Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship

Background

Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship is the third game in the Jetman series. It was designed and developed for the NES by Zippo Games for Rare and released in the US by the now defunct  Tradewest in 1990 (and in Europe by Nintendo).

Gameplay

In Solar Jetman, the player takes controll of a jet pod launched to pick up various pieces of a warship.  The pod is able to rotate, thrust and fire a weapon.  As the gravity features the effects of gravity and inertia, steering of the craft was quite difficult for some players.  For example, in order to stop motion in one direction, the player is required to fire their thrusters in the opposite direction, creating a sensation of sliding while trying to move the craft.  The object of the game was for the player to travel into one of the 12 planets of the game (and one bonus level) and collect pieces of a warship with a tractor beam all while fending off enemy craft and watching fuel usage.