- Release Date: 1980
- Genre: Shooter
- Style: Fixed Screen Shooter
- Similar Games: Defender (Arcade), Defender (Commodore 64/128), Missile Command (Arcade), Missile Command (Commodore 64/128), Xevious (Commodore 64/128), Asteroids (Game Boy), Missile Command (Game Boy), Asteroids (Atari Video Computer System), Asteroids (Atari 7800), Defender (Atari Video Computer System), Missile Command (Atari Video Computer System), Xevious (Atari 7800), 1941 (Arcade), Asteroids (PlayStation), Asteroids (IBM PC Compatible), Xevious (Nintendo Entertainment System), Defender (ColecoVision), Asteroids (Arcade), Missile Command (Atari 5200), Xevious (TurboGrafx-16), Defender (Texas Instruments TI-99), Asteroids (Game Boy Color), Missile Command (Game Boy Color), Missile Command (PlayStation), Missile Command (IBM PC Compatible), Defender (Intellivision), Defender (Atari 5200)
Game Description
Asteroids Deluxe is the 1980 upgrade of the classic 1979 Arcade smash hit Asteroids. In this edition, your job is the same: pilot a small ship through an asteroid field, destroying the space boulders as you go. In addition to the asteroids, you will face a menacing flying saucer and a mysterious alien cube. Players start with three ships at the outset of the game, and additional ships are awarded at point increments of 10,000.In Asteroids Deluxe, the power of hyperspace is gone, replaced by a shield that protects you from asteroids and alien crafts, but the number of hits it can take is finite. Your ship still has the thrust capability, which can get you out of danger in a bind. Like its predecessor, the playing field in Asteroids Deluxe is swarming with asteroids. The large ones break into two medium-sized asteroids, and the medium ones break into two smaller ones. The smaller the rock, the faster it travels.
Occasionally, a flying saucer appears from the side of the screen to fire missiles sporadically in every direction, destroying asteroids and your ship if you are not careful. The saucer moves in a straight line on some occasions and in a random pattern at other times. The saucer is destroyed if it collides with an asteroid. The mysterious cube also appears from the right or the left and floats lazily from one side of the screen to the other. If shot by you or the flying saucer, it breaks into four ships that focus on your ship and attack. Moreover, each of the four individual ships breaks into two more ships when shot to create as many as eight swarming ships attacking you at a given time.
~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide
Roots & Influences
Asteroids Deluxe was not only influenced by the original Computer Space from 1971, it is a near clone of the original Asteroids.~ Chris Cavanaugh, All Game Guide
Review: Overall
If the nomenclature of 1980, Asteroids Deluxe may well have been "Asteroids 1.1." The differences between this game and its predecessor are so minimal that it was really unfair for Atari to call it a "deluxe" version of its 1979 smash hit. Still, Asteroids was a video game phenomenon in those days, and the marketing folks were probably just trying to cash in on a craze.The graphics in Asteroids Deluxe are slightly improved with a few more lines drawn on the ship and the asteroids themselves to give the game a quasi-three-dimensional feel, with a hint of texture that wasn't present in the original. The addition of the ominous space cube really pushes that point home. Sure, the action is still two-dimensional, but you can tell that this game wanted to be 3D. Some additional visual upgrades include the longer destruction sequence for your ship, the appearance of the shield, and the more detailed disintegration of the smallest asteroids.
The sound in Asteroids Deluxe is the same sound from Asteroids. The exploding asteroids and the buzz of the flying saucer still match the action perfectly. The whir of the cube ships is something new, and is one of the few improvements.
Game play in Asteroids Deluxe is great, and still as frustrating and addictive as its predecessor. My strategy -- and just about everyone else's -- is to stay in the center of the playing field unless all else fails. Alas, this strategy is tougher to adhere to in Asteroids Deluxe because the cube ships are very aggressive, making it close to impossible to shoot them all before they swarm your ship and break it apart.
The addition of the shield in Asteroids Deluxe is a nice touch. Some fans really enjoyed the hyperspace feature of the original, but that button got me into more trouble. The shield is hard to figure out at first because if you turn it on as an asteroid is ready to hit you, you are nudged out of position. Then, if the flying saucer hits you with a missile while shields are up, you stay put. If the cube ships come at you when the shield is up, they simply bang into you until it fails. It's not the perfect defense mechanism, so always be ready to thrust.
Overall, Asteroids Deluxe is a simplistic repackaging of Asteroids. Sure, there are a few new toys, and one new bad guy, but if you've played the original, then you have played this. Asteroids Deluxe isn't quite a clone, its video game DNA is slightly different -- very slightly. Think of Asteroids Deluxe as the first cousin of Asteroids. Don't get me wrong, it is still fun to play, but if you go in thinking there's something "deluxe" about it, you will be disappointed.
~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide
Review: Enjoyment
Still fun, despite its lack of originality.~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide
Review: Graphics
Improved over the original, but not by much.~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide
Review: Sound
The same as the original with a few added effects.~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide
Review: Replay Value
Good.~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide
Review: Documentation
A little weak, but the game is self-explanatory.~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide
Production Credits
Created by: Lyle Rains; Programmed by: Dave Shepperd; Additional help: Owen Rubin and Ed Rotberg
~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide
