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Space Shuttle: A Journey into Space

Developer / Publisher: Activision
1983
Glitchwave rating
2.47 / 5.0
0.5
5.0
 
 
#96 for 1983
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Day 01: "What the hell is this. Why does this game play itself"

Day 02: "Oh, so the first difficulty is an autopilot and the other two are player-led simulations. Well, no way am I reading the manual, it's too huge and cryptic, fuck that shit"

Day 03: "I don't get it, why doesn't my shuttle launch? What's those numbers on the dashboard?"

Day 04: "According to the manual, the pitch of the nose needs to be just at negative 018 to allow for rendezvous procedure to begin. Ah, so that explains why I always got so hopelessly lost in space."

Day 05: "Atmosphere re-entry is at precisely 195 altitude, the star vessel must set yaw to -128 and then to 0, and then..."

Day 06: "Sorry sweetie, daddy's out with NASA on a business trip to the Moon, I'll get you your birthday present when I get back"

Activision's Space Shuttle is what you get when you get Microsoft Flight Simulator, Kerbal Space Program, and then smosh it into a game for the Atari 2600. And that's... that's exactly what it is.

The game presents you with a single, scripted level with a very direct objective. Launch the space shuttle Discovery, make contact with an orbital satelite, detatch, re-enter the atmosphere, and land on a runway. This entire sequence, if you know what you're doing, lasts only five minutes and you beat the game.

But learning how to do it and following all the procedures is the REAL challenge, and there's a lot to take in.

The 'meat' of the game is not so much in playing the software, but really in wrestling with the manual, which describes in meticulous detail all the switches and functions you need to do to control your shuttle. The flight operation leaves no room for error, so what you're developing for the shuttle flight is a single, perfect 5-minute performance, and it can easily take people days or weeks to try to figure out what they did wrong and finding the correct controls to amend their mistakes. It's one of those kinds of games.

Really, that's all there is to this wonderful simulator and if there are any flaws I could give it, it would only be to the manual itself, which still can't be clear on some details which you need to be told. Like for example, how do you slow down? It is never explained in the manual, but I think it has something to do with altering the pitch of your ship or something. I wanted to give a comprehensive guide on how to beat this, but, as I've said, figuring out what the manual dictates is the game.

I also recommend the excellent Atari 5200/Atari 8-bit port, and in fact it might be much better suited for beginners. The dashboard has so many more displays and visuals providing for a more tactile feedback instead of the micro-managing requirements of the 2600 original.
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Catalog

nbatman Space Shuttle: A Journey into Space 2023-07-05T22:15:54Z
2023-07-05T22:15:54Z
1.5
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Mistertitanic Space Shuttle: A Journey into Space 2022-07-01T16:48:54Z
Atari 2600/VCS • XNA
2022-07-01T16:48:54Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Clownboss Space Shuttle: A Journey Into Space 2017-12-07T22:04:03Z
Atari 5200 • US
2017-12-07T22:04:03Z
3.5
1
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Improved port Definitive Best of: 5200
Clownboss Space Shuttle: A Journey into Space 2017-11-29T11:10:37Z
Atari 2600/VCS • XNA
2017-11-29T11:10:37Z
3.0
2
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Gem Best of: 2600
Player modes
Single-player
Media
1x Cartridge

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