It was another late work-related night. You know what that means: Another Taco Bell Tek-Kids game! Actually, this is the last one that I have in reserve: Mission: Sky Fortress.

Wouldn’t you know it, that wily Dr. Havok is up to his old dirty deeds again when he steals a technological device capable of great destruction. The game acknowledges the passé nature of the good doctor’s exploits by stating that the device will be used for his usual evil purposes, implying that even the game engine is getting tired of this schtick. Conspicuously absent is any overriding environmental theme. Get this, though: the device in question is eXperimental Aerial Aircraft Carrier, the XAA Carrier “Albatross”. I wonder if our brilliant mastermind is aware that that’s not exactly a revered bird of prey?

The gameplay features the same dual-maneuvering gameplay mechanic as seen is Mission: Aqua Zone. Using the cursor keys maneuvers your craft in the same direction as the key pressed while aiming the target zone in roughly the opposite direction, making it extremely difficult to collect items and line up shots at the same time. Oh, and the primary enemy in this episode is the flying monkey drone; that’s worth mention.

I plan to replay both Aqua Zone and Sky Fortress soon so I can complete both missions and unlock the secret mission using codes from all 4 regular games. The strategy will be a pacifist approach: just concentrate on collecting fuel tanks and dodging enemies until the end of the mission.