Vintage Atari: Asteroids and Space Invaders

So, I return from my unannounced, week-long blogging hiatus with a feature on several oldschool Atari games that I've been playing lately.

I remember playing the original arcade version for the first time several years ago when one of the Halifax arcades had one in, but I'd never played the arcade version when it came out (since that was well before I was born). I burned so many quarters on that machine, I've lost count. But this was in a time when most arcade machines cost almost a dollar per play. Times certainly have changed since the early 90s.

My first introduction to the game Asteroids was on the Atari 2600, and as I recall it wasn't a pleasant one. The game was difficult for someone with poor eyesight and poor reflexes. But those reflexes, and that eyesight improved over the next decade -- largely from playing video games -- as I moved into the 16-bit era (oh, the memories).

Around 1989 it was still very possible to get many, many Atari 2600 games for very cheap at flea markets. This is still true to an extent but they're much harder to find. Somewhere along the way I picked up space invaders, and was playing on that.

Recently, I acquired a functioning Atari 2600. After scrounging for controllers, a power adapter, and a way to connect it to a modern TV, I was able to play the two carts that I had -- Asteroids and Space Invaders. Asteroids is far more fun than it was fifteen years ago, and Space Invaders seems harder.

The original arcade Asteroids was done in vector graphics, which is why it appeared so smooth and non-jagged compared to the 2600 port. The Atari 2600 version's rocks are made out of square blocks, whereas the arcade version are smooth, and actually resemble the real thing (albeit without craters). So, the 2600 port doesn't have near as much visual appeal. But it's still fun, and it's nice to be able to play the game when I want to without burning quarters and using the original controller. While both the arcade port and the 2600 port appear on Atari Anthology for the PS2. Using the Playstation controllers doesn't have the same appeal but it is nice to be able to play the original arcade version without having to hunt around for a real arcade cabinet.

I have an ebay shipment coming sometime this week. While it has many duplicate carts, I eagerly await it, as it has the games Defender, Missile Command, and Combat. Combat is the premiere 2-player battle strategy game.