Solaris (Atari 2600)

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Screenshot of a planet level.

Solaris is a game for the Atari 2600 published in 1986 by Atari. The game was programmed by Douglas Neubauer, who owns the copyright to the game and the Solaris trademark.

[edit] Gameplay

The galaxy of Solaris is made up of 16 quadrants, each containing 16 sectors. In addition to space battle, the ship must descend to planets to be refueled periodically. Players are able to "warp" between the sectors, during which they must attempt to keep their ship "in focus" to lower their fuel consumption rate. Fuel must be carefully managed, as an empty tank results in loss of one of the player lives. Players can also descend to enemy occupied planets to either save friendly colonists or battle in fast-paced "corridors." If players allow a friendly planet in a quadrant to be destroyed, that quadrant becomes a "red zone" where joystick controls are reversed. Enemies range from the easy to the frustrating - including basic fighters, aggressive "cobra" ships, pot shot-loving "pirate" ships, and base stars with accompanying swarms of fuel-sapping drones. The ultimate goal of Solaris is to reach the planet Solaris and rescue its colonists.

[edit] Reception

Solaris is widely hailed as having some of the best graphics on the Atari 2600. It is considered by many as a sequel to Atari's 1982 hit Star Raiders, as both games feature an enemy race known as "Zylons", and both Solaris and Star Raiders were written by Neubauer. Solaris was at one point going to be based on The Last Starfighter, while the Atari 8-bit version of The Last Starfighter was re-named Star Raiders 2.