TI Invaders (Texas Instruments TI-99/4A review)

Developer: Texas Instruments
Publisher: Texas Instruments
Released: 1981

TI Invaders is a fixed shooter that closely resembles Space Invaders (1978, Arcade).

+ Gameplay is incredibly fast-paced and the controls afford you smooth manoeuvring for pinpoint accuracy.

+ Risk-reward element is huge and the varied ways of racking up a high score often require putting yourself in harms way.

+ New alien types are slowly introduced as you progress and some require different strategies to hit which keeps things fresh.

+ Enemy sprite animations are gorgeous and the way your missiles exit the reserve pod is a great presentational touch.

+ Between stage mini-game of continually shooting an invader as it moves from side-to-side is a fun test of your dexterity.

- No gameplay variations, whereas Space Invaders (1980, Atari 2600) included features such as guided shots / moving bases.

- Does little to differentiate itself from its clear source of inspiration and feels like a somewhat shallow clone.

K.C. Munchkin (Philips Videopac G7000 / Magnavox Odyssey 2 review)

Developer: Ed Averett
Publisher: Philips, Magnavox
Released: 1981

K.C. Munchkin is a maze game that's heavily inspired by Pac-Man (1980, Arcade).

+ A wide range of mazes are available and the innovative part is how you can program your own layouts.

+ The moving dots force you to constantly reassess your strategy across the mazes and help provide extra challenge.

+ Rather than continual movement, your character can stop anywhere on the maze to goad enemies in.

+ Temporarily saves your high score while playing a maze, which acts as a great incentive to keep trying.

- Each game only affords you a single life, so it's tough to improve your skills due to being thrown back to slower levels.

- Offers little gameplay variation over Pac-Man and it's more of a neat curiosity rather than an advancement of the genre.

- Sprite animation and sound effects when you chomp an enemy are peculiar and almost seem like a glitch has occurred.

Crush Roller (Neo Geo Pocket Color review)

Developer: ADK
Publisher: SNK
Released: 1999

Crush Roller is a maze game that was first released in the Arcades as Make Trax (1981).

Playing as a brush, your job is to paint the entire playfield in order to complete the stage. Monsters will try to hunt you down, but rollers are available that allow you to squash them. The gameplay is clearly inspired by Pac-Man (1980, Arcades), but it has just enough tweaks to make it unique, including multi-story platforms and Irksters that leave footprints in your painted sections that must be re-painted. There's only six stages per game, but the genius part is that you'll need to play through several times in order to see all of the levels; that's because you usually have a choice between what stage to tackle next, adding some excellent replayability. The Irksters are an important part of the gameplay, as while it's irritating when they walk over previously covered paths, trying to catch them as quickly as possible is an enjoyable diversion while forcing you to multitask. This can become addictive, as the main menu offers a Collection mode where you can view all of your captured Irksters in a similar fashion to the Pokemon series. The controls work well, but compared to the precision of a d-pad, the console's analog stick does cause issues with incorrect movements; this is somewhat remedied by only pressing a direction when you need to (rather than continually holding the stick), but it does take a slight adjustment period. Another minor gripe is that it can sometimes be tricky to see the final part of the maze you haven't yet covered; while wide open spaces are obvious, curved corners only leave a tiny visible mark to indicate that you haven't yet painted it, and with the handheld's small screen it can be tough to see.

Crush Roller is short but sweet, and its bite-sized approach to completing its main campaign is perfect for a handheld title. The need to complete it several times to see all of its stages adds plenty of replayability, and despite some initial struggles with the controls it's an addictive maze game, especially when you factor in its Collection mode.

Random trivia: ADK developed various other Neo Geo Pocket Color games including Dynamite Slugger (2000) and Party Mail (1999).

Kaboom! (Atari 2600 review)

Developer: Activision
Publisher: Activision
Released: 1981

Kaboom! is an action game that uses either a joystick or a paddle controller.

You control three water buckets, and your job is to catch the bombs thrown by the Mad Bomber at the top of the screen. This takes place across short waves of increasing speed, and once you've lost all three buckets it's game over; however, a new bucket is given for every 1,000 points. While joysticks work okay for the first few waves, they're a determent to progressing, as they only move at a single speed. In contrast, the paddles are an absolute necessity and allow you to move around the playfield at the speed dictated by your dial spin. They're a joy to use and their precision and dexterity results in you feeling totally in control. The gameplay quickly peaks in difficulty and while I can see how the sharp increase in speed could deter some players, the real key is to 'zone out' and allow your reactions to take over; when you do get on a roll you'll find yourself holding your breath, completely in awe (or disbelief!) of your ninja-like gaming skills as chaos rains down upon the playfield. It's thrilling, hypnotic, and never has a videogame created a perfect combination of zen-like gameplay and complete, unabashed carnage. In turn, this motivates you to keep trying to beat your high score and the sense of satisfaction you get from doing so is second-to-none. I also like that the game relies on you pressing the fire button before each wave, as it gives you a chance to calm your nerves before the next hectic onslaught! A subtle, yet fantastic part of the gameplay is the SFX, as they increase in pitch every time you reach a new wave; this creates tension and anticipation for just how crazy the next wave will be!

Kaboom! is a unique and maddeningly addictive game that shines in every aspect. Using the paddle controllers is essential, and in doing so, you'll really feel like you've earned your high score due to the extreme reactions and skill that's required to last more than a handful of waves!

Random trivia: In 1983, the game was ported to the Atari 5200 and Atari 8-bit computers.

Cosmic Hunter (Microvision review)

Developer: Milton Bradley

Publisher: Milton Bradley

Released: 1981

 

Cosmic Hunter is a seek and capture game that was only released in North America.

