Time Pilot/Getting Started

You control a fighter plane that travels to, and engages in combat in, five different time eras.Each time era contains a unique fighter and a unique stage boss "mother ship". You must destroy enough enemy craft in order to make the stage boss appear.

You will advance to the next time period (or back to the first time period) when you defeat the boss. You must avoid collision with any enemy craft or weapons, or you lose on chance. Your plane can travel in any direction, and turn very quickly, but it can't about face. You can collect parachuting pilots for bonus points.

Controls

 * Joystick: Use the joystick to direct your plane through the air. You can lock into one of eight directions, although you will pass through many more while turning from one direction to another, allowing your shots to fire at a variety of angles while you transition from one to the other.
 * Fire: Pressing the fire button once launches a burst of three shots in rapid fire. Your plane will not shoot again until the fire button is released and depressed.  In this fashion, you can create a stream of rapid fire with a steady rhythm of button taps.  You have to tap the button continuously, but you don't have to do it as fast as every shot is fired.
 * 1-2 Players: Press either button to begin a one or two player game.

Time Pilot
You are the Time Pilot, you pilot an extremely maneuverable ship that has time travel capabilities. Your mission is to visit five different time eras and defeat a lead craft in aerial combat. You can steer your plane into eight different positions, but your plane transitions through several different degrees while traveling from one direction to another. Your ship also has semi-rapid-fire capabilities, allowing you to fire rapidly with only an occasional tap of the fire button. Your ship cannot withstand a collision to any enemy or their weapons.

Parachutes
In each time era, fellow Time Pilots are wafting through the air in need of rescue. You will see one appear in the air from time to time amid the enemy fighters. Carefully maneuver yourself to their location to pick them up. The first parachute you collect is worth 1000 points, and each one increases by 1000 point, to a maximum of 5000. Parachute waft slowly downward, and they will disappear from the game if they scroll off of the screen.

1910 craft
As the earliest time period in the game, 1910 has the most primitive aircraft. Your main enemy will be the biplanes, which are capable of hurling incendiary bombs at your ship. Naturally, the bombs are drawn back down to the earth, so you can avoid them relatively easy by flying up. The biplanes do not possess anywhere near the level of maneuverability that you do, so they generally try to take shots at you as they fly by. When enough biplanes have been shot down, the Blimp will appear.

1940 craft
The prop planes of 1940 possess a little more maneuverability than the biplanes do, so they are better at locking on to your tail and trying to stick with you, although they can't fly nearly as fast as you can. The formations that appear are slightly more aggressive, but if you shoot at least two or three of them when they appear, they will break up and proceed to attack you as normal planes. Once enough prop planes have been destroyed, the lead bomber appears.

1940 is unique in that it has a third craft which appears from time to time. These smaller bomber planes will appear every once in a while to launch bombs at you. They do not deviate from their straight flight path, and they take three shots to destroy, but they are worth 1500 points if you can destroy them.

1970 craft
Helicopters are the common foe of the 1970 period. These craft nearly match your own ability in terms of turning through the air, but they still can't fly as fast as you. However, this era possess Cruise Missile technology. The helicopters will launch heat seeking missiles at your plane. They are faster than you and try to hone in on your thrusters, but they can be easily tricked off course and shot down. Take these missiles seriously, don't go after a helicopter if it means staying in the path of a missile. Shoot down enough helicopters to make the lead helicopter show itself.

1982 craft
Since your craft was built with predominantly 1982 technology, it's only natural that the jets you encounter in this era have the same capabilities as you. They can turn as fast and fly as fast. They also possess Cruise Missiles, but they are far less likely to fire their regular guns at you. Don't turn around as much as you did in the previous three eras, because the jets will happily collide with you if it means taking you down. Wait them out if you have to: they will eventually turn around and leave if they can't catch you. After enough jets are destroyed, a stealth bomber will appear as the boss.

2001 craft
In this final time period, earth is the victim of an alien invasion. A huge army of flying saucers occupy the sky, and they are just as determined to remove you from it as the rest of your enemies. They possess two weapons, a fast straight shot, and an equally fast bending shot. The bending shot can't turn through the air like the Cruise Missile can, but it is much better about predicting where you're going to end up turning than the missiles are. Both of these weapons can be shot, and should be whenever possible. Once you'e destroyed enough of the saucer fleet, the mother ship will appear. This is the last boss that you must defeat before you are sent back to 1910 to do it all over again.

Scoring

 * Regular enemy: 100 points
 * Bomb/Missile: 100 points
 * Stage Boss: 3000 points
 * 1940 Bomber: 1500 points
 * Formation Bonus: 2000 points
 * Parachute: 1000~5000 points