Zarlor Mercenary
Action

Ah, life in the space lane. You are one of the most hated and most revered
people in the galaxy -- a mercenary. If someone's got the bucks, you've got
the guns, for whatever the cause.

Your current case is for the Zarlors, who are at war with the Mendicants
over some financial dealings or other. The Zarlors have decided to cripple,
but not kill, the Mendicants with a set of six tactical strikes. They jingled
their Zarbits, so you signed up for the deal. The Zarlors don't think you
can survive all six attacks. You'll show them...

That's the game in a nutshell. ZARLOR MERCENARY is a horizontally-based,
vertical-scrolling space shoot-em-up, an original title from Epyx for Atari,
by the creator of CHIP'S CHALLENGE (talk about diverse). The screen scrolls
from top to bottom at a fixed rate, and you (and up to three other friends)
move around the screen, shooting everything that dots the landscape. The
screen moves horizontally with you, giving you even more targets to blast.

Everything you destroy is worth Zarbits, that funny plastic money from the
Zarlors. The more you shoot, the bigger your profits, and the more money
you have means the more hardware you can buy from the Mercenary Merchant. You
start off with three ships, and can get more through the game -- either
that, or buy them.