Asteroids

aka: Asteroids 3D, Asteroids: Der Durchbruch ins neue Jahrtausend
Moby ID: 622
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

Unlike Activision's earlier remake of an Atari arcade classic, Battlezone, this one stays close to its namesake. Take the original, Atari coin-op game Asteroids, add in the features of the Atari 2600 cartridge, then give it 3-D graphics and a bunch of power-ups, and you've got Activision's Asteroids remake.

You are an employee of the Astro-Mining Corporation. Your mission is to simply go to an assigned area of space and clear the area of asteroids and the occassional debris. The game consists of five zones, each with a different background and some with special features. Each zone has 15 levels. In addition to the standard asteroids, there are also mined asteroids that explode; indestructible asteroids that are, well, indestructible; fireball comets; crystal asteroids that regenerate; alien egg asteroids containing deadly baby space worms; and ancient energy asteroids that shoot back! And there's plenty of enemies in addition to the asteroids, such as Standard and Super Saucers, Asteroids Tugs, Fuel Transports, Hexes, Nuke Drivers, and Vulturoids.

There are three types of ships to choose from, each with different strengths and weaknesses. There are also three skill levels. If you beat the game at Expert or higher, you gain access to a fourth type of ship. All ships features the standard laser, shield, flip (instantly flips your ship 180 degrees), and hyperspace. There are also limited power-ups you can pick up such as GunSat, Mines, Homing Missiles, Plasma Drill, and Trigger Bombs.

The game supports either one or two players. In two player mode, the object is to simply outscore your opponent in a random zone and level. You cannot directly kill your opponent by shooting him, but there are other ways....

Lastly, if you shoot the classic-style asteroid in level 15 of the first zone, you'll find the option of "Classic Asteroids" now appearing on the main menu.

Spellings

  • アステロイド - Japanese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

77 People (58 developers, 19 thanks) · View all

Publisher
  • Activision Inc.
Producer
Lead Design
Associate Producer
Developer
  • Syrox Developments Ltd.
Lead Programmer
Lead PC Conversion Programmers
Programmers
White Dwarf Editor
Lead Level Layout
Lead Artist
Artists
Cutscenes
Artistic Consultation
Design Assistance
Classic Asteroids Programming
  • LTI
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 65% (based on 40 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 34 ratings with 2 reviews)

A classic update that doesn't loose the hectic feel of the original.

The Good
Activision's new Asteroids still plays like the original, but the graphics and sound are more current. Although it's still mostly you against the rocks, there's now a variety of asteroid types and enemy ship types. This game requires all the fast reflexes of the original. If you hesitate, you will likely die.

The Bad
The game is a little too complicated. In the original, it was rotate right, rotate left, thrust, fire, and for emergencies, hyperspace. Now you have all those, plus shields and "flip," which instantly flips your ship 180 degrees. While they're all interesting features, there's just a few too many buttons for me to think about when I've got five asteroids and a UFO coming at me from six different directions.

Then there's the power-ups: all 16 of them. Thirteen of those are "wildcard weapons" that you can use to help destroy stuff. That's all well and good, but it's hard to remember which is which, particularly when they all tend to look alike. Granted, there's never more than one or two per level, but I don't want to pause my game just to see if it's a weapon I might like.

The Bottom Line
This is an intense action game, just like the original. Each zone starts fairly easy, but the final levels of each are tough. Add to that the number of buttons and different power-ups to keep track of and you have a game that's probably not for beginners. Thirty-somethings who were kids when the original coin-op came out 20 years ago may be able to keep up, but fifty-somethings who were thirty-somethings then might have a hard time.

Windows · by Lee Seitz (711) · 1999

Beware of the real small ones....

The Good
This updated version of the infamous Asteroids is, in my opinion, a great update of a tried-and-true game.

The graphics, even in it's software driven mode, are spectacular. Burning suns, eerie black holes, and other items in the background are just amazing to see.

The gameplay is solid, with plenty of power-ups (15+) that have some amazing effects. Lasers, guided bombs, proximity mines, ramming shields (a personal favorite), and a plethora (hey a vocab word!) of other weapons.

The sound is top-notch, great effects for the laser blasts and the breaking apart of the asteroids.

The programmers including a version of the Original Asteroids is great. Sometimes playing the new one is too much... Playing the simpler version is actually more fun on some days.

The Bad
The graphics are dark. And brown asteroids on black background are very hard to aim at. The best way to play the game is at night with no lights on... At least that way you can see all the objects moving around.

The Bottom Line
Retro-gamers, rejoice! This is a great update to a classic game. And they even got it right.

Windows · by Chris Martin (1155) · 2000

Trivia

Classic Asteroids

The "Classic Asteroids" game is actually a separate executable, but it cannot be run directly, only from the main game.

Demo

In early 2000, Activision and General Mills partnered to distribute CD-ROMs containing Asteroids and other games with boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Trix. (Asteroids was the headliner of the disc.) The version of Asteroids contained on the CD-ROM only allowed for two hours of play, but players could unlock the full version by paying over the Internet.

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  • MobyGames ID: 622
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Lee Seitz.

Game Boy Color added by Kartanym. Macintosh added by Scaryfun. PlayStation added by Grant McLellan.

Additional contributors: //dbz:, DreinIX, Patrick Bregger, Zhuzha.

Game added December 28, 1999. Last modified March 21, 2024.