Asteroids
Game: Asteroids
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1979
Asteroids is perhaps one of the most classic arcade games ever released, alongside Space Invaders and a few others from this collection. The goal is to use your ship to shoot all of the asteroids and, which break into ever smaller pieces until there's none left onscreen. The ship can be moved around, and it continues to move whilst coming to a stop, even after the player has finished pressing in the desired direction. As such, the ship feels as if it is in space.
As the levels progress, the Asteroids move ever faster and more appear at thee beginning of each level than in the previous level. It can be somewhat hard to progress in later levels thanks to the speed of the game, and the difficulty of keeping track of all objects as the screen. There are also flying saucers which appear from time to time that can fire back at players, and the option to go into 'hyperspace' and appear in a random position onscreen, though more often than not this results in losing a life rather than anything helpful.
The vector graphics featured in the game are quite stylish despite being basic, and have helped Asteroids retain an air of timelessness. Soundwise, there's not a whole lot of accompaniment save for a few basic notes behind gameplay and shooting sounds. This is typical of very early arcade games and bearable, I suppose. Overall Asteroids is an enjoyable blast from the past, and it's not too hard to see why this was one of the coolest things to play in 1979.
Rating: 71/100
Grade: C
Asteroids Deluxe
Game: Asteroids Deluxe
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1980
Featuring more of the same gameplay as Asteroids, with some slight tweaks, the most major change between the original game and its deluxe version is the backdrop featuring imagery from outer space and the change from white vector graphics to light blue. The hyperspace option has been removed and replaced with a shield which is far more useful and can help to extend player turns by protecting them from unavoidable collisions.
In many ways the background and colour contrast make it more difficult to tell what's occurring onscreen, despite being nice to look at otherwise. On the whole though, the game is pretty much the same as Asteroids and as such is almost like a forerunner to the HD re-releases of the present day which only change slight details of previously released games. The original Asteroids has the edge though, with it's cult status and ease of play.
Rating: 70/100
Grade: C
Space Duel
Game: Space Duel
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1982
Just 2 years after Asteroids Deluxe, Atari realised that gamers still couldn't get enough of the rotational shooting action that the series featured (presumably) and released Space Duel, which is essentially another version of Asteroids but with some changes for the better. The background from Asteroids Deluxe has been removed, but enemies are now much more brightly coloured and move in more interesting ways. The shield feature and bonus life after 10,000 points also remains, but there are now bonus levels inbetween each main level which challenge players further by featuring ships which home in on them.
While graphically more interesting than Asteroids and Deluxe combined, the audio is still very basic and features only shooting sounds. It takes my pick for most fun of the series of 3 games, as there's more to do and the bonus levels add extra challenge, but they're all pretty similar at the end of the day and the original Asteroids maintains its classic appeal over the later 2 games.
Rating: 71/100
Grade: C
Battlezone
Game: Battlezone
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1980
Battlezone is a simple yet interesting tank simulation arcade game where players were given a set of dual two-way joysticks which were both able to move forwards and backwards. These were used to control the treads on each side of the tank and allow forward, backwards and rotational movement and everything inbetween. This range of motion isn't used to its full potential in game, but is sometimes useful for aiming and evading enemy fire.
The aim of the game is to destroy as many enemy tanks as possible whilst avoiding obstacles and the fire of enemies. If the player's tank is hit then a life is lost, and the screen displays a broken glass style effect. An interesting feature of the game is that enemy fire can still hit players even after the enemy that fired it has been defeated, so players must always pay attention. Avoiding enemy fire is difficult at times, and I've never been able to survive particularly long without getting hit, but it can be fun to try.
The vector style graphics are reminiscent of science fiction virtual reality headsets or something of the like, and work well despite the lack of detail and clarity at times. With what was available at the time, this was probably a wise choice as blocky pixel tanks firing at one another (a la Combat) is a completely different experience. There's not a lot to say on the audio front, but that's unsurprising given the year of this game's release.
Overall while not a particularly detailed or deep game, Battlezone made good use of the technology of the era and manages to be playable and interesting even in the modern age. It's not something I'd replay over and over, or even have a desire to get good at but there's a certain something which raises it above the mediocre games of the time.
Rating: 65/100
Grade: C
Game: Black Widow
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1982
Black Widow is a surprisingly deep and enjoyable arcade game, considering its time of release; players take control of the titular spider and use twin stick shooter controls to shoot various onscreen bugs, all of which must be shot (or avoided in some cases) to beat a level. Once shot different types of bug will turn into different things; the most basic bugs will turn into a score bonus, but some also lay eggs if score bonuses aren't collected fast enough, leading to more difficult types of bug roaming the screen. Before hatching eggs can be pushed off the side of the web for points.
There are 10 different types of enemy in total, and assuming players are fairly competent it's easy to get to at least the 10th wave of bugs within the first few turns. Gameplay is fast paced and exciting and honestly feels like some of the best arcade action of the early 80s Atari games. Controls and movement are fluid and intuitive, with a rapidly climbing difficulty curve as in later parts of the game, different areas of the web are sectioned off and must be factored into player movements.
