Solaris (Atari 2600) Review
Apr. 2nd, 2007 12:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
demonicgerbilReview behind the cut.
A blast from my childhood.
For many long years, Atari ruled the gaming world, and among the myriad games from that age is one called Solaris. Solaris is a hybrid shooter/strategy game, where the strategy is limited to moving your ship around the map to intercept and destroy the invading alien fleets and keep friendly planets safe. The shooter areas are fun and challenging if uninventive.
Sometime in the far future, the Federation comes under attacking by the marauding Zylons, and you must stop them, rescue friendly personnel, and reach Solaris. Don't ask me why any of this is happening, it was a very long time ago that I played Solaris, so I don't remember. Fortunately, the game itself was a memorable experience.
The map screen segments are where you plan your attack, intercepting and attacking Zylon fleets, or striking at Zylon planets. There are several kinds of area on the map screen, but mainly it serves as a venue to move on to the meat of the game, which is the shooter portion.
The shooter portions are fun, both fast paced and easy to control. The controls are both responsive and quick to pick up, though there's a fairly steep learning curve. There's a variety of enemies to fight as you zoom across the various planets in the game. You'll take on enemies, rescue prisoners, and hopefully destroy the enemy planet. Take heed, not all of the planets are hostile: there are fuel depots to refuel at one Federation worlds, and since no ship can run without fuel, you'll want to defend Federation planets and keep refueled.
Solaris is a classic shooter, one that shouldn't be missed by fans of the genre or old-school gaming.
Now for a quick scoring summary for those of you keeping track of the numbers:
Gameplay: 8
Solid gameplay. The shooter sections are tough, but fair, and the ability to choose and pick your fights when you want them is welcome. It doesn't hurt that the controls are smooth as silk to work.
Graphics: 6
For its time, Solaris was downright awesome looking. That's not true today, but it was twenty years ago.
Sound: 5
None of the sound in the game was memorable, either for good or bad.
Replay: 8
It's a pretty replayable shooter. You'll probably die a lot at first, until you get the hang of it. Still, I've never beaten the game, so I know there's more to be done.
Other: N/A
The aliens in this game are the same ones as in Star Raiders, which may be a neat bit of trivia.
Overall: 7
This game came out in what is pretty much the golden age of 'simple' games, and just a few years after its release began the flood of top-down and side-scrolling shooters, such as R-Type. You can see how the genre progressed in just a few short years from games like Space Invaders to Solaris and then onto more 'modern' examples. Solaris still holds up well for what it is: a shooter with a few extra bits of gameplay on top of it. It's a solid game, and worthy of a play, unless you're one of the type of people that can't stand primitive graphics.
A blast from my childhood.
For many long years, Atari ruled the gaming world, and among the myriad games from that age is one called Solaris. Solaris is a hybrid shooter/strategy game, where the strategy is limited to moving your ship around the map to intercept and destroy the invading alien fleets and keep friendly planets safe. The shooter areas are fun and challenging if uninventive.
Sometime in the far future, the Federation comes under attacking by the marauding Zylons, and you must stop them, rescue friendly personnel, and reach Solaris. Don't ask me why any of this is happening, it was a very long time ago that I played Solaris, so I don't remember. Fortunately, the game itself was a memorable experience.
The map screen segments are where you plan your attack, intercepting and attacking Zylon fleets, or striking at Zylon planets. There are several kinds of area on the map screen, but mainly it serves as a venue to move on to the meat of the game, which is the shooter portion.
The shooter portions are fun, both fast paced and easy to control. The controls are both responsive and quick to pick up, though there's a fairly steep learning curve. There's a variety of enemies to fight as you zoom across the various planets in the game. You'll take on enemies, rescue prisoners, and hopefully destroy the enemy planet. Take heed, not all of the planets are hostile: there are fuel depots to refuel at one Federation worlds, and since no ship can run without fuel, you'll want to defend Federation planets and keep refueled.
Solaris is a classic shooter, one that shouldn't be missed by fans of the genre or old-school gaming.
Now for a quick scoring summary for those of you keeping track of the numbers:
Gameplay: 8
Solid gameplay. The shooter sections are tough, but fair, and the ability to choose and pick your fights when you want them is welcome. It doesn't hurt that the controls are smooth as silk to work.
Graphics: 6
For its time, Solaris was downright awesome looking. That's not true today, but it was twenty years ago.
Sound: 5
None of the sound in the game was memorable, either for good or bad.
Replay: 8
It's a pretty replayable shooter. You'll probably die a lot at first, until you get the hang of it. Still, I've never beaten the game, so I know there's more to be done.
Other: N/A
The aliens in this game are the same ones as in Star Raiders, which may be a neat bit of trivia.
Overall: 7
This game came out in what is pretty much the golden age of 'simple' games, and just a few years after its release began the flood of top-down and side-scrolling shooters, such as R-Type. You can see how the genre progressed in just a few short years from games like Space Invaders to Solaris and then onto more 'modern' examples. Solaris still holds up well for what it is: a shooter with a few extra bits of gameplay on top of it. It's a solid game, and worthy of a play, unless you're one of the type of people that can't stand primitive graphics.