...It seems as though you've been here before - but this time, it's much worse! The Asteroids are faster, the enemy ships are much more skilled marksmen than your first time through this galaxy...and what's this odd hexagon-shaped craft I keep hearing about? Asteroids plunge at you! Trapped in a gigantic cloud of asteroids, your struggling spaceship hurls towards its doom. You'll have to pulverize all the asteroids with your photon cannon to save your ship and your life!
Rubble from an exploding asteroid bounces off your ship's hull. A glowing blur flashes across your viewing screen. So that's where the rubble came from! The asteroid was blasted by an Alien Robot Saucer! Alien Robot Saucers are also trapped in the asteroid cloud. And they fire at you! You know that the metal in your ship's hull will register on their target finders before the asteroids do. The saucers could be a worse danger than the asteroids! More rubble strikes your ship. Its hull rings like a bell. If you don't get busy, that could be your death knell!
Robert DeCrescenzo brings another classic Atari arcade game to the Atari 7800: Asteroids Deluxe! If you're a fan of the original arcade game Asteroids or its sequel, Asteroids Deluxe, you'll want to grab your joystick and start blasting! Asteroids Deluxe brings new graphics and gameplay elements into play, such as the Killer Satellite that when shot breaks into smaller pieces that take direct aim for your ship! There are also two new game variations: Competition Asteroids where you compete against another player for points (and your shots destroy the other player!), and Team Asteroids where you and another player share reserve ships and don't need to worry about friendly fire. Asteroids Deluxe for the 7800 is an extensively modified version of the original Atari 7800 game Asteroids.
Includes cartridge and four-page, full-color manual. Available in NTSC and PAL television formats, please specify above when ordering.
Author | Robert DeCrescenzo |
Number of Players | 1 - 2 |
Controllers | Joysticks |
Cartridge Size | |
Label and Manual Graphics | John Calcano |
The physics are fantastic providing excellent gameplay with the aforementioned graphics, simple yet effective sound effects (as is the case with Arcade original), all being wonderfully showcased here.
Details spent on AI, including the various behaviors of the enemies is recreated very well, once again blurring the line between Arcade original and this must have port on the 7800. It is without question, a very much recommended title and awesome edition to your gaming collection.
In addition, I love the label artwork - colorful and exciting - reminiscent of the original arcade cabinet art. Too bad Atari chose the drab silver and black scheme for 7800 labels.
Asteroids Deluxe is a great translation of the arcade game. Gone are the 7800's round and rendered, brightly-colored spheroids, and in their place are finely detailed, sharp-edged, pseudo-vector graphics. While the limitations of the 7800 don't allow for the kind of resolution necessary to really pull off a true vector "look", the graphics are still very faithful to the original game, except the vectors are green instead of the arcade game's light blue (which was achieved with a colored overlay). The audio is decent, but lacks the punch of the arcade game. There are some nice options available, including a couple of two-player simultaneous modes, and a "hidden" version of the original arcade Asteroids. There are some minor quibbles, like a lack of exhaust flame on the player's ship in Asteroids, no "arcade" difficulty setting (and no explanation in the manual as to what the different difficulty settings mean), and somewhat inconsistent collision detection at times; but these are fairly minor points. The bottom line is - Asteroids Deluxe has all the fun and frenetic gameplay of two original arcade classics.
The big question is - if you already have Atari's 7800 version of Asteroids, is there any reason to get this one? The answer is yes, if you're after a more arcade-like experience. Asteroids Deluxe is two classic games in one, and if you have a 7800, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy.