi again. Brian asks for any info he has on the White Wolves, and he asks for money to jog his memory. I'd be offended if there was a chance of running out of money. He tells me to head to planet Hollywood and find Gaby Todd, who is likely Max Todd's sister.

Hollywood is on the other side of the star I was around, so I take a small detour to Dry Canyon, taking out a few hostile ships on the way. Some of them are now worth $1000, but they also are hard as heck to actually target. That radar can be hard to read. Here, in addition to a shop selling a Radar 2 and a recharge station, there's a random house I can enter and a Meister. Who is currently servicing Max Todd's ship. Todd tells me to go to his sister, while I get the Meister to upgrade my ship ahead of schedule, even if it is for $8000.

The new radar...uh...I'm not sure what it does, actually. What I do know is that these 1k bounty ships are a pain to fight. Before landing on Dry Canyon I was not aware of the full scope of what these things could do. They turn faster than I do and love to dive and climb. Both of which makes keeping them in your sights extremely difficult. God help you if you get close, because that's just giving them a free hit. For some of them, the amount of time you spend dealing with them isn't worth the payday.

Hollywood is your typical planet at this point. Recharge station, shop and bar. I recharge, pick up a Beam Booster 3, and then head to the bar, where Gaby isn't. The bartender is adamant that he knows nothing about anything. So, there's a secret passage...where my passage is blocked by flying trash cans which shoot at me. I wasn't aware Moraff knew Japanese. I joke, but there's like a dozen of these and some really small guys who are just as annoying to fight, and both seem to slow the game down immensely. There's no pretense of a dungeon, it's just gun down a dozen of these dudes.

Oh, and it gets better. There's a trap afterwards, over a long hallway. Despite how annoying the seven fights were, they were still better than having to recharge your shields twice over unavoidable damage. This opens a gate. A gate to where? I don't know, but the enemies in the hallway have respawned and I'm not happy about that. Especially since it's all of them and I don't have the energy to get back. I'll reload, clear them out the first time, then return later after getting a recharge...and they respawn when I leave. Screw you too game.

Fine, one final push this session. I make it through the first spawn on a bit less than a full tank, with the shield recharge costing me the rest of it. That's just okay enough, because being prepared for the trap means it only costs me one shield recharge this time. I have one tank in reserve and a third of one left for the final trip back. You'd think this would be enough, but the damn trash cans have become some sort of nightmarish game ruining experience where their mere presence is enough to ruin my hopes of getting out. I lose twice.

Aha, you might think, Morpheus, you've forgotten your missiles. Because I did. Turns out that really doesn't matter, because said missiles are only functional as an energy saving measure. They don't home in on enemies, they don't do any special amount of damage. All they do is seemingly act as shots which don't cost me energy. Costly shots, considering they each cost $100 if memory serves. And unless I bought a hundred of them, it wouldn't be enough to get me back out. I'm in the best possible shape I could be right now and the game is still not letting me through. Short of checking every single wall in every single dungeon I've been to for hidden energy tanks, I guess I need to burn all the money I can on missiles and hope that's enough.

But, rather than do that, I decide that this is just putting a bandaid on it. Okay, I'm having trouble with the speed, maybe I change the CPU the system is using? No, because increasing it so that the trash cans can be fought at a reasonable speed, but everything else is too fast. Fine. If there's no real other option, I'll savescum the hell out of this. It seems likely that burning my money on missiles still requires luck on my part and if I need that, screw it. Over a hundred reloads later, and I've done it. No hyperbole. By the time I make it back to the recharge station, I have no shields and 988 energy. Out of 30k possible energy. WITH SAVESCUMMING.

The door it opens is behind another secret passage, because screw you. Brian asks if the lady there is Gaby Todd like we didn't just waste over an hour figuring that one out. She looks like a classic Hollywood star, not quite Marilyn Monroe, but I suspect they used an image of her to start with. She knows where the White Wolves hideout is and it's mine for $3000. I have just gone through something that's seemingly impossible to do without being perfect and now the game expects me to pay for the privilege of getting the next plot development. Genuinely, I wonder if the game would allow me to go through without paying this, just exploring the galaxy. Because going through what I just did was not fun. NOT FUN AT ALL. It's not that I don't have the money or that I couldn't get the money, it's the principle. Of not getting screwed over.

