Planetary Defense

Innovative for a magazine type in game, Planetary Defense is a shooter in which you control a satellite quickly orbiting a planet in the middle of your display. The satellite has a particle gun, and you use that to destroy incoming bombs that are trying to destroy the planet. The gun has a cursor that can move anywhere on the screen, but you have to compensate for the orbit of your satellite when firing (which will launch a particle from the satellite to your cursor, even if that destroys part of the planet). At higher levels an alien saucer will appear that shoots its own particle gun at the planet; it needs to be destroyed quickly due to the high damage it creates.

The game is over when you lose 5 of your satellites or the center of the planet is hit with an explosion.

Published in A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing Magazine issue 17 in March 1984.