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Asteroids Activision With all of the advanced programming today, there is still something to be said about simple, mindless games that we used to play in our friends basements in the early `80s. While games like Breakout, Centipede, Space Invaders, and Asteroids seem primitive fifteen years later, we still have a yearning for such simplicity in a time when one cannot just pop in a cartridge and control a spaceship in less than five minutes. Asteroids first came out in the arcades in 1979, entertaining a group of male teens interested in, among other things, Kiss and Black Sabbath. Now, 20 years later, Asteroids is back, and so are Kiss and Sabbath; now Kiss have a new 3-D stage setup, Ozzy has more tattoos and a bigger gut, and Asteroids features ambient music and has 3-D graphics that were unheard of twenty years ago. Even though a good thing never dies, you will be disappointed when paying upwards of $40 to install a game just to find out that button one is fire and button two is thrust. The original Atari joystick only had one button, but we expect more in fifteen years. There is more than just flying craters in the new version: fireball comets, crystal asteroids, indestructible asteroids and alien pods are common. The ships' arsenals are crammed too: homing missiles, ramming shields, homing missiles, trigger bombs, plasma drills and gun satellites that float in space and energize your ship every time you grab one. There are also different zones to complete. In the Black Hole Zone, you must avoid being sucked into black hole when passing over the center of the screen. The Worm Zone is a breeding ground for alien space worms, where you must not only avoid the asteroids but also destroy all of the worm pods. In the final zone, the Save the Earth Zone, you must play Dominik Hasek and protect the earth from an alien attack. This is by far the most entertaining part of the game. Even with all of these nifty additions to the original asteroids, there is still something missing - some sort of excitement that should come with such a noble and proven concept. Doesn't an Asteroids death match sound fun? Forget it. While there is a two-player mode, you are immune to your opponent's firepower, and vice versa. Additionally, if you are playing in two-player mode and using a keyboard, things can get tight. (Hey darling, do you want to play Asteroids?). Additionally, there is no on-line gameplay, something unheard of today. While the new Asteroids has some advantages, they are not worth the opportunity cost of what else is out there. If you have a yearning for the Atari 2600, go to www.arcadeathome.com and download an emulator, preferably M.A.M.E., and you'll be able to play all of the classic 2600 games, free. Min. Requirements: Win 95/98, P90+, 16 MB RAM (32 recommended), 70MB Uncompressed hard disc space, 4x CD, soundcard, PCI or AGP video card with 2MB+, joystick optional, 3D accelerator recommended with Direct-3D compatible drivers. -Jay T. |
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