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.
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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.


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.


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!


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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