How to play Fantastic Voyage online
- Steer left and right: left and right arrow keys
- Speed up: up arrow
- Slow down or back up a little: down arrow
- Fire the laser: Space bar (hold it for continuous fire)
- Start a new game: F12 (Reset)
- Choose a game variation: F11 (Select)
- Pause: F2 (the game uses the Colour / B-W switch as a pause)
Gameplay
The journey is split into six phases. The heart monitor is your life bar: every collision weakens the patient’s heartbeat, and so does each full cycle of the time clock. If the line goes flat, the game is over. Shooting enzymes strengthens the heartbeat again, so they are worth hunting. Touching the artery walls releases antibodies, and each one you fail to shoot drains strength.
- Phase 1: defence cells, which you can shoot freely
- Phase 2: blood cells, which are good for the patient, so don’t shoot them or touch them
- Phase 3: bacteria, which take three hits each
- Phase 4: a mix of all three
- Phase 5: a narrow stretch of artery, where steering matters most
- Phase 6: indestructible clotlets and the blood clot itself, which needs 15 laser hits
You score points for what you shoot and for finishing each phase, with a bigger bonus the stronger the heartbeat is at the end. Once you destroy the clot, a new patient is waiting at the same difficulty, and the counter keeps track of how many you have saved.
Game variations
There are six options. Options 1 and 2 are Normal and Extended Normal. Options 3 and 4 are the Difficult versions, with more obstacles. Options 5 and 6 are Easy, where collisions do less damage and there is no time penalty. The Extended versions make the early phases longer.
Tips
- Hold fire in phases 1 and 3, not in phase 2. Continuous fire clears defence cells and bacteria, but in phase 2 it would hit the helpful blood cells.
- Stay off the walls. Every wall contact creates antibodies you then have to deal with.
- Don’t dawdle. The clock also wears down the heartbeat, so backing up to line up every shot has a cost.
- Arrive strong. The phase bonus depends on the heartbeat, so collect enzymes before each phase ends.
- Try Easy first. Options 5 and 6 remove the time penalty, which is a good way to learn the six phases.
The story behind Fantastic Voyage
In 1982 Sirius Software, best known for Apple II games, signed a deal to make Atari 2600 games for Fox Video Games, which wanted to turn Fox’s film catalogue into cartridges. David Lubar, who had previously written Worm War I, chose Fantastic Voyage himself; he later said that as a science fiction fan it was an obvious pick. He later became an author of books for young readers, including the Weenies short story collections.
Reviews at the time were mixed. Several critics found the graphics plain, and one compared it unfavourably to Activision’s River Raid, while others praised the heart monitor and the sound. A later look in Retro Gamer called it respectable, if not as good as River Raid. Taito also produced a separate arcade game based on the licence, Bio-Attack, released in Japan in 1983, and there was an Atari 8-bit computer version.
Similar games to play next
- Worm War I – David Lubar’s earlier game for Sirius and Fox
- River Raid – the vertical scroller it was most often compared to
- Fast Eddie – another Sirius Software game for Fox
- Turmoil – a fast Sirius shooter published by Fox
- Alien – another Fox film licence on the 2600