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By Alan Hewston |
Beamrider reminds me of the
movie TRON. Yes, there are a few classic Tron video games, but not enough to
make the MFof reviews . . . but let’s still put you on an electronic game grid
and let you defend it. {BTW, makes sure to see the new 20th anniversary DVD
version of TRON and catch all the behind the scenes interviews and extras –
great stuff. Look for the one guy’s TRON hat where it spells tron (lower case)
even if flipped 180 degrees. And let’s hear a cheer for a TRON sequel and in
the words of the mother of one of the actors, Re-res RAM! Re-res RAM!
OK, for a change here’s a
non-arcade classic, so in case it is not as familiar to you as the arcade games
I’ve added more background information. Activision’s Beamrider made it to more
systems than any of their other classic games. In fact, it is tied for third on
the list of non-arcade games ported to the most classic systems - behind Miner
2049er and Demon Attack. See also RT issue #13 for Doug’s MFof Beamrider, but
he didn’t review two of our medal winners here today. This game was designed by
David Rolfe first(?) for the Intellivision under contract of Cheshire
Engineering, and the 3 manuals that I have say that all other versions were made
by Action Graphics. There is a lot more gameplay and strategy packed into this
game than first meets the eye. If you’ve only tried the somewhat limited 2600
version, then please consider giving the other versions a try.
The Beamrider story has you
defending the 5 lanes of each of 99 sectors of your space station’s Restrictor
Shield (a defense grid). You remain on the bottom beam of the screen while the
sector scrolls downwards at you. Most of the obstacles and enemies come from
above you, on the horizon, and advance downward at you. You cannot move
up/down, but just left and right on the 5 lanes and fire your laser lariat in an
effort to clear each sector’s 15 enemy saucers. There are many other obstacles
in your way and contact with anything but a Yellow Rejuvenator will result in
the loss of one of you three ships. Collect a bonus ship every time you catch a
Yellow Rejuvenator. You have an unlimited supply of laser lariats but they are
not effective against all of the enemies and obstacles, instead, you have 3, and
only 3 torpedoes per each sector (regardless if you lose a ship). These
torpedoes will eliminate the first obstacle they come in contact with, so use
those topedoes wisely, as they can really save the day. After clearing the
sector, earn bonus points if you can hit the Sector Sentinel with a torpedo.
Your best defense is to continuously dodge most of the obstacles.
In sector one you only face
the White Enemy Saucers and their missiles. Up to 3 Saucers can attack and move
all about the screen, even kamikaze. Their missiles only go straight down. As
you eliminate the saucers, the on-screen counter decrements by one and a new
saucer will replace it. When the counter hits 0, the sector is clear for the
Sector Sentinel’s slow, one-time pass across the horizon. Although the sentinel
does not attack, they are not defenseless as swarms of Green Blockers will join
in, which can kill you or at least prevent you from hitting the Sentinel.
With a few exceptions, most
of your foes will move to the bottom of the screen or edge of the screen and
exit. Some will be invulnerable (I) to your lariat, and must be avoided, or if
you must, obliterated with a torpedo. Starting in sector 2, and every other
sector through 16 (12 on the 2600), a new foe is introduced as follows: 2) are
Brown Space Debris (I) that comes straight down, 4) are Yellow Chirper Ships
that move down and across the sector, but never at you, 6) are Green Blocker
Ships (I) select the lane you are in at the time they arrive, and move into that
lane and then straight down, 8) are Green Bounce Craft (I) that bounce across
the bottom of the screen making one pass in each lane, 10) Blue Chargers that
come straight down, and if left alone then slow to nearly a halt and take
several seconds to clear off the bottom. They’re a real hazard, so make sure
your laser lariat finds them and sends ‘em back to the horizon ASAP, 12) Orange
Trackers (I) that can only change lanes once early on, and then come straight
down, 14) Red Zig Bombs that must be hit, whereupon they turn green, or they can
move L/R at the last second and crash your party, and finally, 16) Magnetic
Mines (I) that come straight down, but then pull you towards them, so you must
move away from them or be destroyed.
When points are scored
(White Saucers, Chirper Ships, the Sector Sentinel), they are temporarily shown
on the screen in place of your running total. Bonus points for the Sentinel are
awarded for the number of spare ships you have remaining. All point values
increase as you progress through sectors. Everything else is worth zero points,
and is just in your way to block your way or destroy you.
Between each sector/players’s
turn, the game stops for you to see the player number, score, ships remaining,
and the sector number. This break is almost as good as having a pause added to
each version – certainly a nice feature. During this break back at your Space
Station (not shown on the 2600), a player can elect to drop out of the game at
this time. This is indeed a unique feature I’ve never seen elsewhere. Moving
forward launches you into the next sector. Most versions do have a pause
feature for use any time during play - which leads to a blank screen - and
pushing the pause button again or in some cases any movement of the controller
resumes play. The choice in starting levels at sector 1, 5, and 10 is available
for all but the INTY and 2600. This is a nice option to practice and see the
enemies not seen at the beginning of the game.
