User Summary
The Flagship is back... in Big Five Software's fourth arcade-inspired video game for the TRS-80.
In Cosmic Fighter, the player controls a ship that moves back and forth across the bottom of the screen firing at waves of diving aliens that descend from the top of the screen. Each level consists of four waves of different aliens, each of which has a specific style of loose or formal formations. The levels end with a refueling stage where the player must dock with a space station.
In the first level it only takes one shot to destroy an alien, so the drain on fuel from moving and shooting is not very critical. Later levels require two or more shots to destroy each alien, and care is required to avoid running out of fuel.
If the player fails to destroy all of the aliens in a wave, allowing one or more aliens to exit the bottom of the screen, then the wave is repeated with the player's ship located higher up from the bottom of the screen. This gives the player even less time to shoot the aliens the second time around.
The alien Flagship occasionally pops up in the middle of the waves, firing its laser bolt at the player's ship. The Flagship also makes an appearance during each docking stage. The player may choose to try to maneuver around the Flagship and complete docking, or try to destroy the Flagship before docking. However, careful aim is required in this stage, because if the player accidentally shoots the space station, it will respond with a laser blast that vaporizes the player's ship.