Space Shuttle Project
Absolute Entertainment
NES - November 1991
To be honest, I was pretty much blown away by Space Shuttle Project when I played through it this past week. I first played SSP way back in like '91 or '92 as a rental with my cousin, but we had no idea how to play the game or what to do. However, the game has always been in the back of my head as something I'd like to revisit one day. That opportunity finally arrived a few days ago, and after playing the game to completion, I'm actually sorry that I never got to enjoy it until now.
Space Shuttle Project is a great game. Released in 1991, I believe that Absolute Entertainment did a tremendous job capturing the essence of a shuttle launch, mission and landing. There are six missions, each one pretty much the same. First you sign in to the game with a name and the game selects a 4-digit code and a shuttle (Atlantis, Enterprise, Endeavour or Columbia). Each stage of the missions shows you a checklist of the tasks you must accomplish in order to complete the stage and move on. Before each mission, you have to prepare the shuttle for launch, with a race against the clock to take the elevator up and down hitting switches, opening the hatch, and collecting the pilot, physician, specialists, etc to join you in the shuttle. As the game progresses, you must bring more astronauts onboard with less time. This is probably the most frustrating part of the game, as there are tanks moving left and right between each platform that you must avoid as you ascend and descend the elevator.
Once you're all set with the pre-launch, an awesome animated sequence begins, with the countdown, and a really cool scene of the shuttle blasting off, with the screen rattling and smoke bellowing out everywhere. This is where Space Shuttle Project becomes really rad. Each time after you blast-off, the game turns into a quick time event fest. You get an indicator on the top of the screen, and you have to hit the A or B buttons at a certain time, or move the D-pad in the direction of the cursor, to do such tasks as rolling the shuttle, releasing the boosters, applying thrust and other such tasks. Looking back on this, almost 20 years later, it seems rare to have such a reliance on quick time events in a game, compare to current games where it seems every game includes them.
Next, Space Shuttle Project requires you to perform missions, such as releasing a satellite into orbit, installing parts to the space station and even rescuing a marooned Soviet cosmonaut. In these missions, you control an astronaut and have to move him around space, remembering to watch your oxygen level and refill if necessary, while dodging space debris. Once completing these tasks, you must re-enter the Earth's atmosphere, in a similar way to how you blasted-off into space.
The player must again use quick time events to perform such tasks as closing valves, roll and yaw the orbiter, align the shuttle, release the landing gear and apply brakes. Throughout the process, the music picks up with an quick pace and does a very good job of making the player realize the urgency of a perfect re-entry. Once you land, you see a congratulatory scene and begin your next mission.
I had a great time playing Space Shuttle Project, and I was honestly surprised by how great of a game it is. The music and sounds are perfect and the graphics are done very well. The controls are very good as well, although it make take a little while to get used to moving the astronaut outside the shuttle for the EVAs. The game does become very challenging and precise very quickly, which may be a deterrant to younger players, but that's the nature of a game involving shuttle missions. It's not supposed to be easy. Absolute did an incredible job simulating the whole mission experience, and I really enjoyed performing the tasks, and thought that using quick time events made a lot of sense to capture the atmosphere of a shuttle launch and landing. If nothing else, I suggest that you play the game enough to at least to see the launch and landing sequences, as they are the best part of the game, and are quite awesome and engaging for a game released way back in 1991.
I wonder why they included Enterprise instead of Discovery, considering how Enterprise was not suitable for spaceflight.
