SOLAR FOX (Bally/Midway)

Play: Right at the outset the player is faced with two decisions. In the first place he is given the option of inserting a second coin to increase his fleet of ships. The other decision has to do with whether the player wants to proceed as a "novice" or an "expert". The distinction between novice and expert has to do with use of the speed control button. In the novice mode the ship moves naturally at a fairly slow pace but its velocity can be increased by employment of the speed button. However, when set for expert level play the ship moves swiftly and button is used to slow its movements. The object is to maneuver the space ship so that it either shoots or runs over targets called "fuzars". All the while the ship must avoid various threats from enemy thrusters, firebirds and force fields. The player has a chance to earn points by completing a stage or "rack" within a given time limit. If the mission can be completed before the skip-a-rack time runs out the player ears all of the points available in the succeeding rack without having to play through it. This moves the better player more speedily to higher levels of play. Every fourth rack is a challenge rack, similar to the feature in Galaga. In the challenge rack the player's ship is immune from attack but the player can earn extra points by eliminating fuzars on the screen.

Controls: Four-way joystick similar to the one in Tron. It is used with a speed and fire button on either side. Bally/Midway seems to have the most reliable joystick.

Graphics: They do a nice job by using the mirror effect. Bally/Midway has used this in the past to get a colorful and pleasing effect.

Sound: A very spacey sounding game. When a rack is cleared the game plays an electronic tune.

Originality: Not exactly a shoot-em-up game, a maze game, or a cutsie game, and so has a relatively strong element of originality. In particular, the skip-a-rack timer feature is unique.

Opinion: A nice effort from Bally/Midway. But it could have benefited from a little more variety of tasks. All there is to do is clear different patterns of fuzars and more and more enemies at higher levels. I do like the skip-a-rack timer feature allowing the player to advance to higher levels more rapidly, eliminating the easy sets for the expert players. I also like the front door programming and the fact that they use a mechanical coin meter as well as an electronic meter.

Rating: 6