So I decide to screw over the game. You screw me, I screw you at this point. This is very funny. First, she tells me to go to Dry Canyon to get my ship upgraded, fine, whatever. Brian says he already did that. Then she tells him to get a Gravity Gun 1, Beam Booster 3, and a Nuclear Shield. LADY, IF I DIDN'T HAVE THAT I WOULDN'T BE HERE! Then she tells me that the White Wolves HQ is on Gothic, but I should go by Ghost first because there's some ore there I can process into H-bullets. Since I don't have an ore processing device nor know how to get one...I should probably figure that out.

Next time, I'll deal with the White Wolves. Assuming, of course, that this game doesn't give me a brain aneurysm from something even more obnoxious than what I just dealt with. Though you'll have to forgive me if I make a detour to planet Disaronno.

This Session: 5 hours 15 minutes

Total Time: 14 hours 10 minutes 

Star Cruiser (X68000): Ye Olde Slaughterwad

Based on what happened last time, I should head to Jupiter first, then look for the hyperspace gate to Rigel. First, I need to get off Saturn. Despite usually being fairly easy, this is tricky. Remember how I was saying this was simple up/down, left/right movement before? Well, if you go upside down, you're upside down until you turn back around. Even if you land and come out again. That, combined with how the pirates are actually bothering to take advantage of 3D space is troublesome. There's no using that radar when an enemy is right on top of you.

The ferry to Io is $1200. Which by any measure is costly when I could travel there in my spaceship for less, but you can't, so I'm being extorted. For another town on a moon around Jupiter. There's a repair shop, a place where I can sell my decoy flares, and then a bar where I meet Daniel again. He's got some info on where some Solar Wind troops are, but I need to pay to get them. At least this is a reasonable price.

But hang on, there's no place I can buy decoy flares! Just a store I can sell things at. So I look around some more and find a secret pathway to a dungeon. Oh, good. Secret passages, new varieties of enemies, which aren't too bad, but it's just ever slightly more tedious. And what's inside this dungeon? Metal ore, which I can't yet sell. Well, I guess I better head for where the Solar Wind ships are, which is near Saturn, but not quite on it.

It turns out that this isn't just a group of Solar Wind troops, it's the leader of Solar Wind, in the Cutty Sark. Uh-oh, that's not a good sign. I don't have decoy flares. He's got what appears at first to be two guys with him, but are actually after images or illusions. I can't tell because I quickly enough got the right one and hammered it. But, that said one of these days I should probably learn to stop chasing enemies and ignoring getting shot at. The big cheese is gone, and I'm $8000 richer.

Cherenkov calls me after to congratulate me. He tells me to head out to Joshua Aykroyd in the Rigel Kent system, which I previously just called Rigel. I'm to find the Gravity Catapult, and apparently until now I didn't have the pass for it. I love not having the manual. That said, the question is if I should go there by myself or go back to Solar Wind's Mars base to take out their remaining troops. I decide to since it's on my way of trying to find the place. There's nothing really worth talking about there, I just end up clearing out a few groups of enemies and pick up a little money.

At this point it occurs to me to check the map to see where the Catapault is, and it's near Saturn. Huh, I never saw that earlier. After getting my pass and paying the fee, I get a neat little cutscene of getting shot out of the catapult. Once I'm in Rigel, a guy blocks my path and tells me to head to some building where Joshua is waiting for me.

Joshua isn't happy to work with Brian, but since this is an emergency, he has no choice. Dude has issues, because Brian makes an off-the-cuff joke before asking what he's doing and this guy bites his head off. Terrorists have taken over Axis Station 3 and are producing weapons there. Find out what kind and take them out. Easy, peasy. I recharge and buy a Beam Booster 2 at the local shop. Hopefully that improves something.

Rigel Kent is a two star system. A yellow star and a red dwarf. Oddly, I remember that the red dwarf had strong gravity, so getting in there is tricky. I also remember the names Folder, Fantasia, Fowl/Egg and Hurricane, because some of those I commented on at the time. I do not remember Cherry Shuffle. I would like to think I would remember that. I start at Axis Station 1, which is in the down-right position around Rigel Kent A, Axis Station 3 is up-right to it.

