VectorMan Overview
VectorMan is a side scrolling shooter where the player controls the last unaffected orbot in a scenario where Earth's maintenance drones have turned hostile. The objective is to travel across the planet, following a trail of television receivers, to ultimately confront the villain WarHead and decide humanity's fate.
Levels are generally traversed from left to right against a timer, with the goal of finding an exit that may be protected by a boss. The environments are linear but feature platforms and hidden areas containing various power ups. These items, found by defeating enemies or destroying televisions, can restore or increase health, grant extra lives, add time, or provide temporary shields and weapon upgrades like a rapid fire gun or a bolo gun.
Certain power ups act as multipliers for health, score, and extra life pickups, while milestone items create a restart point upon death. The game also includes morph icons that temporarily change the player character into forms like a drill, jet, or fish, granting new movement abilities. Three specific stages shift to a top down perspective where the boss must be defeated while VectorMan is transformed into a train, cricket, or dancing fool.
Player performance is tracked through a score based on collecting photons and destroying enemies. The game offers three difficulty levels, and reaching certain score thresholds awards additional lives, making the experience challenging or more fair depending on the setting chosen.