Graphically the game is colourful and interesting despite the lack of detail and restrictions of the early hardware. On the whole it's easy to see where enemies are and distinguish between their various types, even with many onscreen at any given time. Soundwise there's only the ring of player shots to accompany gameplay, but due to the frantic nature of play there's no time to notice any audio deficiencies.
Overall Black Widow is one of the best early arcade games thanks to the depth its multiple enemy types, progressing difficulty and ease of control allows it. It's pretty addictive and never feels as if it's dragging thanks to the fast pace of gameplay. While this may not be the most well remembered arcade game of the 80's, it certainly deserves to be included with the other often mentioned classics.
Rating: 82/100
Grade: B
Game: Centipede
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1980
Centipede is another early Atari game with a painfully simple concept that when combined with simple controls and intuitive progression is a lot of fun to play. Players control a turret, shooting from the bottom of the screen upwards at a centipede which is descending. On the first level, each segment of the centipede is connected until shot, but as levels progress more and more segments become independent until the entire centipede is single segments.
Onscreen there are mushrooms which reverse the direction of the centipede; if a segment is shot then it will turn into one of these mushrooms. Players are allowed to move within a small player area at the bottom of the screen, and in this way are able to avoid any descending segments of the centipede that reach the last row, by moving upwards a number of rows and waiting for the segment to begin ascending again. Players lose a life if they collide with any segment of the centipede, or an oscreen enemy such as the spider, flea or scorpion.
With colourful, if a little basic graphics and only the sound of player shots to accompany gameplay, it's easy to tell from an audiovisual standpoint that this game is from the early 80s, however the lack of detailed graphics and audio accompaniment detract very little from the overall effect, fun and classic feel of the game. After 35 years, it's still as fun and challenging to play as ever.
Rating: 82/100
Grade: B
Game: Millipede
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1982
As the sequel to Centipede, Millipede suffers the classic Atari arcade sequel issue of being far too similar to its predecessor. While there are some changes to the powerups and enemies included, the core gameplay is exactly the same with only a highlighted player zone to visually differentiate it from the last game. The concept is still fun, but with the feeling that nothing has changed, it's hard to find motivation to continue playing.
Millipede is just as good as Centipede to play, but I'd have to recommend choosing one or the other, over both. Original Centipede arcade cabinets can be converted into Millipede ones with a little work, and that's testament to how similar the two games really are.
Rating: 73/100
Grade: C
Crystal Castles
Game: Crystal Castles
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1983
With trimetric graphics and a playstyle similar to Pac-man, Crystal Castles is a strange little arcade game. Players control Bentley Bear, on a mission to collect all of the gems in each of the game's 37 levels. Unlike Pac-man however, enemies can collect gems too, and the more they get, the less points players score. The game was also one of the first games to have warp zones, and a legitimate end-point rather than repeating levels or a kill screen.
Progressing through the levels isn't particularly easy as any contact with enemies loses one of your three lives, and many enemies move quickly and in patterns that are hard to avoid whilst collecting all of the gems. Many levels have interesting features such as tunnels and stairs which can be used as shortcuts. Bentley Bear also has the ability to jump, which can stun enemies but is a little difficult to time at first.
Graphically the game isn't much to look at, maintaining a simple style even with the trimetric 3D effect. Enemies come in all shapes and sizes, including trees, skeletons and other things I'm not even sure of. Soundwise the gameplay is accompanies by bloops and beeps as gems are collected by both players and enemies. There's a short musical clip depending on which bonus is won, but this seems to be all. On the whole the game is mildly interesting, if somewhat pedestrian in concept and gameplay. The secret passages and ability to jump add some differentiation from most other arcade games, but it's not enough to reach the level of fun offered by Pac-man and other 'collecting' style arcade games.
Rating: 51/100
Grade; D
Game: Gravitar
Console: Arcade
Developer: Atari
Release Date: 1982
The final game I'll be looking at today is Gravitar, an interesting combination of gameplay styles from Asteroids and Lunar Lander amongst other inspirations. Players start on a overworld screen, with a ship which is much the same as the one in Asteroids. In the overworld there are several planets which can be visited; doing so changes the screen to a side-on perspective of the planet and there are quite a few objectives and goals between all of the planets featured.
Gravity plays a large part in the game, dragging players towards destruction in the overworld and towards planet's surfaces in the side-on sections. Exploration is key and visiting every planet in a solar system allows players to move onto the next. The controls are similar to all versions of Asteroids and its derivatives, and the game is generally easy to pick up for beginners.
Graphically the game is simple and takes some imagination to represent the outer reaches of space. Even the planet surfaces are represented by coloured lines, and despite being an early game it feels as if it could have been at least sightly more detailed. There's very little in the way of music, and the sound effects are as basic as the graphics, leaving the whole experience feeling somewhat low tech.
Overall Gravitar is a great concept for an early space exploration type game, which combines some of the best elements of other popular Atari games. While the gravity mechanic can take a little bit of getting used to, and mastering the game takes some time, it's one of the more in-depth arcade games of the time.
Rating: 64/100
Grade: C
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