- Solaris is a space combat video game for the Atari 2600 published in 1986 by Atari. The game involves a player seeking out the planet Solaris via their starship. To accomplish this, the player must navigate the galactic scanner to explore quadrants of a map. Doing so allows them to explore Federation planets to refuel their ship, and engage in combat with hostile aliens known as the Zylons.
- Solaris (Atari 2600) online game (atarionline.org)
The galaxy of Solaris is made up of 16 quadrants, each containing 48 sectors. The player uses a tactical map to choose a sector to warp to, during which they must attempt to keep their ship “in focus” to lower their fuel consumption rate. Fuel must be carefully managed, as an empty tank results in loss of one of the player lives. Space battle ensues whenever the player navigates into a hostile battlegroup via the tactical map. Space enemies include pirate ships, mechanoid ships, and aggressive “cobra” ships. Each battlegroup has at least one enemy flagship, which shoots out fuel-sapping drones.
