It's gorgeous and the physics are very intricate, but man this game is so slow, so easy to get lost in, and just not fun. When picking things up is the objective holding things should not make the game slow to an absolute crawl.

Crazy to me that a 90s review can say "Level 2 is tough and it doesn't get better" but still give the game 4 stars like what that's crazy what do you mean there are 12 levels of this, make the maps smaller, better movement, carry items weigh less, and take less damage for hitting walls, then maybe it'd be worth playing but not like this.

The third Jetman/Jetpac game, Solar Jetman changes things by having a structured quest across designed levels, tacking down parts of a golden warpship.

You also won’t use the jetpack that much. Most of the time will be spent in little pod-like ships, and the controls are very physics-based. Instead of pointing in a direction and moving, you instead rotate your ship and use the thrusters to propel yourself, to stop you have to face the other way and use the thrusters to stop. It makes it feel like a successor to Lunar Lander than Jetpac.

If your ship is destroyed, you won’t be dead instantly, instead you’ll be in your spacesuit with your jetpack, flying around in a way more similar to the old Jetpac games. You can still shoot, but only horizontally, meaning some enemies you can’t hit at all, and you can’t pick up important objects. On top of this, you are very fragile, and one more hit will kill you. Once your ship is destroyed, you’ll want to rush back to the start of the level to grab a new one. This is a very nice mechanic to continue the game without losing a life.

As you explore levels you’ll find various objects: ship parts, upgrades, fuel and diamonds. You’ll need to pick these up in your pod and drag them back to your mothership at the start of the levels. Items are heavy, and your little pod will struggle to fly them around. Sometimes there are wormholes that you can use for a shortcut. This does unfortunately mean that some parts of the game are long slogs back to the start of the level, moving slowly.

How difficult things will move does depend on what planet you are on, as different ones have different gravity. Due to the really well made physics, you can feel the difference and can adjust your playstyle accordingly.

While there’s a lot to praise about Solar Jetman, it ultimately is a fairly slow and tedious game. The snapshots do create some nice bit-sized chunks for you.

After the successes of both Jetpac and Lunar Jetman, Ultimate Play the Game, now known as Rare, decided to have Zippo Games, who helped them develop Ironsword, change their new title in development known as Iota into the next game in the Jetman series. Not only that, but this new title would be released for the NES after shifting their focus primarily onto console games. So, after a 7 year gap between this and Lunar Jetman, Rare then released the third entry known as Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship.

As the first proper game that can be finished in the Jetman series, from what I have experienced and what I have seen, it does seem to be an interesting game, and I feel like it can provide a fun experience for those willing to take on the game's challenges. However, for me, I couldn't STAND this game at all, for one specific reason that I will get to later in this review, and it may be a personal problem of mine, but it effected my enjoyment with the game heavily.

The story is pretty much told to you in the title, so no need to dwell on that, the graphics are alright, the music is fine, at least from what I've heard, and the gameplay is familiar enough in comparison to the original titles, while still introducing new elements to keep the game fresh enough.

The game is primarily a multi-directional space shooter, where you patrol your spaceship through many different corridors, shoot enemies along the way, and collect various pieces of fuel to keep yourself going, while traveling through various portals along the way to help you out on your quest to gather all the pieces of the golden warpship. It is familiar enough to the original games, while also still providing a new experience for those who played the original games, or those who are experiencing this series for the first time.

With all that in mind though, there is one aspect of this game that I absolutely could not stand, the one thing that caused me to quit entirely, is the control and movement. For all of the levels in the game, they all operate around a system that involves heavy movement, gravity and inertia, to where it is VERY easy to hit a wall and take damage, and ultimately destroy your ship and die. As I have stated in my reviews for Balloon Fight and Joust, I HATE having heavy, restricted movement in video games, or just the lack of proper control over your character. It makes it feel like any mistake I make from that point is the game's fault rather than my own, and it feels extremely unfair in the process unless there is a way around it.

This is my main issue with Solar Jetman. I know this is probably technically realistic to actually flying a spaceship in these types of planets, but I couldn't care less because it feels horrible to control, and at that point, after not getting that far at all, I just said "Fuck it!" and quit. I usually would stick through with games, no matter how bad they are, but if the game provides an obstacle that just seems impossible to overcome, whether it be a stage, a boss, or even controlling the main character, then that's when you call it quits.

Overall, while it looks like a competent entry in the Jetman series, I for one can't put myself through the control to fully experience it myself, which kind of ruins it in my eyes. That being said, you play it for yourself and form your own opinion. Don't let my skill issues stop you.

Game #124