Jupiter Lander is one of those old school games that are still fun despite being old, real old. Originally released on Commodore 64, Jupiter Lander shows us that video games can still be fun and addicting despite not having a story or proper graphics. Be prepared for a trip to the past (or the 80s), with this very very late (over 20 years) Jupiter Lander review !
Jupiter Lander has no story. You're a space ship and your goal is to land on the unnamed planet (the moon maybe ?). And that's it. As you'll be able to see when you start up the game, it wastes no time trying to tell you why you're trying to land or what planet you're on. But hey, this game came out over two decades ago, when video games were just about having simple fun. The game' on the outside, may seem simple even childish but once joystick and keyboard in hand, you'll quickly realize that Jupiter Lander is one deep and complex game that'll require alot of skill to master.
You must land your ship on one of three zones, zones that are in fact multipliers (times 2, 5 and 10). Of course the times 10 is more difficult to reach than the times 2. To properly land your ship you must pay attention to your velocity (aka your descent speed). You see your velocity thanks to a green bar with a yellow space in the middle of it. Your goal is to land while in the yellow space and the game multiplies and calculates your score from there. The game doesn't fool around with this. If you're but a pixel off the yellow space, you get nothing. You also have to worry about your fuel, fuel that replenishes each time you successfully land. Add to this walls that you're not allowd to hit and you've got one challenging game.
Jupiter Lander would be one annoying experience if the gameplay didn't hold up. Your ship has horizental and vertical thrusters and each take up fuel when you use them. What you want to do is first concentrate on thrusting left or right then using the vertical thrusters to land. The vertical thrusters will probably be your biggest issue here as it's the only way to control your velocity. This demands precise button presses to keep your landing speed in the yellow and you'll feel as though the game is unfair at times. Each multiplier must be mastered in order to win big and if you're not good of getting a sense of how fast your moving, then you may want to stop playing this game.
Jupiter Lander is a Commodore 64 game so you should know what to expect from the presentation. Your ship is blue and the space rock your trying to land on is bright orange. Sexy. But you'll probaly rejoice when hearing the old school intro music and the sound of the thrusters are pretty cool. Sure the game only has one stage but said stage is so challenging that you'll probably never get sick of it.
Jupiter Lander is what video games used to be: simple and yet difficult. It's an old school gem that should be experienced by old school veterans and Modern Warfare insomniacs. It's a blast to play and should be experienced by everybody.