Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom

aka: Zoom 909, Zoom 909
Moby ID: 1813

Description official description

Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom is a single player science fiction themed obstacle race, where the player controls Buck Rogers' space ship and must guide it through multiple pairs of pylons throughout the game. Controlling the ship involves side scrolling to the left or right, stop, moving forward (and faster), and moving backwards/break (and slower). Additionally, the spaceship can also fire its weapon to unleash a pair of energy bolts.

The player starts in sector 1.0 and will finish this level after the player successfully goes between an allocated number of pylons, indicated at the top left side of the screen; the first requirement is 9 pylons and will gradually increase with each new sector. In sector 1.1., with the addition of having to complete the pylon requirement, a group of flying saucers, ranging from 1 to 4 (per group), fly in a pattern. The player must avoid these flying saucers by maneuvering out of their way or by shooting them down. In sector 1.3., a new type of robot spaceship (at least one) will fly erratically and attempt to crash into the player's space ship (due to the marvel of technology of that era, enemy ships that disappear from one side of the screen, will emerge on the other side of the screen). Later sectors will gradually introduce more difficult challenges.

The game ends when the player loses all three lives by crashing into (or being crashed by, it seems sometimes) pylons or enemy space ships. Although there is no penalty in avoiding pylons altogether, the game will also end if the allocated amount of time (indicated by a long bar at the top center screen) runs out. The player may increase speed to move faster, which will present maneuverability challenges in itself. The overall score increases by distance traveled, pylons traveled through, and enemy spaceships shot down. The latest score and the high score are saved and shown in the main menu.

Spellings

  • ズーム909 - Japanese SG-1000 spelling

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Credits (Arcade version)

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Critics

Average score: 52% (based on 17 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.1 out of 5 (based on 81 ratings with 1 reviews)

Skim the Planet of Zoom avoiding obstacles before you launch into a space battle

The Good
Very colorful graphics Uses speech to warn of various dangers Multiple screens of action

The Bad
Movement of the alien saucers is extremely jerky in this version

The Bottom Line
The version of Buck Rogers for the TI-99/4A includes four stages of action. In the first, you must fly through "electron posts" slalom-style. An indicator at the top of the screen tells you how many you must fly through. Next, still on the planet's surface, you must "watch the hoppers." The indicator tells you how many you must shoot and destroy.

The action then leaves the surface of the planet for space, where you must destroy a number of alien saucers. Finally, you take on the large alien mothership before the sequence repeats.

TI-99/4A · by Andy Frueh (173) · 2016

Trivia

Cancelled Intellivision version

SEGA announced a version for Intellivision but it was never released.

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  • MobyGames ID: 1813
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by jeff leyda.

TI-99/4A added by Corn Popper. Atari 2600 added by PCGamer77. Atari 8-bit, Arcade, Coleco Adam added by Kabushi. ZX Spectrum added by Martin Smith. VIC-20, Apple II, ColecoVision added by Servo. Commodore 64 added by wanax. MSX added by koffiepad. SG-1000 added by ケヴィン. Atari 5200 added by Jeanne.

Additional contributors: Игги Друге, LepricahnsGold, ケヴィン, Patrick Bregger.

Game added June 28, 2000. Last modified August 30, 2023.