Zarlor Mercenary

Zarlor Mercenary is a vertically scrolling shooter for the Atari Lynx handheld console, developed by Epyx and published by Atari Corporation. Gameplay Zarlor Mercenary is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up in which the player controls a spacecraft destroying enemy spaceships and buildings in order to earn money which can be used to buy upgrades between levels. At the end of each level there is a boss ship or landing craft that needs to be destroyed. Up to four players can play simultaneously using the Comlynx. Noted in the game manual you don't start with life but a fleet of ships. In single-player you start off with four ships, in two player mode you start off with three ships each. With three and four players you only start the game with two ships each. There are seven different pilot mercenaries to choose from, each having their own permanent unique weapon or skill. When playing in multiplayer mode, each player has a unique colour, you can either work together or towards completing the game. However one can purchase the weapon attachment backstabber that can kill another pilot causing him to loose money. Ship health is displayed on the right as a vertical green bar, this will deplete to yellow and flash red when near destruction. Ships left in the fleet are displayed as blue dots, while the mega bomb is displayed as a red dot. 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 lives. 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.