The distances between places are quite a bit longer than on Earth, and hostile ships are now labeled enemy. Fitting, since they're terrorists. They're not like the mysterious ones I couldn't kill around the one station, but they're a step above the ones I could kill. Since they give more money in some cases. The ones I took out getting there don't seem any more dangerous than the last ones, but I did just upgrade my damage.

At first Axis Station 3 seems like a dungeon, but it's actually a town with a dungeon. The first building I enter reveals why the terrorists have captured this place, they're manufacturing weapons they need to assassinate the alien ambassador. Rather than get an explanation as to why they need specialized weapons to take out the alien envoy, presumably star ships, the guy talks about their ethics. You can guess, human supremacists, aliens can go suck it.

After clearing out the central area, I have two teleports I can take. One which was completely clear, and one which was guarded by some soldiers. I take the later, and I immediately regret my choice. Four teleports, each guarded by two guards. If I'm about to go through these guys only to get screwed I'm going to be so ticked off. The east path I go through leads back to the starting area, though still not able to return to my spaceship. At least I can recharge. North...just teleports me back to the center. West leads me to a different place like the first. Is this how this level is going? Glad I have plenty of cash from traveling around the Solar System, because this is a drain on my finances.

Interestingly, once I get through the final teleport in the second area, I'm sent back to my ship. It's one of the teleports in the first area which leads to the important stuff, guarded by a strange enemy which just eats damage. Take him out and it's a one-way trip, leading to a place with an elevator. There's a set of VOID Commanders asking why I'm doing what I'm doing, saying that the aliens want to kill all of us. Which is a strange statement from a guy wearing a domino mask over a bird helmet. Nice to see we're getting some concrete motivation for our villains since the backstory.

I'm running really low on energy, and now that I'm in this section there's no way back to recharge. Which is unfortunate. There's just not enough energy units lying around, just a ton of repair units. Even if I've been getting hit, I just haven't been getting hit enough for that to hurt. It's just the slow drain of energy on my ship from fighting and recharging my shield which is causing it, and I finally die for once midway through a fight with some pyramid ships. Nothing special happens.

After I reload, I make sure to get a full charge before heading into the area, then only going for things that either give me energy or move me forward. This makes things a lot easier, as is the realization that the pyramid ships aren't that special. I find another information card, in which I find out that the next shipment of "ducks" will arrive soon and they'll be "cutting them up". At first I think this is a metaphor for their weapons, but then I realize that ducks are aliens. Wait, Domestic Duck? And I didn't realize that "Planet Folder" referred to the planet Folder until later.

A second card tells me that the duck is about to play and the hunter needs a good gun or trap. It's next to another energy tank, which is full and very appreciated. There's nothing else to do here on this floor, so I wonder if I've missed something until I head back to the elevator and realize there's another floor. Here one of the various mocking commanders tell me that their weapon is already at the location, and the aliens will soon disappear forever. This guy is very confident in their equipment.

After going to the end of this section, I end up getting teleported near the start of this floor. At first I think it's a teleporter maze until I get teleported back to the same area. This confuses me for a moment, as I even go back to the elevator down to an earlier floor. It takes me a bit of searching, but there's secret passage which leads to the teleporter I need to get out of here. Whew, that was a lot of going over the same fights over and over again, but I'm done. I head back to Axis Station 1 to see what I need to do next.

Joshua says Brian was fast in clearing out the base before receiving the information. Apparently they're heading to Folder next, and that's where I should go. Folder is the third planet from Rigel Kent A, up and right from the star. From where I am, it's just up. Do you know the strangest thing that I've realized as I go across the system? There are barely anything more than a handful of pirates hanging around. Fortunately, the ones that are around more than make up for what I'm losing on fuel, but it is strange. Usually later levels have more enemies, not less.

I arrive at Folder just in time it seems. Star ships which have weapons are forbidden from entering the planet, but before Brian can get permission, something happens to the space traffic controller. Brian's going in without asking for permission. This place is a full on dungeon, with a boss fight right at the start. Multiple shields a shot, and firing off more bullets than the average guy. Fortunately, afterwards there's nothing but normal guys. Well, normal for this stage of the game, anyway.

