How to play Killer Satellites online
- Fly left and right: left and right arrow keys
- Move up and down: up and down arrow keys
- Fire the gun: Space bar
- Start a new game: F12 (the consoleās Reset switch)
- Choose the starting wave: F11 (the consoleās Select switch; hold it to keep advancing)
- Ship speed: F4 toggles the left difficulty switch (B gives a slower ship that stops sooner)
- Rapid fire or single shots: F9 toggles the right difficulty switch (B fires automatically while you hold the button, A once per press)
Gameplay
The killer satellites come in waves and head for your hometown on the ground below. A radar strip near the top of the screen shows where they are; your own view is always the centre of the radar, so you fly towards the blips to find them. There are eight kinds of satellite, each worth a different score, from 10 to 90 points. As the waves go on, meteorites start to fall as well. They canāt be destroyed, so you have to dodge them.
An energy barrier near the ground burns up asteroids, but the satellites have learned to slip through it, and it will destroy your ship too if you fly into it. You lose a ship by touching a satellite, a meteorite or the barrier, or by running out of fuel. You start with six ships and earn another every 10,000 points. Each wave begins with 4,800 pounds of fuel. When you lose a ship, every satellite on the screen is destroyed with it. Your gun also heats up with every shot, and if the temperature gauge reaches the top it stops firing until it cools down.
At the end of each wave you earn bonus points: 50 for every ground object still standing, 100 for every wave completed, and 10 for every 100 pounds of fuel left. If you choose to start at a later wave and clear it without losing a ship, you earn a bonus of 1,000 points times that wave number.
Tips
- Fire in short bursts. Rapid fire is tempting, but an overheated gun leaves you helpless in the middle of a wave.
- Use the radar. Head straight for the blips instead of searching blindly; wasted flying costs fuel, and leftover fuel is worth points.
- Stay clear of the barrier. Chasing a satellite down towards the ground is the easiest way to lose a ship.
History
Starpath, first called Arcadia, sold its games on cassette for the Supercharger, which plugged into the cartridge slot and connected to the earphone socket of a tape player. Killer Satellites was the seventh Supercharger game in order of release, coming after Dragonstomper and before Rabbit Transit.
