2021/4/26: Atari 2600: Asteroids, Defender

[VideoGameCritic]

This is an example of me going back and giving proper due to the classics.

The Asteroids grade is the same.

Defender went from D to C, but also got the ET award, so go figure.

Thoughts?

[BlasteroidAli]

2 great games, 2 great reviews. I agree about Asteroids being one of those games. That you showed to your friends it was one of those superb games you never thought possible and there it was in your living room instead of in the arcade. Also as you pointed out, with better graphics. One of my fave carts on the 2600. Though that was just such a great machine.
Next up defender. I put a lot of money into that game and was always pretty awful at it. Then I got the defender cart. I agree with everything you said but I still think it is a super achievement to get it work on the 2600. Back then it was a system that really pushed the boundaries.
I would also like to thank you for sharing your memories which humanise the reviews of these great games. It gives me something to look forward to. Also when the games were also my faves it was good fun to remember the days of my youth. Loving the games.

[ActRaiser]

Great reviews.

For me I loved the version of Asteroids that let you flip your ship around. I tended to rack up much higher scores with that particular variation than any of the others. Did anyone else have a favorite variation in Asteroids?

[Teddybear]

Enjoyed these re-reviews! It may seem strange to the younger folk but the 2600 ports of games like Asteroids, Missile Command and Space Invaders were big stuff in the very early 1980's.

Put me down as being a shield guy on Asteroids. I always loathed the hyperspace and flip features but certainly to each their own. Your ship's placement using hyperspace could just be so unfair at times lol.....

With the Defender review, would it be worth mentioning the verified Easter Egg contained in it? Many of us who received Atari Age magazine in 1982 should recall the letter that highlighted how to get the aliens to turn into the programmer's initials (RP, I think) on wave 25. I'm winging the details but personally still have the magazine and certainly the scan should still be on Digital Press.

My point being that I never forgot that Easter Egg and believe it to be am important tidbit of the game. Same for the Missile Command Easter Egg (Game selection 13, scoring no points and seeing initials pop up afterwards). Or maybe these Easter Eggs were just significant to me since I never could find the Adventure Easter Egg......

[ThePixelatedGenocide]

Nobody loved Defender?

It was my favorite game. For a kid who was just getting into games, the priority on a massive laser that could make you invincible if you timed it perfectly? Falling into the city streets, and sniping enemies with a smart bomb?

These made it the greatest power fantasy the 2600 had to offer. And soaring to the rescue of the falling civilians was as close as I could get to reliving one of my favorite Robotech scenes.

Yeah, the graphics suffer. And year, some of the enemies are neutered. But nothing compared in overall fun factor.

Not even the original.

[VideoGameCritic]

Great feedback guys.

I have a question. Did you like the fact these reviews were much longer than the traditional Atari 2600 reviews? I thought that since they were important games they deserved a little more space. I won't be doing extensive write-ups for Surround or 3D Tic Tac Toe!

[noah98]

I think when people wonder why anyone would still play 2600 games, Asteroids is a good example of an old game that still holds up and is a lot of fun. 2600 Defender is the opposite! Unless you have nostalgia for it, it looks awful and doesn't play much better. Don't get me wrong, I played the crap out of it as a kid, but I didn't have the luxury of so many gaming options like I do today.

I actually think the vector graphics hack for Asteroids on the 2600 is subtle, but makes it look much better!

I think the critic is a big Asteroids fan, so I'm wondering how he would rank the different versions? The Atari 800 version is clearly the worst. The arcade versions with vector monitors are actually my favorite, particularly Asteroids Deluxe with the mirrored playfield and black light effects. I played a homebrew version on my Vectrex and the glow from the shots and trails on the monitor made me wish I owned the arcade cabinets!

I also really like the homebrew Space Rocks--it might actually be the best non emulated home conversion! I'm torn on the 7800 version because the asteroids look good, but the UFO sounds and random noises are absolutely grating! The 2600 version sounds way better! The gameplay on the 7800 version also feels slightly off to me.

How about an Asteroids showdown critic?

[matmico399]

Asteroids is an absolute classics When my brother and I first got our 2600 at Christmas, we had Combat of course. And my brother and I were each allowed to pick out one game. Asteroids was his choice, and I picked Adventure. Needless to say we both picked fantastically. I remember playing the game in the arcade but I never realized how good it was until it came out on the 2600. Defender I have always derided but the game was so complicated to Port. Looking back now I will say I have had a lot of fun with it. It wasn't half bad.

[ActRaiser]

Personally, I love the longer reviews with paragraphs. Keep 'em coming, even on the Atari 2600 games.

I stopped reading the wall of text. It was too unreadable. I understood why you liked the long format but in my humble opinion aesthetics should never trump usability or readability in this case.

[BlasteroidAli]

I liked the longer reviews for the important games but why would you give Airlock a longer review? Though that cover. I was like, I am going to be playing tron. This is going to be so good. Then it turns out to be a shuffle shuffle death game. Though give it its due if you play it constantly for 40 minutes you can beat the entire game in 8 mins and save the sub! A paragraph is all it is worth. Though I would love the programmer to come out and say.. I did the best I could with the tools I had at the time.