Atom Smasher

The Good
Back in the Eighties, quite a few small companies made games that deliver that “just one more go” addictiveness, and Romik Software was no exception. In 1983, the company released Atom Smasher for the VIC-20, a game of speed, skill, and survival. Romik has a habit of posting a screenshot of the game in action, so you always know what you’re in for. The cassette the game comes on loads in two parts.

The first part only contains screens of instructions that give you an idea of how the game works, and the second is the game itself. Atom Smasher is highly addictive; the difficulty ramps up the more you shoot the protons inside the nucleus. You have to find a way to avoid the many electrons while finding a way to shoot the protons to avoid being closed-in by the molten mass appearing on both sides of the screen. You can shoot it, but this can take forever depending on how much there is.

There are a few things I like about this game. When you kill a proton, you are warped to somewhere at the bottom-left of the screen. This is useful if an electron comes your way by the time you are blasting it, so warping prevents you from being killed while you’re shooting the proton. Also, the main sound effect goes up in pitch to warn you that the proton is about to change positions.

The Bad
There is no issue with this game.

The Bottom Line
Atom Smasher is an addictive game where you need to destroy a proton circling the nucleus, while making sure you don’t get hit by the electrons or getting squashed by the molten lava. The graphics are great, as are the sonics. Definitely a worthy title to add to your VIC-20 collection.