"A classic game that is still enjoyable!"

Starting out I would just like to say...This game is a classic. One that consumed many...MANY quarters back when it first came out, and still does...if you can find it. The game came in various Atari game packs for the PC, but this review is for the good 'ol fashioned arcade box. Well, on to the review!

Story: NONE!!!
It's an arcade game with no story...so what else is new?

Gameplay: 9/10
This is the meat and veggies of the game. But the meat is the pepperoni on your Pizza Hut Pizza with breadsticks and a 2 liter of Pepsi, while the veggies are...um...well...I'll talk about gameplay now. The game involves YOU: The lone triangle/spaceship, the asteroids, and the tiny aliens that want to blow your brains out. You start in the middle of the black screen, when some large asteroids come hurtling towards you. What to do? Blow them into spacedust of course! When you shoot a large asteroid, you get a small amount of points and it is blown into two smaller asteroids that are harder to hit. After you hit one of those, you get a larger amount of points and it is blown into two incredibly small pebbles that are very hard to hit. Upon destroying that one, you get a large amount of points and the asteroid is destroyed completely. If one of those asteroids so much as brushes against you, your ship explodes into several pieces and you lose a life. You get three lives. The goal of the game is to destroy every asteroid on the screen. When that is done, you move to a harder level in the game that invloves faster and more asteroids. There is an infinite amount of levels, so you just try to get as many points as possible and beat your old high score. There are also little flying saucers that fly around on the screen from time to time. There are two kinds: A semi-large one that is as big as a medium sized asteroid and fires at you at half your firing rate. They are worth twice as many points as a small asteroid. Then there are the tiny...tiny spaceships that are half the size of a small asteroid and fire twice as accuratly as the normal spaceships and fire twice as fast as you! They are very hard to hit and the only good way to beat 'em is to rush them, guns blaring, and hope they don't hit you. These bad boys are worth TEN TIMES as many points as the smallest asteroids. Sometimes I don't destroy the last asteroid in hopes that one of those spaceships comes by to give me a fine helping of points. There is also a hyperspace feature which teleports you to a random section of the screen when you're in a tight spot. But be warned: I have often teleported right into the face of another asteroid...boom....Well, I've covered every aspect of the gameplay. On to the graphics!

Graphics: 9/10
Now, I'm not going to compare this game to the games of today. I'm going to compare it to other games of its time. It gets a nine. The game looks like Atari intended, the game isn't pixelated at all, and I find no major problems with the graphics.

Sound/Music: 9/10
The sound actually sounds great, and it doesn't hurt you ears like other games. One feature I like is this beat that sounds like a heartbeat in the game. It starts off slow, and as the condition begins to get more chaotic, the beat gets faster. It actually works wonders at getting you excited while playing the game. There is no music in the game, but the sound is wonderful.

Replay Value: 10/10
There is TONS of replay value in the game. Attempting to get number one on the high score list, beating your personal high score, beating your friends...This game will certainly drain you of your quarters.

Overall: 9/10
The game is very good, a true classic in my opinion, and one that is still incredibly fun to play. You may have noticed that I gave most features of the game a nine rather than a ten. I would like to have given it a ten, but something just seemed to be lacking in those departments that I really can't figure out. The game is still wonderful, and I love it, and still play it often. Thank you.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/28/03