Super Asteroids

Some may remember this Lynx card as being one of the early "buy one get one free" collections (the other game being Super Missile Command which was reviewed last week). These games are so different in means of scoring and game play that I have decided to review them separately. That being said let me start off by telling you that this game is WAY too easy, something that I have discovered with most the Lynx games I have reviewed thus far. Asteroids is one of those classic arcade games that sat next to Centipede and Defender. You were put in control of a ship in which your mission was to destroy all the passing asteroids. But with most things, nothing can be arcade perfect. In Super Asteroids all you have to do is hit your thrusters slightly, and start firing while spinning around, some times spinning in the opposite direction. Using this strategy, you can pretty much hit any and all asteroids coming your way and more... eliminating the intensity of the arcade original.

In the first few levels of the game, it starts you off with one asteroid to destroy, which rarely splits into more then two pieces at this stage. Once all remnants of the asteroid are destroyed, the screen will fade and go to the next section, until you progress to the next level. Due to the simplicity of this game, I doubt most people will want to play far enough to where it actually becomes challenging. One thing that takes away from the challenge is the addition of a automatic shield which will deplete when you are hit by asteroids - even at the fourth stage in the fourth segment you can use the same strategy with no problem. To tell the truth, I didn't even realize there were thrusters until I HAD to use them, meaning that I stayed in the middle of the level most of the time just shooting in circles.

What really makes this game different then any Asteroids game you've played before are the long range weapons you use ... oh, and the very small screen. This makes it possible to shoot from one side of the screen to the other, or have the bullet just loop around the map (Pac-Man style) and hit whatever is there. At times I thought I got two asteroids due to the fact that the asteroid does not pass to the other side immediately, rather it lags and appears at the top and bottom, or where ever it may be, at the same time.

Sound is one thing this game and Super Missile Command lack. The intro has a nice touch to it, but one thing missing from the arcade classic is the heartbeat sound. Or any sound for that matter ... there are some firing effects, but that is the most you will get out of this game, heck, its not even the original sound effects. Speaking of effects, the effects of the power-ups are pretty non-existent, you really have to look for what happened, to even notice what it changed. The detail has of course been updated from the arcade classic, and the space ships look wonderful. Sadly though, there is not enough to this game to justify owning it; besides Super Missile Command (which is a superior game).