Astroblast

"Simple and fast paced shooting. Not bad at all."

Astroblast is an old Atari 2600 favorite if mine. It is a great game you can just pick up and play. It doesn't have a lot of depth but it provides a decent challenge and if you can really get into it it is a fun game.

In Astroblast you move a ship on the ground to either the left or the right. You press the main button to shoot upwards. Asteroids and other things will be falling from the sky. You can shoot them and they will disappear. Some will split into two smaller pieces and you can shoot those too. The other things that fall don't do much from my experience except one that destroys your ship if you don't shoot it. The rest of the stuff you can dodge.

The more you shoot before your ship is destroyed 10 times the higher your score will be. That is basically the premise of the whole game. Simple, right? And it is but the gameplay can be quite addictive.

Graphics: 10/10

The graphics are very crisp and clear. Your ship is nicely designed the asteroids look really jaggy. Uh...there isn't much else on the screen. It has a nice backround though! And the backround color changes every 1000 points! The asteroids themselves are also pretty colorful.

Sound: 10/10

The sounds mostly consists if your ship shooting its laser and the asteroids exploding. Both nicely done. Other objects that fall from the sky have their own sounds, some of which can be annoying but they alert you of special objects falling from the sky.

Gameplay: 10/10

Very smooth and intense. Non-stop action that you can immediately get into. The game is generous with 10 lives for your ship and it provides a decent challenge. The asteroids start out falling at a steady pace and it subtlety picks up from there.

A real challenge is blowing asteroid bits. When you blow up a big one they might split into two smaller ones that go in opposite directions. The challenge is to try to blow them both up with your swift moving ship but don't get hit by them!

Overall: 10/10

This game isn't too extravagant but it is fun and addictive for me and I can right into the game easily. If you get a change to buy or play this game, please do. I hope you'll enjoy the game as much as I did.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/15/05