Solar Jetman

[Graham Mitchell]

I was playing this NES classic earlier today. Any fans of this game around? I don't hear much about it anymore.

It's sort of Rare's tribute to Gravitar. The gameplay mechanics basically are Gravitar, but with so much more to do. It's also got Rare's trademark gorgeous NES visuals.

I actually playtested this game 15 or so years ago before it came out, and I fell in love with it then. How 'bout you guys?

http://image.allmusic.com/00/agg/screen250/drs100/s192/s19271zpgeh.jpg

[Johnny_Rock]

I remember that damn game i would always run out of fuel but looking back the controls were realy smooth for a NES game.

[kidkool]

I am all nostalgic remembering the opening sequence.

And the ship movement was very fluid.

[Garry Silljo]

I love it. It's unique, controls well, and it's fun. Some levels can be frustrating, but in a good way. They are challenging levels, no cheap deaths in this title. I can really respect someone who is good at this one.

[Aussie2B]

Funny how a game that was pushed so hard by Nintendo Power would end up virtually forgotten today, even among NES collectors.

[ubersaurus]

One of the best games ever. I've always wanted to try predecessors in the series(there were two, I think), but quite frankly I doubt they could match up to the uniqueness, beauty, and insane difficulty of Rare's 8-bit masterpiece.

[mills]

got it for christmas one year. I could get pretty far like level 9. I also remember finding a warp and freaking out.

[KJN]

Solar Jetman was Ultimate/Rare's third Jetman game, the previous two were Jetpac (1983) and Lunar Jetman (1984). There was also a Jetman comic which ran in Crash magazine.

http://www.cult-media.com/images/Abrook12.gif
Jetman comic

Only the NES version of Solar Jetman was commercially released, all the home computer versions were cancelled. Of those the C64 version (which was fully finished) has reasently resurfaced thanks to Games That Weren't C64 (http://gtw64.co.uk).

http://gtw64.retro-net.de/Shots/0/1.gif
C64 version of Solar Jetman

[Graham Mitchell]

I remember hearing about Jetpack, and I had wondered if it was related to SJ. Cool!

[jajaja]

I wouldnt say that Jetpack have anything to do with Solar Jetman. I like Jetpack more than I like Solar Jetman :)

[chimyfolkbutter1]

Solar Jetman is an awesome game. As for the Nintendo Playchoice colletor, it probably one of the rarest game next to RBI Baseball. I saw one on ebay last year for $250.

[kidkool]

I wouldnt say that Jetpack have anything to do with Solar Jetman. I like Jetpack more than I like Solar Jetman :)


I loooooooove Jet Pack! It was one of my favorite Rare titles of all time. I wonder why they never made a port of it on the NES. I think I have a c-64 disk of it somewhere.

[jajaja]

Hehe ye, its a great game. I had it on a shareware CD for PC back in the days. My little sister used to play it all the time.

[dan2357]

I pretty sure I have this for the C64, got it late in its life, but it was retail version. It was on disk not cart.....

Maybe it wasn't hmmmmmm maybe for c128? now I have to go unpack my comadore stuff and look.

[vintagegamecrazy]

I was actually going to start a thread on this gem, I want to try to see how far I could get sometime.

[Rabid Peanut-Butter]

Wow, I was just talking about this game the other day to a friend. Great memories, though I don't think I ever got past level 5 or so.

[Jagasian]

I love how you can upgrade your planet explorer pod, and the variety of planets was great. The biggest flaw in Solar Jetman, however, is that towards the end of the game you have your explorer pod so heavily upgraded and you have really learned how to pilot the craft very well, in all situtations... then you get the famous Golden Warship, only to realize that it is crap compared to your pod.

I had played the game all the way to the Golden Warship on a real NES, and maybe I didn't know what I was doing, but when I was flying the gold ship I didn't last more than 10 seconds before the ship was destroyed. I was furious! WTF is the point of the ship if it sucks compared to your pod? How can this thing get destroyed so much more easily than your pod? Why not just fly your pod in that final action sequence?

At that point, I was on my last life, so the game was over. Next time I will do a little reading up on how the hell to fly that stupid Golden Warship so that I don't loose everything next time I have to fly it.

I just wish there was a SNES version. I guess I'd settle for a GBA Solar Jetman 2 :)

[Graham Mitchell]

I've never gotten to the Golden Warpship part, but my friends had endless horror stories about that. It sounded very Ninja-Gaiden-esque, where it's an incredible struggle to get there, and once you get there, it's impossible. My type of game.