There's another figure standing, and I fear it's another boss, but it's actually Diana. She plays captain obvious a bit, and she knows it. But at least she tells me that the terrorists want to kill all aliens. I've got about thirty foes to deal with before I can rescue the ambassador. Thirty not so well trained foes is what she says, but they're really the normal guys. After a few more, I run low on fuel and worry if I'll need to gamble with staying or if I can go somewhere else. I can.

After I get back, I start finding big energy tanks containing 5k units. That's half of one energy tank, which is a lot. I also find a couple sacks of money around, which I'm sure was intended to not be thought of or be some terrorist's cash, but it feels to me like I just stole some unlucky guy's money. Sometimes being a game with a story in an era where a lot of stuff was still very abstract for various reasons can be weird.

I find the ambassador at the end of a corridor which I don't have much reason to go down. He looks like Martian Manhunter and the Coneheads had a baby. Brian tells him to head to a safer zone now that he's cleared out most of the place. The way I did have some reason to go down eventually leads to another commander who actually surrenders and offers me information. The building behind him is their hideout; A factory which as a prototype laser that's as powerful as the one on a battleship. Which I presume is powerful since he's making such a comparison.

This actually leads to a town. Where I can buy a nuke shield, which doubles my shield strength, and a place which sells decoy flares. I mean, I don't need it anymore, but maybe it'll help. If I can ever figure out how to use it. There's also autobullets and a gravity gun. I'm not really sure what either do just yet, and I'll wait until later to figure it out. In the meantime, I find the way to the factory, guarded by a terrorist in disguise.

As I'm in the middle of fighting one group of enemies, I decide to try out the decoy flares. I find out that they work when you open the menu. Well, maybe on space ships, if you use a decoy flare on the ground, it crashes the game. So, after restarting I go further, finding a door blocked by a fake building, which turns out to be a trap which destroys my shields.

I find the switch, and head into the inner factory. There's an unmarked trap which damages my shields after I walk over it. It activates every time. Inside is a single enemy, a guy with a weird, missile tank design. I fight him cleverly, a bit farther than I usually do in order to avoid his shots. I suspect getting hit would hurt me. And then it's just sort of over. Is that it? I was kind of expecting something to happen after winning.

The rest of the guys are no trouble either, and lead to nothing new. But, on my way out, Diana is there, ready to congratulate me on my success. They exchange a bit of information, with Diana saying that they know nothing of VOID's next move. She gives Brian a card to get his ship tuned up by a Meister on Station 2, which is where I'll go next time.

This Session: 3 hours 15 minutes

Total Time: 9 hours 55 minutes

Star Cruiser (Sharp X68000): Down to the Federal Level

The trip to Venus takes me past Mercury, because Venus is "right", Mercury "down" and Earth "lower right" in their orbits. It's a quiet trip, because the only pirates are near Earth for some reason. Guess that Brian is the last person to hear about the planned Hunter Guild. Venus itself looks much like a typical sci-fi planet. Guess some terraforming went on.

Once I touch down, there are a lot of space ships around and a guy blocking my path. He's not Kuwabara from Yu Yu Hakusho, but rather Masashi Clark, the head honcho of the new Hunter Guild. Brian apparently isn't that well known, because Clark only found out about him from Daniel. Clark is eager to have Brian help out, but Brian wants to know what it is he's supposed to do.

Before Clark can answer, VOID attacks...and then some overweight blond guy from the "Federal" agency arrests Clark for bombing the space port. Huh? After he drags him off, we get a Luke Skywalker-looking guy, who is called David Gede. David reacts with confusion at the whole mess, and Brian is the one who decides they need to do something to get Clark off the hook for a crime he didn't commit. Then David acts like he's in charge here. They split up, and I have to look for suspicious people.