 

As a hunter your mission is to capture as many alien creatures as possible. To do this, you must fire your weapon when you're two spaces away from the enemy either vertically or horizontally. Care must be taken though as if you get too close the alien can move in and attack if they're one space away in any direction (including diagonals); take damage and you lose one of your five lives. The other blocks on the screen are barriers to hide behind and there's also four invisible traps that temporarily stun you if walked into. What initially impressed me is how relatively advanced the gameplay is; while most other Microvision titles are simple sports games or basic shooters this one has a more impressive scope. Many of its elements are well thought-out but the A.I. is incredibly smart and it's tough to outwit opponents unless they accidentally walk into a trap. The most challenging part of Cosmic Hunter isn't the actual gameplay though, it's getting used to the awkward control scheme; the directional buttons are very spaced out from each other and I frequently had to take my eye off the screen to see where my thumb should be placed so the game would register an input. This is a constant issue, especially when trying to make fast-paced movements, or trying to capitalise on a stunned opponent.  Similarly, the two Fire buttons are in odd positions, as they sit just above (and to the corners) of the directional inputs; again, this means you sometimes have to stop what you're doing just to shoot. In my opinion, it would have been much better if the developers used the button between the directions (i.e. the input used to start each game) as it would have greatly helped when wanting to make quick-second decisions. Unfortunately these control quirks completely ruin the game as you simply can't react the way you would with a more modern d-pad. If you're really a glutton for punishment there's also a Skill Level 2 setting with even faster enemies and eight hidden traps!

 

Cosmic Hunter is a brilliant idea with tons of potential, but the unorthodox controls tarnish any enjoyment that the game might have. It's a real shame as there's clearly a lot to like, but ultimately it's pretty unplayable and will leave you walking away in frustration before too long.

 

 

 

Random trivia: The only other Microvision game to be released in 1981 was Alien Raiders (a.k.a. Space Blitz).

Asteroids (Atari 2600 review)

Developer: Atari

Publisher: Atari

Released: 1981

 

Asteroids is a single-screen shooter that was first released in the Arcades in 1979.

 

The objective is to gain a high score by facing waves of asteroids, Satellites and UFOs that dart towards you. The fire button shoots, Down on the joystick transports you to another part of the screen, while holding a direction moves your ship around. You're constantly kept alert by the asteroids that come in varying shapes and once shot they break into smaller, faster pieces that fly off in unpredictable directions. The gameplay is repetitive, yet highly addictive, and the occasional entry of Satellites and UFOs shift the gameplay as they have the ability to shoot back; this forces you to change tactics and focus on quickly destroying them, all the while dodging asteroids. It's great fun and what helps to ratchet up the intensity further is the terrific heartbeat sound effect that harkens back to Space Invaders (1978, Arcades). The controls are excellent too with high responsiveness and smooth rotation of your ship. The game has tons of replayability due to the large number of options on offer; for example, certain modes include a shield which you can use for two seconds at a time, while others allow you to flip your ship around 180° by pressing Down on the joystick. One issue is that your ship can't completely fire in a 360° motion which sometimes leaves you high and dry when an asteroid is approaching. The game also has a habit of dropping you back into a precarious position once you've lost a life which can feel quite cheap. There is some sprite flicker but nothing that affects gameplay. While the graphics are basic the 2600's pallet is put to good use with various colours on screen at the same time.

Asteroids is a fantastic shooter that still holds up well today thanks to its excellent controls and simplistic, yet addictive, gameplay. It has tons of modes on offer that all play well and in my opinion this is a must-own for the 2600, especially if you have a group of friends to battle in a high score competition!

 

 

 

Random trivia: The game was updated in 1986 and released as a built-in game on Atari 7800 consoles.

Alien Raiders / Space Blitz (Microvision review)

Developer: Milton Bradley

Publisher: Milton Bradley

Released: 1981

 

Alien Raiders is a shoot-em-up that was released in Europe as either Space Blitz or just Blitz.

 

In many ways the gameplay shares similarities with Space Invaders (1978, Arcades) except it takes place on a horizontal plane rather than vertical. The objective is to use your cannon's beam to hit as many aliens as possible as they approach from right-to-left; if an invader manages to reach the left-hand column the game ends. You don't physically control the cannon as it automatically moves up and down; this means that you constantly have to strategise and decide which of the four enemies to take out next as they enter at different speeds. To shoot you press the Fire button and use the control knob to change the size of the beam; the beam must be at exactly the right length to hit the invader as firing too long or short will miss the intended target. Each time you use the beam a small quantity of fuel is used up but after every eighth alien is destroyed you gain a top-up. To start with it's difficult to be accurate due to the fact that there's no indicator to show how far your beam will travel in its current setting; twisting the control knob to change its length is mostly guesswork too and it's a fiddly and unintuitive setup. However, instead of tapping the fire button you can just hold it down which results in a constantly firing beam; this acts as a target indicator meaning it's easier to see the distance between your shot and the alien (so only minor tweaking of the control knob is then required). I found it to increase my enjoyment of the game as well as the length of my individual attempts as I was able to stay alive longer. It's addictive trying to play for a high score as you constantly need to multitask by analysing enemy positions and deciding which ones offer the highest threat, speed and location wise. There's also a Game 2 option (which increases the number of enemies on screen from four to a possible six) and a Skill Level 2 (increases game speed). The latter is extremely difficult as you need cat-like reflexes to stay alive for more than a few seconds!

 

Alien Raiders is an interesting take on Space Invaders and considering the display limitations of the handheld the developers did a good job replicating the Arcade experience. While the control scheme is a bit awkward those that take the time to master it will find a fun shooter that's ideal for high score competitions. 

 

 

 

Random trivia: The only other Microvision game to be released in 1981 was Cosmic Hunter.