Jupiter Lander

aka: Débarquement sur Jupiter, Landung auf Jupiter
Moby ID: 8786
VIC-20 Specs
See Also

Description

Use thruster control to land the spaceship on the surface of Jupiter. Fuel consumption and speed readings are important for the player to determine how to land the craft. Choose from three landing pads of varying difficulty. Easiest landing pad multiplies the player's score by 2, hardest by 10.

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Screenshots

Credits (VIC-20 version)

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Reviews

Critics

Average score: 92% (based on 2 ratings)

Players

Average score: 2.3 out of 5 (based on 6 ratings with 1 reviews)

Pure and simple...

The Good
This game is pure and simple. It's still also pretty fun in small doses.

Also, I think the game music is pretty funny. The start music is quite dramatic, and the musical numbers accompanying a successful landing - or a landing that ends up successfully on the pad, but too fast - is quite jolly and cheerful. And it has nothing at all to do with landing on Jupiter. NASA should use this space age music in their public broadcasts.

Also, the viewpoint changes when you get close to the launch pad. This is was, back in the day, a pretty jaw-dropping feature.

Also, I suppose the physics are pretty well simulated. That's got to count.

The Bad
Um... I can't come up with a lot of stuff to say about this game, actually. It just does what it says. You land. On the Jupiter. Apparently. This game is probably being accused when people point and laugh and say "we have more interesting games these days". In other words, I couldn't play this game all day through then, and as sure as heck I can't play it all day through now.

The Bottom Line
Basically this is a "Lunar Lander clone". Which means you've got a ship. You land it on the surface while minding the controls. You can only land on pads. You've got to mind the direction, velocity, and fuel, and can control the direction and thruster throttle. Good landing gets you scored according to which pad you land on. Bad landing means you get killed.

And that's the whole game. Fun in small doses, perhaps, and certainly fun for its amusing music and, generally speaking, competent execution. Not fun after longer periods of exposure. I've heard Jupiter radiates mysterious particles.

VIC-20 · by WWWWolf (444) · 2007

Trivia

Commodore 64 version

The first game ever released for the Commodore 64.

Analytics

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Related Sites +

  • Games for the Vic-20
    This article appeared in Creative Computing Vol. 9, no. 2, February 1983 and contains more information about the Vic-20 version of Jupiter Lander.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 8786
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by wanax.

VIC-20 added by Kabushi.

Additional contributors: Jeanne, Kabushi, Pseudo_Intellectual, Dillon Upton, Patrick Bregger.

Game added April 4, 2003. Last modified October 9, 2023.