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"You don't really get to pilot anything in space, but it's still fun."

Intro:

Space Pilot is an addictive shooter made in 1984 by Kingsoft for the Commodore 64. Deviating from the more common shoot-'em-up style of having your ship move constantly in one direction or only side to side, this game is a fairly novel experience for many.

Story: N/A

You're a pilot. Enemy pilots want you dead. The end.

Sound: 6/10

Amazingly, I cannot find a single beep or boop in this entire game. That is not to say the sound is above average, however. The usual beeps are replaced with explosion sounds only a little bit better, and the only real music is a short piece you hear when you rescue someone. You also hear sound effects when you shoot, when you explode, when an enemy explodes, or when a small formation starts to fly at you. Fortunately, none of these have the headache-inducing effects so common in Commodore 64 games.

Graphics: 7/10

The graphics are pretty good for an old C64 game. Your plane has seven different frames of animation, counting the explosion graphic. Most enemy planes have the same number. In addition, the graphics designer managed to make the planes look 3D when they're turning. You occasionally see someone with a parachute, and their graphic isn't too bad.

Unfortunately, there isn't much variation. On the first stage, there are a mere two enemy plane types. This is just for the first stage, but most planes look very similar and there are still only a handful of different types.

The only major gripe I have about the graphics is with the clouds. The things look like nothing like clouds. Seriously, most of them look like fish or horsemen.

Gameplay: 8/10

The worst part of the gameplay is getting used to the controls. There are basically eight movement buttons, and each one turns you in a different direction, from Northwest to Southeast. That means you have to think about what you press. If you need to turn up clock-wise to avoid an enemy, you'll need to press a different button than you would use to go up counter-clockwise. Note that if you're going straight down and press up, you'll always turn counter-clockwise and a similar rule applies to being up and going down, heading left going right, etc.

At first, enemy ships are slow and rarely fire. You're only in danger if you get to close or fly straight into a formation. Difficulty quickly increases, however, and soon it's hard to stay alive. To top it off, you need 20,000 points for the first extra ship and 60,000 for every ship after that, and there aren't many ways to get easy points. You can rescue dudes with parachutes for a quick couple thousand, or maybe shoot down a tougher plane or an entire formation. for some fast points. None of these methods are extremely easy, though, and each has some serious risk. Chances are that it'll take you a while to be able to get those extra guys with anything resembling ease.

Final Recommendation:

The C64's dead to pretty much everyone but it's most hardcore fans, but if you have one and spot this game somewhere, you should definitely give it a try.


Reviewer's Score: 8/10 | Originally Posted: 04/12/06, Updated 04/12/06