Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Star Wars (the original one, in 1977) defied all odds and broke all kinds of barriers when it was released. Back then, science fiction (sci-fi) was pretty much dead; so dead, that film maker George Lucas had to fund the movie himself because no one else would touch it (along with going broke in the process). It also debuted in the summer, another no-no, as that was considered the "sleepy season" for movie releases back then.

Of course, that little movie changed everything (especially the part about Lucas being broke) as far as movie releases went (the term "summer blockbuster" still wouldn't become a household saying for several years, although that did help change big movie releases in general) and everything sci-fi related as well, which entertainment company Paramount definitely took notice and originally planned to bring their Star Trek tv series back as Star Trek 2, but then decided to make it into a movie instead, which those rights for The Motion Picture would result in a game making its way onto the Vectrex a few years later.

Overview/gameplay
In Star Trek: The Motion Picture (the game), the player(s) take(s) on the role of Captain Kirk guiding the Enterprise through hostile space sectors while clearing out attacking Romulan and Klingon ships. It is a cockpit-viewed flight simulation where players must defend themselves from attacking enemies by destroying them and their shots (or dodging or deflecting the latter with shields). Players have a limited amount of photon torpedoes and shields (represented by lines at the bottom of the screen -- firepower is on the left, with shield strength on the right -- and noted on the overlay); run out of one or both, and the players are left vulnerable to enemy attack. If a player is hit by an enemy shot, they will lose a life, and when all lives are lost the game ends.

There are a certain number of enemy ships to be cleared from a sector before players can advance to the next one. There is no indication as to how many enemies are left or where they are in a sector, as sometimes the players will have to move around randomly until the last of the enemy ships are found and wiped out.

Along with shooting down all enemy ships, the Enterprise can also be defended by using shields, which is represented by the onscreen cursor growing larger and then shrinking back to its normal size when engaged. If timed incorrectly though, the Enterprise can still be destroyed even if the player engaged the shields when enemy fire is headed their way. Raising shields at the proper time will cause enemy fire to be deflected away from the Enterprise.

As the player starts running out of resources to defend themselves, there is also a starbase present in all sectors (except for the Klingon Mothership showdown) that the player can dock with to replenish their shield strength and photon torpedoes (although this can only be done once per sector). The starbase has a revolving door that the player can access via using the Power Link function, which the player has to take careful aim at the door while using the Power Link in order to successfully dock with the base. Meanwhile the player can be susceptible to enemy attack, although they can still raise their shields to deter enemy fire. Unfortunately the starbase can also be destroyed if the player shoots it by accident. If the starbase gets destroyed, the player has already docked with it during a sector, or if the player depletes their photon torpedo supply, there is no way to make it into the next sector without destroying all enemies, so a life will have to be lost in order for firepower and shield strength to be restored with the next remaining life.

Finally, a Klingon Mothership also appears during a game, which can only be destroyed by being hit on the nose of the ship while it is glowing. The Mothership possesses both Klingon and Romulan firepower and can be accessed by having the player fly through a black hole that is found in a sector, which the player must use the Power Link function by aiming and engaging it at the middle of the black hole in order to warp to the Mothership. If the player is able to defeat the Mothership they will be rewarded with an extra life and then the game will start over again at sector one, but at a higher difficulty level.

The starting level for the black hole appearing can be chosen at the main menu; the black hole will appear in sector one on game one, in sector two if game two is chosen, and so on, with there being eight games/sectors to choose from in all. After the Mothership is destroyed and the player makes it through all eight sectors, they will enter sector nine, which will take the player to the Mothership, which the game will start over at sector one again if the player is able to destroy the ship.

Main menu

 * Choose between one or two players--button one
 * Choose black hole starting level--buttons two and three
 * Start game--button four

In-game

 * Steer Enterprise--joystick or D-pad
 * Power link--button two
 * Shield--button three
 * Fire--button four

Scoring

 * Shooting enemy torpedo--300 points
 * Romulans and Klingons--300 - 800 points (depending on distance)
 * Romulans and Klingons while banking--1000 points
 * Klingon Mothership--5000 points
 * Detroying all ships in a sector--1500 points

Links
C+ rating on the video game critic web site

This article uses material from the Star Trek: The Motion Picture Vectrex Wikia article and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.