Koronis Rift is a December 1985 computer game from Lucasfilm Games. It was produced and designed by Noah Falstein. Originally developed for the Atari 8-bit family and the Commodore 64, Koronis Rift was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Apple II, MSX, Tandy Color Computer 3, and ZX Spectrum.
The Atari and C64 version shipped on a flippy disk, with one version of the game on each side. A cassette version was also released for the Commodore 64.The Atari version required computers with the GTIA chip installed in order to display properly.
Koronis Rift was one of two games in Lucasfilm Games’ second wave (December 1985). The other was The Eidolon. Both enhanced the fractal technology developed for Rescue on Fractalus!. In Koronis Rift, the Atari 8-bit family’s additional colors (over those of the Commodore 64).
You are scavenger hunting for ancient technology. By pure chance you find the legendary planet Koronis. Koronis was used as a technology test arena for the ancient people. Abandoned for thousands of years you are about to hunt down the so called modules. Alas the ancients guardian system is still active. This means while you’re retrieving modules you may be attacked by saucers.
Control your rover and find all 8 hulks on a rift. To retrieve a module from a hulk send out your Repotech Robot. It will bring the module back to the rover where you can choose to install it. Note that you can carry only 6 modules so you have to choose carefully. Once you’re loaded to the brim you can return to your orbiting ship and analyse, store or sell the collected modules. To store a module simply put it onto the conveyor. You can later retrieve a module and install it again.
You have to enhance your rover with the found modules to stand a chance in the higher rifts. The saucers will be a lot stronger and shoot you to pieces in a few seconds. Always keep an eye on your power generator and storage. If you choose a weapon or shield too strong it may not work at all.
Survive all the rifts and destroy the saucer base in rift 20. You do not have to advance through every rift but make sure you’ve got the right equipment to tackle the base!
