Target Acquired: Pilots of Darsalon

Pilots of Darsalon, from Dr. Kucho! Games, is a gravity-based spaceship game where you must manage fuel resources as you dive into subterranean passageways to collect cargo and bring it back to the surface, occasionally blasting enemy turrets before they have a chance to do the same to you. The game is inspired by the classics of the genre, such as the foundational Lunar Lander and Gravitar arcade games. In particular, the game employs the rigid tow cable system employed in Thrust and Solar Jetman, where you haul your cargo up while being mindful of the pendulum motion created by tugging a heavy object behind your ship. The game takes place across 15 levels of increasing difficulty, and while environmental navigation is challenging (a keystone of the genre), the game offers multiple difficulty levels, a life bar for your ship and cargo, and a generous checkpoint system that will see most players through to the end. The game also stands out aesthetically with a Commodore 64-style color filter, multiple CRT display options, and music based on the C64’s SID chip.

The game is now available for PC and Mac via Steam. Check our coverage here.