Time Pilot

Publisher: Konami

Designer: Yoshiki Okamoto

Type: Shoot-em Up

Platform: C64

Release: 1984

Rating:

A lot of games that were converted from the arcade machine to the home computer really didn’t come out all that well, no doubt due to the limitations of the home computer. Well, it wasn’t the case with this game. Then again, the game is actually quite simple when considered. Basically, the story goes that you are from the future and a number of your comrades have been scattered throughout history and it is your job to travel back in time to rescue them.

The game itself starts during World War I where you guide your futuristic plane across the skies shooting down, and attempting to avoid, various planes from the time. You will also encounter people hanging from parachutes – these are the guys that you are attempting to rescue. There is a timer at the bottom that once the time runs out then a ‘mothership’ will appear that you have to shoot down to allow you to progress into the future.

Mind you, I’ve only made it as far as the Vietnam War (passing through World War I and World War II). That is probably because once you get to Vietnam you suddenly have helicopters that fire guided missiles, and I am sure if I put more effort into it I could probably defeat that level as well. There are two more levels after this one, though I have never been good enough to be able to get that far.

This is one of my favourite arcade games, though like a lot of these games I can’t necessarily claim that I am really any good. I guess I liked the idea of flying around World War I in a futuristic fighter shooting down bi-planes, though it isn’t like shooting fish in a barrel as it sounds, because it turns out that that the weapons on the biplanes are actually quite capable of shooting your plane down, which means it is probably a pretty good idea to avoid those bullets, and of course bashing through the planes doesn’t work all that well either.

You can find some hints and tips on Strategywiki, and of course, you can always go to Wikipedia for a more, unbiased, account of this game.