Thrust Deluxe is an excellent freeware remake of the classic C64 game Thrust, which is in turn based on Gravitar, ATARI?s arcade classic.Your goal is to maneuver your spaceship through treacherous caves, fighting both gravity and the evil Empire?s defense systems to collect Klystron Pods. After locating the pod, you must attach it to your ship and make your way up again to search for the next one. All the while, you must keep track of your fuel supply, and watch out for the rocks. Once you have beaten all six levels, the game restarts but adds new challenges, including reverse gravity and invisible levels.

Like Thrust, Thrust Deluxe is easy to learn, but hard to master. The game is also quite difficult, but good physics and smooth gameplay will keep you hooked in the same way that Asteroids and Gravitar kept you hooked years ago. The gameplay is somewhat repetitive, but different backgrounds of each level and new challenges add to the variety. If you enjoy this freeware underdog, check out the graphically updated version called Thruster at Kool Dog?s website, and a more faithful (although graphically less smooth) version called Thrust, also on this site. Thumbs up!