Classic Home releases (all by Activision): Intellivision (’83 David Rolfe), Atari 2600 (Cheshire Engineering, David Rolfe & Larry Zwick), Commodore 64 (’84 Jamie Faye Fenton), Atari 8 bit (Action Graphics for Activision) Atari 5200 (Action Graphics), and Colecovision (Action Graphics)
Categories: Gameplay,
Addictiveness, Graphics, Sound & Controls
Make
it to sector 14 plus a score of 40K (60 K on 2600) would earn you an Activision
patch “Beamriders”.
Doesn’t this artwork make you think of the world inside TRON?
The Gameplay is very good (7) and has everything save a starting level option.
The Graphics are Crisp (8) and the Sound is Effective (7) with nothing missing.
The Controls are good enough (6) to play, but I cannot enjoy this game due to
the controllers, the lack of real (ie large, easy to push) fire buttons, and
needing 2 precise fire buttons. If this was programmed like the 2600 where L/R
on the stick is L/R and Up gives you a torpedo and the fire button sends out
lariats, (or even down for the lariats) then it would be so much easier to
play. The CV and 5200 also cause me significant problems but they get saved -
see later. So, has anyone ever make a real Intellivision joystick – at a
reasonable price – let me know. The Addictiveness is Enjoyable (8), and
although there is no pause “button”, Greg Thompson told me about 6 months ago,
that pressing the 1 and 9 or the 3 and 7 simultaneously will pause nearly all
Inty games. This sounds a bit harder than a single pause button, but it does
work fine. Unless you like or can work around the standard Inty controllers,
then just save yourself the agony and pass this version over. Otherwise it’s a
fine version.
Have Nots: Atari 2600 (37)
Typical of the 2600, the Gameplay is good enough (6), but limited and the worst
of the lot. This version is missing the final 2 enemies, only allows 1 player,
and has no start level variations. OK, so the A difficulty will make it harder,
but ‘cmon, unless you master this game, or wanted to play a two player game with
one handicapped (but you cannot) then what is value added here? The Graphics
and Sound are both Effective (7). The Controls are perfect (10), where the
torpedoes are fired most easily by pushing forward. The Addictiveness is also
pretty good (7), but a true pause button and having all the enemies would help.
As usual, the identical sister code on the Atari 8-bit will score higher just
because of the Controls. I may have been generous in scoring the Controls as
Impressive (8), but this assumes use of a better joystick like the Wico. The 2
distinct fire buttons must be easy to use with no chance of wasting a torpedo by
accident. The Addictiveness is very nice (8), but may have been higher if not
for the extra time needed to master the Control. All other scores match the
Atari 8-bit below.
Bronze Medal: Atari 8 bit (40)
Unfortunately, the Graphics appear a bit shabbier than the leaders, but are
still Cool (7). The Gameplay is Enjoyable (8), with all that the others offer.
The Controls are perfect (10), using the 2600 scheme. The Sounds is Effective
(7) and nothing is missing per se, but the CV and C64 both sound a step better.
The Addictiveness is Nice (8), but should have been better, but there are a few
minor problems. Once selected, the number of players cannot be change, and I
could not delete any players either. One time, the game went on the fritz and
would not reset itself - the graphics were everywhere, the game was not
playable. A reboot was necessary for these if you have the disk version, but it
is also available, but somewhat rare on cart.
Silver Medal Colecovision (41)
Let me start with Controls, which are Superb (9), but not without a hitch. As
always seems to be my problem with CV, I need to start from scratch to see which
of the 5+ possible controllers works best for each cartridge. Instead of
getting a 6 or 7, the Super Action Controller came through and does the job - a
bit rugged for moving - but dead-on in firing. I would not doubt that long time
CV players would score Controls a 10. The Gameplay is Enjoyable (8), and no
elements are missing. The Sound is Impressive (8) and the Graphics are Crisp
(8), both matching the C64. The Addictiveness is also Enjoyable (8), but would
have been higher without a glitch which got me twice. Somehow the final Saucer
can leave the screen and never, ever return. I played for several minutes losing
my torpedoes and all to no avail. You get no points scored, other than maybe a
Chirper Ship and the only way out is to lose a ship. So this makes me want to
play the next better version below.
Gold Medal: Commodore 64 (43)
Winning all the ordinals (Olympics term), ie the best score in all 5 categories,
it is easy to see why this version is the best. The Gameplay is all there and
Impressive (8). The Graphics are Sharp (8) and the Sound is Crisp (8), not
missing any beats. The Controls are Perfect (10) using the 2600 scheme and the
Addictiveness is Outstanding (9). The pause button [Run/Stop] is not quite as
good as using the [space bar] on the Atari, but certainly better than a button
on the control pad. If you miss the pause button here, nothing happens. But on
the other systems if you miss the small button, and hit another, you could kill
the game completely. This version is available on disk, cassette (in Europe)
and is common (but for some reason elusive to me) on cart.
Come back next month when I review the Many Faces of Zaxxon on the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, Colecovision, Intellivision, Commodore 64, Apple II and CoCo.