The fate of all mankind hangs in the balance. The Mekon menace is back again determined to conquer and dominate the human race. In doing so the evil Mekon has vowed to wreak his vengeance upon his arch enemy, Colonel Dan Dare, To further his iniquitous plans the Mekon is conducting a series of horrific genetic experiments, attempting to mutate a variety of life-forms into an army of Treen-like creatures, servile to the Mekon. The experiments failed, the creatures were twisted and strange. What was needed to advance the Mekon's ungodly experiments was a human subject, and who better than the hated Colonel Dan Dare?

The Mekon issued his orders. A gigantic scientific satellite was rapidly constructed. Manned by an army of loyal Treens, the satellite was set on course for planet Earth. Many months passed before reaching the Earth's orbit. Whilst their ship navigated the dark recesses of the universe, the Mekon and his scientists continued their horrific experiments. But with little success: no Treen-like beings were created and the weird mutant creatures formed were left to wander, at will, the corridors of the satellite.

On reaching the Earth's orbit a small army of Treens were dispatched to capture the unsuspecting Dan Dare. Their mission was successful: seizing the Colonel, the Treens transported their prize back to the satellite where the pitiless Mekon and his team of cruel scientists waited. But the Mekon had underestimated our hero. While the scientists are preparing the lethal serum, Dan breaks free from the operating table and, destroying his captors, escapes into a store chamber next to the genetic experimentation unit. Searching the chamber he discovers a jet-pack and sets off to explore the maze of corridors and chambers of the vast satellite.

Luck is on the side of our brave colonel. Entering a large chamber he finds an escape shuttle powerful enough to accomplish the return journey to Earth, but the fuel tanks are empty. Dan calculates that he will need exactly 50 pounds of high grade rocket fuel to complete the journey home. Undaunted by this catastrophe, Dan straps his jet-pack to his back and continues his search of the Mekon's evil satellite ...

USING THE WEAPON SYSTEMS

During his exploration of the vast satellite Dan discovers the Mekon's armoury. From the vast arsenal Dan chooses the very latest plasma cannon. The cannon has three shot strengths, indicated by the bar readout on the screen; a quick tap on the fire button releases a low power belt of energy; holding the fire button down until the bar readout reaches the mid-point in the display, fires off a medium power blast; keeping the fire button depressed until the bar readout reaches the limit of its travel unleashes a real megablast of destructive power. You must master the cannon's control system before embarking on the quest for Colonel Dare's freedom - effective destruction of life-forms requires practice. Also watch out for the recoil when you use the megablast option.

Remember that the more powerful the blast that you unleash from the plasma cannon, the longer it takes to recharge. So, unless you are well covered, or have just activated a smart bomb, you will leave Dan Dare defenceless against the Mekon's mutants whilst his cannon recharges. Colonel Dare is able to log on to the terminal found in the start location and can buy some special weapons. The weapon currently in use by the Colonel is displayed in a window on the screen - to select one of the items that he is carrying, press select until the item that you want appears in the window. Then press the fire button to activate your choice, unless of course it is fuel or money which is useful to have at hand.

MAKE GOOD YOUR ESCAPE

The start location, which is the satellite's store chamber, is the only place where Dan can refuel his jet-pack, or buy weapons and equipment; this is done by hacking into the Mekon's computerised stock-keeping system. While Dan stands on the Mekon's computer terminal, press select. This creates a menu of numbered items that Dan can buy. By pressing the corresponding number on the keyboard you can allow Dan to buy or use an item. Lives can be purchased as well, but only in extreme need. Use lives wisely.

In order to escape from the Mekon's evil satellite, Dan Dare has to collect 50 pounds of rocket fuel to power the escape shuttle for its flight back to planet Earth. The Mekon has not underestimated Dan Dare's abilities: before Dan Dare was kidnapped the Mekon ordered the fuel store to be divided into five equal parts which were then hidden in the five main chambers of the scientific satellite. Dan has to search each of these chambers to discover the hidden fuel; then Dan must find the Mekon and blast away at the evil creature until the Mekon teleports back to his regeneration unit to recuperate from the battle. As he leaves, the Mekon drops the teleport key which Dan needs to teleport himself to the next chamber. But beware, the evil Mekon has booby-trapped the key. His intention is to blast our valiant hero into oblivion.

Luckily for Dan there is a critical design flaw in the timing mechanism of each key which allows Dan three nanoseconds after he leaves the chamber before the chamber - and everything in it - is destroyed. So there is no real problem for Dan unless he has left the chamber without collecting the fuel, in which case our intrepid hero will be stranded aboard the satellite for eternity ... Time to hit the quit button and start the game again.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS

Although brave and rugged, our hero, Colonel Dan Dare is not superhuman. He is not indestructible. Contact with the Mekon's malevolent mutants drains Dan's life force. Bumping into the walls of the teleport tunnels that link the satellite's chambers damages his space suit, reducing his life force. Keep a careful eye on the quantity of ammo and bombs that you are carrying. Ammo can be collected from certain places in the play area but bombs have to be purchased via the terminal in the start location. Keep track of the jet pack fuel remaining in the tank. If you run out of fuel Colonel Dan is effectively stranded until he loses and life and is returned to the start location.