Comet Catcher

Comets sweep in from the edge of space and swing round the Sun on true gravitational orbits, their tails always pointing away from it. Fly your catcher into a comet to catch it. A catch is worth the comet's speed times the wave number, so a comet caught fast as it whips past the Sun pays most. A comet that falls into the Sun or flies off the field is a miss, and so is steering your catcher into the Sun's corona; the fifth miss ends the game. Each wave brings eight comets, the clock runs about ten per cent faster every wave, and from wave 3 up to three comets can be in flight at once. Hold a button to slow time to half speed while the gauge lasts.

Controls: Use controller 1 or 2. The stick flies the catcher, and either button slows time. On the title, push up and down to choose and press a button to select.

ColecoVision version credited in the source to Claude (an AI made by Anthropic) for Amy Studio, in Amy, the language by Amy Bienvenu, 2026: a reimagined adaptation of the published rules. From Ahoy! No. 28, April 1986, page 18: original Commodore 128 program by Dale Rupert. The original is a physics simulation with no goal, printed with Dale Rupert's column (C-128 BASIC 7.0, with notes for the C-64). The catcher, scoring and waves are new to this version. This is a modern homebrew adaptation, not a commercial Coleco release.