[Jagasian]

I've never gotten to the Golden Warpship part, but my friends had endless horror stories about that. It sounded very Ninja-Gaiden-esque, where it's an incredible struggle to get there, and once you get there, it's impossible. My type of game.

If I remember correctly, my ship exploded the second I bumped into a wall... something that you can do to your heavily upgraded pod-ship without worry, when shields are activated.

[Jive3D]

This was a VERY FINE nes game, very few games were as polished and sweet-playing as this was.

Fans of Solar Jetman should also check out Sub-Terrania which was on the Genesis, great game - it had a lot more action too.

[christhegamer]

(D' oh!)

[christhegamer]

:-P I might just want to get this now (they had it at Video Game X-change for $4.99)...

[Graham Mitchell]

:-P I might just want to get this now (they had it at Video Game X-change for $4.99)...

Do it. It's worth it, even if it is rediculously hard.

[shoes23]

Great game, but it needed some music. The only sound is your pod's thrusters and some wierd space blips. I always loved the exploration of the caverns, some of them are pretty large.

[Jagasian]

Great game, but it needed some music. The only sound is your pod's thrusters and some wierd space blips. I always loved the exploration of the caverns, some of them are pretty large.

I think that made it feel more mysterious and foreign when exploring those large alien caverns. It would have "felt too crowded" if the music was too complicated.

[Needle]

I've gotten to the Golden Warpship part on an actual NES cartridge (and finished the game on an emulator) and yes, that last stage with the Warpship is near impossible.

For starters, you can't bump into the walls. One hit from anything, whether it be bullet, asteroid, or wall, will destroy you.

Secondly, the ship doesn't control well. It "slides". Very inprecise control when you need it the most.

Thirdly, the screen doesn't just automatically scroll from right to left. Somewhere in the middle of the level, the screen starts scrolling in different diagonal directions, often at the most inopportune times. Unfortunately, when the screen switches directions, your ship doesn't, so walls can suddenly change direction and plow into you unannounced. Kind difficult to control when you're trying to thread the needle in a tight passage and the screen scroll keeps flipping to insane diagonals!

It's too bad that last piece sucks so bad, because the rest of the game is pure freakin' gold.

[Red Hedgehog]

I am a big fan of this game. I ranked it #16 on my list of the top 50 NES games that I own and have played. Here's what I wrote:

This is one of the most unique and most overlooked games for the NES. You pilot a shuttlepod (or jet-pod) that must explore the planet, collecting enough fuel for your mothership so that it can blast off and make it to the next planet. Along the way, you collect other items (though you have pretty much all you absolutely need by the second planet) and fight off aliens protecting those items. What makes the game so interesting is the physics - the gravity of the planet is constantly pulling you toward it, so you need to thrust upwards to counteract this - all while still appropriately heading left, right, or wherever. This provides quite a challenge when navigating narrow corridors and towing heavy items back to the ship. Plus there's a great dynamic of when to use shields or not and when to use afterburners or not. The story is almost non-existant, but there is a good sense of humor to the game (especially what you find in the treasure chests), and the last level becomes a shoot-'em-up. By the end of the game, some of the planets can start to feel the same, but the concept is so fun that this game is definitely worth playing.

---

To comment on what others have said, maybe more music would have been nice, but I think the lack of it really contributes to the space atmosphere. And yeah, the side-scrolling shoot-em-up part with the golden warship is extremely difficult until you get the hang of it. But, eventually you do and you beat the game. This game was enjoyable enough that I have played it through 3 or 4 times. Then again, back in the day, I was obsessive about beating all my NES games and there was such a feeling of satsisfaction when finally doing it. Ninja Gaiden, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Battletoads are all high on my list partly because I enjoyed the challenge they provided.

[-dustburn-]

Absolutely one of my favorite games of all time. I'm glad to see some love for this game on here. As you can see from my sidebar, I think this gem is near perfect. I urge anyone who hasn't played this, to go out and snatch this one up. I see it used ALL THE time! Overlooked and the exact meaning of underrated.

[jperryss]

Definitely in my top 5 for NES titles. Fun, humorous, and TOUGH.

The furthest I ever made it legitimately was what is (I think) the final planet before the Golden Warpship. The whole underground portion of the planet was a grid-like layout, that's about all I remember.

I did end up beating the game eventually, by cheating.