Use your quarter on pong.
Well, this is my second review on a quarter operated Arcade game made by Atari, and I have to say… I'm really disappointed. Pong was amazing, and after the buzz it created, more games, such as asteroids began appearing in restaurants and bars.
Unlike pong, Asteroids is only one player… And it didn't stand up to time as well as pong did, either. You are a small spaceship, in the middle of the screen, and asteroids are flying all about. If one hits you, you lose one of your three lives. If all three lives are lost, it's game over, unless you put another quarter in. Since your ship can't move, your only defense is to shoot at the asteroids. If hit, an asteroid will break into 2 or 3 smaller asteroids, until it is so small, when shot, it will be destroyed. Each time an asteroid is shot, the fragments move faster and faster, until you clear the level.
One thing that really bothers me is the alien spaceships. They move in, immune to asteroids, and fire at you. If you are hit by one of their bullets, you lose a life. These would be fine, if you could move, but since you can't, your only chance is too shoot them before they can get you. Since the alien ships can move, this shot is hard enough, but sometimes asteroids get in the way, and you can't hit him! He on the other hand can shoot through the asteroids. Many times, even if you defeat the alien ship, a stray asteroid will come in and hit you, since you were paying all your attention to the alien ship.
One last difference is that this game has a little bit of music. Of course it is low quality and 8 bit, but at least it's there. Overall, Asteroids is just more of a collector's novelty then an actual entertaining game. Thanks for reading!