How to play Radar Lock online
Radar Lock is unusual because it uses two joysticks even in a one-player game: the left one flies the jet and the right one selects weapons. In the emulator, the right joystick is on the Player 2 keys.
- Fly (dive, climb, bank left and right): arrow keys
- Fire the selected weapon: Space bar
- Select guided missiles: F (Player 2 joystick left)
- Select proximity missiles: H (Player 2 joystick right); with neither key, the machine gun is selected
- Speed up while refuelling: hold Space; release it to return to normal speed
- Choose one or two players: F11 (Select)
- Start or restart the game: F12 (Reset)
In the two-player game you share one jet: the pilot flies with the left joystick, and the weapons officer picks and fires the weapons with the right joystick and its fire button (A in the emulator).
Gameplay
Each of the five missions has two waves of enemies. A long-range radar shows where enemy jets and the refuelling tanker are when they are off screen. When a target comes into range, the missile-lock radar turns bright blue, and when it goes deep red with a steady tone, a guided missile will home in. You start with five guided missiles and about 2,550 rounds of machine gun ammunition, and from Mission 3 you also carry three proximity missiles. You launch a proximity missile by pressing fire and set it off by letting go, and the blast destroys every enemy in view except bombers.
The enemies get tougher as you go, from Drones that cannot shoot in Mission 1 to Stealth Fighters that jam your radar, Bombers with tail gunners and Super Bombers that fire barrages of missiles.
At the end of each mission you fly to the tanker. When you get close it lowers its fuel hose, and the mission is complete once the nose of your jet locks into it. The fuel gauge flashes and a warning tone sounds when you are low, and the game ends if your fuel runs out or you lose your last jet. You earn a bonus jet after Missions 2, 3 and 4.
| Target or bonus | Points |
|---|---|
| Drone | 50 |
| Interceptor | 100 |
| Escorter | 250 |
| Stealth Fighter | 400 |
| Patroller | 500 |
| Bomber | 950 |
| Super Bomber | 2,000 |
| Each gallon of fuel or bullet left at the end of a mission | 1 |
| Each missile left at the end of a mission | 350 |
| Completing a mission | 801 |
Tips
- Save guided missiles for bombers. A bomber takes 25 machine gun hits, and proximity missiles cannot hurt it at all.
- Use the gun on small fighters. You have plenty of rounds, and every missile you bring home is worth 350 points.
- Wait for red. Fire a guided missile only when the lock radar has turned deep red and the tone sounds.
The story behind Radar Lock
Radar Lock was Atari’s answer to Sega’s arcade hit After Burner, and it was originally called Dog Fight. Doug Neubauer, who had earlier made Star Raiders for the Atari 8-bit computers and Solaris for the 2600, reused the Solaris game engine for it. AtariProtos calls this possibly the first time a whole game engine was reused. The game was announced in 1988 and released in 1989. A 1989 review in Atarian magazine found it exciting and addictive, while later reviewers were split between praising the graphics and criticising the controls and the high difficulty.
Similar games to play next
- Solaris – Doug Neubauer’s space epic, whose engine Radar Lock is built on
- Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator – another late-era 2600 jet fighter game
- Fighter Pilot – more air-to-air combat in a jet
- Star Raiders – the 2600 version of the space combat game Neubauer created for Atari computers