Battlezone

"It may be in color this time, but it's still old school."

While Battlezone may have dropped it's vector graphics, and one of its controllers, this game retains all of the action of the arcade version, and more. In this version, the controls have been reduced to one controller to steer the tank, pressing the stick in the direction that you want the tank to go. While being less tank-like, it's a lot easier to control.

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics on this game are very nice. Your tank looks like a tank, instead of a bunch of green lines. While the enemies are a little hard to distinguish from far away, the closer you get, the easier it is to see that the game's models are actually pretty good, okay, well excluding the spaceship, but it has shadow detail, as well as a shadow under it. Your tank's treads roll in the appropriate direction when you are moving, and actually look like they're rolling on the ground when they are in motion.

Gameplay: 10/10

The gameplay featured in Battlezone is just great. The three dimensional graphics work out really great for a tank game. It feels more like you're controlling a tank then controlling a moving part on the screen. Your ''crosshairs'' consist of a solid black line on the screen, and when it crosses over an enemy, flashes yellow. When the line flashes yellow, fire! While one hit may kill both you, and your enemies, it takes skill to hit the enemies, and dodge incoming fire. Your radar comes in handy as you'll only be able to look in one direction.

Sound: 6/10

With variety of sounds, well, for a 2600 game, Battlezone actually sounds like you're rolling along in a tank, also, the enemies have sound, the UFO's have the best, though. When you shoot at an enemy, the game makes a different sound then when you are shot at. When you get shot and die, you hear a really great explosion sound. The radar in the game has blips to let you know when it sweeps over an enemy. While the sound may not be the key factor of the game, it certainly helps to have more than one sound in a game such as this.

Replay: 9/10

This game has some major replayability. I've played this game over and over throughout the years. While it's certainly lacking in story, having none at all, it's just great old-school destruction at it's finest. When I get tired of playing my newer systems, with their high-quality graphics, FMV's and such, I'll kick back and play a little Battlezone. Battlezone is great for when you just want to mindlessly destroy something, which is a good thing when you're in the mood for it.

Overall: 9/10

This game is one of the most entertaining 2600 games I've played in a long while. While it's not my favorite, it's certainly up there. The game has good graphics, sound, and it's an escape from the top-down or side views of most of the games that were on the Atari 2600. Overall, this game is highly recommended, as well as one of the 2600's nicest games I've ever played.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/13/03