Is it worth more than a few quarters?? Review

Is it worth more than a few quarters??

Recently it seems that more games has been trying to jump on the classic-game-conversion

bandwagon, a fad that started around the time that Hasbro made some big bucks

with their Frogger conversion. Some conversions,

like Activision’s Battlezone, took a few “creative

liberties” and added a whole slew of new technology available in this day and

age, while others, like Hasbro’s Frogger or Centipede

stayed relatively close to their predecessors.

Asteroids,

Activision’s latest classic conversion, leans more towards the latter – there

are the obvious improvements in graphics, and sound, but the game’s basic gameplay

stays relatively the same. Now, if you aren’t aware of how Asteroids

is played, well, I represent the entire gaming community when I hang my head

in despair.

We all remember the usual blowing up of larger asteroids into smaller and smaller

pieces until they are all gone. Maybe there was an important story, maybe there

wasn’t. The point is that it doesn’t matter. Asteroids (like many classics)

was not played to save the earth or to protect the universe. It was played to

get farthest and get your initials on the high score list.

Now, generation later, Syrox (developers) came and gave the game a damn story.

Nobody cares! We just want to get back to that classic Asteroid action. The

bottom line is that the story makes no difference to the game and cut-scene

and pre-mission briefings are just nuisances that get in the way of the action.

With

that little chip aside, technologically speaking Asteroids is exactly

what you would expect from a modern day re-creation and, unfortunately, nothing

more. There a few interesting graphical effects that take advantage of the current

available hardware, some improved sound effects, an attempt at a story (ugh),

and minimally expanded gameplay. Yes, the usual rotating, boosting and firing

are still there, but in addition powerups appear throughout the level giving

“niceties” like extra lives, extra points, and powerful weapons like heat seeking

missiles or mines.

While the asteroids are still the focus of the game, new types of asteroids

with unique properties have been introduced. Indestructible asteroids, fireball

comets, crystal asteroids that can regenerate, alien egg asteroids (releases

many aliens when destroyed) and ancient energy asteroids all make their way

into the game.

A handful of different alien enemies are also thrown into the mix to take your

attention away from the precious asteroids. Other than a couple quirks, Activision’s

latest plays almost exactly like the original.

The game is divided into five different zones (again with that story thing),

each with a clear objective and an utterly useless FMV. Here’s a quick formula

for every single story: (Name of company) wants you to clear (name of area)

so they can build/clear/explore (name of another area). Clear out the asteroids,

watch out for (name of new obstacle). And that’s about it. With five zones and

fifteen levels per zone (do the math)…well, let’s just say you shouldn’t be

playing Asteroids for its variety of gameplay.

As mentioned before, Asteroids does take advantage of all the latest

technology available. While this is, in essence, a 2D game, the re-creation

uses 3D objects with a static camera. A number of cool effects, nice particles,

lens flare and sweet-looking explosions, have all been incorporated nicely into

the game. While the usual 2-player action on one screen is there, no network

play is supported.

In the end, while Asteroids is just a rebirth of the original, one question

still remains: is it worth dishing out hard-earned bucks for copy? Well, other

than a few powerups, the gameplay is almost exactly the same as the original.

So the bottom line is that, other than the impressive visual effects, Asteroids

has no real advantages over the hundreds of other (free) clones floating around

on the internet, some of which may support network play. Take it for what it

is: the original Asteroids with a makeover.