Uchuusen Cosmo Carrier

Box artwork for Uchuusen Cosmo Carrier.

Uchuusen Cosmo Carrier
Developer(s)	Jaleco
Publisher(s)	Jaleco
Year released	1987
System(s)	NES

Japanese title	宇宙船コスモキャリア
Genre(s)	Shooter
Modes	Single player

Uchuusen Cosmo Carrier is an outer space shooter for the NES. It was developed by Jaleco, and only published in Japan near the end of 1987. At first glance, it appears to be a behind-the-cockpit space shooter, but in fact, it is a complex space adventure game that has the player piloting around the solar system in an effort to collect six parts needed for an ultimate weapon, the photon missile, in order to put an end to the plans of a battle planet that seeks to wipe out earth. Players must discover landing points on various planets and moons, in order to explore them in various kinds of mechanical exploration suits to locate the weapon parts. The game is very menu driven, although there are some action sequences. Uchuusen Cosmo Carrier was only released in Japan, and never translated from Japanese to any other language.

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  Title screen

Story

One of Nostradamus's predictions became a reality in 1999: the moon departed from its orbit abnormally, and began to approach the Earth. Around the same time, a mysterious group of spaceships came flying into the solar system and a mechanical "planet" was situated just outside of Pluto. This "Battle Star" was behind the manipulation of the moon's orbit. It is calculated to crash into the Earth in roughly three months, and if this happens, the human race will be destroyed.

However, information soon became available that the invading force which entered the solar system had the technology to build a massive super weapon with immense destructive power, known as a photon missile. If such a missile were to be fired at the Battle Star, it would be obliterated. A Defense Force was created as the last hope of the human race. It would pilot a spaceship just nearing completion known as the Cosmo Carrier. You are the commander of this ship. Your duty is to discover this mysterious super weapon, and use it to destroy the Battle Star.

Hurry Cosmo Carrier. The human race has less than 100 days of survival left.

Controls

• : Use the direction pad to control the cursor on the space display, as well as the cursor shown among the menus. You also use the direction pad to direct the exploration command suits.
• : Press the A button to lock the cursor in place. Also press A to accept a menu choice and display the cursor while utilizing a command suit.
• : Press the B button to unlock the cursor, cancel a menu choice, or hide the cursor while utilizing a command suit.
• : Press Start to begin a new game, or to pause and unpause the action mid-game.
• : Press Select to choose between starting a new game or continuing an old game from the title screen.

Cosmo Carrier controls

While piloting the Cosmo Carrier, you will see the command panel of the ship in front of you. There two displays at the top, and eight different options split into two groups of four on either side of the information screen.

E: The amount of energy that you have remaining Lev: The current level of your ship.	Tim: The amount of time remaining until the destruction of the Earth (given in days-hours).
Missile: You can assign a level of power to the missiles that the Cosmo Carrier fires at enemy craft. This energy level can range from 0 to 16 at the start of the game, but it can be increased to 40 with the proper item. The more energy you assign the a missile, the more damage it does, but the more energy you drain from your ship's reserves.	Communicate: This is an important command to use, not only with friendly space craft, but with enemy craft as well. It is not possible to land in locations occupied by the enemy without first communicating with craft that know the landing locations. Consider communicating with enemy craft before firing upon them to ensure that you discover all of the landing possibilities.
Beam: Using a beam to attack enemy craft is another effective weapon. However, the power level of the beam is fixed, and is always calculated as four times the Cosmo Carrier's current level. At maximum, it will consume 32 units of energy.	Computer: The computer can provide you with information concerning any item that is pointed to by the cursor, be it a planet, moon, or craft. Additionally, if parts of the Cosmo Carrier are broken, instructions to repair them may be initiated through the computer, although repairs consume energy. An item may be obtained which eliminates energy consumption during repairs.
Shield: The shield, quite naturally, prevents the Cosmo Carrier from taking damage by enemy attacks. However, energy is consumed throughout the duration of the shield's activity, whether damage is taken or not. Note that items cannot be collect if the shields are currently activated.	Parts: This command will display a diagram of the Photon Missile, indicating which parts have been collected so far.
Move: Two different kinds of movements are possible: warping and landing. Warping will send the Cosmo Carrier to another plant, while landing permits you to explore the surface of a planet or moon for a Photon Missile part. Landing requires that you actually know a particular landing location. Warping costs 100 units of energy, and if you warp with less than 100 units in reserve, your game will end. An item can be found which will automatically warp you back to Earth.	State: This command will show you the current state of the Cosmo Carrier, including any systems which are currently damaged. It is also used to see the current state and capabilities of the three exploration command suits.

Game progress

The purpose of the game is to collect all six hidden parts of the photon missile while engaging enemies in combat around the solar system. Your ultimate goal is to blast the planet-like fortress known as the Battle Star with the Photon Missile.

The game is divided up into several areas, including Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and the Battle Star area. To move between each area, you must target the neighboring planet with the cursor, engage the Move command, and select Warp.

When starting out, you should communicate with all of the neighboring craft,whether they are hostile or friendly, to gather information about planets and landing location. Don't be too hasty to attack, as you cannot proceed without this information. Only after you have interrogated an enemy ship should you attempt to destroy it.

You should attack with a beam until you understand the strength of your enemy, It is useful to examine a crafts offense and defense with the computer. Then you can tailor your attack and the amount of energy you spend on it by switching to Missiles.

You should return to Earth whenever your energy begins to run critically low, if the Cosmo Carrier has suffered extensive damage, or one of the exploration command suits break. Your energy will be replenished and repairs will be performed. You can also obtain a password while orbiting around earth.

Area	Target	Landing sites
Earth	Moon	Bessel plateau
Mars	Mars	Cassius landing Utopia landing
Jupiter	Io	Tethys plain Danae plain
Saturn	Titan	Athena basin Saterosu basin Nemesu basin
Uranus	Miranda	Hector stage Pyrrhus stage Lerune stage
Neptune	Triton	Theseus stage Attica stage Hydra stage
Pluto	Pluto	Artemis landing Eeday landing Henperisu landing

Command suits

Command suits are large humanoid robots that stand 18 meters in height. There are three different suits that you can utilize for exploration on planetary and lunar surfaces, each with different strengths and weaknesses. When landing on an enemy base, you must choose which suit you plan to utilize.

Suit	CS1: Gravity	CS2: Blizzard	CS3: Field
Gravity resistance	Up to 5Gs	Up to 2Gs	Up to 2Gs
Hypo-thermo resistance	Down to -200°C	Down to -270°C	Down to -200°C
Maximum speed	75 km per hour	90 km per hour	220 km per hour
Notes	Chosen for conditions of extreme gravity, it can function at full power on planets with over three times the gravitational pull of Earth.	Chosen for conditions of extreme cold. It is the most reliable suit for conditions on Pluto where temperatures drop to 260°C below 0.	A high mobility scout type suit, it has 16 vernier thrusters throughout the suit, allowing it to move with maximum speed and efficiency.

In general, you should choose the Field suit unless you are visiting Saturn (Gravity suit) or Pluto (Blizzard suit). The range at which the cursor can move with respect to the suit varies according to suit type.