"I wish it played as well as it looked"

Pros
Impressive for its time; excellent play control; good sounds.

Cons
Gets old quick; illogical refuel and re-loading game rules.

The Bottom Line
It's one of the most visually-impressive games for the Atari 2600, too bad the gameplay is average at best.

Full Review

When it comes to games for the Atari 2600 it's a common occurrence that the better a game looks the better it is to play. But in the case of “Air Raiders” it's not necessarily true, which is a shame because it's one of the most technologically-advanced games for the console.

PRESS FIRE TO START

“Air Raiders” is a combat flight simulator and probably one of the first of its kind. The screen is the pilot's POV and the controller acts as a “stick” whereby pulling back on it lifts the plane up and pushing forward points it down. There is a crosshair in the middle of the screen which you must use to shoot down enemy planes.

The game includes take-off and landing sequences which are vital to the gameplay. You have a steadily declining fuel tank as well as a limited ammunition supply and when either of them are about to run out you must safely land in order to re-fuel and stock up on ammo.

PLAYER 1 – READY!

As an action game, “Air Raiders” is quite impressive, initially. It has very smooth flow to the gameplay considering how fast-paced it is. It follows the general laws of flying as far as how the sky and horizon move relative to your plane's movement. The enemy planes fly across the screen very quickly so you've got to react fast if you want to blast them. Even though they fly in packs of three, once you kill one it's very difficult to catch the others because they move up and down quickly and randomly. As far as challenge goes, this game has it down pat.

But as impressive as the gameplay is, “Air Raiders” is most definitely not a perfect game. Firstly, the amount of ammo you receive upon landing is based on how many enemy combatants you've killed. The game abides by this rule even if your munitions are high. In other words, it's actually possible to LOSE ammunition by landing! This is completely and totally illogical! Why not give the player additional ammo instead of replacing it entirely? What's worse is trying to land successfully is the biggest challenge of all. You must actually fly into the zone where there's the most ground-fire danger and hover at a very low altitude until a runway magically appears. More often than not, this sequence is a gamble and not reliant on the player's skill or dexterity.

Another major problem lies in how you actually lose the game. Since this is supposed to be combat flying wouldn't you think you'd be shot down if you were hit hard enough by the enemy? Throughout the game you're bombarded by flak fire supposedly coming from the ground and for each hit you receive you lose a little altitude. However, you can compensate by simply pulling back on the stick. Why not have a damage meter of some sort? What plane can absorb unlimited enemy fire?

Lastly, shouldn't a game about dogfights involve more than simply shooting enemy planes with one bullet? The enemies only fly across the screen and never fight back against you. You never know where they're hiding, so you constantly swerve around in direction and altitude hoping you'll run into some. All this does is burn up fuel and puts you in jeopardy of taking on ground-fire. Why not have the enemy planes fly towards the screen and shoot missiles at you - which you must either avoid or shoot down? In fact, why can't you shoot missiles yourself? I guess this game is supposed to be a World War I combat aircraft simulator.

JOYSTICKING

One of the best and most impressive aspects about “Air Raiders” is its play control. I can't think of any other game in the VCS library with the level of fast action gameplay as there is here. If the controls had been anything less than perfect the game probably would've been barely playable. Thankfully, they respond extremely well and give you a real feeling of control. Not too tight and not too slippery, either. I also like the fact you can hold down the button for turbo fire (which can be fun, but isn't wise since you have a finite amount of ammo).

SPRITES & PIXELS

As fluid and responsive as the game's visual animation is to the controls, the actual graphics themselves are quite bland. Yes, it really does feel like you're flying but considering that the screen is split in halves of light blue and dark green with the occasional enemy planes, there isn't much to look at overall. Not that it's hideous, but I think more could have been done. They got the animation and controls right, why not tweak the graphics a bit?

CHIPPED TUNES

A lot of Atari 2600 games make very poor attempts at replicating sounds from reality and end up giving their games the aural appeal of a chainsaw. “Air Raiders” is remarkably different in the sonic aspect. The sound of the plane's engine seems very authentic; especially due to the fact its pitch raises and lowers as your climb and dive. The shooting sounds of your gun, as well as that of the ground-fire are pretty standard-issue, though. Overall, the sound palette compliments the gameplay perfectly.

INSERT COIN TO CONTINUE

Since “Air Raiders” is a game based on action and dexterity, it's surprising how quickly it grows old. Once you realize all there is to do is fly around shooting enemies and that you can never really be killed other than screwing up the landing process (which is quite easy to do), it begins to lose its appeal.

GAME OVER

“Air Raiders” is a game every vintage gamer would appreciate, but it's not exactly a classic.

Recommended:
Yes

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/16/08

Game Release: Air Raiders (US, 1982)