Asteroids

• Release Date: September 21, 1999
• Genre: Shooter
• Style: Fixed Screen Shooter
• Similar Games: Space Duel (Arcade), Space Duel (Commodore 64/128), Space Fury (Arcade), UFO (Commodore 64/128), Blasteroids (Arcade), Maelstrom (Macintosh), Space Fury (ColecoVision), UFO! (Odyssey 2), Blasteroids (Commodore 64/128)

Game Description

How can one small asteroid cause so much havoc? It's just a rock, right? Wrong! These free-floating hunks of rock damage ships and destroy convoys while making life difficult for the military trying to fight nasty extra-terrestrials. It's costing the company millions in lost cargo and various other precious commodities and may even start to cost them those lucrative military contracts

in a galaxy littered with riches and hostile aliens.

So, what does it have to do with you? Well, the Astro-Mining Corporation is looking for a few good pilots to help clear the galaxy of those pesky asteroids. Clear a path so the company makes money and you make money. Oh yeah, you'll also need to take on the alien queen and clear out the rest of the aliens before returning home. It's all part of the Astro-Mining Corporation's plans to make as much money as it can.

Activision's Asteroids has three levels of difficulty for five areas with five levels. With three ships at your command and plenty of power-ups to enhance your weapons and defenses, not to mention an assortment of asteroids and aliens, you can play by yourself or with a friend in the two-player mode.

Do you have the skill to dodge and weave past the asteroids? Are your wits strong enough to keep aliens from blowing you to bits? I hope you're ready, because the Astro-Mining Corporation and the Earth are counting on you!

Roots & Influences

This Game Boy Color cartridge is an update of Atari's classic Arcade game, Asteroids, which debuted in 1979. The coin-op was notable for featuring vector graphics and a top-ten high score screen where players could enter their initials -- the first of its kind. The object of the game was to simply destroy wave after wave of hurtling asteroids while maneuvering your ship within the single-screen playing field. The first console port of the coin-op was for the Atari 2600 in 1981.

Review: Overall

Asteroids for Color GameBoy is yet another revised classic from Activision seeking to cash in on all the retro games being refitted for the new game platforms. Unfortunately, this one should have been left alone because it just doesn't transport the fun or the challenge of the arcade original. Yes, Activision made several major changes to the game that are nice, but this isn't a must have for a nostalgia gamers' library.

Two major changes are the addition of three ships to choose from and the ability to collect power-ups for weapons and defense. The Dagger has a flip defense, the Rapier has the classic hyperspace defense, and the Longsword has the shield defense. Each ship can only use its defense a limited number of times depending on the difficulty level. Adding to your ship's defensive number usage and collecting power-ups work the same way -- they float by and you retrieve them. Unfortunately, all the power-ups are only good for the board you're on, whether for defense or weapons. Once you finish the board, everything you've collected vanishes and the ship starts from square one. This is very frustrating, especially if you're skilled enough to have collected a bunch of really great power-ups.

Activision also added different types of asteroids and aliens to defeat. Of course, there are still the classic asteroids that break into smaller ones, but others add a bit more playability to the game. Some explode after being destroyed. Others regenerate if they aren't destroyed fast enough. Some are indestructible. And one is actually an alien egg that when destroyed releases a bunch of little alien babies that go after your ship. Finally, the ancient energy asteroid absorbs your laser fire and shoots it back at you. As far as the aliens are concerned, there are nine new additions besides the original version's classic flying saucer.

Another nice feature is the addition of a two-player mode. You can go head-to-head, have a turn-based game, go on a scavenger hunt or play tag. The down side is that this feature only works when both players have Color GameBoys. Otherwise the two-player option won't work -- a huge disappointment since this game will work with any version of the GameBoy.

The game play itself is just like the original. Shoot the asteroids and move on to the next level after all enemies are destroyed. However, unlike the original version, the number of asteroids doesn't increase much after each level so beating this game is a snap, especially if you use the Longsword ship with its shield feature, which makes the game a bit too easy and boring fast. After beating the game you have the option to print out a certificate of your skill using the Game Boy Printer.

Lastly, the original arcade version of Asteroids is hidden somewhere in the game. However, you will need to pay close attention to the screen and look for any out-of-place asteroids floating around. Unfortunately, even with all its new additions Asteroids just doesn't bring a tear to the classic gamers' eye. It's way too easy beat.

Review: Enjoyment

Not nearly as satisfying as the original.

Review: Graphics

The backgrounds and other items make nice use of available colors.

Review: Sound

It gets pretty annoying after the first five minutes.

Review: Replay Value

The only replay value is in the two-player mode.

Review: Documentation

Just right for the game.

Production Credits