I end up heading for the local bar first, called Blue Goddess. I'm not aware of any connection of Venus or Ishtar to the color blue, so this is exclusively just a reference to how this planet is now blue. Once the guy finishes introducing the bar, this guy chimes in. Boy oh boy, that is a fashion choice. Grill on head over a boxing helmet feels like something someone took from a joke game or some messed up horror movie. He asserts that Federal Patrol knows what's going on, they just needed a scapegoat because they were unwilling to do the real work. I wonder if they deal with alcohol and tobacco too? He claims that Solar Wind paid them off, and Brian says that VOID is powerful enough to do that. Really? The guys we stole a ship from consequence free? He finishes by telling me they have a base in the park with the fountain.

After taking an embarrassing amount of time, I find the fountain. Gee, I wonder who these guys are? This dungeon is the toughest one yet, because you're locked into it after a certain point and these are the fights where you have to constantly keep on the guys to hit them. There's also very little spare energy hanging around, and yeah, there are a ton of hidden passageways, some which are just there to throw you off.
 

At the end is the Solar Winds' leader, Leonov, who is quite the character. He's not especially tough for an enemy at this point, it's just that I barely had any energy by the time I reached him that it wasn't a guarantee that I'd be able to take him. What he's actually capable of is doing considerable damage to my shield, that I beat him on the first try was incredible. Afterwards, he begs for his life, and Brian makes sure to give it, since he needs him to free Clark.

After recharging my starship, I head to the Federal Patrol office. I was here before, but apparently the guy in charge doesn't consider Brian a trustworthy source. Brian is just...perfect as the obnoxious competent person while the patrol guy is incredibly sleezy even as he offers Brian a job. In fact, it's an actual job. Diana Gaddis, a Patrol officer, is MIA and they need her back. I actually remember her from the Genesis version, vaguely, since she was a main character. Guess we're getting on track for the plot. Now I just have to head to Earth where the Solar Wind base she tried to infiltrate was...only it's been two months and they've probably moved her. Brian even says she's probably dead. I see we're leaning heavily into the governmental incompetence theme...Still, we're getting 5k...which is...well, it's something. Before he goes, he mentions his name is Cherenkov, which I also remember from the Genesis version.

As I head to my [conveniently unbombed] Star Cruiser, Clark is waiting for me. He thanks me for getting him out of the Feds' custody and still plans on having a meeting for the Hunter's Guild. Brian says he'll attend one later, but he has an important task ahead of him, and the two leave in good company. I meanwhile, have to do a little grinding to get my cash back up and find out where I need to go. Starting with Earth seems as good as anywhere. 

Something I've neglected to mention so far is that on Earth and on Venus, there were information cards that I couldn't read until I got an Analyzer I. Since until now there wasn't a need to check the cards, I do so to figure out if they tell me where Diana is. It doesn't say, but does mention that Solar Wind has another Star Cruiser called the Cutty Sark. (I get the reference, but every time I hear that name it's goofy) 

The path back to Earth ends up taking me through a few fights, but for the most part, I'm making money on these. When I get near Earth, Daniel calls me up. Right in the middle of a fight, and I thought getting a call while driving was annoying. Casually, the two talk, with Brian asking where any Solar Wind bases are, and after being assured he'll get something in return, gives me the location of a guy called General Arsys. Clever.

This leads to a place out in the middle of nowhere. At first I get a message that there's a weak laser beam acting as a sensor, then several moments of nothing. It's only when waiting there for a moment do I get a call. General Arsys...is Lorne Green. Interesting choice. He knows who Brian is, but doesn't know he's looking for a Solar Wind base. He wants 2k for it. I'm then told that there are four bases in the Solar System, Jupiter, Mercury, Earth and Mars, the one I haven't already destroyed. Well, that solves that.
 

Mars is further up on the other side of the star, past Venus and a place called Station-2. Since I'm already heading that way, why not? It's another town, complete with a bar, wherein I hear a rumor that there's something interesting in the orbit of Saturn. There's a 50% chance "interesting" is something that's going to kill me, but I figure since Diana's been in custody for a few months, another day isn't going to kill her.

