Sometimes, in chats, ideas pop up that are too good to be forgotten.

Sound: https://remix.kwed.org/files/RKOfiles/Makke%20-%20Glider%20Rider.mp3

Idea: Superhero game, with a twist.

Backstory: Humanity is gone since eons, but their Heroes still exists.
On a small planet, many catastrophes happen at once, and so a collective call for help bursts forth…

Level 0: Surveillance and pre-mission planning
A torpedo-shaped vessel approaches the planet, keys allow to skip ahead. On the slowly rotating planet, areas where calls for help emerged are marked. The torpedo can steer slightly to orbit the planet to view all emergencies.

Planet auto generated, difficulty defines how many emergencies the planet has, areas define set of possible emergencies from which one is selected at random, and a terrain according to the mission and the planetary profile in the area can then be auto generated.

Level 1: Athmospheric entry
Once the torpedo commits to deorbit, it reshapes into a simple orbiter. During reentry the orbiter needs to maneuver to loose speed - too slow = crash, too fast = melt - and it needs to get into the vicinity of the emergency ( too far away = fail ).

Level 2: The Mission
Once the Orbiter hits subsonic speed, it transforms into a glider whilst in the air, able to use aircurrents over dark areas to rise or clear areas to land. On the ground, it transforms into a Mountainbike. Depending on the mission, dangers exist ( Aggressive monsters, guards, automated defense system, the environment ) which have to be avoided. The emergency to be taken care of can be a lost/abducted child, a mad general threatening planetary war, survivors of a crash in need of rescue. Refer to the old game “H.E.R.O. Helicopter Emergency Rescue Operation” and Glider Rider for the look and feel. Upon entering a building, the player is either a black or silver or white figure, and I'd say a side view a'la Turrican. The player can throw / drop explosives, sneak up on enemies, shoot enemies, pick locks, grab intel / objects, destroy objects and so on.

Post Mission:
Once a Mission is completed, the player receives “Fame”, which allows the player to turn the bike into a small rocket ( Launcher “torpedo” ) and take off again, either to leave the planet or to travel to the next mission on the planet.

Global Leaderboard with heroes, their amount of fame collected, the collateral caused, and other calculated values.