Lunar Lander is a video game that was released for arcades by Atari in 1979. In it, the player controls a lunar lander spacecraft that is trying to land on the crater-covered surface of the moon. While the initial concept might seem easy at first, the game proves very challenging.
The first obstacle is finding the correct spot to land. The moon’s surface is covered in slopes and other inclines that make the landing all the more difficult, coupled with the fact that the player is going to be searching for a multiplier zone (to yield a large point reward). However, these zones are often in the most challenging areas to land in. Even getting to such a zone presents difficulties - the player has limited fuel that, once burned, provides the player with some upward thrust but can never be regained. Once their destination is successfully reached, however, all the player needs to do is land. And landing is where the game’s challenge really begins. Am I lined up correctly? How fast am I going? Is my ship angled the right way? What’s the best use of my limited fuel? These are all issues the player must consider in order to get that perfect landing, for each of those factors ties into what type of landing the player will get.
There are three possible outcomes for landing. The first is you land softly, awarding you a base total of fifty points while a message complimenting your excellent landing skills appears on screen. The second, a hard landing, awarding you a base total of twenty-five points with a message mocking you for your rough touchdown, informing you that you did it but that it was going to cost the space station. And the last and most unfortunate - a crash landing! If this occurs, no points are awarded, a message saying how large a crater you left appears on screen, and the worst part - you lose fuel.
After this disastrous landing, you return to space, keeping your score and remaining fuel, and are given a second chance to land again.You repeat this loop until your fuel reaches zero and the game ends, where you are shown your total points - so that you can brag to your friends about how good of an astronaut you would be.
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