Lunar Rescue

The game begins with the player's spaceship docked to the mother ship at the top of the screen. Below the mother ship is an asteroid field, and below that is the surface of the moon. There are three landing pads and six stranded astronauts who need to be rescued. You control a small spaceship. The player must press the button to undock their spaceship from the mother ship and maneuver through the asteroid field. The spacecraft can only move left or right or use a limited amount of fuel by activating thrust (the same button again) to slow its descent. If the spaceship successfully lands on one of the available platforms, one of the astronauts runs toward the spaceship and boards it. The asteroid belt now transforms into a swarm of flying saucers, some of which drop bombs. The player must now steer the spacecraft back to the mothership (the spacecraft ascends without consuming fuel) while dodging the flying saucers. The thrust button is now a fire button that can be used to shoot at enemies above (as in Space Invaders). Finally, the spaceship must dock with the mothership via the loading bay. If the side of the mothership or any part of the ship outside the bay is hit, the rescued astronaut falls to the surface and dies. If the mother ship is completely missed, the spaceship explodes. After all six people have been rescued (or killed, if the player still has lives remaining), the game restarts at a higher level.