River Raid
Touring the River of No Return
By Ryan GennoFebruary 8, 2006
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River Raid
(c) Activision |
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Here we go again!
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Ah, the ragged edges of the river.
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Dem balloons are deadly!
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Another popular Activision legend on the
Atari 2600 also comes to the Atari 5200 as well. Was this intense
shooter improved for the upgraded system or is it another lack luster
Activision translation?
In this overhead shooter you must pilot an jet fighter to push back a
terrorist attack. It's your mission to blast away anything that gets in
the way like enemy boats, planes, helicopters, and even bridges while
you try to survive a strike down a long river bank.
Not only to you need to watch out for terrorists but you also have to be
careful of your fuel supply as well. Just like Sega's classic Zaxxon
game shattered through out the game are fuel tanks needed to continue
on. It's up to you to balance both speed and precision to survive the
narrow canyon passage ways. Usually the loose 5200 controllers are a
pain in the neck for some 5200 shooters like Gorf and Galaxian
this shooter still plays very well and Activision did a great job in
that area.
Unfortunately this fun game only comes to the Atari 5200 with some very
minor graphical enhancements compared to 2600 game. The river in
River Raid is just a boring solid blue colour and all the enemies
and fuel tanks are just as bland. There are a few touch ups on the
mountains but that's about it. I would love to talk about the sound but
other then a few jet or explosions there just isn't much River Raid
as to offer.
Although the graphics and sound are very plain and could have been way
better for the 5200 (c'mon I know the system can do more then this), the
game still controls and plays very well. River Raid is an
excellent arcade-like shooter with brains.
Game Data |
Scores
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| Title |
River Raid |
Graphics |
60% |
| Publisher |
Activision |
Sound/Music |
50% |
| Genre |
Shooter |
Gameplay |
80% |
| System |
5200 |
Control |
60% |
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Overall |
65% |
)
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