Tac/Scan

Atari console exclusive

Fly your squadron of five ships around shooting down the enemy pilots. When you get hit, you simply lose one of your ships. After each round, you'll get a replacement ship which you have to maneuver into your formation or it's lost forever. In Tac-Scan, you control which direction you fly, though your planes stay in the same location of the screen.

Released: 7 April 1982
Platforms: Arcade Atari 2600 Atari 5200
Genres: Arcade Flight simulation Real-time tactics Shooter
Developers: —
Publishers: —
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Third person
Themes: Action Science fiction
Country: United States
Languages: English

About

Tac/Scan (夕ック/スキャン) is a 1982 space combat simulator video game developed by Sega Electronics and published by Sega for arcades. An Atari 2600 version was released in 1983.

The game uses 3D vector graphics that switch between overhead and third-person perspectives. The player commands seven units in squadron formation through waves of attacking enemies; the player can gain reserve units, while being able to command the units to perform various actions, including firing at enemies, getting into formation, or a "tac" maneuver.

Keywords

2.5d
vector graphics
squad based shooter

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The game starts with seven individual ships in play. The ships can be lost in any of the three stages by hitting a tunnel, getting shot, or colliding with an enemy, the laser-firing Ahmins composing the superfleet from the planet of Ahm. The player is able to "collect" and earn the ships back as the game progresses. The squadron can drop down to one ship in the game, but still have four "back-up" ships.

If the final ship in play is lost, however, the game is over (even if the player has unused "back-up" ships). This is different from other games that give the player ships sequentially.