Solaris

"What killing evil aliens is all about..."

Atari developed quite a few revolutionary games during the late 70's-80's timeframe, mainly ones that became known hits in arcades across the world. Probably their most successful system, the Atari 2600, made the desire to play such gems in the home a reality, and thus became one of the more popular consoles of the time. Perhaps it's the nostalgia that comes from playing a variety of games that were once considered the best of the best, or maybe it's just because back then even the simplest concepts could make a game addictive. Whatever the reason, the appeal of these old classics has never died for me, most likely because the majority of them have more charm than many of the games released nowadays. One title in particular was the much adored Space Invaders, a space-shooter which I thought for the longest time no game of the same genre could ever take the place of. That is, until I played Solaris.

Solaris was one of the later games released for the system, but thankfully my interest hadn't shifted to any of the ''newer'' consoles which could have possibly caused me to overlook this masterpiece rather than making a well deserved purchase. Though underrated in many ways, this is one experience that is worthy of every second of play.

Story: 7/10

Not many earlier space-shooters have innovative or interesting stories to say the least, but any attempt to add more depth is a positive attempt. While Solaris doesn't necessarily need a story to keep the action flowing, the situation given is more than enough to keep you at it.

Enemy alien forces, the Zylons, are invading the galaxy. Their prime targets for destruction: the Federation Planets, including the lost planet known as Solaris. You must make your way there and defeat the opposing fleets, protecting other Federation Planets and rescuing Cadets from Zylon territories at the same time. You'll encounter many enemy fighters, huge minefields and several planets on your quest to travel across the massive quadrants and rid the galaxy of evil.

Gameplay: 9/10

As you quickly make your way through sectors (there are 48 located in each of the 16 quadrants), various tasks can be completed for points. Among these, shooting at enemies such as Cobra Ships and Star Pirates tends to be your most frequent method. You can also save your allies who are stranded on Zylon planets, and top off the rescue by blowing up the planet itself. Performing an aforementioned rescue may be a requirement sometimes as it earns you extra lives.

As with most any game, you take damage whenever you're hit by an opposing ship. To add fuel to the fire (pun intended), you also lose precious fuel as you're flying through space, and some can even be taken by your enemies! In order to fill up, you must seek out a Federation Planet to refuel. Since no ship can run on empty, failing to do so will result in losing a StarCruiser. To prevent as many lost lives as possible, the individual characteristics of each enemy must be taken into account. Certain spacecrafts are much stronger and dangerous than others to the point where a single shot can take you completely out. Others, like the Raiders, will only be found hovering around Federation Planets with the sole intent of destroying them. Knowing your enemies helps a great deal in Solaris as does planning your attacks in advance.

In order to progress far into the game, you'll need to consult your Galactic Scanner which displays all fleets, wormholes, planets, etc. currently in your quadrant. To take on an enemy force or protect a planet, you simply need to move to the sector where the corresponding icon is located. Of course, enemy ships occasionally change positions, so keeping up may take a bit of time.

The controls in Solaris are a dream to behold in all their responsiveness. In addition to being pretty straightforward, they are also extremely easy to master... to an extent. At certain points, most notably if and when the Zylons destroy one of your planets, you'll enter what's known as a ''Red Zone.'' During a Red Zone, the entire sector becomes swamped with enemies and the direction in which the joystick should be moved literally reverses. This can prove confusing for first-time players of the game, but after a while becomes the norm. Since a Red Zone can happen at the drop of a hat, it adds a welcome amount of challenge to the mix... once you get used to it, that is.

As for challenge, the game has plenty of that. If it isn't the constant onslaught of ships or the scurrying around to find a planet to refuel on, it's the question of where to go and how to get there. Now, this might sound a bit discouraging, but in reality it only adds to the sense of exploration and danger that the game presents. In the case of Solaris, the difficulty and confusion are both challenges that can easily be thwarted after getting the hang of things, where eventually encountering either will be seldom if at all. Unlike many Atari 2600 titles where the manual provides a great amount of information telling you when and where to do what, relying too heavily on it here is not the best approach to take. Solaris implements more of a ''learning by doing'' method, one that shouldn't become tedious given enough time. Besides, with a high fun factor and being prone to becoming addictive, overcoming any difficulties should be no problem.

Graphics: 10/10

Most developers for older games put very little emphasis in the graphics department while concentrating more on how the game was played. Likewise, gamers cared about as much for said graphics as they did for a game's box art: very little (well, at least I did). So naturally when I first played Solaris I had the same low expectations, until I actually saw it. This game is, in one word, beautiful! The amount of detail and colors put in is astonishing in the least, almost pushing the graphical capabilities of the system to the limit. As previously mentioned, this was a late release for the console, so understandably things look very good. Still, that doesn't make the visuals any less amazing.

The view is set at more of a first-person angle a la Star Raiders (Atari even reused the same cartridge label), only your ship is visible at the bottom of the screen. There is virtually nothing you can't see in this game, and everything is presented in perfect clarity. You'll notice planets setting on the horizon and craters passing by underneath your fast-moving StarCruiser when you're near a surface. In space, colorful planets zoom by and wormholes give a sort of blurred effect as you quickly warp at the speed of light. Even your ship seems to change color to reflect what sunlight there may be, becoming bright orange/yellow within a planet's atmosphere and dark or shadowed in outer space.

There are few animations, mainly the thrusters of your StarCruiser and the torpedoes being fired, which will usually be seen at all times. Others, like explosions and Cadets waving their arms from Zylon planets, are pulled off nicely. There is no flashing caused by too many objects being on-screen at once and any glitches in the graphics are hardly noticeable. All in all, the visuals are finely polished in a game that could have been just as well off with a few dots and a triangle. However, I'm not complaining.

Sound: 6/10

Most of what you'll hear is random sound effects very similar to other games on the system. Like many of those games, there is no music to listen to while battling through the galaxy. This isn't a problem, since the sound effects are sufficient yet don't distract overall. The StarCruiser gives out a sound that sounds very close to an actual engine, or at least as close as it can. This sound will become louder when reaching higher speeds, usually when hyperwarping. Other sounds, like the ''beeps'' associated with picking up Cadets or any explosions heard, are very typical of similar games of the time. Luckily, nothing sounds ''bad'' in any way, making the game almost enjoyable to listen to.

Replay: 7/10

Like many space-shooters, the appeal doesn't tend to wear out for quite a while. For Solaris, replaying through it after completion is almost like a new experience. Since the real goal of the game is to achieve a high score, coming back to it just for that should be enough to hold your interest for just a little longer. You can even try to do things you may not have gotten around to doing the first time, like rescuing all the Cadets or exploring the entirety of each quadrant. Whatever your reason is for saving the planet Solaris again, you're almost guaranteed to have fun with it.

Overall: 8/10

Solaris is one of those games that seems to have very little recognition presently, regardless of how easy it was to find. It may be because many didn't like the game or because of when it was released, a time when many had lost interest in the Atari 2600 and had moved on. Despite the reason, for the gamer who is after a challenging and all-around fun space-shooter, this might be the one. Even if you aren't a fan of the genre, if you can find a copy then you might also find that you aren't disappointed. Like many games that have earned the title of ''classic'', Solaris proves that it can be just as timeless as any of those, perhaps even more so.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/24/03