Space Academy
Commodore 64 - Released - 1989
As a recruit of the space academy, you must complete numerous tasks, most of which test your dexterity and occasionally requiring some button-mashing. The tasks are divided into fitness training and weapons training. Before you can begin weapons training you must complete the fitness training.
Fitness training starts with running: waggle the joystick as fast as possible to let the recruit run. After that, you have to balance on a rope: A bar at the bottom of the screen goes left or right, press the joystick into the opposite direction to prevent the recruit from falling off the rope. The next discipline, steeplechase, works similar to running, except that you also have to jump over obstacles. After the steeplechase you must balance on a rope again, but this time you also have to avoid obstacles by ducking or jumping. In the next discipline, the recruit has to hold on to a small device that runs along a rope, pulling up his legs at the right moment to avoid running into obstacles. After that he must jump at the right moment to touch moving targets with his hands, while the grate that he stands keeps getting pulled away. The penultimate discipline requires him to crawl through a narrow tunnel, ducking under obstacles and avoiding laser beams. While the recruit crawls forward automatically, you can only push down to dodge obstacles and keep him still. Don't take too long though, as he is constantly losing stamina. For the last test, the recruit must walk in a hand stand over a grate. Waggle the joystick until the power bar turns red, then press fire to get to the next rod.
Once the fitness training is complete, the weapons training can begin. Here, several courses have to be completed while either dodging or shooting various obstacles. Sometimes the recruit moves automatically and you can only jump or shoot. Sometimes the recruit can fly and you have full control over him. While it's usually enough to make it to the end of a course, you are sometimes required to destroy a set number of targets.
