The Quasar Empire needed to expand in order to provide enough living space for its inhabitants. They sent a scout to the neighboring Beta Galaxy, with whom they had signed a peace treaty before. However, Beta authorities treated the scout with suspicion, fearing that Quasar Empire would break the treaty and assault them to further their goals. On the way back the scout was killed. A member of a special team known as the Anti-Intruder Rangers is sent to space with a clear objective: find the scout's remains and retrieve the vital information he carried.

AIR is primarily an action game with exploration and light role-playing elements. The player controls a tank-like space vehicle, moving from first-person perspective on planet surfaces. Several planets can be accessed and explored in any order. Contact with an enemy takes the player to a separate overhead screen where the battle takes place. The player must navigate the tank, shooting at the enemy and avoiding its attacks. Money is awarded, which can be spent to purchase more torpedoes and missiles, as well as repair the tank and buy new shields and batteries for it.

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