The Story
The Hyperspace Test Ship, "EWS", has malfunctioned. Without any navigational data you have been dropped into a sea of deadly, spinning death. The weapons systems still work, and the hyper drive is able to jump you small distances, but other than that all you have is your skill and quick reactions to keep you alive.
Lurking in the darkness with you are strange, Unidentified Flying Objects. Whoever, or whatever, they are – they appear to want you gone. Previous unfortunate travelers have left behind weapon packs to assist the unfortunate souls who follow in their footsteps.
Strap in, start blasting, and GOOD LUCK!
Rebooteroids
Rebooteroids is a new take on an arcade classic for the Atari Jaguar. In development for over six years, Rebooteroids is finally ready to be released! Rebooteroids features 100 unique levels, plus 10 'kombateroids' levels for multiplayer head to head. The game also features a 'skirmish mode' whereby randomly generated levels of increasing difficulty challenge the player.
Gameplay
The EWS is a small, highly maneuverable test ship equipped with a basic rapid-fire cannon. Your test ship is also fitted with a state of the art Hyperspace Engine which, if it was working, would be capable of jumping the craft vast distances. However, due to damage, it currently only has the ability to jump short range, and without a navigation lock you have no way of knowing where you will pop back into normal space.
Use your controller to rotate the EWS left and right, thrust to avoid colliding with objects, and most importantly, fire to blast everything in sight! You can also Hyperspace to a random location to escape imminent destruction, but there's no guarantee you'll reappear free from danger!
Bonus power-ups will be dropped after certain rocks are destroyed. These power-ups will enhance your ship in the following ways: Double Damage, Twin Shot, Range Extended, and Rear Shot.
Every five waves in the Rebooteroids Arcade mode (NOT in Skirmish) you will get a bonus round. Shoot the solid rocks in order and you will get a bonus life. If you hit a normal rock, the round will end without any bonus.
Features
- One or two players
- 100 unique levels!
- Five gameplay modes (see below)!
- Supports Jaguar gamepad and rotary controllers
- Settings and high scores saved to cartridge
- Share your high scores online with QR code!
- Features original music by 505 and MSG / reservoir gods.
- Customize controls for each player
- Utility menu including Jagtopia, BJL Load, Cheats, and Jukebox
Gameplay Modes
Rebooteroids supports five gameplay modes:
- ARCADE: The standard Rebooteroids game, featuring 100 pre-designed levels for you to fight through.
- CO-OP: As above, but Player 1 will control the movement of your ship, while Player 2 controls the shooting via a rotating gun turret fitted atop the ship.
- SKIRMISH: Random levels of ever-increasing difficulty.
- SKIRMISH CO-OP: As above, but with Player 1 controlling the movement, while Player 2 controls the shooting.
- KOMBATEROIDS: A multi-player head-to-head battleground.
Additional Information
Rebooteroids includes a professionally printed, full-color box, a 20-page color manual, and game cartridge.
I'm now adding Rebooteroids to that list. Knowing it's a homebrew, I wasn't expecting much more than a decent conversion of Asteroids. Thankfully, Rebooteroids exceeded those expectations in so many ways it's downright startling.
From the added visual flair with its 80's neon fever dream aesthetic, kick-ass music that deserves its own soundtrack release, to the added power-ups and bonus rounds, this is a beautifully designed game. The presentation is top-notch. This both looks, sounds and feels like a full-fledged commercial release, right on down to its packaging.
When first researching the console, I was sad to see that Asteroids didn't receive the same "2000" treatment as Tempest and Defender. Now, I know better.
To all those involved in the development and publishing, you knocked this one out of the park and set a new bar for my expectation for homebrewed titles. Thank you so much. I'm coming back for Protector very, very soon.
Great controls, terrific graphics, cool sound effects, and superb music. For fans of old school Asteroids, you couldn't ask for a better updated version.
Presentation (box, manual, label) is excellent, as are the included goodies: an AA fridge magnet and some lapel buttons.
I look forward to many hours of playing this new addition to the Jaguar library. Well done, guys!
Don't get me wrong. The game is REALLY fun to play and worth the asking price for a modern Jaguar game. (Well maybe a bit steep at $80, but I've heard manufacturing costs on Jag carts is crazy).
Some of the features I found cool, QR codes generated to submit your high scores online. If you have a smart phone, just scan the code and your high score gets sent to the R3bootEROIDS site.
Good music. I wouldn't say "Uber techno wow!", but I will say it's a nice upbeat sound that has nice ties to the sounds of the original arcade game (as limited as that soundtrack was, haha).
Controls are solid. I only have a JPad, would love to try a rotary controller, maybe I'll finally find time to build an adapter for my Arcade Tempest spinner.
4 out of 5, can't wait to play more over Christmas.
The game's high score system is amazing! Just use a QR reader on an IPad(or phone) and your score automatically uploads to the ONLINE high score page. It takes all of 2 seconds to register your scores online. See how you stack up to other players online!
I love the co-op game. Playing games with a friend is what ATARI is all about. Player one drives the ship, while player two shoots!
Love this game. I finally have another Jag game that will push Tempest 2000 for tops in playing time. Yes, it is that good!!!
Gameplay: Rebooteroids is definitely a fun take on the classic Asteroids formula and is very polished. The control is surperb and gameplay is just what you'd expect. The bright colors, clear voices, gamma backgrounds, pixel explosions and pulsating music bring to mind Tempest 2000. Speaking of music, it is simply awesome. In fact, it's so awesome that the game has a juke box option at start-up so you can just listen to the tunes!
Gameplay options abound with arcade, skirmish and co-op modes. The game is also rather fully featured with online high scores (via QR or pass codes), various adjustment settings, rotary controller options and more.
If you like Asteroids-style games, I have little doubt that this will become your preferred way to play. It's up there with Space Rocks as one of the best in this genre. To you Jaguar owners and collectors: Rebooteroids is definitely not one for the shelf!
Thanks to Reboot and AA for a great addition to the Jaguar library!
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