7/19/2007: Atari 5200: Adventure II, Gyruss

Let me know what you think about my reviews.
User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18102
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

7/19/2007: Atari 5200: Adventure II, Gyruss

Postby VideoGameCritic » July 19th, 2007, 7:09 pm

The critic has spoken; now it's your turn.

Crimefighter

7/19/2007: Atari 5200: Adventure II, Gyruss

Postby Crimefighter » July 20th, 2007, 12:53 am

I'm happy to report that Gyruss on the Atari 800/XL/XE didn't have the problems you described and played well.

Alienblue

7/19/2007: Atari 5200: Adventure II, Gyruss

Postby Alienblue » July 20th, 2007, 4:41 am

Ok, as usuasl I cannot see ATARI pics on my iMac, but what crimefighter said is strange, since the Atari 800XL/XE versions (it should fit all Atari 8 bit computers) SHOULD be identical to the 5200 except the controls. The critic described "blobby graphics" and such. Visual/Audio should be no diff. The 5200 IS essentialy an Atari 8-bit computer, and only a few select Atari-made games(Centipede, Qix, Space Dungeon) are unique to the system, being different or having no versions on the 8-bit line.
At any rate, I don't own the 8-bit or 5200 Gyruss, so I can't say-I DO love the coin-op on Konami disc/GBA Arcade classics though. It was the first coin-op with a GREAT Music track!

Sudz1
Posts: 816
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

7/19/2007: Atari 5200: Adventure II, Gyruss

Postby Sudz1 » July 20th, 2007, 7:42 am

Man, I had forgotten all about Gyruss until I read your review!  I used to love playing that game both in the arcade and on the C64 (where the controls weren't ever a problem from what I remember).  I'll have to see if I can't dust off an old copy of that game and give it a whirl for old-times sake.
Sudz


gleebergloben1
Posts: 687
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

7/19/2007: Atari 5200: Adventure II, Gyruss

Postby gleebergloben1 » July 20th, 2007, 1:14 pm

good reviews, critic.  adventure II looks quite interesting, and gyruss was a lot of fun to play in the arcade when i was a wee-little tyke.  regarding the 5200, two things strike me:

1.  atari supposedly did quite a bit of research for a successor to the 2600, and then just decided to convert the atari 400 into the 5200.  talk about no imagination.

2.  the 5200 was supposed to compete with the intellivision, not the colecovision.  did atari not know what coleco had created?  were they that unaware?

this are just a few of the reasons why i find the history of atari to be so fascinating.

Gunstarhero

7/19/2007: Atari 5200: Adventure II, Gyruss

Postby Gunstarhero » July 20th, 2007, 3:12 pm

5200 Gyruss is a sweet game. There is a little learning curve to the controls, but that is extremely exaggerated in VGC's review. The audio is among the best on the 5200 as well, and overall gameplay wise, Gyruss does a fine job mimicking the arcade version. This is a B game at minimum.

Adventure II = A+. wtf theres not even any debate.


Cafeman1
Posts: 56
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

7/19/2007: Atari 5200: Adventure II, Gyruss

Postby Cafeman1 » July 27th, 2007, 11:30 pm

I am surprised that VGC rated Gyruss an "F". Based on the the constant mention of terrible/non-working 5200 controls in your reviews, might I suggest you get them fixed or buy new ones? Nobody else has a problem going right in Gyruss.  I was always impressed by the great music and faithful gameplay of 5200 Gyruss (or Atari 8bit Gyruss, same thing).

Concerning your review of Adventure II, no comment except that I got a kick out of reading it, and that the game can be downloaded from my dev site for free, only in two different halves -- adva.bin and advb.bin.

http://cafeman.www9.50megs.com/atari/5200dev/AdventureII.html

SG

7/19/2007: Atari 5200: Adventure II, Gyruss

Postby SG » September 21st, 2011, 12:55 am

The 5200 Gyruss score baffles me, the game was easily one of my favorites on the system if not the favorite. I spent countless hours blasting away to that amazing musical score. The speed and animation of the game are much more closer to the arcade than other ports of the time, even the C-64 which I previously thought was the best. Colors were a bit washed out, yes, but that was more a symptom of the system itself than the effort of the Gyruss programmers. I'd give this an A-, B+ at worst. 

Jake

7/19/2007: Atari 5200: Adventure II, Gyruss

Postby Jake » September 22nd, 2011, 10:39 am

I don't see how Gyruss got B for Atari 2600, but an F on the 5200...?!

Gorf for 5200, yeah I can understand that F. Gyruss is clearly better then
Gorf but gets the same grade.

I'm a bit confused here.




Kevinmos31
Posts: 1
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

7/19/2007: Atari 5200: Adventure II, Gyruss

Postby Kevinmos31 » September 18th, 2012, 4:07 pm

Gyruss definitely needs to be re-reviewed. The problem with the controls IS the reviewer's controller. I have NO control issues with this game. I just read the review yesterday & didn't remember the issue mentioned, so I played it again to make sure... sure enough, the controls work fine. No problem moving to the right when centered at the bottom.

The gameplay and control is spot-on. Sure, the graphics are a bit more blocky than the Colecovision version due to the system's horizontal resolution, but the gameplay and sound are great.


Return to “Review Feedback”