(played as part of Atari 50)
A simple, enjoyable gameplay structure overburdened with a lot of unnecessary ornamentation. Screens so busy and elaborate you'll sometimes take a death just trying to figure out what you're looking at.
A couple things do work quite well. The four-level cycle is satisfying in feel and the different sets of stages are quite diverse. Cute interstitial cutscenes between screens actually help instead of annoy, giving you just enough time to gather yourself. And a generous continue system lets you see the whole game if you're tenacious, essentially saving your progress after every group of stages.
In some of these later arcade games you can see designers straining to find new angles and eager to deploy all kinds of wacky ideas and technical advancements, but a lot of times less is more.
A simple, enjoyable gameplay structure overburdened with a lot of unnecessary ornamentation. Screens so busy and elaborate you'll sometimes take a death just trying to figure out what you're looking at.
A couple things do work quite well. The four-level cycle is satisfying in feel and the different sets of stages are quite diverse. Cute interstitial cutscenes between screens actually help instead of annoy, giving you just enough time to gather yourself. And a generous continue system lets you see the whole game if you're tenacious, essentially saving your progress after every group of stages.
In some of these later arcade games you can see designers straining to find new angles and eager to deploy all kinds of wacky ideas and technical advancements, but a lot of times less is more.