Doing so allows them to explore Federation planets to refuel their ship, and engage in combat with hostile aliens known as the Zylons.

Contemporary and retrospective reviews of Solaris have seen critics from AllGame, Computer Entertainer and Retro Gamer praise it as having some of the best graphics for an Atari 2600 game.

[4] If the player chooses to travel to a planet, they navigate its surface, allowing them to attack aliens, rescue humans, and dock at refueling stations.

Once inside a corridor, the player must fly over a key to ensure safe passage through, which will result in the destruction of the planet and additional points.

Atari flew Neubauer to Los Angeles for a screening of the film, but he soon found out that Jack Tramiel had bought the company and most of the staff was laid off.

He hired Michael Katz from Epyx in November 1985 to take on the role of president for Atari's new Entertainment Electronics Division.

Neubauer joked decades later in an interview that "apparently Atari was cash-strapped at the time, but so strapped they couldn't afford a graphics artist?

[15][16] Midnight Magic, Pac-Man Jr. and Solaris were showcased in playable form at the event and were set to be available to consumers before the end of the 1986.

[19][20] It was later released to other devices and software such as the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam services as part of Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration (2022).

[3][23][24] An anonymous reviewer in the British magazine Retro Gamer said that "the real feature of Solaris that will make your jaw drop is the visuals.

"[25] Kieren Hawken, also of Retro Gamer, praised the sound, visuals and gameplay depth, stating that "Solaris is quite simply the best game for the 2600 bar none.

"[24] Weiss wrote in his book Classic Home Video Games 1972-1984 that Solaris was one of the more ambitious games in the Atari 2600 library in terms of graphics and gameplay, specifically noting the multi-colored enemies, beautifully illustrated planets, and variety of sound effects.

[2] Jonathan Sutyak, writing for the online game database AllGame, found the graphics were "the Atari 2600 at its best" but disliked the gameplay.

Sutyak found it overtly complicated and concluded that "trying to make sense of everything [in Solaris] is not worth your time or effort.