Zarlor Mercenary (Euro, USA)
Zarlor Mercenary is an action game for the Atari Lynx handheld console, released by Epyx. It was a vertically-scrolling shoot 'em up in which the player controlled a spacecraft destroying enemy spaceships and buildings in order to earn money which could be used to buy upgrades between levels. These upgrades included more powerful shots, side shots, regenerating shields, megabombs (damaging every enemy on the screen) and a laser which automatically targeted the nearest airborne enemy. Up to four players could play simultaneously, extra weapons being available to attack the other players.
A version of Conway's Game of Life was included as a cheat mode.
A version of Conway's Game of Life was included as a cheat mode.
Technical
CPU
- maincpu M65SC02 (@ 4 Mhz)
Chipset
- Mikey
Display
- Orientation Yoko
- Resolution 160 x 102
- Frequency 30 Hz
Controlers
- Number of players 1
- Number of buttons 2
- Kind of controler joy (8 ways)
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Plot
The war had been going on for years between the Mendicant and the Zarlor races. It wasn't going anywhere so the Zarlors decided to hire outside help. There are six key installations on the Mendicant's home planet, all to be cleared out for colonization by the Zarlors.
Missions
- Cadmar Desert
- Mesort Swamp
- Docrit Sea
- Sedimor Domes
- Mardic Ice
- Cedmite City
Pilots
- Scorch
- XQ49
- Landru
- Brenda
- Spike
- Rex
- Xeterog
Space Port Shop
After each mission there is a shop run by the Merchant of Venus. Here you can purchase and sell extra items. These include extra ships, which is like buying extra life's. Speed Up, Wing Cannons, Super Shield (regenerating shielding), Power Shots, Laser, Auto Fire, Mega Bomb, Back Shooter and Side Shooter. There are also two items for use in multiplayer mode. Invisibility so you can hide from other players and Back stabber which will attack your allied friends and not the enemy as well as protecting your loot so you don't lose it in that life.
Programmers
- Programming - Chuck Sommerville
- Graphics - Matt Crysdale
- Levels, Music & SFX - Chris Grigg
- Additional programing - Stephen Landrum
Reception
The game was reviewed in 1991 in Dragon #173 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars. In CVG (Computer and Video Games) Magazine Paul Glancey gave an overall score of 74% stating "A decent-looking shoot 'em up, but quite difficult and not overly exciting to play." Kyle Knight of allgame.com only gave Zarlor 2.5 out of 5 stars praising the graphics but stating that "Zarlor Mercenary moves sluggishly".