User Summary
This classic featured the first real use of fractal graphics in a game. You are a single-man spaceship pilot dispatched from an orbiting space station to the planet Fractalus to rescue countless numbers of downed fellow pilots. As you fly through the fractally generated (and always unique if ultimately similar) terrain of ridges and valleys, you are shot at by hostile hilltop turrets as you detect your comrades with your radar. Upon landing, the pilots run toward your ship, and you must let them into your airlock. Beware! Some of the pilots are actually aliens in disguise, and if you allow them into your ship, they will tear it apart. Once you've rescued enough pilots, you can fly back to your space station for another, more challenging mission.
A truly amazing game--definitely cutting edge for the time.
Trivia: A nearly full-featured Beta was distributed through pirate channels before the game hit the market. It lacks the opening graphics sequence and the inclusion of "Ace Pilots:" purple-headed pilots which are worth more points when rescued. This version was called, simply, "Rescue Mission."