UFO Commando

UFO Commando is a side-scrolling action game in which the player fights against an alien faction. The goal of each mission is the same: entering one of the five vehicles (flying saucer, bomber flying saucer, laser tank, drill tank, obsidian tank), destroy the enemy base and return to the home base in one piece. There are four worlds with four levels each.

Each of the vehicles has different abilities, e.g. the drill tank can drill ways into the underground, but the most important distinction is that the flying saucers are airborne while the tanks are restricted to the ground. Each vehicle also has two standard weapons: a laser which can be freely aimed with analogue stick and a limited amount of missiles which are useful for destroying buildings and deforming the terrain. Damaged vehicles can be repaired by returning to the home base.

The player can also leave the vehicle and walk around the level. Then there is still a laser pistol available and the missiles are replaced with a jetpack. This can be useful in order to check out multiple vehicles or leave a vehicle behind which was damaged beyond repair. However, the disadvantage is that the player character dies after a single hit.