Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship
System: NES
Release Date: September 1990
Developer: Zippo Games
Publisher: Tradewest
Genre: Action
Assemble the most powerful spacecraft the galaxy has ever seen in Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship! Taken by pirates, the Golden Warpship has been disassembled and hidden throughout the galaxy. Solar Jetman is the only remaining hope for its safe return. Scour the surface and innards of 12 planets for fuel, treasure, and a piece of the missing ship.
The first thing you’ll notice about Solar Jetman is that gravity is constantly pulling you toward the surface. This is likely a shock to your system. You need to press the B Button to fire your thrusters, which will hopefully keep you airborne, as the alternative is crashing to your death. You also change the heading of your ship in a rotating manner by pressing left or right on the d-pad. Once you get a bit of a handle on the momentum, you’ll find that the strength of the gravity changes from planet to planet. Best of luck keeping your speed straight.
Enemies appear often and have the ability to obliterate you in one hit. If your ship is destroyed, you fly around as Solar Jetman on his own. You do have weapons capabilities in both your ship and as a man. Fire your blaster with the A Button and hope your aim is good. Some enemies are fairly weak, taking 1 or 2 hits, while others are like tanks and take a bunch of shots to destroy. Solar Jetman is good to take one more hit, but after that is dead. If you make it back to your spaceship, you can enter another pod without penalty. Or, you may be lucky enough to find an extra pod sitting around waiting for you.
As you wander the planet, you will find items that you need to tow back to your ship. This can be an ordeal, as the weight of the item makes maneuvering much more difficult. One of these items is a shield that you can raise and lower by pressing up and down. While this increases the number of hits you take, you can’t also tow an item with them up. I can’t count the number of times I’d be careening toward a wall and have to put my shields up at the last possible second to avoid being space dust. Sometimes, the opportunity to dump these items in a wormhole appeared. Easier said than done, as you have to swing the item into the wormhole, which was often up against a wall.
In between some levels is a shop where you can buy weapons, better engines, and more with the money you earn from artifacts. I didn’t get far enough to mess with most of the upgrades, but I did get rocket boosters, which allowed my to hold the Select Button for some extra thrust. I also got the Nippon Sports Jetpod that allowed me to carry around small wormholes to make transporting items easier. Unfortunately, I decided that this wasn’t a game I was enjoying enough to finish and ended it after the fourth planet.
Graphics: 1.5
You can tell what everything is, but none of it looks good. Luckily, it doesn’t really rely on having good graphics.
Sound: 2.0
Lots of engine noise, sound effects, and music that sound very Zippo Games and Rare.
Gameplay: 1.5
The momentum and gravity movement is not natural by any means. They take way too long to get accustomed to. Adding that to how easy it is to accidentally lower your shield, it’s a struggle.
Difficulty: 1.5
This is a game that is hard, but a lot of it is the wrong kind of hard. Unintuitive controls and constantly spawning enemies.
Fun Factor: 1.5
There were flashes of entertainment, but more frustration was had.
Overall Rating: 1.6
Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship earns a C-. If you’re a masochist, you’ll enjoy this game. Otherwise, it’s a tough call.