Producer: Code Masters
Retail Price: £1.99
Author: Derek Brewster

The spaceship lands, and you are dropped onto this deadly planet to fight off the approaching alie... it's Mission Jupiter.

This is a game of arcade action and deadly life forms, written by Derek Brewster of Crash Adventure Trail. The play area consists of ten levels, each with its own nasties and all with different backgrounds and colours. As a spaceman lost in this hostile world, you search the planet for a way back to your spaceship.

But your confronted by aliens, all with different animation and firing methods and moving in distinct patterns. To survive their attacks and progress in Mission Jupiter you must conserve your fuel and energy, and replenish supplies when possible.

COMMENTS

Joysticks: Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: very detailed; colour is used well, but the play area is monochrome
Sound: trashy tune and beepy spot FX
Options: one-player and two-player modes

Mission Jupiter isn't just another cheapie Code Master product - it's a really good shoot-'em-up. The graphics are well drawn and presented, though the colour is a little dull and the monochrome play area is tiny. But the ten levels offer plenty of variety.
NICK [59%]

Yet again a decent monochrome game suffers from a severe case of Slap Fightitis: the landscape is so detailed you can't see whit or who hits you, so it's infuriating to play. And sadly the graphics are the only drawing point of this latest budget shoot-'em-up. Mission Jupiter suffers from a lack of the big P… playability. It's ruined by very awkward and twitchy three-directional control, and thought the front end is of high quality with useful options it doesn't disguise the beast of a game that lies within.
PAUL [42%]

The most impressive element of Mission Jupiter is the graphics, colourful and pretty. But though the inlay boasts 'fantastic smooth scrolling' it hardly appears that way, and sound is limited to spot FX. The gameplay is very simple - it doesn't take long to get the hang of things, it doesn't take much skill to amass points, and Mission Jupiter isn't at all addictive. This is the sort of game you play when you don't want anything too taxing.
ROBIN [67%]

Code Masters
£1.99

For us inhabitants of the third planet from the sun, Jupiter is one of the more further flung lumps of the firmament. Beyond Uranus even. But Code Masters zowie cheapie, wham bam shoot 'em up, Jupiter Mission, takes you right there.

Joystick and keyboard compatible, Jupiter Mission has that rare facility, the two up mode. There's no other token gesture of sophistcation, though, you simply jetpack across the smoothly scrolling screen, leaping obstacles and zapping away.

You have five lives, and on the way you can pick up fuel and laser power. Their changing status is shown on screen, as well as your current score and the previous hi score. However, to get anywhere near being in the frame of fame, you must fight your way through ten levels, which requires treeeemendous if not 110% (er, thanks Mike. Ed) concentration.

The levels don't really get progressively difficult, it's just your trigger finger starts to wear out, there's so much mega-death to dispense. Mind you, I did find the trajectory of the bouncing balls on level 5 tricky, especially as there's some cunningly placed hurdles to negotiate at the same time.

All this takes place against a backdrop which suggests Jupiter is full of jungles and defunct sets from never broadcast episodes of Sting Ray. I'm afraid Jupiter Mission is not only cheap, it looks cheap, and is no addition to the galaxy of games the good ol' Speccy can disport with.

Label: Code Masters
Author: Derek Brewster
Price: £1.99
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Tony Dillon

Promises, promises. Yet again, in leaps Code Masters with another 'ultimate' shoot-em-up. First they promise us 'pure arcade action'.

I'll be a PR man's uncle if I've seen any arcade machines that have bad sound, jerky scrolling and poorly defined characters. Then there's the 'incredible life forms'. Wow! Bouncing boxes and tea-pots that spout bullets. Two-player action'. Cor! Shame it doesn't mention that they play one at a time.

The game itself scrolls (jerkily) from left to right. On the way your space-suited fellow must shoot all the enemies while dodging the slow- moving bullets by flying around the screen by use of their jet-pack. Along the way you must make sure to replenish your ammunition and energy.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of all is the programmer of all this tosh - Derek Brewster - creator of such great games as Kentilla and Codename Mat. He should have known better.