This is the one game that you cannot not get with the Vectrex. Why? Very simple, it comes integrated with the system without the need for a cartridge. Mine Storm follows along the lines of Asteroids but improves on that idea. Instead of asteroids, you have to clear a field of mines. These mines come in different shapes and they also have different behaviours. Some mines will fire something back at you when they are destroyed, other mines gravitate towards you (gravity mines?) and will chase you if you move around the screen.
You control your ship by turning it around with your joystick, pressing 2 to escape (think hyperjump), pressing 3 for thrust, and pressing 4 for firing. The field starts with a few large mines but it is quickly filled with smaller mines as you start shooting. In addition to the mines, there are different types of ships that attack you, each in their particular way. Whereas in Asteroids you try not to move around much, in Mine Storm moving around becomes necessary as the gravity mines start coming toward you. When you clear a level, an intermission shows you warping to the next level, a mothership drops mines, and the action starts again. This really is an excellent game. Of note, a Mine Storm 2 was released as well to fix a glitch the original game has that makes it crash on level 13 (if you are lucky enough to get there!). GCE released this updated game in cartridge form to those customers who complained about the glitch. Unfortunately, not many people knew about this and finding one of the cartridges today is quite difficult. Thankfully, the game ROM is available freely.
