It's 2093, and the Earth Central System Command has arrived at the colonies of Saturn to investigate a distress signal. All of the moons have gone dark - obliterated by some unknown force that has completely overrun whatever's left of the mining colonies.
A disgraced fighter, callsign Stuntman, is ordered to take part in the recon of the moons as one last shot at redemption - and sure enough, what should be a simple flyby turns into a nightmare as robotic drones swarm out of the colonies and attack. Stuntman and his copilots must fight their way through the colonies and get to the bottom of what really happened...
This game provides examples of:
- Ace Pilot: Implied to be the reason why Stuntman hasn't been completely kicked off the force.
- All There in the Manual: The manual contains backstory and data for the fighter jets and mothership - such as the mothership being named after a captain who participated in the 2004 pacific wars.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The colonies were all wiped out by a defense system that would have worked correctly - if the creator didn't suffer a heart attack while in the middle of making it.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Eventually, the mothership is destroyed, forcing Stuntman and the others to go on the offensive.
- Dolled-Up Installment: Despite the similar name and graphics, the game was not developed as a sequel to Total Eclipse (according to Lead Designer Eric Lindstrom
), the name being chosen by the marketing department at the last minute. - It's Up to You: During one particularly tough boss fight, all your co-pilots get damaged or are driven off by the massive barrage of drones - leaving you to dive into the swarm.
- Noodle Incident: Something got Stuntman reassigned and "given a second chance" for. It happened over Havana.
- Sadistic Choice: At one point, an insane colonist who began to worship the machines begins chasing down one of your wingmen just as you begin to approach the satellite that's transmitting data to the attack drones. You're given the choice of either going after your wingman, or continuing your mission. Going after your wingman results in you dying, as she and the colonist fly vertically up - something you can't do.
- Shout-Out: Tons, in the secret levels.
- You can hear one of the cast members doing a Beavis And Butthead impersonation. "FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!"
- One of the levels is a recreation of the trench run from Star Wars, complete with banter from Stuntman and his teammates recreating dialogue from the film.