Saturn is farther out than any other location so far, since it's nearly as far away from Jupiter as most are from the Sun. The trip takes a lot out of my energy, but thankfully ships, while slightly tougher out here, give 400 a pop, which makes up for my loss. This leads to some trouble. How am I supposed to deal with this? Go to Saturn? This leads me to Titan station, where Federal Patrol HQ is, and I just realized I could have done this after freeing Diana, because the guy has orders from Cherenkov. It gets worse, because I realize that orbit could mean the red line around the planet indicating...the orbit. Well, hey, at least I know where I'm headed after I get Diana. 

Mars is a pretty decent place, seems somewhat tropical in design. Or it would if the walls weren't all untextured polygon blocks with the occasion cherry blossom which just looks like a vague tree. The local bar is Red Sand. In which I find out that this is actually a pretty terrible place rife with theft and crime. So, Space Los Angeles, minus the film industry. A random guy tells me that a thief is hiding in one of the trees near the gate to the old mine.

I look through all the trees and find nothing. Well, maybe I'm missing something here? There's a use function on my menu, but that needs an actual item, along with a move function. So I try that on the trees, and eventually find a path, leading to a secret wall, leading to the switch which opens the gate. At which point, I get captured by a guy like the one I captured back on Venus.

 

My stint in jail is quite short, because someone blows up the door, and now I have no shield. A short walk later and I meet my savior...Diana Gaddis, who I remember being blonde in the Genesis version. EGA purple is certainly a different hair color. Brian informs her of his mission to rescue her, but she refuses because she's still on-duty. Apparently she freed a random Hunter for...no reason other than the plot requiring it. Hey, at least I have a card to give them. (It tells me that in order to take out the Cutty Sark, I need to use flares, which can be found on Io among other places)

The dungeon is more complex than past ones. Entirely non-linear design just full of enemies. It doesn't take that much energy to restore my shields, and there are fuel tanks around, but I'm still on a limited amount of fuel until I get out. There's a new enemy type, which doesn't seem harder than past variations, they're not shooting as much, but sometimes there are three of them. So, I'm still getting hit. Curiously, the groups of two give more money than the groups of three.

I get out, and decide to leave the base alone for now, despite how pointless this seems. Sure, I COULD take out the last major group of Solar Wind...or I could let Diana do her job. I recharge, and then head off to Station 3, a space station located in Jupiter's orbit. I'm doing this, not just to get a little more cash, but to see where the "interesting" thing in its orbit is. Station 3 isn't too interesting, the bar there tells me things I already knew, VOID is behind Solar Wind, Solar Wind has a fancy new ship they're using against Hunters. And as I'm almost at Jupiter, I realize that it was supposed to be Saturn, not Jupiter. Sigh...

Between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn is Station 1, which really just serves as a small stopping point. Odd, since it isn't that far off from Jupiter and there aren't that many guys around. There's only repair shops and a bar there, which just tells me more stuff I already knew, Solar Wind is gearing up for war, and someone stole one of their new Star Cruisers. After that, the orbit of Saturn is mostly just empty space for a while. I set my ship on autopilot and mostly sit back as it goes along. Not like someone's going to shoot at me, but I am worried that I'll miss whatever's important here. Going around at full speed is quite fast, but it's the easiest way.

On the opposite end of Saturn's orbit, but not actually in it, is Station 4. Nothing in here but a bar, trees and a fuel station. Oddly, the random enemies outside of here are considerably tougher than the others. At least, they were taking out a good chunk of my shields and I wasn't doing much to hurt them. That's pretty much all I find out in the orbit of Saturn. Hopefully I just need to trip an event flag later and I didn't actually miss something.
 

When I finally make it back to Cherenkov, he's subdued at first. Then we go over information from the card. Since Brian needs permission to go to Io, he'll get it for him. Apparently there's no money to be had in dealing with Solar Wind and VOID just yet, so Cherenkov tells us to head to the Rigel system and escort an alien ambassador. He tells me to kill all the terrorists trying to assassinate him. Well, that shouldn't be too hard.

I'll leave it here. We've got a nice, new objective and I've seen most of what the Solar System has to offer. Next time, we'll find out how the Rigel system looks, or possibly see a game from 1984. I threatened that last time, but honestly, I'm still debating whether or not to keep or toss one of the last four games.

This Session: 2 hours 40 minutes

Total Time: 6 hours 40 minutes