Xevious (Atari 7800 review)

Developer: General Computer Corporation
Publisher: Atari Corporation
Released: 1987

Xevious is a vertically-scrolling shooter that was first released in the Arcade in 1983, before being ported to the NES in 1988.

+ Having to fight air and ground targets is a clever mechanic, and there's a risk-reward element to gaining bonus points.

+ Unlike the NES version, you're given a choice of difficulty options that affect both the challenge and enemy patterns.

+ Gives you the ability to hold down the controller button for rapid-fire, or continually pressing it to spray bullets even faster.

- Your ship isn't always fast enough to evade the barrage of projectiles and there's no speed power-ups on offer.

- Game is incredibly short and instead of displaying an ending screen for your hard work the levels just loop endlessly.

- Your vehicle can't reach the upper portion of the screen, which can put you in harms way when you reach the invisible wall.

- Contains some occasional screen jittering and the repetitive, high-pitched music is enough to drive you insane.