After making a few Atari 2600 reviews in the past, I thought that I'd never make another review for a game on that system ever again. That was, until I played a space shooter last month called Beamrider. It was made by Activision, and it was originally made for the Intellevision, but was later ported to the Colecovision, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Atari 5200, and of course, the Atari 2600. Today, I'll be reviewing the version I've been playing, which is the Atari 2600 version.
Graphics: 10/10 I don't recall a time that I've ever been impressed with the graphics of an Atari 2600 game, that is until now. Beamrider has the best visuals I've seen on the console, and honestly, the graphics are even better than those on some games from Atari systems that came after it. Your ship and enemies are very detailed and look realistic for being in an Atari 2600 game. Visually, this doesn't look like it came from the Atari 2600, and that's as big of a compliment as I can give Beamrider in the graphics department. For these reasons, I'm giving the graphics a perfect 10.
Sound: 8/10 For an Atari 2600 game, Beamrider has very good sound effects. Whether it's the sound effect your ship makes when you're shooting at enemies or the sound of your enemies ships exploding, Beamrider makes the most of the limits that the Atari 2600 has in the sound department. While I'd say that other Atari 2600 games have better music than Beamrider, their sound effects don't match what this game has to offer. Overall, the lack of good music is what makes me give this category a 8 instead of a higher score.
Addictiveness: 9/10 While Beamrider was never released in the arcades, it feels and plays like some of the great arcade games of the 80's. In each level, you must destroy 15 alien ships while avoiding enemy fire and avoiding obstacles such as asteroids that will get in your way. When you destroy the 15 ships, you'll get the chance to shoot down a mother ship with your torpedoes. You must be precise though, because you only have 3 torpedoes per level. Once you run out, you won't be able to bring down the mother ship and you won't be able to get bonus points for that level. The gameplay reminds me of a mix of Galaga and a 2D Tempest. Galaga in the sense that you're shooting down alien ships, and Tempest in the sense that you and your enemies can only move side to side along lines known as beams (your enemies can also go diagonal). This unique take on the space shooter genre is one of the most addicting I've played. I still find Galaga to be an overall more enjoyable experience though, and for that, I give the addictiveness a 9.
Story: N/A Beamrider does not have a story, therefore I'm leaving this category blank.
Depth: 7/10 Beamrider has as much content as a lot of arcade games of the era. With 99 sectors to complete and 15 enemies to kill per level, even the most skilled players will find that this game provides enough levels to keep players going if they're completionists. For those of us who aren't that skilled (like me), then the game will likely only last for 30 minutes at most. Overall, Beamrider has enough levels for me to give the depth a 7.
Difficulty: 8/10 Beamrider starts off pretty easy, with the first few sectors mainly just having enemy ships standing in your way. Eventually as you progress, you'll eventually start seeing obstacles you can't destroy without using one of your 3 torpedoes, along with the enemy ships you must destroy. By the time you get to sector 6 and beyond, the game gets considerably tougher. Enemies start constantly shooting at you, along with having to avoid asteroids and other obstacles, it becomes much more difficult to dodge everything. Overall, Beamrider is one of the tougher Atari 2600 games I've played, so I'm giving the difficulty an 8.
Overall Score: 9/10 Beamrider is in my opinion one of the best Atari 2600 games of all time. It's 80's arcade style shooting combined with it's amazing graphics for Atari 2600 standards make Beamrider a must play for anyone looking for an old school shooter to play. It's a challenging, while at the same time extremely addicting gameplay give me good reason to give Beamrider for the Atari 2600 an 9 out of 10. After making a few Atari 2600 reviews in the past, I thought that I'd never make another review for a game on that system ever again. That was, until I played a space shooter last month called Beamrider. It was made by Activision, and it was originally made for the Intellevision, but was later ported to the Colecovision, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Atari 5200, and of course, the Atari 2600. Today, I'll be reviewing the version I've been playing, which is the Atari 2600 version.
Graphics: 10/10 I don't recall a time that I've ever been impressed with the graphics of an Atari 2600 game, that is until now. Beamrider has the best visuals I've seen on the console, and honestly, the graphics are even better than those on some games from Atari systems that came after it. Your ship and enemies are very detailed and look realistic for being in an Atari 2600 game. Visually, this doesn't look like it came from the Atari 2600, and that's as big of a compliment as I can give Beamrider in the graphics department. For these reasons, I'm giving the graphics a perfect 10.
Sound: 8/10 For an Atari 2600 game, Beamrider has very good sound effects. Whether it's the sound effect your ship makes when you're shooting at enemies or the sound of your enemies ships exploding, Beamrider makes the most of the limits that the Atari 2600 has in the sound department. While I'd say that other Atari 2600 games have better music than Beamrider, their sound effects don't match what this game has to offer. Overall, the lack of good music is what makes me give this category a 8 instead of a higher score.
Addictiveness: 9/10 While Beamrider was never released in the arcades, it feels and plays like some of the great arcade games of the 80's. In each level, you must destroy 15 alien ships while avoiding enemy fire and avoiding obstacles such as asteroids that will get in your way. When you destroy the 15 ships, you'll get the chance to shoot down a mother ship with your torpedoes. You must be precise though, because you only have 3 torpedoes per level. Once you run out, you won't be able to bring down the mother ship and you won't be able to get bonus points for that level. The gameplay reminds me of a mix of Galaga and a 2D Tempest. Galaga in the sense that you're shooting down alien ships, and Tempest in the sense that you and your enemies can only move side to side along lines known as beams (your enemies can also go diagonal). This unique take on the space shooter genre is one of the most addicting I've played. I still find Galaga to be an overall more enjoyable experience though, and for that, I give the addictiveness a 9.
Story: N/A Beamrider does not have a story, therefore I'm leaving this category blank.
Depth: 7/10 Beamrider has as much content as a lot of arcade games of the era. With 99 sectors to complete and 15 enemies to kill per level, even the most skilled players will find that this game provides enough levels to keep players going if they're completionists. For those of us who aren't that skilled (like me), then the game will likely only last for 30 minutes at most. Overall, Beamrider has enough levels for me to give the depth a 7.
Difficulty: 8/10 Beamrider starts off pretty easy, with the first few sectors mainly just having enemy ships standing in your way. Eventually as you progress, you'll eventually start seeing obstacles you can't destroy without using one of your 3 torpedoes, along with the enemy ships you must destroy. By the time you get to sector 6 and beyond, the game gets considerably tougher. Enemies start constantly shooting at you, along with having to avoid asteroids and other obstacles, it becomes much more difficult to dodge everything. Overall, Beamrider is one of the tougher Atari 2600 games I've played, so I'm giving the difficulty an 8.
Overall Score: 9/10 Beamrider is in my opinion one of the best Atari 2600 games of all time. It's 80's arcade style shooting combined with it's amazing graphics for Atari 2600 standards make Beamrider a must play for anyone looking for an old school shooter to play. It's a challenging, while at the same time extremely addicting gameplay give me good reason to give Beamrider for the Atari 2600 an 9 out of 10. |
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