Space Rocks for the Atari 2600

[Leo1]

Amazing

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DpR2SS5DX8[/video]

[snakeboy1]

Yeah, this looks pretty great. I think I'll definitely be getting this when it comes out.

[Greisha1]

Impressive!

[Algus1]

I've been playing the last release candidate that was pushed out on my Harmony Cartridge and it really is a marvelous game if you love Asteroids.  Darrell Spice pretty much incorporated every feature an Asteroids fan could want into the game, down to allowing you to choose between a vector-style look to the Asteroids or a traditional "popcorn" design.   This game has definitely jumped to the top of my list as one of the best 2600 homebrews out there.   

It is pretty incredible what kind of achievements some of the 2600 homebrewers are making now with some of the newer tech that has been developed for the system.   It is a great time to be a 2600 gamer. 

[chuckee71]

I am not sure how this is impressive?  Its menu screen looks awesome, but the graphics looks like those of the Atari 2600 version of Asteroids, but slightly smoother.

[Leo1]

In no way does this resemble the Atari developed version. 

Beyond the wide variety of on-sceen option choices that add a lot of variety to the game and puts to shame Atari's own variations (including options that turn it into Asteroids Deluxe with things like its killer satellite which is in itself very impressive, original options, and a variety of graphical options like color choices and vector or filled asteroids), there's a ton that impresses here. 

The movement of the rocks is very arcade like here and is probably the biggest advancement. In the 2600 game they largely always moved vertically with the only significant horizontal movement being in a few game variations where the smallest size rocks will sometimes go in a more diagonal direction. And the massive flickering of the original 2600 game is drastically reduced and when it does happen, it's very selective. And the asteroids always break in two. In the 2600 game, the medium size rocks are just reduced in size rather than splitting into two small rocks. And there are many more asteroids moving around here than in the 2600 original at times as a result. 

And then there are lots of tiny touches here. The thrust of your ship being evident, the debris from explosions, the asteroids actually rotating, the more arcade like shape of the asteroids, etc.  It's a far more polished, fully featured, and impressive effort than the original Asteroids was. Advance in the video where it's switched to B&W mode with vector arcade graphics turned on and it doesn't look very far removed from the arcade game. Even the vector hack of the original 2600 Asteroids that has been a popular homebrew hack for years and was even officially released on the Atari Flashback 2 doesn't come close to matching the appearance of the asteroids here.

The only thing a bit disappointing is that the shields, a feature of Asteroids Deluxe that was actually present as an option in the original 2600 version, still doesn't operate like the arcade game. But I guess bouncing off asteroids is just too resource intensive compared to the compromise both 2600 ports make in just giving you a limited time of invulnerability to allow you to pass through an asteroid unharmed if timed right. 

And I'm unclear what the friction option is. I'm assuming it turns momentum on or off for your ship like EA's old Strike series with helicopters usually had as an option. 

Here's a video of the original. Be aware that the heavy flickering has been eliminated through emulation trickery and that just the basic game is running here so no small or large killer UFO's it appears from quickly glancing at it. And the small asteroids remain moving vertically unlike the even game variations where they have greater variation in movement paths. But it's enough to show that this homebrew is a huge leap above what I still think is a fine effort for the 2600. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3Pr8yC8_F4

[Leo1]

Another big improvement is the increase in number of shots being present. The firing rate of your ship (Which is another thing that looks significantly better here) is increased significantly and is like the arcade original now unlike the two shots at a time limit of the original port. 

[scotland171]

Astounding. At the very end of the video, was the collision detection off or was there an option that allowed a few tiny space rocks to pass through the gunship? Or were those just close misses...

[Leo1]

That is the optional shield function which is accompanied by a sound effect. Asteroids Deluxe had a shield which would bounce you off an asteroid and Atari's own 2600 port had an optional shield in later game variations just like this version. And of course the familiar hyperspace function remains an option.

I loaded this up on my Cuttle Cart II and am loving it (Somehow it has flown under my radar despite having a 17 page thread at AtariAge over the past year). And after playing the arcade original in a compilation tonight, I'm even more impressed. The asteroids don't rotate in the arcade version while they do here. 

[Leo1]

Misspoke, I meant my Harmony cartridge.

I believe this is a situation like Frantic was (Their previous game which is a Berzerk/Frenzy hybrid that was just as excellent) where it actually utilizes the multicart hardware itself to do more than what the 2600 hardware itself can do.