TASAR
| Developer: Synergistic | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Arcadia | Sound: |
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| Year: 1987 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Shoot’em up | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 2 alternating | Rating: |
6/10 | |
TASAR, short for Terran Armed Search And Rescue—also known as Space Ranger—was one of my very first games. It takes inspiration from Defender, a side-scrolling shoot’em up “with free scrolling” (meaning the screen follows your movements rather than the other way around). Like its predecessor, it includes a radar to track everything happening both inside and outside your field of view.
The twist here is that the evil aliens aren’t after humans anymore—they’re targeting animals. Poor creatures, it’s dreadful. You’re free to kill them if you like, but it won’t earn you any points. For those with an eco-friendly streak, you can capture them instead by deploying traps (press “Space”). Just try not to get blasted by an alien while you’re at it!
Visually unimpressive and notoriously difficult, the game nonetheless has a unique atmosphere. I sometimes find myself staring at the title screen for five minutes straight, mesmerised by this strange world teeming with bizarre creatures…
Note: The music plays in Space Ranger, but not in TASAR.
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