Cosmic Chasm

Gameplay
The player(s) control a ship set in a series of interconnected areas. Each area has a core in the center that is constantly growing, as well as having several Planet Protector enemies. It is usually in the player's best interest to clear out each area of Planet Protectors by shooting them, then carefully inching their way to the protective barrier by an exit in order to drill through it. Once the barrier has been disabled, the player can then fly into the next cavern.

The view changes from a room to a map in between screens, showing the player's(') progress in order to make their way to the center chamber. They must plan out the best route in order to get to the central area. Once that is accomplished, the player(s) must drop a bomb at the center core, which they have several seconds in order to escape from the area before the bomb explodes. If the player does not make it out in time they will lose a ship; succeed and they will start again in a new area.

Hitting a cavern wall, core or a Planet Protector will cause players to lose a ship and the game will end when there are no ships remaining. Players also have a protective shield for use in emergencies.

Main menu

 * Choose between one or two players–button one
 * Start game–button four

In-game

 * Turn ship–joystick or D-pad
 * Drop off bomb--down on joystick or D-pad (in central chamber only)
 * Drill–button one
 * Shields–button two
 * Thrust–button three
 * Fire–button four

Scoring

 * Destroying Planet Protector--80 points
 * Destroying Planet Protector after first cavern--80 points + 10 for each additional cavern
 * Drilling to next cavern--25 points
 * Getting to next cavern while escaping planet--100 points
 * Completion of successful mission-1000 points

Trivia
This was the first home game ever to be ported from the home to the arcade, which it is usually the other way around as far as ports go. This ended up being Cinematronics' last released vector game ever before filing for bankruptcy.

Links
Review at vectrex.nl site (7.5/10)

This article uses material from the Cosmic Chasm Vectrex Wikia article and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.