The whole Galaxy is controlled by a Federation run by a tyrant called Alana who has the only access to a Mind-Lord computer which controls everything. The key to the computer is a crystal which hangs on a Pentite necklace which is one of the hardest elements known in the Galaxy and only a Proton Lance powered by Zyron and Trysst can cut it. You have been tasked to go after Alana and get the crystal in your starship called Andromeda but Alana moves around the Galaxy all the time so her known location is rarely known. You need to search the whole galaxy searching for Star Bases to take over to restrict Alana’s movements and find planets to find the Lance and the elements to power it.
The Galaxy is huge and would take many lifetimes to search so you require various warps to cross the whole Galaxy. The two ways to travel is by Real Space or Metaspace. Metaspace is the ability to travel huge distances in a short space of time but any star bases, planets or other ships in the area cannot be seen and the dangers are stars like red giants and blue dwarves that need avoiding but if you fly close enough they can increase your energy and time. If you are on course to hit a star you can give a short burst of your shield. Scattered around Metaspace are gates that allow you to slow down and enter Real Space but these can only be entered from the front and not too fast. As well as your energy and time that need to be kept to it’s maximum you also have a crew of 50 people and any hits in any part of the game kills parts of your crew. If your Energy, time or crew reach zero then it’s game over.
Real Space allows you to fly at normal speed and detect and see any objects in the area. You can also repair your ship if you take damage and the damage counter needs to be close to zero so you hold down R to decrease it. Be careful of any star fighters or asteroids that cross your path. Pressing L brings up your sight and you can fire and destroy them. Pressing D detects anything in the area and if there is nothing then you go back to Metaspace to search another area by pressing T for Thrust and speeding up. If an object is detected you slow down to a halt and the object appears in front of you.
If a star base appears then star fighters come at you in waves and these need destroying. As you destroy a set number of waves you move closer to the base and when you get close enough you can leave your ship to gain entry into the base. You have to move yourself across the screen avoiding the defences to finally solve a puzzle so you can leave and the base is under your control. A planet can also appear which means you can search it for the Lance and elements. This part of the game is a Lunar Lander type game where you must navigate downwards through tunnels to the bottom using your thrusters to control your ship.
Once you have searched a part of the galaxy and there isn’t nothing left to do then you can warp to another part. You press X and the computer gives you a password. The game then loads the next warp before asking for the password. Get it wrong and you have to warp again. Get it right and another big part of the galaxy opens up to search
Starship Andromeda