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Asteroids Deluxe - The Atari Times

Asteroids Deluxe


Space Rocks, Part 2
by Darryl Brundage

February 24, 2004
Funny thing about the entertainment business: most video game sequels do better than movie sequels.

The reason? Well, a theory I have, anyway: for a video game sequel, you can keep the same idea and get away with it (just make sure to improve the graphics, eliminate any bugs the first one had, if any, and just make the game bigger, faster, whatever), but for a movie sequel, if you don't expand characters from the original, people are going to whine about it and all (like I've heard people say about X-Men 2, which I think pretty much surpassed the original -- even though I liked it a lot -- so I don't really CARE that none of the characters really developed much from the first movie!)

Unfortunately, I don't think Asteroids Deluxe really got the recognition that it deserved: if you can find old vector graphic games like this nowadays, chances are you're going to find the original, and not this sequel. I haven't even SEEN an Asteroids Deluxe machine myself since the 1980s, which bites.

For those that have lived in caves since the 1980s without tv, radio, arcades and Jerry Springer, here's the lowdown on the original: Your ship must destroy rocks and U. F. O.s that would appear on the screen; avoid getting shot or smushed by either. That's basically it, and Snorearoids sounds more like it, right? But it can get pretty intense, and it was a hugely gigantic hit.

Before I get to the new stuff, here's what was improved or changed from the original:

And now the new stuff:

Well, I still had a lot of fun with this one, despite what others may think -- or not -- of it. Heck, people, in general, like the smell of fresh-cut grass, which I can't stand, so there ya go, we're not the same. I think this provided a decent sequel and more in-depth gameplay than the original (especially when dealing with those Wedges and Diamonds [which the latter might be a girl's best friend, but it's a video game player's worst enemy on this game!]), and having spot-on controls (also exactly like the original, except the shields), good graphics and sounds (again, pretty much like the original's) just carry on the tradition of an Atari classic.

Man, I'd be REAL happy if I could play a game of this today, it's one of the games from my past that I miss.

The unit even looked different from the original.
Asteroids Deluxe had a background image that made the game a bit more interesting to look at.
The original Asteroids.
Asteroids Deluxe
System: Arcade
Publisher: Atari
Genre: Shooter
Graphics Score: 75%
Sound & Music Score: 88%
Gameplay Score: 90%
Control Score: 100%

Final Score: 88%



Reader Comments for Asteroids Deluxe

Really good sequel by Adam on 2006-10-14 00:24:17
Atari didn't do actual sequels very often in those early years, and this one doesn't disappoint. I own an AD cab and I have to say that I enjoy this sequel more than I do the original. For one thing I never found the Hyperspace function in the original very useful - so I prefer the shields here. The killer satillites really keep you on your toes and while it makes the game much harder, it makes it more entertaining IMHO
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