Changing Retro

Posted on Dec 15th 2014 at 05:00:00 AM by (wildbil52)
Posted under DOS, Pew Pew, Shooty Shoot, SPACE, Flight Sim, Flight Combat, Music

[img width=640 height=400]http://i.imgur.com/dolPp2el.png[/img]

Terminal Velocity, a game I would imagine most people have never heard of, is still a blast to go back and play if you enjoy arcade style flight combat. 

(Before you go any further open this link in another tab and listen to it as you read this article.
)




Terminal Velocity is a space combat flight sim released for DOS, Mac, and Windows in 1995.  I use the term "sim" loosely because the controls are really very simple: go faster, go slower, fire weapon, fire special weapon, and that's about it.  Terminal Velocity was the first game released by Terminal Reality, a company founded by former Microsoft employee and lead programmer of Microsoft Flight Simulator, Mark Randel.  On a side note, Terminal Reality, often shortened to TRI, only recently closed its doors.  Some of their more recent games include Ghostbusters: The Video Game, The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, and, um...Kinect Star Wars.

How to Play Terminal Velocity on a modern machine
If you want to play an original copy, either floppy or CD-ROM, simply copy the contents of the game to a folder on your modern machine, and fire up DOSBox.  However, it would be a lot simpler to spend a couple of dollars on gog.com and be able to download the crazy good soundtrack as a bonus.  The game normally sells for $5.99 on GOG, but if you act now, you may still be able to catch it for the low, low price of $2.99 during the Holiday Sale.

On to the Game
Terminal Velocity was originally released as shareware, which means that the first episode of the game was given away for free and you had to pay for the rest of it.  Back in the early 90's, many PC gamers discovered games on demo CDs packed in with magazines or they would purchase a collection of hundreds of shareware titles at a Nobody Beats The Wiz (look it up). 

The gameplay of Terminal Velocity is pretty straight forward and some might even call it repetitive, and I guess it is, but once I fire this game up, I find it very difficult to put it down.  The player has a set number of key targets to destroy.  Once a target is destroyed, the compass changes to direct you towards the next target.  Along the way, there are enemy fighters, tanks, stationary guns, and other obstacles that stand between you and completing your objective.

[img width=640 height=480]http://i.imgur.com/xyRzszz.png[/img]
find the target and destory, it's not rocket science

What Makes the Game Great
The first thing that should jump out at you is the music.  If you have been listening to the soundtrack this whole time as I requested, I can't believe that you made it this far into the article.  If I heard 8 seconds of this song, I would stop whatever I was doing and find a way to play the game it came from STAT.  The second thing that should jump out at you is how good the game (still) looks and how smoothly it plays.  You may think that it looks so good and smooth due to your modern hardware, but actually, it was a step above every other arcade-style, space combat sim of its time.

Anything else?
Tunnels!  I don't know why they are such a big deal, but they are, and I get excited every time I get to fly into another tunnel.  Tunnels have enemy ships, obstacles, twists and turns, and bonus weapons/items.  They are super awesome, and you will know what I mean the first time you fly through one.  I wish the game had a tunnel challenge mode where you would get to fly through tunnel after tunnel.

[img width=640 height=480]http://i.imgur.com/KAmaZ8C.png[/img]
I wish I was in a tunnel right now

Hey Bil, why is this article so short?
I really love this game but it really is very simple: go to the point on your compass, destroy that thing, repeat.  The haters call the game repetitive, I call it bliss.  We could talk about the different planets, but the only real difference is playing through a level with a different color palette.  Admittedly, the story is well-written, but forgettable.  You should definitely play Terminal Velocity if you like flying ships, blowing stuff up, and rocking out to jams. 

Sneak peak at Episode II!

[img width=640 height=480]http://i.imgur.com/4r1V8xb.png[/img]
If this was 1995, you would have to pay for this

If I like this, what else will I like?
If you like DOS/Win95 era space combat sims, there are no shortage of them out there, but if you want something VERY similar to this game, try Fury 3.  While not techinically a sequal to Terminal Velocity, it was developed right after Terminal Velocity BY Terminal Reality Inc using the same mechanics, engine, and gameplay elements soooo I would go ahead and call it a sequel.



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Comments
 
Awesome game.  Simply put, if one likes the action in Descent or the first Warhawk game, you will like Terminal Velocity.  Funny thing, I didn't know it was on GoG.  I've been playing the shareware version for a while now and not to look for a digital copy. Thanks, Bil.
 
I can remember playing the demo of this over and over and over. Talk about a blast of nostalgia - I hadn't thought about or even remembered this game's existence until just now!
 
Just fired up the shareware version of this again.  Such an amazing game.  I also wanted to mention that this game is included in the 3D Realms Anthology pack (which also includes 31 other awesome games) on the 3D Realms website.  Normally it is $40 USD, but it's been going on sale for $20 USD on a regular basis, so it should be doing so again soon.
 
I want to say this game looks familiar, not sure though. Could just be the mid-90's PC graphics. Than again, maybe I played the shareware version back then.

And isn't there a game about flying spacecraft through tunnels? You know? Descent?  Tongue

Sounds like fun though, I will keep an eye out for it next time I'm going through all my old shareware compilation discs.

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This is wildbil52's Blog.
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Like many of the people who visit this site, I am a lifelong gamer who loves and appreciates classic gaming as well as the current generation. When I started collecting games, I realized that some of the stories of my collecting might be interesting, educational, or just plain funny. The stories that I share here are meant to entertain as well as inform and they are all 100% true, which is why I include pictures.

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